All is quiet on New Year's Day.
Having enjoyed an early evening beach run on the last day of 2014, I decided to start the New Year on more restful note. That's right: I've elected to spend some extra time in bed on the first day of the year before getting stuck into work around the house, something which I've been doing a lot of this past week or so. My usual morning running routine has been moved to the late afternoon today and I'm looking forward to it. Lazy, some might say but I don't care – for me, life and sport is for pure enjoyment and free time means being truly free.
In contrast to many fellow athletes immersed in increased time on the road and trails, I've resolved to do things differently over my first bout of extended time off in a few years. As I alluded to in Part One, I've certainly pushed the envelope in years past, which almost always came back to bite me later on. Extended periods of illness, injury and lack of energy have been the by-products of my past “Endless Summers” leading to me wonder whether it was all worth it. Learning from one's mistakes is paramount in all aspects of life though, and I often think that the flaws of the past are actually quite important for future growth. My thoughts anyway.
Enough of the past. Notification of an enforced Festive Season break got me thinking. A telephone interview with Richard Murray for this personal profile got me thinking even more. Talking to my massage therapy clients and fellow therapists over the last while extended my thinking even further, which led me to ask myself the following questions:
What if I maintained by usual daily exercise routine over the December period and filled the remaining free time with activities like extra sleep, gardening, house maintenance, leisure reading, foam rolling, essay writing, cooking and just being around? Furthermore, instead of frying myself with extra time on the road as in years past, could I effectively take a step back in order to hopefully move a couple of steps forward in 2015, both mentally and physically? And would I even be taking a step back in any case?
So far this period has been wholly refreshing and enriching. Morning exercise and garden labour have been complemented with reading and essay writing. Midday cooking and nourishment thereof have led into short naps and hedge trimming.
I even competed in a race last week, Boxing Day to be exact. A challenging 10 miler in around the local forests, the red line effort that the event required was just what I needed following an extended soujourn from competition. The following morning's easy cycle revealed that my body had responded well to that maximum effort. Pushing the pedals whilst smelling the roses, my physical sensations improved with each revolution, where I was literally floating by the last uphill section; a couple of hours in the saddle literally felt like a few minutes. This feeling of euphoria is so rare for an athlete of any level and on such occasions, I just want to bottle it up and save it. Difficult to achieve I know, but by paying careful attention to factors like mood and energy levels can get one fairly close to this ideal.
This quiet period has also provided me with a glimpse into what I can imagine the daily life of a writer to be. In a vein similar to that of the Artist's Way, where personal creativity is achieved through daily scribing and exercise, this simple existence is something that I could actually get used to. Whilst this notion is unlikely for myself in a more permanent sense, I think that maximising the balance between fitness goals, optimum health and mental stimulation could be the formula for success whatever one's chosen field. Perhaps trying to incorporate at least some these factors into our daily lives, however brief, could be the way forward.
That said, perhaps a future post should provide a more in depth look into my expanding personal recovery zone, something which I have been developing with much relish over the past weeks. With the Two Oceans Ultra Marathon ever near, I'm getting excited about my own prospects. And I'm not sure if more training is going to land me that elusive silver medal.
Hence my interest and pursuit of other simple methods to help me realise that desire.
