A spark of inspiration

I have to confess, when it comes to keeping resolutions I tend to be extremely motivated in the beginning and slowly but surly lose interest! That's not saying I have lost interest in blogging but I think my resolution to blog more was a bit optimistic seeing as its now been 3 weeks since my last post but moving swiftly on to the good news.... I have a new post for you, actually a number of new posts courtesy of a spark of inspiration I got when lying in bed feeling sorry for myself!

Leinster Schools Competition 2012
Athletics has been a huge part of my life since a very young age, ever since I can remember I have been a member of Celbridge A.C, competing in track & field and believe it or not cross country too (I never competed in cross country by choice as such!) It has always been very much a family affair, for a time my dad was a coach, my mum was involved in fundraising and helping out anywhere she could and then there was my brothers and me, the athletes of the family, a walker, a sprinter and a thrower! But as with most things as we age sports can have less of an importance in our lives and soon enough Shane (the walker) slowly began to fade out of the club, pursuing other interests and moving on with his life. Paul and I were still very much involved with athletics until again it was time for Paul to begin to move on with his life, his college timetable and work schedule had a huge part to play in that and soon Paul (the sprinter) began to fade out of the club too but not before trying his hand at coaching! He too is a qualified Level One athletics coach.


As I said above I never really faded out of the club, Ive missed training sessions, I've considered giving up athletics and I did have a long stint where I was in a position to go to athletics (my time in hospital) but over the past year maybe two years my training has declined and I have moved from being just an athlete to an athlete and a coach. I love coaching there,s no doubt about that and like everything it has its ups and downs. Nothing compares to the feeling you get when an athlete or athletes you coach cross the finish line winning a medal they have worked hard for, nothing beats the appreciation you get from your athletes and nothing can ever be on the same par as when you see an athlete smile and laugh at a training session, knowing that you are contributing to their enjoyment and engagement with the sport on some level.

But last Tuesday, Paul (the sprinter) started back training, not back to his 3 times a week as in the past but once a week due to other commitments. It was when I watched Paul sprint around the track I realised I too miss training. I have still been training since I started coaching, there have been some Sunday morning training sessions, some weekday training sessions, there have been plans to improve my fitness and training plans have been made but to be honest I haven't been able to get back into the swing of things. When I saw my brother running I suddenly found myself missing training even if I did have to do sprints of 120 meters. I realised I miss being part of a group, I miss the socialising, I miss the fun, I miss the feeling of exhaustion after a hard training session which also makes you feel really good and I miss throwing on a regular basis!

I want to go back to training every Tuesday and Thursday night but not at the expense of my coaching and I know I'm not willing to give up my coaching, not after working hard to ensure I qualified as a coach and because I can't let the young people I coach down, its not something I'm willing to do. No matter how small a part I play in the lives of those young people, a coach, someone to talk to, someone to listen or even possibly someone to look up to I'm not willing to sacrifice that in order to fulfil my own wants and desires to go back to training full time. I think if I have learned anything over the past couple of weeks while seeing my brother train is that I am more determined to make my own training plan, ensure I train during the week, improve my fitness levels and get back to competing and not just competing for the sake of it but competing to get new PB's.

So while I miss being part of the training group on Tuesday and Thursday evenings I know I'm part of much more as a coach, I'm a coach, an athlete, a first aider, a friend and if there is one thing that I know for sure and something that has never been challenged it is that I know I belong with Celbridge Athletic Club




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