Tuesday, January 21, 2014

Surviving January

A fellow athlete made a interesting comment on my retirement announcement last week. He asked why we as sportspeople retire yet all we are really doing is changing vocation? Things made more sense viewed from this perspective - all that remains is to find a career to transition into. As daunting as my "new" life may seem there are some immediate advantages: from the removal of the 5 o'clock starts for training to considerably cheaper car insurance (having professional athlete as your job description places you in the same bracket as premiership footballers).

January is known to be the most depressing month of the year but you'll be pleased to hear we've passed the "worst" week. Everywhere does seem to be quiet; the roads, the shops, the restaurants, all except the gym. Earlier in the week I missed the window of daylight and the even smaller window of dry weather to fit in my exercise, as a result I decided try a gym class. This was the first time since university that I attended a circuit training session and didn't think that 50 minutes of activity in a sports hall would have any great affect - how wrong I was. Over the next few days I could still feel the effects simply walking.

To make it through the middle of January I had a helping hand. It was a pleasure to attend the Plymouth Sports Awards and remember the great performances of last year especially when it is during the cold winter months that so much effort is being put into training. To raise my spirits a little further, I followed it up with a trip to a comedy night and am pleased to report I should make it to the end of the month with a smile on my face.