Launching into 2024 how you mean to continue

The passing of one and arrival of another, finishing 2023 in the windy, rainy, west of Ireland and beginning 2024 in the beautiful, warm, sunny Lanzarote. Running out ’23 with a 22 mile run in a weather warning for wind and rain but running into ’24 with an eight mile beach run on the sunny Canary island. When you do something you love, the conditions, environment and particularly the weather, really don’t matter anymore, you begin to adjust, ignore and get on with it. Maybe it’s because we have no choice or maybe it’s because Mother Nature knows our bodies can cope, adjust and perhaps even need some tough conditions. Yes, people will say it's easy run in the sun but in some ways both treks were similar, both tough in different ways.

The 22 miles began on a dark, wild morning that led one gradually into the daylight. The humidity was high so the strong winds were refreshing to say the least. I knew the next time I'd run would be in sunshine so I had a want in me to get home quicker. A long, slow, run is sometimes much easier on the body than some tougher, speed training sessions and so the miles fly by. It was the mental side I needed to keep focused; breaking the run down into just over three mile loops meant I'd have seven to do. Instead of counting 22 miles I only had to count seven rounds. Having plenty of treats left at the end of each loop, looking forward to something on the completion of each – these are all mind games but believe me they work.

On exiting the first few, a little more daylight appears, changing the run; it’s like starting out again on a bright new morning. The head torch coming off is another welcome relief; freeing my head from the weight and the false light, one runs more freely.

I do like obstacles when running. Hills and wind make me push harder, maybe it’s to get over the hill quicker, but today it’s to be back faster and get to the paradise island. It's only 8am, I've three loops done, almost halfway, this will fly. The wind eases – or else I just get used to it each time. Gradually removing the layers lightens the load and with the roads to myself, one gets into a zone; the movement, a feel-good rhythm, run to the left on the way out to avoid potholes and to the right on the way home, to avoid the floods.

The dogs begin to awaken, some are cross, some are calm, the farmers emerge, the houses light up. On my final loop I pass the house, my daughter at the door cheering, “C’mon mam, we’re off to Lanzarote”.

“Two miles to go, I’ll be back in fifteen minutes, have the kettle on,” I reply.

“Sound mam, disco tonight!” 

I take off. Twenty miles beep, I begin to push, the quicker I run, the quicker I'll return. With a tough winter almost behind, I am full of emotions; every year is a brilliant one but some months can bring trauma, sickness and a craziness that can take over if you let it. Family members sometimes get sick, it consumes one's mind. I run the emotions out of the mind and body. Having people waiting at the door that need me and my mind to be free of worry, concerns and emotions. I turn for the last mile of 2023 in wet and windy Ireland, all is well with everyone and that's all that matters.

2024 will start for me in sunshine. That real heat and light will keep my mind and body warm with positive thoughts for the year to come. Sometimes things are out of our control and there is nothing we can do, it's how we deal and cope with these emotions that we must learn and remember. For me, it's not thinking too far ahead, not worrying about what might happen, all taking up negative room in our minds. There is no point wasting time on something that might never happen.

I see the house, I see the light, I feel the warmth of family, of love, I can taste the tea, I'm home, wired and mad for road, to Shannon specifically. Shower, food, pack and it’s Lanzarote here we come. The disco gear is on top!

8 o’clock the following morning, a new but familiar place, a new start, a new beginning to a bright new day, a bright new year, another run.

“Mam, I’ll meet ya for the last two miles.” The sun even brings out the youth.

I head the airport way to see the sunrise. A brilliant blue sky gradually becomes transformed by a bright, powerful red, orange and yellow circle emerging slowly but quickly from the ocean, a cruise ship to the left, looking tiny in an enormous sea of waves. A stillness, a calmness, a natural wonderful sight not too often seen back home. The last time I saw the sunrise was Knockma on the longest day, dull and dreary. This morning ignites a fire, a warmth, not alone inside me but throughout a shoreside of walkers, joggers, runners, cyclists, swimmers and surfers, because this time of the day is magical. Seeing the sunrise every morning for the next week will fill me with enough warm memories to live in the moment, not worry or think about what's to come.

I continue to the airport, people flying overhead, and there’s no need for counting loops today. The mind needs no distraction, the body no treats, the feel of warmth and the flow of my arms and legs moving in motion through the sand is enough, the body upright, not bent over fighting against a wet, gale force, West of Ireland wind.

Running has this wonderful ability to lift one to a higher place of joy and freedom, a feel-good place where one becomes completely immersed in the surroundings. Tiredness, emotions, worries, sickness, all gets left behind in another place that won't exist on returning. This time last year, I ran here with a gut infection; sometimes one lives through something and just gets on with it because you know no different. You get through, it makes you stronger, so to run discomfort-free is a freedom I treasure this morning. I meet a man pushing his teenage child in a wheelchair, they are enjoying this higher place as much as I am.

Lots of people make New Year's resolutions today. I like to build on the positives of where we are right now – in sport it can be to achieve more, to win more, or sometimes just to keep running in a higher place, wherever that maybe. Last year I got to run in more higher places than ever and will continue those journeys this year; there will be no infections, no worries, and even if there are, we can only control our controllables right here, right now.

I hear the familiar voices I love and know so well, I see the hand waves, I sense the excitement, our kids waiting excitedly for a jog in paradise, I imagine a sea swim after. The youngest leads the way, always at their pace, not mine. The laughs, the chats, the pleasure of running with our children in sunshine, beside the ocean, in a warm paradise island in January – right now this is heaven, a wonderful start to a new year. It is fun, freedom, fruitful and our future, let's make it a good one.

Whatever your concerns are try to find a higher place, whatever your resolutions are, don't aim too high, just build from the positives right now, control what you can control. Sometimes that's very hard but if we push through those tough times it makes us stronger. See the morning sunrise, let it warm your minds and hearts, embrace 2024 with a positive, warm outlook and most of all, let's make it a good one for everyone.

Athbhlian Faoi Mhaise Daoibh.