Becoming Past Tense…

By | Mental Health, Running

I used to be a runner… Not a bad one too. And like many obsessive types it dominated my thoughts and actions for years. Fifteen hours a week of skipping round the mountains backed up by recovery spins on the bike. Sub 3:35 Seven Sevens twice in a week, followed by a 3:41 Mourne Skyline, with a couple of 55 minute Slieve Donards for rest days. Diet pored over, any excess a weakness that could shatter the delicate mental balance of an elite mindset. Holidays were thinly disguised training camps. The mantlepiece groaned with the weight of a lovely variety…

Read More

When the Fun Stops

By | Mental Health

When the fun stops… stop. It’s a well-worn quote from a gamble aware campaign, and frankly when it comes to gambling I struggle to see where the fun really starts. Formative eighties memories of the stale reek of desperation that emanated from the amusement arcade that I wasn’t allowed into. Watching mates tossing drinking money into pub fruit machines, convinced they were about to win big in the nineties. The creep of online gambling spewing over all sports coverage and sponsorship in recent decades. Stopping gambling seems like as good a policy as never starting in the first place. Stop?…

Read More