Worry and Regret

Hiya... Glad you enjoyed your christmas break and good luck with your marathon training. Remember that at some point it will help to do back to back long runs ie to simulate the full marathon without actually doing it in training. Must admit I can't quite remember whether you have done a marathon or 10 or not?

great stuff on your continued abstinence from gambling. Your feeling the rewards for sure.

S.A 🙂

RR

Fella just having a catch up around the forum, it’s great to read the effects abstinence have on folk and even more so the profound difference it brings to the folk they hold dear.

for your efforts I salute you fella 

keep running in the right direction ??

Duncs

I have had a very busy week at work. We are as busy as we were pre-Covid which is great. Hopefully this continues as our industry recovers. It’s been a challenging two years.

I made an amateur running mistake last week. I ran 10 miles with a hole in a sock which rubbed and burned after 4 miles. The result was a massive blister, the biggest blister you could imagine, and it’s caused me to not run since last Sunday. I feel the affects of that. I need exercise. Hopefully be good to start again tomorrow.

Got a great day lined up today. Me and my son got a big away day with the football today to an old fashioned ground that we love. The supporters bus is full and a great away support going today. Must win game and we’re all very excited. These trips can be expensive and when I was a crazy, mad gambler I might not have made it but now I’m not and my priorities are solid and the expense of today doesn’t even enter my thinking. I have money to do this because  I don’t gamble and haven’t in a long time. This is what we love doing and my son is super excited. His papa will be on the bus, so will his uncle and his cousins. It’s a great day out. It’s a mental day and a fun, happy, boisterous time all round.

My wife and daughter have their own plans with friends today and everyone has something their looking forward to.

Everyone is happy. Doesn’t get better than that.

RR

Stay happy ? boo

Dave,

Thank you for your message above. I had read this much earlier in the week but couldn’t find a way of replying. I have read many, many of your posts throughout the years but couldn’t find a specific diary to reply to. Thank you for taking the time to send me a message - very much appreciated.

I am always keen to read and learn from others and you, in particular, always impress me with your knowledge, wisdom, experience and dedication. 

Dear Diary,

I have had a busy week. Work is super busy which I like. My week has flown by. I’ve been going to the gym before work and I feel great on arrival - wide awake, ready for the day and with a feeling that I’ve accomplished something meaningful before the day has even started.

Managed to get out a run yesterday as the blister in a blister is healing. I’m going out for a run in about 20 minutes and its raining and the wind is wild - woke up to garden furniture all over the garden ?

Not making the football today ☹️ Got a family party to go to this afternoon (only woman organise parties at 3pm on a Saturday). Anyway, kids get to play with cousins, it should be a decent day.

Looking to have a nice and enjoyable weekend. 

RR

Keep at it RR. Stay safe.. Boo ?

Just back from a treacherous run. Ice cold rain and the type of wind that cuts you in two. My whole body is scarlett. Good run in the bank.

No football today to go to. I’ve some other commitments today. Daughter has a party to go to and oldest boy has a big race so I’ll be driving between these today. Listen to the football on the radio.

Like last week, I’m blown away by how fast my weeks are passing by. Work flies in and before you know it it’s the weekend again.

I bought a new pair of running trainers yesterday. They were more expensive than I’d usually pay but I’m able to treat myself. This is a consequence of not gambling. 

RR

@rouletteregret i feel you man! Life is a deadly place! Me too i can save for 5 years get about 5k in the bank only to gamble it within one day. 

i have that addictive personality, but must admit i think gambling can be even worst than drugs and its LEGAL! 

I PERSONALLY THINK FOBT MACHINES AND ANY SIMILAR MACHINES ONLINE SHOULD BE AT LEAST BANNED, they ruin lives, if these machines could only take £100 maximum i would understand but you cant play with someones life with a game.

i could go on but for some reason this will never happen.

Hi.. good to read that all is good and well in your world.

I had a good run in the cold and wet too! 

I hear what you say about the running trainers. I need new one's but don't have the money as it stands.

Yet another reason to motivate oneself to stay stopped.

I went out for a 7 mile run yesterday in my new running trainers and ended up doing a half marathon ? I just kept going. I felt great and enjoyed it immensely. Legs started to stiffen a little last night.

Got visitors today. Taking them to the football today and out for dinner tonight. 

Thinking about going to the gym shortly. Nothing too strenuous snd nothing on the legs. Real reason is the gym is close to an amazing old fashioned bakery and I’ve been tasked by wife to get nice cakes for visitors. May as well kill two birds with one stone.

Feeling happy enough and content with life. Long may that continue.

RR

Hiya... good to read that you are happy and content. Long may it last.

I now have my new running trainers too!

Happy days are here again. 🙂

Hello thanks for the support.

Im feeling better in mood now spring is here soon. However i think i have cross addiction as food is my friend ??? so curbing thsy now.

Yes over 2 years.. Wow.. Still have should i days but logic kicks in like a pilot light..

Work is busy. Had a new manager so he seems kind and rewarding and has a sense of humour too. Morale is low but i feel a pleasant wind of change. Home life ok.

Still running. When i can. And cinema and returned to our monthly pub quiz which i love.. Landlady just asks for minimal fee to charity but in return butties n chips too. 

Take care... Enjoy life

? Boo 

Probably regret this post later.

I’m in a 7 day isolation period after catching Covid for the second time. Like the first time, my symptoms are next to nothing. I had a runny nose for 3 days. No headache, no cough, no sore throat, no fever etc. I have to miss a week of work and I can’t leave the house. I’m going stir crazy.

Two of my kids have it as well. Like first time round they display no symptoms whatsoever. They struggle to understand why they can’t go out to play, go to their sporting clubs and go to school when they feel fine.

My eldest son was to take part in a National sporting event yesterday and we couldn’t go. He has trained extremely hard through the winter, the cold and the dark nights of icy rain. It’s utter rubbish.

I sympathise with the poor souls who have suffered with Covid and those who have suffered loss but I still think the way this has been tackled is madness.

The amount of school kids have missed in the past two years is ridiculous and the damage this has caused will be become evident over the next few years. My kids are extremely lucky that their mum is a teacher but others are not as fortunate and will suffer for it. 

The country I live in needs to stop playing at Politics. Easy to spend money when its not yours your spending.

I am kicking myself for taking the test. If I hadn’t tested I would have ran 7 miles on Friday morning and went to the gym on Friday afternoon as I always do. Even that statement can’t possibly make sense.

Rant over. Frustrated.

No gambling.

RR

I had a fabulous day yesterday. After isolation I am free as a bird again. I went for a 5 mile run in the morning and I went to the gym in the afternoon. I read over 100 pages of my book at night. I didn’t watch the TV and I wasn’t lying on the couch like a beached whale. I didn’t eat any garbage whatsoever and had an unbelievably healthy day. I went to bed early and slept for 9 hours, which never happens. Yesterday, was brilliant and I didn’t spend a penny.

Freedom and the great outdoors is something that we shouldn’t take for granted.

Today, the sun is shining and the sky is blue and I plan on doing the same as yesterday with other good stuff chucked in.

RR

Dave,

Thank you for your post on my diary. I take more and more from your words now than I ever did. Definitely more than I did a few years ago. I think I wasn’t ready a few years ago to fully understand your words. Back then I thought it was just gambling and that that was the reason for the state of my life and the negativity I felt towards myself. I think I see the bigger picture now.

P.S. I am the champion of watching TV. My previous post was a celebration of being free from Covid and an isolation period where I plumped myself on the couch and watched about 12 hours of TV per day while gorging on junk and feeling sorry for myself ?

Yesterday was a good day which mirrored the previous day. In addition to this my son had his first official football match of the new season and he played exceptionally well scoring 3 goals. His kick off was later than usual so his mum and sister came to watch as well and he was a very happy boy. I gave him some cash for his hat trick which he happily spent with his friends later on in the afternoon.

My daughter has a BDay party later this afternoon. March is an expensive month for birthdays in my house. My wife has spent what I think is a fortune but I try to react to these things better than I did in previous years. If I know it’ll happen then I can at least plan, prepare and save for the expense. Previously, when gambling, planning or saving didn’t really exist. Back then, our life was on credit and now it is not. I don’t mean to come across as an arrogant flash so and so because I’m not. I’m simply trying to articulate that without gambling in my life there is freedom all round and some of that freedom is financial. 

I went a run with my eldest son yesterday morning in beautiful weather. It’s scary how good he got during Covid times. I helped him and I pushed him when needed and now I can’t compete with him. I find these runs very hard. The pace he runs at is too much for me now. I’d love to say I’ll get back to being faster so we can continue running together but the harsh reality is he is training and improving at a rate that is likely not possible for me. I’m an old dad now and must face up to it like all the old dads before me. My son is faster than me and he’s not even a teenager yet ???

RR