You are doing what??

'Ah here, weekends are for relaxing and chilling.' 'That can't be good for your body.' 'You'll end up crippled or with a heart attack.'

I was told all those things and more this weekend. First I was asked what training I had done/was doing and what races I had coming up. I told them about the now 16 Marathons in 12 Months. Then came the 'You are doing what?' phrase and then the one liners. As if I am doing something really unhealthy like drinking too much alcohol, smoking 20 cigarettes a day or having a fried breakfast every morning with 2 sugars in my tea.

All I did this weekend was 7.2 miles on Friday evening, 9.5 miles on Saturday morning and 14.3 miles on Sunday morning. And then I did some work in the office Saturday and Sunday afternoons. And I went to the Mental Health fair for greenribbon.ie in the Milk Market on Sunday lunchtime.

'What a waste of a weekend.' 'Sure Munster were on TG4 Saturday and Arsenal v Man Utd on Sky on Sunday.'

The one liners keep coming.

I loved every single minute of my weekend. And all I did was actually good for me. And congruent with my values. And it all involved me participating actively. Working towards my purpose of helping others to lead more fulfilling lives.

How we engage with every moment in our lives is an individual choice. I know individuality has a bad rep for the moment. And yet I'm sticking to it. The more I look after myself, the better equipped I am to help others. The fitter I am the more I can give back. The more I read and learn the better I can help others achieve. And I'll benefit too. It's a win/win.

I have training planned for Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday this week. About 45-50 miles of it. How you can help is to share this Blog and my Charity page for Gorta Self Help Africa for whom I am running this 12 Marathons plus 4 in 12 months Challenge:

http://www.mycharity.ie/event/patrick_mercies_12marathonsin12monthsin2015