Wednesday, September 22, 2010

I'm on the road to ...

Nowhere? Somewhere? Timbuktu?

Truthfully, I have no idea.

A good friend and mentor, Mr Bjorn Voon (ExquisiteFitness), has encouraged me to use my “Olympic” status and current role as a personal trainer to try and inspire the people of Perth to stay in good physical and mental health.

And somehow Bjorn’s good will and boundless passion and energy got me thinking about the possibility of making a comeback from retirement from my comeback from retirement.

For those who don’t know, I represented the Australian Rowing Team at the 2004 and 2008 Olympic Games before taking an extended break to focus on my non-rowing career (my first “retirement”).  

Thirteen months after the Beijing Games, I made my first comeback. That comeback lasted eight months and took me to within reach of making the Australian team for the 2009 World Championships (which will be held in New Zealand next month).

But a desire to put my recently-completed fitness qualifications to use in the real world forced me to pull out of the final selection trials (my second “retirement”).

But, as mentioned, Bjorn has helped me reach a point where I am now reconsidering a return to the elite rowing game. Though I would like to confirm that, at this stage, it is still just a consideration.

A fairytale ending is an attractive thought, but I’m realistic. I know my current fitness levels are miles from anywhere near what is needed to compete on the international stage. It would be completely arrogant of me to think otherwise.

But whether this journey ends with me standing in the middle of the Olympic podium in two or six year’s time or not, is relatively unimportant. My real purpose for undertaking this journey is to achieve a sense of closure.

If I come out the other end (of this journey) as a happy and healthy individual with an underlying sense of inner peace, then it will have all been worth it.

And if any part of my journey empowers or inspires, or even makes a few people reconsider their priorities, then that will be a bonus.


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