Never give up...

It’s easier said than done. Some days are good, some are bad. Some days are a struggle, others are a breeze. But it happens to all of us. None of us are gifted with the prospect of having a fabulous day everyday, but, personally, I wouldn’t want that. It’s the difficult days that make us stronger, and shape us into stronger athletes.

My journey to BUCS XC has not been a simple one. I've battled with severe anaemia, being majorly under fuelled, and injury. At each of these points I could’ve stopped. I could’ve said enough was enough, as pulling out of every race halfway due to weakness was not what I had envisaged for myself. I battled back from the health difficulties only to be hit with a physical one. I knew the journey wasn’t going to be easy, but I was never going to give up. If I want to succeed within the sport, or anything in life, giving up is NOT an option.

There were points at which I doubted myself and thought I would never get to where I used to be, especially after my injury, but my love for running prevented me from ever giving up. If I did give up, I would never have got to be on this journey of seeing where I can get to. It’s tough, but it’s exciting. The hard times make the good ones even better and more deserved. Who knows where this journey will take me, it may be where I want, it may not, but unless I give 100% I will never know!

Collapsing over the finish line, not practicing my sprint starts!

Since coming back from my injury I had always felt like I was holding myself back in races. My self-confidence when racing hadn’t quite been there. But I told myself at BUCS XC last Saturday, I had put in the hard work and stuck with it when it may not have been easy, so if I can do that, I can put all the hard work into this race. Being only 6k I knew I didn’t have time to get into my pace, so I would have to push from the word Go. And I did. It was a true cross country race, and hilly to say the least, but, I loved it! I felt strong up the hills, and was able to use it to my advantage and overtake. I can honestly say I didn’t give up, I gave it everything. To have beaten my first performance at BUCS XC by 352 places shows me that every last bit of hard work was, and is, worth it. If I put my mind to it, and want something enough, it is achievable. I had no markers going into the race, but would’ve like top 40, so to come away with 18th was beyond my expectations!

It just goes to show, you don’t know what’s round the next corner, so never give up.