For weeks now I’ve been struggling to find the time, inspiration and words for a blog post that would be worth sharing. I’ve been putting unnecessary pressure on myself until I realised that it doesn’t need to be epic, it just needs to be me.
So here goes….
I’ve been a busy little bee since the last blog post in November. I’ve been working at getting sponsors so that the expedition will actually happen, which is a lot harder and time consuming than it sounds...especially when juggling it with a full time job and training.
Most days consist of waking up early, working until 5-6pm, then rushing home to grab a pre workout snack or shake before heading out to the gym or the park to do some strength, endurance or x-country ski training. And whilst I am getting noticeably stronger I am beginning to understand that this is a process that is going to take time, patience, rest and lots of resilience.
Truth be told, I have struggled at times with feelings of insecurity with regards to approaching people and companies to ask for sponsorship; with the fear that I wouldn’t raise the money in time for the expedition; with fatigue which meant I had to take a week or two at a time out of training to recuperate when I’d pushed myself too far and not rested; with the fear that I wouldn’t be ready for the expedition from a fitness point of view; and with figuring out the right nutritional balance for my body as my protein intake needs change.
I realised quickly that these struggles were getting me down and that is one thing I simply couldn’t afford. The truth is that this journey is going to have its fair share of struggles and setbacks. That there will be times when I will want to give up and when I will be told I should give up; there will be times when my body or my work schedule won’t cooperate with my training plan. In short, there will always be a totally legitimate reason why I should just walk away from it all.
In spite of all that I have decided that I simply will not give in. After all, my cause and goal are well worth it! So I will keep on taking things one day at a time. I will not allow my fears to keep me tethered or my struggles to clip my wings. In the face of all adversity I will keep on fighting, keep on trying, and keep on believing in myself.
And thankfully it’s not all been negative. I have met some pretty incredible people who have forever changed my perspective on life; I’ve had total strangers encourage me more than they’ll ever know; my family and friends have been beyond amazing at keeping me on track and most importantly I’ve relished getting stronger, surprising myself at just how much I can achieve when I set my mind on something.
There can be no gain without effort and in the words of the new Nike advert…’Nothing beats a Londoner’!
My weekly battle with the 60kg tyre at the gym..so far it's winning but one day soon I'll kick its butt!