lymesurvivor

The Struggle is REAL!

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!

My weekly battle with the 60kg tyre at the gym..so far it's winning but one day soon I'll kick its butt!