Eating the elephant

A question I am often asked is how do I approach running a very, very, long way.

It’s a mammoth task. But the answer is one step at a time

A 250km trail run is a long way, even over seven days and six stages. Virtually six marathons in a week seems incredibly challenging, especially carrying a pack on your back with all your supplies for a week. When I put my foot up against the start line, I don’t think about the finish line some 250km away. I think about the things that will motivate me to take my first step, and each step after that. 

Some of these ‘things’ are practical things. Quite boring things like the kit I’ve packed, the months of training I’ve done, my strategies to avoid blisters or manage the pain that might stop me before the end. I tend to limit my thoughts on the boring stuff. Instead I focus on things that inspired me to challenge myself again. These are the people I love, the people that have helped me along the way, and all of their messages of support and encouragement. I carry these thoughts with me from my very first step to the last. In fact, at times these thoughts carry me.

I get to the start line - which is a tough journey in itself - because I love exciting adventures and I thrive on the sense of achievement that comes from a challenge. I also get to the start because I have diabetes, not in spite of it.

Many people, including me, find that life with diabetes can at times be a very big challenge in itself. JDRF do great work raising awareness and supporting research for people living with type 1.

I’ll always be at a start line to prove to myself that I am still #fitterforhavingit. ‘It’ is what got me there.