Today I got a message on Twitter from one of my followers telling me that as of 2pm she would be off school for the summer and this got me thinking about my days back in school.
I wasn't one of the 'in crowd' at school, far from it. I had my little circle of friends that i would have my lunch break with when I was in primary school who I had gone to nursery with and at the age of 5 think your going to be friends forever and ever...you soon realise this isn't always going to be the case.
I was very athletic at school. I was very much a 'tom boy' and I loved playing football the the boys and running around like a mad thing. When I got to the age of 7 I spent most of my lunch breaks doing sprint running on the playing fields and most nights after school I was allowed to stay and use the gym hall to practise my netball shooting skills. I was then noticed by the gym teacher that visited once a week and was told to stick at the running if this is what I enjoyed doing as I had a talent, and more importantly I was fast!
I became captain of the girls netball team and we went to competition after competition against other schools and for some it was a tuesday and thursday afternoon away from school but for me, it was all about the winning, and even at this age (I had only just turned 7 remember) I knew as the captain of the team it was up to me to make sure we all pulled together to win, to make all the training worth it but more importantly, to make our trainer and our parents that came to game after game proud of us. Like everything in life, we didn't win every match, we took our knock backs just like the rest of them but we won more than our fair share of tournaments.
When I got to the grand old age of 10 I was school champion for sports and won every race on sports day too (there was older kids competing against me so I was proud to win) and then I also won the following year aswell. This is when I knew I wanted to be involved in sports and had decided at the age of 10 that I was going to become an athlete in running.
I got to secondary school and was already known by the PE teachers there (it's amazing what information is passed on when leaving one school to go to another) and a lot of time and effort was put into me and my skills. I trained ALOT. Most lunch times I went up to the playing fields and did lap after lap around the running track in my trainers that let in water if it was raining. My parents weren't well off but they tried to provide as best they could for me and my older brother.
I was then asked my my PE teacher to compete in a cross country running event at a private school. I was very honoured to be given this opportunity to see how fast I really was against some pupils from other schools, I was delighted. The big day came, I was very nervous. My PE teacher came with me along with my brother and parents. I was just an ordinary kid amongst some of the most wealthy parents and their children in my region, very daunting but apart of me wanted to win this race so badly to show that someone from a working class background with not much money still has raw talent-this is when the hunger shows :)
Unfortunately I didn't win the race, but I picked up silver so out of over two hundred people, I didn't do too badly :)
My training continued and became more intense, no one put this pressure on me, no one asked me to train any harder it was all down to me. One lunch time I was up at the playing fields with my battered trainers leaking when I spotted out of the corner of my eye, my PE teacher. she was holding a box. She walked over to me and said, 'Susan, I think your going to need these' I opened the box and inside was a gleaming brand new pair of adidas running spikes. I was over the moon, my feet would be dry at long last and these were the bees knees :)
The competitions became more frequent and so did the medals. I travelled alot to different competitions, I met Jonathan Edwards-the triple jumper which was an amazing experience to meet someone as famous as he was at the height of his career.
This dream of running and being an athlete wasn't to last though, I got a very bad left knee injury, I had to go for many scans, takes lots of pain killers and the most heartbreaking news was given, that my knee ligaments had worn and there was no support for my knee cap any longer and this is why I was getting so much pain.
I was told under doctor and hospital instructions to rest for three months, no sport no nothing, this was my worst nightmare, I felt my whole world come crashing down at the age of 15 but I did what I was told and rested. I was in the middle of doing standard grade PE and now couldn't take part in sport and was worried how this was going to affect my grade but I was reassured not to worry and rest. After three months of rest I had another scan and then began physiotherapy. I went back to playing sport but six months later and nothing was really improving. More scans and more physio. I had to then wear a knee support, which let me tell you, they aren't that comfy and make your leg very hot and itchy!!!!
Being a profesional athlete was what I had dreamed of, and had been my life since the age of 7 but by the age of 16 it was a dream I had to accept wouldn't come true. My knee wouldn't recover and the operation the hospital wished to do had too many risks for me to go through with it. The day I was told by the hospital and physiotherapist that I couldn't continue doing sports on a full time basis was probably one of the hardest days of my life to date. Not only was it the end of my dream, but to the PE teachers that put so much time and energy into my training, I felt like I had let them down big time!!
Its taken me along time to pick up some running gear again but at the end of last year I thought I should give it a bash. The first time I put on my adidas spikes (the same pair my I add) was January this year (2011) 'that' feeling is still there and I don't think it will ever go away.
I have a half marathon in September which I am very much looking forward too. It will be an amazing atmosphere and the support of the spectators at any sporting event is overwhelming. It will be ten years since I've been it this type of crowd so I'm sure it will be emotional. I haven't thought of a time I want to complete it in, I'm doing it for fun this time but more importantly to raise money for my chosen charity and give them a helping hand.
Some days I reflect back and ask myself if I should of done things differently. Alot of people told me not to train has hard as I did as my body was still developing but it was and still is my passion. I don't regret how much training I did, because it was something I was good at but my advise to anyone now is everything in moderation!! Some dreams for reasons out with your control, sometimes have to be just that...a dream.
Until next time
SC xo
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