It can be tough when you give 110% of yourself day in day out – coaching is no exception.
I think you neglect yourself because you have so many other people to worry about and you are the last person on the list and that can be when things fall apart! What I came to realise is that your health is the most important thing.
I guess that is the type of person I am and always have been. During my sporting career I pushed myself hard and always wanted to get the best performance possible, I never gave up until I crossed the finish line no matter what position I was in. Usually near the back coming out the water! I got used to that and knew that if you were determined enough and didn’t give up on yourself then you could make an impact on the race. It paid off and i still have some great results to look back on!
So back to the coaching, this year has been a tough year for me although I would never want to admit it myself. I was trying to do some bike racing last year and managed a 14th place in the British National Road on limited training and a virus. However it was after that where I really started having some health issues, I had taken myself to hospital, doctor’s appointments only to find nothing. I had constant headaches and dizziness and was feeling unwell for a long time. I tried to push through and carried on working long days and giving it all to my athletes. This really wore me down to the point of exhaustion, so I went for further tests only to be diagnosed with Glandular Fever. I read up on this and it seemed strange as my energy didn’t seem as low as it should be according to the sickness. So I made further investigations and nothing, in fact I had a head scan, breast scan due to a lump they found, and further blood tests to find NOTHING!
Of course you can imagine how frustrating this was for me so I wanted answers why I was feeling so strange. My sister took me to this naturopath where they diagnosed me with a ‘nasty middle ear infection’ in his words! Been there for a while and could have got worse if had not been diagnosed. Interesting, this all adds up now and finally some answers. So since early April I have been on medication and things are starting to lift and clear up.
It was a tough winter for me and decided I need to take some time for myself to really get back to being myself again. Thank you to all my family & close friends for getting me through this tough time – you have all been great.
