“The ability to continue trying to do something, although it is very difficult.”

My last race didn’t end at the finish line and I felt, even now at times, I had let myself and others down.

Am I a quitter?

No.

In life I have one rule.

Do not quit.

I apply this to everything I do, I will keep pushing and driving myself no matter what it takes to achieve.

I’ve been described as relentless.

I have this inner need to succeed, and If I say I am going to do something, I must see it through.

So how am I a not a quitter if I chose to finish my race 20km short of the finish line?

It was one of the toughest decisions to make, I didn’t want to, but I knew it was right.

If I had carried on I was risking my health, and without that I may never have seen the finish line, but I also may have never seen another start.

I didn’t quit, I just postponed the finish.

I not only ran 80km on one of the hottest days I have attempted to run, but I did it 5 hours quicker than the previous time I ran that distance.

More importantly I got to run again.

I have reflected and analysed over and over and still come up with the same answers…

What will I do differently next time?

It took me exactly seven days to get back out there and run.

I laced up my trainers and took myself off into the woods and countryside and just ran.

I ran the trails of familiarity, I ran the hills and pushed up and up until I reached the top.

There I stopped and stood, looking down at the path I had just snaked up, and breathed deeply.

Oxygen filled my gasping lungs and I knew I was back.

I had dusted myself off, I had tried again and I succeeded.

Quitting would be to not run again.

Quitting would be to not see another race through.

And that just wont happen.

In non running life so many things get in the way of our plans, but it’s how we over come them that makes us.

It’s not always at the finish line that you achieve.

The journey along the way is where the achievements lie.

The learnings, the experience and the growth. The overcoming of obstacles and finding your way to be the best version of yourself is where it’s at.

It may not be your original plan, it may not be the first route you set out on and it may take longer than you wished.

But one things for sure, by not stopping, you will always get there.