I’m a runner.

I run to keep fit.

I run to eat cake.

I run to fundraise.

I have body hang ups and downs like every woman who walks the planet.

I run to show those women they can run too.

I have worries and concerns.

I worry about my worries.

I work hard.

I don’t like failure.

I learn lessons and move on.

This weekend saw me try something new, switching my running shoes for a surf board.

The open road for the open sea.

I last visited this particular beach 22 years previous and all that had changed, was me.

I used to be worried about the unknown.

What if I couldn’t make it?

What if I don’t succeed?

And here I was, squished into a wet suit, without a care in the world that it accentuated all the wobbly body bits I tend to hide.

Board in hand, feet in sand and water swirling towards me.

I could do this.

Safe in the knowledge that I am trying.

I am trying something new, “throwing caution to the wind”, “giving it  a go” and “what will be will be”.

Being in the open water, no matter where on the planet seems to bring a sense of freedom.

There are no barriers.

No hills to overcome, no mountains to climb.

The waves can crash over you and pass you by.

They may sometimes be too strong, too big, too powerful.

They may make you cough and splutter, they may take your breath away.

Or you can chose to try and ride the wave, go with it, see where you end up.

Trying wont hurt.

No matter how many times that wave crashes over you, there will always be that one you catch.

That one wave that takes you soaring along to the shore.

You will feel that sense of achievement, that you didn’t give up, no matter how hard it was.

So whether it’s on land or sea…

You just have to wait for the right wave.