It was a dream come true but my journey is just beginning
Athletics has always been prominent throughout my life. i remember as a kid watching the Olympic Games and being utterly in awe of the athletes.
More vividly, i recall watching the great haile Gebrselassie of ethiopia and Paul tergat of Kenya, battling to the line at the sydney Olympics 15 years ago.
i decided there and then, at the age of nine, that i wanted to be an athlete. Never in my wildest dreams did i believe athletics would end up moulding my entire life and that i would be competing in these prestigious events, travelling all around the world.
Not many athletes have the privilege of competing in a home games. i’ve been given the opportunity not once, but twice, which is completely surreal. the Glasgow 2014 commonwealth Games were beyond anything i could ever imagine.
the experience of london really educated me as an athlete and i felt i was prepared for anything. the reality is, you can do your best to visualise it all, walking out into the stadium with 40,000 scottish fans cheering your name, but the reality is a different story. You can’t prepare for it.
it’s a memory that i will cherish for the rest of my years and something i probably won’t experience again. the sound was deafening. it was a challenge to remain focused on the job at hand, but once your name is announced and the crowd responds it’s tough to remain emotionless.
standing on the start line, i started to feel a little overwhelmed but experience kicked in and i became oblivious to it all. Zoning out, i focused on my breathing and prioritised the feel of the track under my feet rather than the surrounding noise.
it’s always strange after a major championship as you become accustomed to living in a competition bubble. You stay in an apartment with fellow athletes, have set dining times to eat, laundry units and social areas.
it becomes a way of life with the outside world becoming a f aint memory. Once the Games end, it’s sometimes difficult to slip back into normal life again and many athletes go through a post- Games blues, struggling after all the excitement.
Being a part of the Games hasn’t created any change within my life apart from the fond memories i will always hold. Unfortunately after Glasgow, funding within athletics was cut and we no longer have financial support from scotland.
last year, i had six sponsors to help assist my 2014 journey. After the Games, i was left with two. in preparation for the 2016 Olympic Games, i’ll have one. Money is tight at the moment in all walks of life due to the current economic climate and unfortunately sport is hit hard too.
sadly, my 2015 season was brought to an abrupt halt after i broke my ankle at the beginning of the year. i now have seven pins in my left foot.
it will be a race against the clock, but i have confidence in my ability to get back healthy, fit and on that start line in Brazil.
looking ahead to the future fills me with excitement. i believe my journey is only beginning. Female athletes are competing well into their 40s, so i have a long time left in the sport.
i will certainly start to eye up the longer distances and, who knows, maybe i’ll end up competing at the 2020 Olympics in tokyo!
the prospect of competing in the same city where my mum won her World title in 1991 would mean the world to me. You never know, maybe i’ll be competing in the same event, the 10,000metres. But for now, my eyes are firmly fixed on Rio.