'Talking The Talk'.

Last week was a really busy one for me in my other role as a public speaker. It kicked off on Wednesday when I had to get up at the unearthly hour of 5am so I could travel to Bishop's Stortford High School to speak at a London 2012 Breakfast Seminar organised by 'Hertfordshire Is Ready For Winners'. It was a very well attended event with lots of local businesses represented to discuss the question,'What can the Olympics do for my business'? I spoke about my experience of sport and was well received. I met a lot of very interesting people. Afterwards I spoke to the students of the school about setting goals, having dreams and being the best we can. I really enjoyed the session and was delighted at the challenging questions the students asked me at the end. It all made for a great start to the day, which I ended with a gruelling 10 mile push along the cycle tracks of Harlow followed quickly by a relaxing bath.

On Friday it was off to Leisurezone in Harlow for an Olympic/Paralympic Presentation organised by Harlow MP Robert Halfon in conjunction with Essex Legacy 2012. There were a lot of guest speakers, including myself and Noel Thatcher MBE to represent the Paralympic viewpoint. This is a very important year and wouldn't it be great if public attitudes towards disability was changed and the excellence of Paralympic sport celebrated and enshrined from the very outset that the two games are equally valued. The motto may well be,'Faster!Higher!Stronger! It was a good occasion and it was really nice to hear so many positive views about what we can expect. I only hope the people in power can live up to their fine words. Again, I finished the day with a hard training session concentrating on my speed work then home to another relaxing bath to ease my aching muscles.

On Saturday I went out for a long push then came home and really enjoyed watching the IAAF Indoor Championships on TV. I was really inspired by Yamile Aldama, 39, winning Gold in the Triple Jump, and it was great to see Harlow man, Andrew Osagie winning Bronze in the 800m. I remember training with him when I was first starting out as a wheelchair racer on the old Harlow track. I was also delighted at the successes of Dwayne Chambers and Christine Ohuruoga. All in all it just goes to show how exciting athletics is and I can't wait for the Games to begin.

It was back to public speaking again on Sunday when I was a guest at a dinner organised by Integration Support Services to celebrate International Women's Day. The dinner was raising funds for this fantastic group who help refugees, asylum seekers and migrants to integrate into the community(www.iss.org.uk ). It was great to see women from all backgrounds let their hair down and boogie to all the tunes. It was a humbling experience to speak to these amazing and beautiful women. I didn't know what to say to them so I based my talk on women taking control of their own lives. I am a woman who has been set free from restrictions but it is only relatively recently that I have come to realise that gender equality is only the first step. If we are to succeed as women we have to stop seeing other successful women as a threat - we have to network, plot and co-operate better than men. 'Take no heroes, only inspiration.'

Finally,training has been going well but yesterday I had to 'limp' home after a road session because my tyre got punctured. Not to worry because I had to back the chair up and send it to its makers, Bromakin, for a much needed service. Until I get it back I'll be sweating in the gym

Your World Recruitment Agency.

One thing I will never get used to is the British weather! Training was going really well and I was looking forward to more road work when BAM! the weather suddenly changed. I was almost blown off the track by gale force winds and driving rain, and was forced back indoors for yet more sessions on the rollers and sweating in the gym. I really look forward to Spring and hopefully much better conditions because the serious competitions are only weeks away from starting and my goal is to be in peak condition.

As an athlete it's great to have strong support behind you and I have that with my family and my coach. However, wheelchair racing is a relatively expensive sport to participate in so I am delighted to have support from Your World Recruitment Agency. A few weeks ago I was invited to meet their staff and pictured above is 'Your World' CEO Tony. I'd like to thank them all for their help.

Life's A Gas!

It's been quite a difficult week for training because my usual running track at Mark Hall has been inaccessible due to a leaky boiler, so I have been forced to spend more time in the gym and out on the road. Fortunately, whatever was broken has now been fixed and my first track session was yesterday in a howling wind. Not good for speed work but at least I was back on track! After not seeing my coach for so long he greeted me as though I'd just got back from a long trip but he made sure the session was a tough one! He's a hard taskmaster.

I really enjoy doing roadwork though it can be very gruelling pushing ten miles. However, the bit I do enjoy is when I'm cooling down because that's when I meet so many interesting people. For example, last week I met a lady with four gorgeous white dogs. She told me they were Hungarian Commodores called Daz, Kez, Denis, and Oz. They have won several dog shows and are due to appear in another one soon. They took an instant shine to me and wouldn't leave me alone. I was chuffed. It's a shame they couldn't sing,'Three Times A Lady' in Hungarian.

I really learned a lot seeing the granny who took on the Health Minister and heckled him. One day the poor will have nothing to eat but the rich - and then there will be equality!!

'End Polio Now' Campaign

Yesterday I was invited to be the main guest at the,'End Polio Now' Campaign organised by Chelmsford Rotary Club. It was a great event and was very well attended, with 500 hundred people there. It was held at the Chelmsford Civic Theatre. Let me give a brief explanation of what the campaign is all about.

It was instigated by Bill and Melinda Gates, and because they are both Rotarians they invited 34,000 Rotary Clubs around the world to raise funds to help to eradicate polio. The campaign has been a hot one and and a great deal of money has been raised to vaccinate children in those countries of the world blighted by this awful disease. Yesterday as I took my place on the stage I felt very humble as a polio survivor who has continued to lead a very meaningful life - surviving polio is great, but even greater is vaccinating children so they don't contract the virus in the first place. I think my short speech went down well.

When I contracted polio as a small child in Kenya the villagers didn't have any idea what it was so calling it 'witchcraft' was the easiest option because that was something they could explain. As I grew up callipers and crutches were the standard solution to the immobility caused by polio so that is what I had to use to get around. 'Walking' in this way , as far as I knew, there was no one whose footsteps I could strive to follow in but I was determined not to let anything stand in my way of living a full and happy life. When I moved to the UK I discarded my callipers and crutches, not without some regret because I have always had a love/hate relationship with them. They have been as much a part of me as my skinny, sexy legs since I was four years old. They have caused me a great deal of pain and discomfort, but I respect them because they have got me to a lot of places and allowed me to do a lot of things that I wouldn't otherwise have been able to do. Using a wheelchair makes my body feel so light without all those steel and leather encumbrances. However, sometimes, when I want to be six feet tall,and sexy,I put on my callipers and polio boots and stand up on my crutches just to remind myself of how life used to be. I know that I will never forget them for as long as I live. When you have a disability, knowing that you are not defined by it is the sweetest feeling! It doesn't matter how the rest of the world looks at me because I KNOW I may never get a seat on the board because I'm in the WRONG chair but I also KNOW I'm intelligent, compassionate, driven, and still very sexy!

'Humour can break down barriers and melt prejudices'.('In My Dreams I Dance' p.78).

To finish on a sad note I was upset to hear of the death of Whitney Houston. Dying on our own is not what most of us would want. What are friends, family and relatives for but hey, who are we to judge others? Growing up in Kenya as a young teenager I used to try and copy her hairstyles. R.I.P.

Happy Birthday Tim!

Today is my sons birthday and I remember the day he came into this world pulled from my stomach. I looked at him and wondered where he could have fitted in my small stomach. Delivered prematurely yet he still weighed seven pounds, healthy and extremely beautiful. I remember looking at him when the midwife placed him in my arms, tears of joy streaming down my cheeks. I felt so complete as a woman. He was very white and had beautiful blue eyes, now he is transformed into a caramel coloured, brown eyed handsome boy, the joy of my life. I shall have to be careful later today when we cut his birthday cake and make sure I only take a small slice. I shall also remember that it was Tim's birth that set me on the path I follow today as an athlete.

The weather has definitely not been conducive to training outdoors so I've been training indoors on rollers and doing my strength and conditioning work. I miss being outside in the fresh air on the road. Let's hope the weather gets better soon so I can get out. To be honest, all my minor complaints are trivial compared to the suffering currently taking place in Syria. My heart goes out to all the men, women and children suffering so brutally at the hands of their own government and I cannot understand how the world can just sit back and watch it all unfold on their plasma tv screens! God show mercy!

Titanic Revisited?

Hello again everyone. Life has been so hectic since the holiday I feel I've barely had time to breathe let alone find time to maintain a blog. However, I know people like to keep up with what I'm doing so I've made the time today for a catch up.

Training has been going very well, and with the strong winds we've been having lately I am so glad I have rollers so I can put in the work indoors. However, I do love being outside on the track and doing my long pushes on the road so I will be really glad when the warmer weather finally arrives. Whatever the weather though I am determined to work really hard this year because it's such an important year for athletes.

Last week I had a few meetings in London to attend, one of which was an invitation to visit with Your World Recruitment Agency. It was very interesting to meet all the staff and be shown around their offices. It is always good to see how other people work hard in their own environments. Hopefully they will come to see me in my 'office' soon, though they'll have to leave their smart clothes in the dressing room and be prepared to sweat!

I have been following the tragic events that have struck the 'Costa Concordia' cruise ship. It is so sad that people who set off for a holiday of a lifetime have lost their lives and others have been totally traumatised by their experience. I can't help but think how I would cope in my wheelchair if anything like that happened to me, a whole cruise ship tipping onto its side and lying half submerged under the water. It reminds me of the film,'Titanic'! I hope to God there are no more deaths and the missing can be successfully rescued. Condolences to all those families who have lost loved ones.

Happy New Year 2012.

Well, here we are again at the end of yet another year but tomorrow is the start of a fresh year so it's a time to be positive.

Wouldn't it be great if we didn't let anything, or anyone, put us down in 2012 - if we know that the world loves us, we are valued and that's why we are here? So we should love life, be grateful, love ourselves, and let all that is full of love and compassion be ours! Have you ever received so much love that it changed your perception of the entire human race? Let us seek it.

I'm lucky to be here everyday to celebrate life and love deeply, so on this final day of the year I want to follow tradition and make a few resolutions;

I won't make promises that I won't keep.

I want to pay more attention to the small intuition that I have ignored in the past.

I want to continue to learn forgiveness more and more, for when we forgive we earn the key to rewriting our stories of success. Did you know that bearing a grudge wears us down so much?

I want to take more care with what I say to people for the tongue can hurt and the tongue can scar.

I want to love like I've never been hurt before.

I want to train even harder and enjoy my sport.

Life can be difficult and the trials of this life can test my obedience (to the resolutions and other things!) Oh please God, help me!

A Happy New Year 2012! May all your dreams come true.