I Wanna Be Elected.

As I woke up this morning I was pondering about what a precious privilege it is to be alive - to breath, to think, to enjoy, and to love and be loved. Each day I learn more about how to enjoy every minute of life, and something that really aids this process is being around positive people because at times our own light goes out but can be rekindled by a spark from the energy of others. All of us have suffered in the past but it is very important that we shouldn't allow our past to define our present and our future. Now that's what I call a philosophical start to the day!

As usual life has been busy but I have to be honest and say I haven't been putting in the amount of training I should have done at this stage of the year. I can't blame it all on the bad weather, or the fact I sustained a neck injury that was extremely painful and debilitating and made me miss my favourite half - marathon at Silverstone the other week. However, as ever, my self will and determination will overcome all the setbacks, starting this coming Sunday when I will be competing in the annual St.Clare's Hospice 10k . As part of a prize that we donated to AbleChild Africa I did  a training session down in Kingston with the prize winners, Larissa and Leah Lockwood, and the other part of the prize, arguably the best part, was to meet with David Weir. I think they both enjoyed themselves, and I certainly enjoyed the short training session I did with the youngsters that David is training with his coach, Jenny Archer.

Another election is currently being held in Rome and the Catholic world awaits with baited breath for the baffling smoke signal to rise whitely from the Vatican,where 115 cardinals are in secret conclave casting their ballots. Is it true that religious leaders are appointed by God and politicians are elected by humans?? I would love to be a fly on the wall inside the Sistine Chapel, knowing I'd be safe from being swatted as those Cardinals in their finery concentrate on who will be next among them to wear the ring of St.Peter. Could God be preparing an African for this role ??

Stoke Mandeville.

I went to the meeting at Stoke Mandeville a week or so ago and was disappointed to find the wind was against us so the times I did were not up to my usual standard. However, it was my first competitive track meeting of the season and it was good to get back on the track and racing. Hopefully my times will improve with hard training. I've continued to work really hard and did a really good session down in Kingston with Jenny Archer on Saturday. I'm hoping to get down there again later this week.
On Sunday it was my birthday and I was absolutely delighted to get a phonecall from my dad in Kenya telling me that three men from a polio organisation here in the UK had turned up at his homestead that morning. They wanted my dad to show them the places they had read about in my autobiography, 'In My Dreams I Dance', and also to fill them in on the things they had read about in more detail. They told my dad he was an excellent role model for the parents of disabled children and that made him feel justly proud. I was so happy that my dad was getting some recognition for the wonderful parenting he had shown me growing up. It made my day! A birthday to remember.
So, I'm off to Mark Hall for some more training and I'm really looking forward to returning to Switzerland later this month for some top class competition.