Have you ever wanted to challenge yourself to remain focussed in something and not sure how to achieve it? This is exactly how I felt in 2013. After 6 months of having Personal Training and losing nearly 3 stone, I still had another 6 months before the weight loss deadline of my sister’s wedding. As I had done so well very quickly, I knew I would struggle to stay committed if I didn’t have something in the short term to remain focussed on.

A friend suggested taking on a challenge for charity as a way of keeping dedicated to my fitness. My previous annual fundraisers had been standard events like quiz nights so participating in something so big initially felt so daunting. I decided on the National 3 Peaks Challenge and I enlisted 16 other work colleagues to take it on with me.
Within a few weeks of signing up with Challenge Central, I tore my cartilage 3 times in my knee (non-training related injury) which took me out of the 3 Peaks. At this point, I could have quite easily given up on my fitness challenge through self - pity and frustration however with my new found love for training and the fact I still had my sister’s wedding to stay in shape for, I knew I had to remain committed.

Working with my Personal Trainer, we found some exercises I could still do until my surgery date and concentrated on strengthening as many muscles as possible without aggravating the injury. My work colleagues continued to train hard for the event and when it was their time for the challenge to take place, I still travelled with them and gave positive, motivational support from the side-line.

Post-surgery training, my sister’s wedding and a re-scheduled 3 Peaks challenge was enough to keep me committed to my training. As the months progressed, I started to approach being mountain-fit. A few bumps in the road with some other minor injuries were not going to get in my way and in June 2014, I completed the 3 Peaks Challenge in just over 27 hours raising over £1,000 (over £7,000 including my colleague’s fundraising) for Myeloma UK.

I believe everyone needs a challenge to work towards and of course the type can come in various forms. No matter the reason, to have something to work towards I think does help people keep motivated and focussed on the matter in hand. For me and at that time, an extreme challenge was required however even now I still require a form of challenge to keep me committed. In 2016, I plan to complete the Welsh 3 Peaks challenge and hopefully the Yorkshire 3 Peaks challenge so my persistence to stay determined in my training is imperative.