What doesn't kill you will make you stronger

The title of this blog could not be more apt for the long distance athlete Paula Radcliffe. After years of being a professional athlete she has celebrated huge professional highs, and huge professional lows. Who doesn't remember Paula sitting broken on the side of the road during the marathon at the Athens Olympics in 2000, mind willing but body completely unable to finish the race. She had failed to become the Olympic champion, the one accolade to elude her huge trophy cabinet. Paula is the world record holder at this gruelling event so the girl can run!

Paula is preparing for the World Championships in Berlin. She has been training overseas and has been seemingly quite quiet. She has had many an injury and we hope that she can make a successful comeback in a couple of weeks.

What I think is quite interesting in that even top athletes worry about what people think, and a less than 100% fit Paula competed in the Beijing Olympics and was determined to finish, not just for herself, but for the British public to see that she was not a quitter and avoid repeating what happened to her after Athens, a drubbing in the press which you wouldn't wish on anybody. Her finishing time in Beijing, by her standards, was painfully slow but for her it was a triumph to finish after the disaster that was Athens.

In a recent interview for Sport magazine ( August 7, 2009 issues 123) Sarah Shepherd reveals the woman behind the sportsperson and shows that Paula is one determined woman, who lives to run, and will find a way around any obstacle to allow her to continue to run, even if it means, changing her running style just to overcome problems with her big toe!

After reading the article in 'Sport' I was rather impressed by the quiet determination with which Paula approaches her sport. As a long distance runner, she does much of her training on her own. I guess after doing it for so many years her training regime must be an ingrained habit which if she didn't do would probably seem completely unnatural. I am sure that this is a habit that if you could bottle it you could make millions!

As the athletics' World Championships draw closer, all eyes will be on the British medal hopes, and these will of course include Paula, as long as she lines up at the start.