Saturday saw the beginning of my 2008 mountain bike race season: it was the first race of the British National Points Series held in Thetford Forest, Suffolk. And, ouch, it was a hard welcome back.

However, I owe a lot to my coach who had not only prepared my legs for this but, more importantly, had encouraged me to see a tense and nervous situation positively and with more calmness.

I love mountain biking; I really do. I love being on my bike and enjoying the freedom it brings. I needed to apply this love to my racing too. And, I did. Thetford should have been my most challenging course – it demands a lot of continuous power - but when it hurt, which was from lap one onwards (there were five), I consciously reminded myself why I enjoy this sport so much. The quick, flowing Thetford single track did help.

This isn’t just true for racing. There are days when the weather is grey, grim and ghastly. There are times when my legs don’t want to turn the pedals anymore. There are moments when effort is needed to even leave the house! However, what I have learned this weekend is that can’t won’t.

From now on, when I’m on my bike and it’s starting to hurt, I’m going to think about happy things: hot summers’ days; blue skies; my lovely bicycle; my garden; my cats; my husband (sometimes!) – not necessarily in this order. I need to remember what it is that mountain biking gives to me: I’m not stuck in a classroom teaching 11.4 or sat at my desk marking papers, I’m outside pushing my body … and now my mind.