I have had a hard past few weeks: it’s coursework and exam time. And, I work in a demanding and successful comprehensive school where the pressure is relentless in ensuring we exceed last year’s results. It’s an enjoyable and challenging environment and I have really missed getting out on my bike.

However, riding and racing my mountain bike complements my approach to working.

You see, I am an Assistant Head of English (hence the plagiarised literary titles of all my blogs!) and have a lot of responsibility when it comes to achieving results. But, I have noticed that I have this extra energy and focus in comparison to many of my colleagues and I owe this to being an athlete. Recently, I have spent many after-school hours administering coursework and result predictions. However, all those hours I have spent in the wind, rain, hail on the Kentish marshes and pushing my body to the limit in training and races have paid their dividends in my ability to deal with the pressures brought by my work. I have played hard and can therefore work hard and understand why my Head Teacher is so supportive of the athletes he employs.

The down-side has been that the challenges of my job, I haven’t yet been able to apply to my racing! (Although, the on course aggression fails to rustle me – I teach teenagers, after all!) My most recent race, the British NPS at Drumlanrig Castle was very hard. I began as a teacher and not an elite athlete. I have huge respect for the women who are able to get out there (putting aside their working lives and other external pressures) and compete at such high levels. It’s an art I’ve yet to master … but I will!

I’m a mountain biker.

Oh, I will!