British women being great

Right now you don’t have to look far to find a British woman doing something extraordinary in sport. As a dad to a daughter, that fills me up.

Last week Aimee Cringle won the CrossFit Games in California, the first British woman crowned Fittest on Earth since Sam Briggs in 2013. 20 events across four days, including winning the 1RM deadlift with 193kg. Partway through they threw in triple-unders, where the rope passes under your feet three times for every jump, and most of the field started tripping; Aimee just kept going and the gap cracked wide open.

At the same time Sophie Woods, running for Great Britain, is crossing the Alps on foot. Starting in Trieste, finishing in Monaco, roughly 2,000km, and on track to break the record by a week. That’s the best part of 63km a day, climbing the height of a mountain range most days while she’s at it.

And this week in Glasgow, a 19-year-old called Ruby Evans won Commonwealth gold on the floor for Wales. She’d fallen off the beam days earlier and watched her medal shot vanish. So she pulled out of another final, put everything into her strongest event and delivered when it mattered.

Here’s the bit I want you to hear.

If you’re reading this wondering if it’s too late or you’re simply too busy, these women aren’t here to make you feel small.

Your version doesn’t have to be a world title. It might be lacing up your trainers on a wet Tuesday when you’d rather not. That still counts, and it’s the same thing they did on day one.

So this one’s for the person who keeps saying “when things calm down.”

They won’t. Start anyway.

A quote worth sitting with

“You don’t have to be great to start, but you have to start to be great.”

— Zig Ziglar

Every one of those women had a day one where they had no real idea what they were doing.

The Saturday Standard

The Long Way

This weekend, go long.

No stopping between the pieces.

It isn’t technical and it isn’t clever. It’s built to find out whether you’ll keep moving once it stops being fun, which is the whole point.

What’s happening with me

This week I was guest on my first podcast, a show called the Big Life Pivot.

An hour talking about yourself turns into a proper reflection point, whether you plan for it or not. It made me appreciate where I was a few months ago and where I am now.

It’ll be live in the coming weeks and I’ll share it when it’s out.