Sat here, month four into lockdown number three, I say four months, it could be fourteen months, it could be 4 weeks, or years, I'm not the best at counting as many will verify, so quite frankly I've given up trying.......anyway I digress....often, and more so during lockdown with no gyms, no competitions and none of our normal ways of life, it’s easy to slip into a shroud of negativity, doubt and other peoples arguments.

But alas sometimes a simple message through social media can bring it all back, when someone takes the time

out of their day to tell you how much you've inspired them.....that happened today....Sue came upstairs to say she had received a message through Instagram to say we were the reason she kept going and that she was thinking of competing........and this brings me onto the focus of this blog.....

"When will I be ready?"

Now, put this as a question on your Instagram story and you'll be hit with a variety of answers all based on people’s

opinions and experiences, and that is fine, I'm merely going to give mine......"if you keep asking, you'll never be ready"...which isn't meant to sound as harsh as it does.

We seem to have got caught up in a mindset of only entering competitions when we're ready to win them!.. when

did we get here? people seem afraid to fail...but therein lies the problem...it isn't failing.....don't think of coming last or failing, think of it as learning.....and I always say, you learn a lot more from failing than you ever

will winning...

So, here is my advice, enter that damn competition, if you're looking at competitions, then you're ready....you can look for novice competitions, small local competitions or you can do what I did and enter Emirates Strongest Woman in only your second ever comp. Truth is it doesn't matter, it doesn't matter if you come last, you had the balls to put yourself out there, believe me a lot of people talk the talk, but not a lot are prepared to walk the walk.

This is why Strongwoman is great, Strength comes in all different shapes and sizes, and unlike bodybuilding where the "am I ready?" comes down to bodyfat, muscle striation and aesthetics, Strongwoman is pure physical and mental strength, and a strength you won’t know you have until you test it.

Take me, invited to a Pro show - no weight categories, I'm up against the likes of Rhianon Lovelace and Rebecca Cumpsty and a whole host of names probably not released yet....."am I ready?"....In the cold light of day of course I'm

bloody not, they're half my age, been doing it longer, are already pros, I'm old.....hear the negative self-talk coming in?.......but....and this is a big but....when the hell will I ever have the chance to pit myself against lb for

lb the strongest woman in the world?.....the log press record holder?.....probably never....so I’m grasping this opportunity with both hands....and running with it.........now my advice to you in this......

Enter that comp...and bloody, run with it.... because you never know where it will lead.............................