For anyone wanting to pursue this sport or any sport for that matter, this is my advice;
1) COMMIT to a goal, have a clear cut path of what you want and what you'll prioritise it above. If you want to be the best then you have to train on birthdays, Christmas, funerals, you'll train sore, you'll train tired, you'll train after work, before work, on your lunch break....you'll train rain, hail or the apocalypse....it doesn't matter... You'll train. You need to miss parties/movies/nights out with friends because you have to get your sleep, because your legs are screaming and your back is fried, and you NEED those 8/9/10 hours sleep. So define your goals and draw your line in the sand.
2) Find the people who want you to succeed and will understand what it takes. Training partners, friends, family and your other half will all have to be on board with your goals in some shape or form. The more time you spend with them, the more times they'll need to put up with your ********; sore, tired, early nights, right food, walking like John Wayne etc etc.
3) Learn your own body and how it responds to your training, you'll be ACHING all over, your body will be begging you to stop but you need to know when you can still push forward and take more punishment. Go too far and you'll get hurt, stop too soon and you'll fall short your dreams.
4) Control the food you eat and the sleep you get, this is every bit as important as the work you put in. THIS is the hard part. Eat well, sleep plenty and recover. It's annoying, it's boring but it is critical.
5) Believe in yourself and have someone at your back who'll believe in you when you don't.
So thank you Mum and Dad, thank you to my family, my friends, my training partners and most of all thank you Karis for always believing in me when I'm not sure I can go on.
For anyone with a dream that seems too big; you'll never know if you don't try and you've never tried until you've given it your everything.