Victoria

'A few years ago I suffered a broken femur. At the time I was unaware of the mental and physical consequences this would have on me, but hindsight is a useful thing. In the short-term, it knocked my confidence in my body’s ability to perform. It took a couple of operations and years of physio to re-gain full health. In the long-term, this changed how I view bodies and health. It had felt like a mental battle rather than a physical one. Running transformed my appreciation of what we can train our bodies to mentally and physically do for us. Pressure on body image is huge - I first truly felt this when dealing with the scars from my injury. It is difficult in this day and age to appreciate that all bodies are different - and therefore that comparison is just plain unhelpful. I personally think the key to positive body mentality is to view your body as a machine through which you function - you don’t define your friends by their bodies, so why define yourself by yours? Feed it sensibly, let it exercise, let it rest, and mental and physical wellbeing tends to fall into place.'