Today I competed in the fourth fixture of the Under 11 District League at Mandeville School in St Albans. Having won the first three races of the season, I arrived determined to protect my 100% winning record.

Since returning from Dubai over Christmas, I have struggled with my running after being severely unwell. January included a few performances that were below my usual standard while I was still recovering. However, over the past few weeks I have trained hard and consistently, and today I was eager to see whether my form had truly returned.

Today I competed in the Herts Schools Cross Country Championships at St Margaret’s School in Bushey. It was a big event, with around 150 girls racing in the Year 5 category.

Going into the race, I wasn’t overly confident. Over the past few weeks I’ve raced at York House and Beechwood, and my performances haven’t been at my usual level because I’m still recovering from the severe illness I had over Christmas and early January while I was away in Dubai. I knew I wasn’t at peak fitness, but I still wanted to compete and give everything I had.

Today I ran at Beechwood School for their cross-country fixture. The race was supposed to be 1.8 km, but due to an organisational mistake it was shortened to 1.62 km. Unfortunately, that didn’t really work in my favour, which I’ll explain.

Since the York House race nearly two weeks ago, I’ve definitely been feeling stronger. However, my training times are still slower than they were before Christmas, so I know I’m not back to peak fitness yet. Even so, I felt stronger than last time and was excited to race again to see if I could improve on my fourth-place finish.

Today I ran in the York House cross country event, which is usually a 1.85 km race for the Under 11 girls at York House School. Normally, I would feel confident going into a race like this and would have a strong chance of winning. However, this time was very different.

Over Christmas I was extremely ill. I had severe vomiting, couldn’t keep any food down, and had a very high fever. I had only properly recovered two days before this race, so I knew I was nowhere near peak fitness. Realistically, I understood this race had come far too soon for me to perform at my best.