Former GB international Colin McCourt on why 'your only limit is you'

Wow, we are at week 7! We are in Scotland and my running is starting to turn a corner. I am consistently running 6:30 miles now and I am feeling great, full of good vibes and have found some great routes around where we I live. The only annoying thing is that’s it's so hilly around Hamilton!

There is this one hill, let’s call it Mount Kilimanjaro, and it’s a beast. I have to finish every run up it and it makes me almost cry every time I see it. I’ve thought a few times about finishing my runs at the bottom of it, but walking up is even worse as it drags it out longer!

So this week I’ve been doing a lot of thinking and the following is where my head and thought process is at right now.

'Your only limit is you'. This is a phrase I say a lot in my head now. What I am about to say, most people will think 'nope, it’s not true, it's talent, I can’t do that, I can’t be that fast, they are just better than me, you are different from me...' Now, every human is different, I will give you that. However, we all have the ability to be and do whatever we want. My mum tells me you can be anything you want to be in life and when you are little you want to be a superhero, a world champion, an astronaut...

No dream you have when you are a kid seems impossible. Then, the older you get, the more unrealistic your dreams become for some reason. You give up on being a superhero to work 9-5 in an office and before you know it you are 32 years old weighing 94kg -  a million miles from the dream and life of being a professional athlete.

???Day-72 ??? Tempo done ran 2mile tempo 1st mile 5.22 2nd mile 5.27. then 3mins jog recovery then 1 mile tempo at 5.15 . ??? I am so happy with how that session went it was nice and relaxed I felt in full control! Right let me know how your day has gone what training have you got up 2 let's talk about it below! ????? @on_running

A post shared by Colinmccourt (@colinmccourt) on Apr 10, 2017 at 11:43am PDT

I’m not living the life I thought I would have when I was 10. In fact, I can’t even imagine what that 10-year-old would say to me now. Probably to stop drinking but still eat pizza, just not every night. Actually, I think my 10-year-old self would love a pizza diet, but not the beer.

Seriously, though, I think he would be disappointed I gave up on my dream and that I didn’t give it my all to see how good I could be. Don’t get me wrong, I am very happy - I have a beautiful girlfriend and beautiful baby boy and both I wouldn’t change for the world.

I just wish I hadn't given up on my dream.

I don’t know if this bet will take me anywhere, I just know it’s changing my life one day at a time. I was 94kg 70 days ago and I am now 78kg and able to run 5:30 miles back to back! I was 8:30 minute miling in February (just check Strava.)

I guess I am just saying that everything takes time. You might not lose that weight or run that time you want straight away, however it will happen as long as you keep trying and keep doing something.

Keep dreaming, unleash your inner child and remember your only limit is you!

» You can read more on Colin’s challenge here. Look out for regular blog posts from Colin on athleticsweekly.com, while you can also follow his journey on Instagram here