On Saturday, I was a runner. A mother. A teacher. A person whose identity was built on movement — half marathons, daily runs, GAA matches, school sports days, bike rides, endless errands, laughter, and action. Sport was how I connected with my kids. How I reached my students. How I processed stress. It wasn’t just something I did — it was who
We talk a lot about women in sport—performance, dedication, funding, equality, and visibility. But we rarely talk about what happens when it all stops—suddenly, without warning. Today I want to start sharing my Achilles rupture recovery journey with you. Just days ago, I was a busy, active mum of two, juggling a full-time career, sports, and community life, fitting workouts
So, here we are at the start of week 14. Day 98, to be precise. Which, honestly, feels weirdly huge and tiny at the same time. 98 days! That’s nearly 100! People say you can change your life in 100 days—well, I don’t know about life-changing, but I have changed.....
Cue the confetti, cue the marching band, cue the tiny dance party in my living room — it’s been 100 days since my surgery! One hundred. I can’t quite believe it. Some days, it felt like I was crawling through treacle, glued ankle and all, imagining myself walking on water.....
Day 102 – The Best Day Yet (No, Really!) Fourteen weeks and four days post-surgery — today felt like a real milestone in my recovery. Physio day! I walked in a little nervous, a little excited, and very eager to show all the hard work I’ve been doing — my.....
This week, the gym officially got serious… or at least it thinks it’s serious. We’ve introduced a new mode of exercise: machinery. Not the intimidating kind, though—just a small pedaling machine that looks harmless. Add to that our two and three kilo weights (yes, serious, serious stuff), and suddenly we’re.....
Sixteen weeks today.Sixteen weeks of rehabbing this Achilles. Sixteen weeks of exercises, wobbling, crutches, boots, and the slow, sometimes frustrating progress of learning to walk again properly.Sixteen weeks of thinking, “Surely this is the easier part?”And then realizing — yet again — that no, this is the hard few weeks......
My First Night Back in Cork in Four Months — And the First Night I Truly Felt Like Myself Again Today ended up being more eventful — and more meaningful — than anything I’ve done in months. It began with my daughter’s Cork trials at midday, followed by the two.....
Here we are at Week 17. I honestly thought this would be the stage where I’d fling the duvet off, hop out of bed, and glide into a gentle slow jog — or at least a confident shuffle.But nope. Not even close. From a distance, it looks like I’m walking.....
You know when you’ve had a week… and you’re just quietly whispering to the universe, “Please don’t let me have another one of those again”?Yeah. That was Week 18. Christmas is practically banging on the door, Mariah Carey is warming up her vocal cords, and I—drumroll please—can walk. Technically. Sort.....
It’s Christmas. Apparently. I keep forgetting this fact, because my injury happened at the end of July and it honestly feels like my life has been put on pause. Like one of those streaming services asking, “Are you still watching?”Yes. I am. I’ve been watching this ankle for 133 days......
I love Christmas.I really, really do. It’s my favourite time of the year. I love the lights, the smell of the house when something is simmering on the hob for far longer than necessary, the excuse for extra cups of tea, and the feeling that, for a few days at.....
New Year’s Eve is coming up. Not in a sequins-and-staying-up-late kind of way, more in a well, we made it sort of way. This year feels different. Not bad, just different. Recovery has a way of changing how you see time. Days feel longer. Progress feels tiny. But when you.....
I Put the Christmas Decorations Away Properly This Is Not the Success Story You Think It Is I need to say this out loud, if only to hear how ridiculous it sounds: This year, I put the Christmas decorations away properly. I know.I barely recognise myself either. Not the usual.....
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