Failure is okay and all just part of life progression....so why do we beat ourselves up about it? There is a lot of pressure on those with influence to never show failure or any sign of weakness yet ultimately we are all human – we all have those moments of joy and similarly those moments that we would rather not share with others through fear of judgement. 

Through my own journey, I try and allow enough time to share my failures, as well as my successes. Through failure, we have evolved from cavemen to those with robotic limbs. After all, a failure is just an opportunity to improve, no? 

There's nothing worse than walking across the road, for your foot to suddenly fall off. It has happened to me, as well as hundreds/thousands of amputees and it can be really quite embarrassing. It's really important for a leg to stay attached, as well as being as comfortable as possible while feeling secure with every step. 

With the release of the 2018 Tough Mudder obstacles, I can't wait to get out on course and I find myself struggling to sleep with excitement. With 19 Tough Mudders under my belt, I am quite used to whichever obstacle is thrown at me. Having said that, I noticed a remarkable difference in how easier the obstacles were, once I had received my prosthetic leg. Who would have thought that having two legs would make obstacles easier? Hm.....

Here's what I think about the 2018 Tough Mudder obstacles:

Do you ever walk into the gym and feel intimidated by large muscles, foam rollers and fitness buffs? That was me when I first started going to the gym. I was worried about people judging my smaller weights or my ever-improving form. I was too scared to go into the weights area to just experiment with some free weights so I spent my time on the machines, not seeing much progress.

I struggled to stay motivated and I was stuck without 'gains.' I never really wanted to be really muscly but just wanted to lose weight and get stronger. Fortunately for me, I have always been very talented at falsifying confidence so I was able to step into a gym without a problem - it was just the free weight area. 

As we have now officially entered 2018, the phrase 'New Year, New Me' comes out. Rarely do we ever hear 'New Year, New Leg' but the reality is that statistics show that approximately 185,000 people (in the US) have a lower limb amputation each year (1). 

Although many of those individuals may not be able to use a prosthetic leg, there are thousands of prosthetic legs being manufactured, customised and fitted in 2018. With that in mind, with the help of an amputee forum, I will try and explain how it feels to walk on a prosthetic leg.