Introduction

The national cross-country championship is a race held at Parliament Hill in London. This race is the national race for the age categories under 13, under 15, under 17, junior adults and senior adults. It is an event where each competitor enters with the club they are associated with. I am currently associated with a small club called the Weald tri club in the Southeast region. because it’s a small club I was the only one racing for my team apart from Sophie an under 13 girl who is one of my best friends.

Traveling up to the Race

Because we had to travel a long way to get to the race I had to get up a 6.30am! We loaded our kit into the car and then we travelled to the train station where I met with my friends Sophie and Ollie. We bought our tickets and then boarded our train and found our friend Charlie and his dad. Charlie was racing for Tonbridge instead of the tri club!

Once we got to London bridge we got on the underground to West Hampstead. It was very crowded on the underground as it was a weekend. We couldn’t even find a seat! When we got off we went to the overground. I didn’t even know that the overground existed until then! We went to Gospel oak which is right by the race venue.

At the Venue

When we got to the venue my Dad went to get our numbers while Ollie and I set up the tent and went to walk the course. The course was VERY muddy and wet all around so I ended up wearing 12-millimetre spikes in my shoes!

Start

At the start they made us all stay by a big tent, after a little we went through to the actual start. When the gun went off everyone was pushing and shoving roughly. I was away OK until someone pulled me back and I was then swallowed by the rest of the pack leaving me in around 100th place.

This time there was no negative thoughts. All I was thinking about was catching up on the time that I lost on the other competitors.

Second Field

On the second field, I overtook a good 20 to 30 people. I also went past one of my kent teammates James. I was still overtaking loads of people. I then got onto the biggest hill! I was overtaking loads of people! They made us run over a whole load of pine needles and little bits of wood. This was horrible underfoot. Also, this field was probably the muddiest out of them all!

Halfway

Coming onto the third field we had to go through a big puddle. I was very muddy and wet! My feet got very muddy running through it! It was also muddy leading up to the puddle so lots of people lost their shoes. I was about 20th going through the puddle and I was still overtaking all the time. We had to go around a big field and then up a small hill.

Final Part

On the last bit, I made my way into 10th. I was running really hard to see if I could catch the small group in front of me. I managed to get past most of the runners before the final sprint. I was working really hard to try and catch as many as possible. It was very muddy under my feet so I was a bit careful.

The Final Sprint

In the last sprint, I was working really hard. I was paranoid that someone would catch me at the end so I was going as fast as I could. I was going to settle for 8th but I then saw that the person in front of me was struggling. I pushed really hard and just managed to get past him to take seventh! The last corner was muddy but the final sprint wasn’t too bad.

At the end my friends and I went to find Alex Yee! We found him and we got a photo!

Thankyou very much for reading my blog. If you want to see a video on it I created one on my youtube so you can watch it there!

I went to the Kent schools Cross country Championships with my friends Sophie and Ollie! I was doing the year 8 and 9 race so I was racing some people a year above me! The race was at a hop farm in Paddock Wood. I am going to be doing a rundown of my race. if you want to watch a video on it then go follow my youtube (link down below).

Start

At the start, I was lined up next to my good friend Ollie on my left and a boy double my size to my right. I am normally not that nervous at the start of a race but today was different. I guess I was nervous about racing people older than me. While we were waiting for the start I thought to myself “I will not let anyone take my spot at the start”. After a little while, the hooter went and we started It was really hectic at the start as everyone was pushing and shoving. “no no no no!” I thought. I was boxed near the back of the pack. I could see the first group getting further and further away.

“You failed.” “You suck.” “You thought you would be in the top 3?” Negative thoughts filled my head. Luckily, The pack split and I managed to get away from the middle group. I ran away from the third pack. I caught up to the second pack that was starting to split up into lots of smaller groups. The front-load of runners from the split ended up catching the first group leaving me in eighth. I then pushed on with two boys from the club Blackheath and Bromley AC.

The middle of the race

In the middle of the race, I caught up to two boys who were in front. The leader was a long way ahead so I was focusing on dropping the others that came with me. We easily overtook the two boys who went in front and I was now trying to drop the others. I got a gap on all of them apart from one boy, Lukas. Lukas has been dominating the Kent series and he is a very strong runner. I started to work hard to drop him. I felt great as I was running amazing.

Second to last field (in second)

On the second to last field, I had a big gap (about 10 meters) to Lukas. I was running really hard to stop him from catching me. When I went around the last corner in the field I quickly looked over my shoulder. I saw that Lukas had dropped off the pace and that the rest of the field were nowhere near us. I just had to run to the finish.

finish

At the finish, I ran to the finish (doing my new celebration) to secure second place. I was very happy with my performance as it was my best all season. I did my new celebration over the line and then found my dad at the end. I showed him my medal and my certificate that showed that I had qualified for regionals and nationals!

After the race

After my race I watched my mate triboyollie go across the line. He did amazingly as he has just started training properly so go subscribe to him on youtube. Also please go watch my video on the race below.

The Knole run is an event that has been going for many years (since 1973). It is a school run that is mainly run by private schools and some grammar schools. This year my Dad managed to enter me into it! He only managed to enter me the day before so it was a bit of a shock!

Day Before!

The day before my race I was doing a lot of work. It was a Thursday morning and my Dad then walked into my office and said, “Hey, do you want to do the Knole Run tomorrow?” I asked him what it was and I then said “yeah why not!” I was a bit shocked but I just went with it.

Journey to the Race

When we got going we went to my grandparents to pick up my grandpa. He used to do lots of running and he won lots of races and held the record for the fastest 1 mile at Crambrook School. Once we got to the race we had to drive around for a little while until we found a spot to park. We then had to walk a long way through Sevenoaks school to get to the event!

At the Race

Once we were at the Venue I got my race pack that had my number in it and also a map. I then went for a jog around the course to go and see what spikes I wanted. It turned out that the ground was really hard on some spots and very soft in others so I decided to use 9mm spikes instead of 12mm spikes. This turned out to be a great choice as it was a tough course. The sun shone from the sky, warming everything up. It was perfect crosscountry weather.

The race

At the start I my stomach was rumbling. I was nervous as I walked down to the start of the event. “Dang it” I thought as I saw the start. They had put us all in pens and all the good ones were taken. Me being home educated I didnt have a school so I just took a pen to myself. I looked around me. “Dang, there is a mini bush infront of me”. I would just have to run through it. after a little while a school came up behind me. I thought to my self, ” I wont let them take my spot at the front of the line.” Luckily, they made no attempt to take it.

At the start it was very manic. There was a lot of pushing and shoving but I got away OK. After the first corner there was a steep hill. I was working so hard to catch up to the first three that I almost threw up! My legs were stiffening up and I was hurting. In my mind I was thinking “This is too hard” and “just settle for fourth” but I still kept going to the top of the hill. I got to the top I got a real fire in my belly. I started to push really hard to catch up to the front.

Once I caught up I just kept on going past them. one boy tried to go with me but he just couldnt! I kept on pushing to the end of the woods that we went through and started pushing really hard to the end of the valley. At the end we had to go up a hill. I was paranoid about the others catching me so I worked really hard and was almost sick! Luckily I hadn’t eaten anything in a little while so I didnt have anything left in me to throw up! I then ran along a path and down a hill and into the finish!

Conclusion

Overall this was my best race in ages so I was really happy with it. If you want to see some clips of my race go to my youtube channel TRIBOYLUKE and watch it there. This was definitely one of my faveroute races, not because I won but because the course is a proper crosscountry course and it wasn’t just running around a bland and empty field. Also, the energy of the spectators was amazing compared to the Kent League.

Hillingdon TRI club is a triathlon club northwest of London. Hillingdon was the TRI club that my family were members of so each year my Dad and I make the hour and a half journey to Minet Park to do the duathlon there. It has been one of my favourite races for a long time now. The race for my age group consists of an 800-meter run, a 7.5km bike and to finish of a 1.2km run.

The Journey

The journey was VERY boring! I don’t really like long journeys as I struggle to sit still for long periods due to my ADHD. However, it wasn’t too bad as me and my friends were talking on our group chat all the way! we sent over 250 messages!

When we got there

Once we got there we set up my bike and then we got the rest of my kit out. We then walked down to the race circuit. Once we had met up with our friends we got ready to cheer on our tri star 2 athletes!

Before my race

After the tristar 2 race, I placed my stuff in transition and then waited for my race to start. My friend Oliver was racing with me so we both waited for the start. It was very cold waiting in just our tri suit!

The First Run

On the first run, a boy got a big gap from the group at the start. I got boxed in at the start so I couldn’t go with him! I drove the pace at the front of the group, as I was trying to get the gap to the boy as small a possible! He ended up with a 20-second gap going on to the first bike!

The Bike

On the bike, I immediately got onto my aero bars to try and catch up to the boy in front. At the end of the first lap, I had reduced the gap to only 5 seconds! I then ended catching him on a hill on the second lap! I then rode away from him on the remanding three laps to get a gap of 50 seconds coming off the bike!

The Final Run

On the final run, I was very paranoid about being caught by the other boy! I kept looking behind to see where he is! I had a great second run! coming in on the last little bit I was super excited as I knew that I had got my first win of the season! I was super excited when I came to the finish! The rest of the tri club athletes did amazing giving us 3 podiums and a tenth place!

Hever Castle Triathlon is one of the biggest events in Europe for its type. It is mainly for people doing their first ever triathlon but some faster athletes come and race there. I went this year after winning here the year before with the hope of winning it again. The distance for my race was a 400m swim, 8km bike and 2.3km run. The distances were longer than most of my other races. I was even racing the distance that the youth athletes were racing! 

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCDOHl2oPHizz9c5iXvuXVMg

Before the Race

My race was later in the afternoon so I didn’t have to rush up to the venue early in the morning. I woke up at 7.30 and I then had my normal breakfast of a bowl of porridge and a slice of toast. My dad then went for a run and I walked my energetic collie dog, Freddy, at the same time. We were getting a lift at 12 with some of our triathlon friends and we didn’t want to be late for them. Once we got back we got a small bite to eat and then waited for them to arrive.

When they came we quickly loaded up the car with all of my heavy gear and then we set off to the race venue. We were lucky as we live only an hour away from the race so we didn’t have to travel for very long (I hate long journeys)!

Once we arrived at the parking field there was lots of people unloading their gear! There were lots of old and rickety mountain bikes and lots of super cross bikes! we unloaded the bikes and the rest of our gear out of the car and we went down the race entrance.

In the Main Area

Once we got to the race entrance we had to do a heat check (covid). Once we had done the test we went to get my race pack (my number, swim hat and timing chip). I then sorted out my gear and then I went into the transition to set up my bike, helmet and shoes. After I had come out of transition me and my dad put my wetsuit and tri suit on to get ready for my race. When we tried to put my tri suit on it caught my back and it hurt! I then waited in the transition area. There was lots of noise and also lots of fun activities for kids like a ferris wheel and a bouncy castle!

Swim

They marched us down to the start and we then had our briefing. They talked about “tight corners and dangerous downhills”! I made sure that I was one of the first into the water so I didn’t get held up. I ended up going into the water second after this one boy who was a good swimmer swimmer. At the start, we were not allowed to dive and when I got in the water I sort of did a half dive! at the end of the swim, an offical stopped me! He wasn’t happy that I dived! He ended up holding me there for 15 seconds! Luckily it didn’t affect me that much as I caught it up straight away.

bike

I had a good transition before getting onto the bike. I was on an old cross bike that we had borrowed because the course was off-road and it had lots of ruts and other things on the course. On the bike I was caught by the second-fastest triathlete in the country for my age group! I managed to stay with the boy (Arthur Ballard) for the rest of the way! It was very busy on the course as it was about twice the size of an average pavement with about 600 cyclists and 400 runners on the course at once.  Arthur and I had to overtake people all the time!

Run

In transition, I struggled to put my shoes on and I lost Arthur! On the run I was a bit annoyed as I had lost him. I was running fairly well though. The run was on the same course as the bike so it was very packed on the course. It was also a tough course due to the ruts and roots on the course! I ended up second so I was very happy with my performance!

after the race

At the end, it was very confusing as the results were wrong and Arthur went the wrong way at the finish! on the results board it said that I was fourth then third thenn first then second!

Conclusion

I was very happy with my performance at Hever Castle 2021. I think that I did very well and I am very happy with my performance and I hope that I can do the same next year. Also well done to my friend Katie for winning her race! I also want to thank Katie and her Mum for getting some great photos of my race!

This is the link to my YouTube video of the race.

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCDOHl2oPHizz9c5iXvuXVMg

The IRCs (short for Inter-Regional Championships) is a race that takes place every year. It is a tough race as it is effectively the national championships for “Tristars” aged 11 – 14, so the standard is very high. The top four athletes and a reserve from each region get to go and race at IRCs. To qualify in the South East region you have to go to the qualifying races and do your best. This year each athlete did two races. We did our heat race and then the final we got into. There was two finals, the A final and the B final. The A is for the faster people and the B is for the slower people.

IRCs normally takes place early in September. It has been held at Mallory motor racing circuit in Leicestershire for many years now and it is meant to be there again next year. IRCs are for 11 to 14-year-olds (Tristar 2 and 3).

I was selected to race at Mallory this year at IRCs representing the South East region and I am going to share with you my journey at nationals.

The Journey to the Race
The journey to the race took ages due to it being a long way. In the end, it took about four hours to get there! I was going crazy near the end of the journey due to my ADHD. I was even sick about halfway through the journey! I was trying to watch Netflix but I couldn’t due to feeling so bad.

When we got there
When we got to Mallory (we were camping at the race venue) we had to wait for a long time as there was motor racing happening at that time. We got there at 2 pm and had to wait until 5 pm to get in. We watched the cars racing for half an hour then we went to Halfords to try and get some gas to use for lighting my dad’s special stove but we couldn’t find any. It turned out that there was a national shortage! We went back to Mallory and waited until they were open.

At the Race Venue
When they let us in we put up our tents. Our tents are great as we can set them up easily. I put my tent up myself and then I started to put all of my sleeping bag and mattress in. My tent is very new as my parents gave it to me as an early birthday present. It was my second time ever using it! Once we had put it up we had some risotto to eat and sat around until the team meeting. We had to go to a hotel near the race for the team meeting. It took another 15 min to get there.

Once we got there it started to pour with rain so I went into the hotel and found the room where the meeting was taking place. The hotel was very posh and ancient.

At the team meeting we had a look at the new course and we talked about timings and other important arrangements for the morning. It had stopped raining by now so we went back to the campsite.

Back at the Campsite!
Once we got back me and my dad hoped that our tents had kept everything dry – thankfully they had. We then talked to Jude (my teammate who was camping next to us). We had a peanut butter and jam bagel for supper. We checked our tents then went to bed as we had an early start the next day.

Race day!
When we woke up we had a very small bowl of cereal and a banana. We started to get my equipment ready for my race. After a little while, I was ready. We had to wait a little while for the marshalls to let us into the main area.

When we got into the race area we didn’t have long until my race. I immediately got my kit and went into transition and got my run shoes ready. I went with my teammates on the bike familiarisation – you ride one lap of the course and try to remember the important turns.

Once I had done that I set up my bike for the race and I then went for my warmup. I was nervous and excited at the same time!

Race 1
My first race was a heat to get into the main final. You had to get top 10 or one of the 6 “fastest others” out of the two races. On the swim, I got beaten up in the pack like normal in the triathlon swim! I was about halfway through the main pack and I wanted to be one of the first out of the swim so it wasn’t what I was hoping for. On the bike, I raced hard after the pack in front of me. I closed down a 15-second gap so I was fairly happy with that.

But in transition disaster struck! A boy threw his bike down next to me and it made one of my shoes fly across the transition area and the other shoe got stuck under his wheel! I lost loads of places due to this and it ruined my race. I ended up 16th in my heat and missed the main “A final” by 10 seconds!

Between Races
After my race, I was annoyed. My dad and I went back to our tents and played some cricket for a bit to get my mind off my last race. We then had some food. This all really helped me to calm down and think about how to do my next race.

After a little while, we went back down to the race area for a team photo and to prepare for the final. I put my kit back into transition and did my usual warm-up. I was raring to go and ready for the B final. I put my wetsuit on and went to wait for my race – in fact I was so eager I got there really early!

Race 2 – The B Final
In my second race, I was ninth out on the swim. I then had the second-fastest transition – I was very pleased with that. But, when I jumped on my bike, my bike shoe (that was attached to my bike) fell off! So then I had to ride 2.6k without only one shoe! It hurt my foot but I still managed to overtake some people on the bike but not as many as I had hoped.

I had a good transition coming off the bike and I then had an excellent run. In the end I came 8th in the B final – not quite what I hoped for but I have another year in this age group – so I’ll try to come back next year faster, stronger and better!

Max’s Race
After my race, I waited to watch my friend Max race! We had to wait a long time for his race as I finished at 12 and his race was at 5pm! We waited and thought we were watching the race before him, and then we realized that it was his race! We cheered really loudly for him on the run. Max ended up third in his race and third in the Youth B super series he was doing! This was his second-ever season so he did brilliantly to come third!

The Journey Home
On the journey home I played lots of car games to try and keep myself entertained! I played this game where you try to find cars that had a number plate with 71 at the end. This is rare as a car could only get one if it was made this month! My dad and I found one after a little while! I then played a game called mini cheddar where you look for yellow / orange cars and minis. If you find a mini it counts as 1 point, a yellow/orange car is 2 points and a yellow/orange mini is 5 points. I fell asleep soon after that.

Conclusion
This was a great learning opportunity for me and my dad. I am hoping to come back stronger next year. Thank you for reading my blog. I also posted a youtube video so please go watch it here!

In Hawkhurst (where I live) there has been a constant battle going on. This is to determine whether there should be houses built on the golf course.

During lockdown me and my dad have been going over to the golf course to walk my dog Freddy. After a couple of walks I grew in love with the place with its speedy deer’s and its cute rabbits. Now to hear that people want to build big houses all over makes me very sad and angry.

In building houses it will destroy many animals homes and probably kill thousands of them. This is terrible as now we need to look after our planet more than ever yet these people don’t care and just want to make money. There has been many people objecting though. The Hawkhurst community are standing up to those in power to try and stop this unstable development to go ahead. However, very recently a big company who will be affected withdrew there complaint making it much easier for them to go ahead.

If they build there will not be enough room in the local school and there will not be enough food in the supermarket to sustain so many more people. Hawkhurst is not suitable for so many houses so we must not let it happen.

Here is a Facebook post by the PC in Hawkhurst.

 · HAWKHURST PARISH COUNCIL – URGENT RE GOLF COURSE. Hawkhurst PC needs your help in respect of the Golf Course becoming a real threat of development following KCC Highways withdrawing any objection. This can be seen on the TWBC Planning Portal as a recent entry. Please read the notice below from the Clerk and please email today. “HAWKHURST GOLF CLUB COMMUNITY RIGHT TO BIDURGENT – we need your support for a Community Right to Bid application by contacting business@tunbridgewells.gov.uk with details of your use of the Hawkhurst Golf Club over the years – playing golf, attending meetings, Christmas lunches, U3A classes or fitness classes. It is important that as many of you as possible contacts business@tunbridgewells.gov.uk to support the Community Right to Bid. This may well not be enough to stop development but options are disappearing. Many responded recently by sending emails, but it needs to be people who have used the facilities or the Golf Course .Please send an email today. Richard Griffiths Clerk to the Council Posted for Hawkhurst Parish Council by Jane Pyne The Office at The Moor, Hawkhurst, Kent, TN18 4NT. 07907 022914 / 01580 752058 www.hawkhurst-pc.gov.uk

If you are interested in helping please contact business@tunbridgewells.gov.uk and say why they shouldn’t build. every bid counts towards making sure that the animals and the village is safe.

Weald tri club (or wtc for short) is my local triathlon club. It was formed in 2014 when my dad and some other triathletes wanted to make a tri club. Due to covid we have been forced to stop our usual training sessions and look to Zwift. Zwift is an online computer game that links up to your turbo that is connected to your bike making it so when you peddle you don’t move in real life but instead on Zwift.

In the photo above you can see that the athlete is not moving in real life but instead on the game. On Zwift you can do races and someone came up with the idea of a team time trial.

With the team time trial wtc have made three teams all for different abilities. There is the main and fastest team, wtc that is ran by Martin. he second fastest the frantastic wtc that is ran by Fran. There is also Bexis midnight racers ran by you guessed it, Bex.

We all race on a Thursday. The event is a bit tricky to understand so here is a short clip of how it works (you don’t have to watch it all).

These events can be tough. they are normally 45min to 1 hour of work. The course changes every week so one week you will be in watopia and then you will be in London! this makes it more interesting.

The way we found out was because of me and my dads old club in London! They invited me to come and do it with them and after that we then said about it to wtc. We then made the first group (the wtc one lead by martin if you are wondering) and tried it out. It worked perfectly and over the next couple of weeks the other groups were made. Each group consists from 4 to 8 riders! the teams normally place in the bottom half as it is very competitive.

When we ride we work as a team. One person does a turn then the next does one. That works very well as when a rider has done a hard turn then they sit back in the pack and draft the others and have a rest. Then after all the other riders have had a go the rider goes through again. It makes it a combined effort and that helps your team get a better time.

I am apart of the main team. I was in the first ever one we did! I have loved racing every week in a team as it helps you to keep going.

As a team leader you will have lots of choices to make while riding. you can finish with 4 people if you started with 5 and if you started with 8 then you can finish with 7. If a rider gets dropped the team leader has to make the decision whether to wait for them or to leave them. They also have to decide when the team will push on and the who will come through at what certain times.

The wtc teams race in the lower competition. If we were to win our race then we would be put into the elite race. This race is livestreamed every week on YouTube and is very competitive! It is very hard to get to that level with your team as the standard that is shown in the race is very high. My team normally com in the middle of the results and we are normally riding at a very high pace! this shows the standard you must fulfil!

In the race we normally see big groups over take us. That is because the bigger your group is the faster you will go. Therefore the bigger your group the more chance you have on getting into the elite team and winning!

I asked some people some questions about the race.

Who would you recommend the race to?

I’d recommend them to anyone already on Zwift or wanting to give virtual riding a go.

Why is it of interest to you?

They were of interest to me as having already entered into a few group rides on Zwift I wanted to step up to racing, doing that with others was appealing.

Do you like how it works?

Although sometimes frustrating with the amount of initial setup, once that’s done the content works really well and is very engaging.

Do you think they could improve it?

I think there could be a better link between Zwift, Zwift Power and WRTL to make it more user friendly, the Zwift element works really well though. I suppose an option to link riders via video within the Zwift platform could be a great add on?

How have you benefitted from this event?

I’ve really benefited in confidence racing these team events and even felt happy starting to race some individual events.

Huge thanks to Anthony from the tri club for answering my questions!

This book is about triathlon and the journey of Alistair and Jonathan (Jonny) Brownlee to be the best brothers in sport probably in the entire history of the globe!

I think that the book is great. It shows us how hard it is to win the Olympics and also it gives you tips on how to get better! It is a book that is great for people who have been doing triathlons for a long time and also for people who are just interested. 

It shows their story of getting to the 2012 Olympic Games held in London. They talk about many twists and turns that happened in their journey to the top of the world. They talk about what happened as younger kids and what their friendship is like.

I found it very entertaining to read and it kept me hooked until the very end. The book showed me how to train properly and how to think about triathlon. It really shows what sort of sport triathlon is by giving you an insight into their long and tough training sessions. 

I really look up to the Brownlees and to read their book was a great experience. I love how it shows what it is like to have a brother in sport. Alistair says how difficult it is having a competitive brother but that it also helped him to become world number 1.

“People say to me it must be hard being the best in the world and everyone wants to beat you. I say to them. ‘Throughout my entire life I’ve had my brother trying to beat me at everything I do’. It has been an enormously positive force.”

They wrote it in a different style to normal as they did it so one brother did a paragraph then the other did the next – like a conversation. This was great as then you heard a bit from both of them. You could then see what they both had to say about something, that helped you to really understand what happened.

The book tells you about their coaches and their unique techniques. This is helpful for coaches to know how to train people properly. The book tells you about how they performed when they were younger. It says about who helped them when they were younger. The book they describe about how they coped at a younger age. It says about their first races and what they did to still train with the difficulty of school. They tell lots of little things that they did with each other. It tells you about their rivalry through their life even though they are great friends. It also tells you about there relationship that they had in the lead up to some big races they said that they found it hard to be competitors and brothers at the same time

When their talent started to rise British Triathlon immediately started working with them. They said to them that their coaches needed to change their style and hours of training but they ignored them. Luckily for them at that time the home of British Triathlon was in Leeds. Unfortunately they moved it to Loughborough and British Triathlon wanted them to move to Loughborough but they refused.

Over all I think this book is great. I loved it from the start to the very end. It is great for anyone who is interested in triathlon as it shows you what it really is like. I think that it can help people understand what they are like. I would recommend it to everyone.

I have been home educating since the start of the new school year. I am in year 7 and I love to compete in and train for triathlons. There has been many great opportunities and also some tricky parts to home educating and I would like to share them with you all so you know what to expect if you make the decision to home educate like my family did.

One great thing is that I can do sport before the most of the schools open. I sometimes go out at 2.00pm with my Dad and I enjoy it more than when we go out later in the day as the roads are clearer. It is helpful to have less cars and it is also safer and helps you feel better especially with ADHD.

How home educating helps with my ADHD

ADHD is very hard to overcome and home educating has helped me so much. It has helped me because my Dad knows what works for me. Also my dad can help me do the things I need to do to get ready for the day. This includes doing a hiit (high intensity interval training) session. it has been proved that doing this or something else at high intensity is very important to how the start of my day goes. Going away from the subject of the morning, if I was in school I would struggle lots with the stress and also I wouldn’t be able to concentrate. Me my mum and my dad had to work hard to help me control my anger.

How hard is it to do correctly?

Mum, Dad and I had to get lots of things ready to home school. Me and my Dad changed up the spare bedroom into an office and put lots of stationary in shelf’s. To make home educating possible my Dad has to give up lots of time to help me. We have also had to find people who can do certain subjects as there is some that my Dad can’t do. I can do work with others for example, I do biology with a family friend called Bex who is a paramedic . I also did science with my good friend and and training partner Max. I also do French with my uncle Adrian.

I love being home schooled as I can go anywhere to do my work. I could go to dad’s work and do an English piece. That is helpful as it means I can be flexible. That means dad can get money by working and I can work at the same time.

Some examples is that I can go out on the bike as i did on the day of writing this. I did a bike with a friend. I then came back and did spellings and maths.