Less than a week to go now campers, til I hit the fair streets of Edinburgh, metaphorically speaking not literally I hope, which prompted my final training run yesterday. Four miles I galloped in the relentless drizzle, feeling a tad miserable about it all. You know how it is, some days you’re just not feeling it and yesterday was one of them. However every time and there were many, that I felt like I wanted to stop and walk home, I was inspired not to. How, I hear you cry? Well it was the words of two inspirational women I interviewed on Friday at a Daily Telegraph tribute lunch, that spurred me on.

I was invited to host this jolly event, in honour of Olympic gold medalist Amy Williams and Amazonian adventuress Helen Skelton. It was my job to invite them up between courses, to interview them about their achievements and ask them incisive and insightful questions like, how did Helen go to the toilet when she was in the kayak for 16 hours a day???? I mean come on, these are the sort of important details we all really want to know.

Both women were charming, funny, intelligent and inspirational. They made the extraordinary sound mundane, the terrifying sound tame. And all I could think, as I stood there and chatted about what they’d done, was how overwhelmingly modest they both were. They were almost faintly embarrassed about all the fuss and the wide-eyed wonder from a captivated audience. It was truly humbling. And it made me feel determined never to moan about much again.

Now I understand that one’s man’s Everest is another woman’s Brecon Beacon, but still, there is a world of difference between hurting for an hour or two and putting yourself on the line day after day, or year after year in Amy’s case, in the pursuit of something which seems unachievable. So I shall plaster a grin to my face every time I go running now and although it will hurt a lot and make me more miserable than happy, I shall keep it to myself and plough on regardless. And every time I think I might want to stop, I will think of Olympic dreams realized and 2000 miles of kayaking down the Amazon....oh and the finish line...

www.justgiving.com/Sue-Thearle