Transcript

BOBBY CLAY

I just wanted to be the best. I've always had self belief that I can be something, and I truly believe that running and racing is, sort of, my calling. But it just, kind of, took over everything in my life, and I could only think about running, and I could only think about training. And I could have got even more out of myself if I had allowed myself to be a bit more open minded. And I would happily train on my own, purely and simply, because then no one would be in my way. And it was the little things like that where I was just so narrow minded, and my whole life was arranged around training.

INTERVIEWER

So what was making you over train like that, but, at the same time, under fuel, so you weren't eating enough to be able to cope with the training regime?

BOBBY CLAY

My track sessions were very intense. I was 15, 16 years old doing the same track sessions as senior men, which isn't right or appropriate, but it was something I was pushing to do. And the runs between, I would always push the boundaries of what I needed to do between sessions. And it, kind of, led a lot of the older females in my group down a path which was pretty dark, and their relationship with food was just frightful. And my whole concept of eating just became warped, because, yes, I was eating more than them, and I knew I was eating more than them, and I knew that they weren't well. And I knew that, but eating more than nothing isn't enough.

INTERVIEWER

You were 15. You were a child. There were people responsible for you. Did nobody say anything?

BOBBY CLAY

It's going to sound strange considering the situation I'm now in, but my parents very much were more on the side of resting and recovery than anything else. They tried really, really, really hard with me to keep me under control, but I found ways of pushing the boundaries of training and my training volumes, so that I kind of went under the radar. I have always had animals, and I've always had to do my horses early morning.

But who knows what time I'm leaving for my run? They can't have 24 hour surveillance on me. And I just felt, who needs to know how far I'm doing? The other issue was, during track sessions, I was hitting all my targets in training. I never ever showed signs that my body wasn't coping, because I was hitting targets and wanting to run quicker. So target times got quicker, and I was hitting them absolutely no problem

INTERVIEWER

You mentioned, at that time, you didn't think it was having any impact on your body. And then, all of a sudden, it did. Describe how you discovered that you had osteoporosis at the age of 20.

BOBBY CLAY

It was an amazing year. My training got cut by probably about 50%, and I was around athletes who were professional athletes, and I could begin to live that life. And Rob very quickly saw my compulsive behaviour, and how I'm obsessed, and he saw that and cottoned onto that really quick. And I got to Loughborough, and I was literally put on a leash. And it was like, no, you do what you told, you're honest, and we will have good results. And I had the best summer season.

And it was injury free, and I thought, you know, I've turned the corner. I don't need to do these miles. And I suddenly became a lot smarter and matured because I was in that environment. And I was on my end of season breaks, and I said to Rob, oh, is it all right if I swim? And he like, you're going to get back just doing some easy runs next week, so go in the pool. Don't do too much. Just have fun.

So I got in the pool, and I was just swimming with my sister, and was just doing, like, a mini, pretty easy session. It was nothing taxing. And halfway through the set, I pushed off the wall, and I felt my foot absolutely crunch. And I said to Alex, my sister, I was like, Alex, I think I've broken my foot and laughed. And then she laughed and went, come on. Crack on. We nearly done. I text Rob saying, I've got bruise, but I think it's all right. I'm meant to be running in two days, aren't I?

And he said, yeah. Yeah. And I did this easy run, and I couldn't turn a corner. Like, my foot won't allow me to turn. So I just ran in a straight line, and that's when I realised my foot is not OK. It's not a bruise. And we went and got that scanned, and it turned out I'd broken my foot in one place and had two stress fractures another place. And that's when British Athletics flagged up, that's not OK. You can't break your foot in a swimming pool. There's something else going on.

So I got sent for a DEXA scan. I opened these results not even thinking I was going to have to read them. I just, sort of, opened the envelope was like, yeah. Hmm. Then, I just saw, and it was just that word. It was just, like, osteoporosis, and I just didn't know what to do. I just read it again, and it was just, like, osteoporosis in the lumbar spine. I just thought, oh, my god.