This fight was my 4th fight and a rematch with Deborah Walsh, who I had already fought and won against on the Head-Hunters fighting championship show.
I remember not being well the week before the fight, and I was going to pull out but did not and went on to fight anyway.
The day of the fight we found out that Scott my coach could not make it due to personal reasons. We drove down to the venue where we met up with Ali my previous coach from Skye. Ali had agreed to be in my corner for the fight.
I had been coughing all day and felt really fatigued but still did not pull out the fight.
In the ring I did not do as well as I could have. I felt slow and weak. I was aware of what I needed to do and could see many openings that I could have landed shots on or countered. But my reactions were slow and I was getting hit with shots as I just could not seem to move out the way in time.
I could not hear Ali in my corner telling me what to do. Previously during past fights, I could hear everything clearly but not during this fight! I was struggling to breath due to being ill and having a mouth guard in, so was getting out of breath easily. During the fight breaks when I returned to my corner, I was unable to recover in time before the next roundstarted.
It was a learning experience and I will know in the future when I need to take a break and when enough is enough. I had been over training the months leading up to the fight and had not taken enough rest. I was struggling to make the correct fight weightand it really affected how I performed. I know I could have done so much better than I did.
This was my first experence at an Interclub, and it was at the Eilean Stir Muay Thai (ESMT) in Stornoway.
I had been Training Muay Thai for around 1 year before taking part in this event. On the morning of the Interclub, we got the ferry over from Uig, Isle of Skye to Stornoway.
The Interclub started at 2pm. We arrived around 12pm and got changed and weighed in. I weighed in at about 56kg so was matched with one of the girls who trained at the ESMT in Stornoway.
To warm up we did some pad work and stretching. Then we went onto doing rounds of sparring and clinching, with fighters from the other attending clubs.
I had to wait a while before I was called for my first fight. I think it was around 3:30/4pm. The fight conditions consisted of rounds: 5 rounds of 1 minute 30 seconds, with a 1 minute rest.
This Fight was my second fight, and was for a European title belt. I took the fight on just two weeks notice as Charlottes previous opponent had pulled out.
I knew it would be a hard fight as Charlotte had over 30 fights, and this would only be my second fight! Charlotte had stopped most of her opponents in the ring quickly, and she had lots of titles to her name. Charlotte was also an ambassador for Sandee. Some of Charlotte’ titles included:
UKMF Champion
British Champion
WKA English Champion
WKA English K1 and Muay Thai champion
WKA world Muay Thai champion
British K1 and Muay Thai Champion
UKMF champion
International Champion
I lost this fight, but I was happy that I managed to go the full 5 rounds with her when most of Charlotte’s previous opponents could not.
The day before weigh in for this fight, I remember really struggling to make the weight required. 55kg was the lowest I had been for a fight before. I had been sitting at 63kg, so had some weight to lose. I made the weight weighing in at 54.9kg.
Round 1:
The first round started of with both of us trying to figure each other out and find our range. I was the first one to throw the jab cross which Charlotte countered straight away with a right body kick, with me returning with the left kick. Charlotte then steps forward with the jab, and I move backwards out the way and avoid the punch.
I then landed a teep to her front leg which Charlotte returned with a back leg teep to my face. This rocked my head back and made my nose bleed. At this point Charlotte smiled at me to try and intimidate me, but I just smiled back to show I was not affected by it.
Next I landed another teep to her front leg which Charlotte counters with a low kick. I then landed the left low kick straight into a left body kick. Charlotte then pushed forward with the teep to get me to go backwards. She got me against the ropes and threw a jab-cross-body kick. I still fought back and landed my own jab-cross and kicks whilst against the ropes. I caught one of her kicks and we went into a clinch and landed knee for knee, before we broke off. I threw a kick which Charlotte caught and she went to seep my supporting leg. I managed to maintain my balance as she dropped my leg. I come round with a spinning back fist, which I then get a warning for!
Round 2
Round 2 started with Charlotte throwing the rear teep which I parried then came forward with the jab into a low kick. Charlotte blocked the low kick and returned with a switch kick to the body.
I stepped forward with a Jab- switch kick. I had her going backwards and I constantly walked forward to back her up. Charlotte threw a jab- kick and I returned with my own kick. Charlotte then used the inside leg kick into body kick but I continued to walk forward. I threw the switch left body kick which was parried. I then stepped forward into the jab before backing of and avoided her counter teep. Charlotte then throwed the Jab-cross and I returned with a kick that missed, but I got my leg back into a block quickly ready for any counter attacks.
I pushed forward with the Jab- cross- Jab- body kick. We entered into the clinch and threw knee for knee. Charlotte caught me of balance throwing a knee and landed a nice sweep on my supporting leg! I got up and I still push forward keeping her on the back foot. Charlotte was against the ropes and throws a right body kick. I caught this kick and come forward dropping the leg and landed two knees to her back. The ref then broke us up at this point.
Round 3:
This round starts of with me coming forward punching. We were against the ropes and going into the clinch. I landed a swing knee which Charlotte then returned with her own swing knee. We broke from the clinch, and Charlotte threw the double left kick. I stepped forward with the Jab-Cross-switch kick and got her against the ropes again. Charlotte stepped forward with the Jab and I returned with my own Jab. Charlotte then threw a back leg teep into a front leg kick with a stepping jab. I countered this with a double jab-cross and we ended up in the clinch again, where the ref broke us apart.
Charlotte came forward punching and kicking backing me against the ropes. But I still countered with punches and kicks of my own. I then walked forward with the jab- cross-left kick which made her go backwards. We entered the clinch again still throwing knee for knee. I then managed to get around the back of Charlotte. This move scores high, as it shows you are in control if you can get your opponents back.
Round 4
Charlotte started this round with a left switch kick and I returned with a jab while sliding forward into a stepping cross which landed in a right stance. I threw the left kick from this position, and Charlotte countered this with her own jab. I then caught her left kick and pushed forward quickly throwing the left body kick which she countered with a low kick.
Charlotte started to come forward and I use my teep to keep her at a distance. She threw the jab-cross and got into the clinch and knees. I returned with my own knee and managed to get around her back again. She got out of this and we ended up still in the clinch kneeing each other before the refintervened.
Charlotte threw the left kick into jab-cross-jab. I was against the ropes but timed my switch kick so it landed on her body at the same time as she threw the cross. I continued to throw body kicks to her whilst she tried to land a punch. I got into a clinch and managed to get around behind her once again.
Once the ref had broken the clinch I came forward again to make her go backwards. I threw the cross into a switch kick and a jab-cross-jab. I then entered the clinch and landed a double left knee before breaking of. I then threw a teep which Charlotte caught and I was swept to the floor!
Round 5
The last round began with me throwing the lead teep to Charlotte’s face which almost lands. I then landed the lead teep to her front leg. Charlotte returned with a switch kick. I caught the switch kick and landed the cross straight to her face while Charlotte is walked forward. I landed a low kick to her front leg which she countered with a right kick. I then pushed forward with the jab-cross-jab-cross and got her in the corner of the ring. We were now in the clinch and I landed a left knee and Charlotte returned with a left knee of her own. Which I then countered with a double left knee before the ref stepped in to break us apart.
Charlotte threw a strong switch kick into a sliding teep and came forward, she threw the jab kick which I caught. I would have been able to sweep her if the ropes where not there to stop her falling.
I then landed a jab-teep. Charlotte pushed forward and got me in the clinch to land her knees, but I countered her knees with my own knees. I then landed 4 knees left-right-left-right Charlotte caught me of balance and used a nice turn to get me into a position to land her own knees.
On June 29th 2019, I took part in a 10k stretcher carry. We completed the carry in teams of 6 people. It was to raise money for the charity Rocks To Recovery.
We started at 11am and it took our team around 2 hours to complete. The stretcher had a weight of 60kg on it.
A photo of the stretcher our team carried.
The route we took was from the crossfit building, which is just beside Gym 300, Inverness. The route looped around a canal before returning back to the beginning point.
Our team had two ways of carrying the stretcher: on the shoulders or just holding the ends with our hands. Both methods were very difficult as the stretcher really dug into the shoulders, and when carrying it would slip out your hands due to being sweaty!
Another problem we had was the different sizes in people. As if a taller person was holding one end of the stretcher and a shorter person was holding the other end it affected the way the weight was distributed across everyone.
On the 13/07/2019, myself along with Ali, and Damon, instructors for the Skye Muay Thai Club, each completed 100 3 minute rounds of pad work to raise funds for Skye Muay Thai.
We had cornered of the end of the club’s gym to have space to do the padwork without getting in other peoples way.
The 100 rounds took 8 hours to complete! We began around 10am and did not finish till after 7pm.
We split the rounds into sets of 20, with a 1 minute rest between rounds. Once we had completed a set of 20 we took a longer rest before going again.
We held the fundraiser on the same day as the Interclub which was good, as it meant there where people that could hold pads for us so it was not the same people holding pads each round.
The Wicker Camp came up from Sheffield to support us, and stayed till we had all finished the 100 rounds.
I started of the rounds slow as I wanted to pace myself so Iwould last all 100 rounds. When we got to round 40 I felt strong and was hitting the pads at quite a high intensity, but then by the time round 70 came I was feeling it as my hands where starting to drop and my legs where struggling to keep me up! I was also feeling quite light headed. It was such an effort to try and hit the pads.
But when round 90-100 came I felt strong again, and was hitting the pads with more power and speed than I had did at any other point during the 100 rounds.
The day after the 100 rounds I was not as sore as I thought I would be. My muscles were fine. I was just more tired than anything else however I did hurt my wrist from repetitively hitting the pads, and the skin from my knuckles had rubbed away!
We raised around £975 in sponsership on our Just Giving page for doing the100 rounds.
I have participated in the Dunvegan 10k, 2 years in a row. The first year I completed the run as part of the local Skye Boot Camp team. I completed the race on a personal best score. My time was around 53 minutes.
During the race I picked up the pace and was running faster near the end of the race. I had someone behind me who kept over taking, and I can get quite competitive when running so I would over take her then she would over take me but I ended up sprinting the last hill and finishing before her.
The second year I did it on my own but can not remember the time I got for it, as it was a few years ago.
This race is said to be one of the toughest and most technical races to complete in Scottish hill running! It is described as a category A race.
The race is a total of 4.5 miles (7km), with a climb of 775 meters (2,500 feet). It is held on the 6th June each year, normally starting around 2/3pm.
The Glamaig hill race starts at Sligihan hotel on the Isle of Skye. You then run along the main road for sometime, before cutting of and running across the moorlands towards the hill. You then climb the hill which is pictured in the photo above. It was so steep I had to go onto my hands and knees and climb up like that for most of the hill.
The next part was the scree there was so much scree when coming down you could just stand there and slide down! But I remember the first year I completed the race. When I was going up the hill there was boulders being moved by the runners in front so you had to always be aware of what was falling down from above you. Someone was badly hurt coming down the scree and had to get air lifted of the mountain.
Because I was only 17 years old when I first did the race I was told I had to do it at my own risk and they would not be responsible if anything was to happen. As in the rules you had to be over 18 years to take part.
I do remember thinking to myself half way up the hill: what am I doing here and why did I think this was a good idea?! But looking back I am glad I did do it and would do it again.
I finished the race in just over two hours. I got roughly the same times both years I did the race.
The first year I did this race it was raining and misty. Running over the moorlands there where so many bogs that I was soaked and covered in mud by the end of it. Because of the mist, when I got to the top of the hill I could not see anything so had to be extra careful coming back down and did take a wrong turning taking me longer to get back to the start.
The second time I did the race the weather was not as bad and I got a good view from the top of the mountain.
The first time I did this race was in 2015 I completed the race in my quickest time of 55 minutes coming in second place.
Altogether I have done this race three times.
Because it was still January there was ice on the ground and the start of the race was down hill I went full speed as soon as they said go and ended up slipping on the ice and sliding down the gravel I ripped the sides of my trousers and my knee while cutting my leg at the same time there was lots of blood but I did not notice this at first and got straight up and continued running it was only when I was half way through the race that my leg started to feel numb and when I put my hand on it i saw the trousers where ripped and my hand was covered in blood but I kept running and finished the race setting a new PB for myself I still have the scare on my leg from where I cut it on the ice.
The second time I did this race was In 2017 where I was a little slower than before finishing it in 57 minutes.
the start of the race was along the road with small hills so you where constantly going up and down the hills before getting to the big hill which was about 1 mile up and 1 mile down it was a very steep climb.
Fighting Thai Style 