Book Review: Finding My Feet by Hanny Allston
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Short Description
At 19, Hanny Allston faces a ‘perfect strom’. Her father is terrifyingly ill. Beside his hospital bed, she teters painfully on crutches after surgery that could end her sporting career. Her future in medicine is in peril because the university cannot defer her studies. (Source: Book Description)
Author
Hanny Allston is a World Orienteering Champion and record holder and road and trail running races.
Release Date
May 7, 2020
At the age of seven, Hanny Allston puts three goals on the front page of every journal she owns: being an Olympian, living at the AIS (Australian Institute of Sports), and becoming a doctor. In the nine years following, she pursues her Olympic dreams in the pool, striving to become one of the best swimmers of Australia. When her family starts getting into orienteering, Hanny is hesitant at first, but then slowly starts falling in love with the sport of running, while at the same time falling out of love with swimming.
When her father commits suicide and her family breaks apart, Hanny is also facing an injury that could mean the end of her career. As the university is unable to defer her medical studies, the goals that 7-year-old Hanny put into her journals slip further out of reach. In the middle of this ‘perfect storm’, anorexia joins her, offering a false sense of security. But eventually, she finds an answer to the question “What next?” and stumbles along the path of finding her feet. While in the following years she gets back to her old strength and she runs faster than ever, anorexia remains by her side, destroying relationships and threatening her (physical) health.
Athletic success is not a way to judge your strength and character. Athletic success is never going to be the superglue, or the thing you are proud of when you are telling anecdotes in the retirement village. Life is not about winning medal, breaking records, or receiving accolades. Nor will athletic success heal you or change you for the better.
– Hanny Allston
This book is not only the story of Australia’s most successful orienteer, but also reflects on the struggles, hardships, and failures that are part of everyone’s lives. Life is a series of challenges, but as you overcome one after another, you will grow. Therefore, “Finding My Feet” is also a book about life itself.
Towards the end of the book, she comes to this conclusion: “Life is giddy and messy, and well, surreal. In fact, when you think you have it all sorted, you travel around a corner and, ahead, there lies another question, challenge or opportunity. So, I am sorry this story was giddy, messy, and honest. But it happened. Life happened.”
So, if you like learning from others, this book is for you. Hanny Allston shares her life lessons, her failures, and her successes with an inspiring honesty. Maybe it will shift your perspective on injuries as much as it did mine 🙂
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About The Author
I did my debut triathlon on a pink kid’s bike with training wheels at 6 years old. That’s where my love for the sport was born, but it would take another decade until I figured out that I wanted to combine my passions for sports and writing.
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