I started running probably in my late teens, when I was around 17. My mom was a personal trainer, and she was studying Sports Therapy at university, and my dad ran too.

I wasn't a very happy teenager. When I was 19, I ended up in a psychiatric ward, and couldn't run anymore: I was physically locked up and I was on a lot of meds, which meant I didn't have any energy.

So for about five years, I was not really getting helped, and was given lots of different labels that weren't helpful either, during my early 20s. As I came off all the medications, I got a dog and did lots of walking.

I didn't take up running for a while, mostly because I would get very upset that I couldn't really do it anymore. I wasn't as fit and was very angry that it had been taken away from me.

But when I was around 30 years old, I had this massive life-changing and spiritual experience when I went on a big hike up the mountain.

I’d gotten rid of my car, as a result of lots of decisions I made, and my world got really small. I couldn't get to the places very quickly, so I essentially just started running the downhills.

It wasn't a situation where I was like “I'm gonna start running now.” I was just trying to get somewhere quicker. Then obviously, as I got fitter, I ran more than just the downhills – I ran some of the flats, and then sometimes uphills.

I entered a trail marathon, and just got really quite obsessed with running.

I was particularly interested in ultra running and running long distances. During all of that time, I came out as trans. So that coupled with running was a really great way for me to look after myself.

[As told to @Ragi Gupta — continued]