My Passion with Ian McCombie: Taking giant strides in search of a competitive challenge

With the countdown under way for the 2012 Olympics, I've been reflecting on the major impact that my passion for athletics has had on my personal and professional life. I owe it a great deal of gratitude.

Athletics instils an ethic for hard work, a high tolerance threshold, great focus, a winning-minded mentality and the ability to work successfully as part of a team.

I've always been a keen competitor and athlete, ever since I was a young boy. As they both involve such a high level of commitment, I wasn't sure how athletics and law would fit together in my life, but I knew I would make it work.

I especially excelled at race walking at school, and I continued with this sport when I went to university to study law in 1979. In 1978, I achieved my GB junior international vest, and I progressed to the Race Walking World Cup which I competed in every other year from 1981 to 1991. In 1984, I went to the Los Angeles Olympics, where I came 19th, which was a very proud moment for me, even if the result was disappointing.

Going on to win Commonwealth bronze medals at the Games in 1986 and 1990 was also a real highlight, and though I competed in every World Athletics Championships 1983 to 1991, my proudest moment was to finish ninth in 1987.

It hasn't always been easy. I was only a three-years qualified solicitor working 60 hours a week when I broke my own British record for the 20km at the Olympics in 1988 in Seoul: I was the highest performing amateur who held down a full-time job.

It meant I had to fit my training in around my career, which was sometimes very tough, but was, in a way, a safe option, having a job to fall back on when I inevitably ended my career through injury. But it was never a case of choosing for me, both were a big part of my life, and while I could have been a more successful athlete had I been brave enough to train and compete full-time, I think I made the right decision.

When I sustained an ankle injury in 1992 and had to pull out of the team for the Barcelona Olympics, that was a real blow.

However, I knew it wouldn't be the end of competitive sport for me; I just had to find something that would suit me in a slightly different sphere. That was why I learned to cycle in 1999 as a rehabilitation, from which I gradually built up my fitness on the bike and then decided to take up running competitively. Since then, I have competed in the London Marathon, finishing in the top 600, various half-marathons and two Iron Man triathlons.

Next on the horizon for me is either an ultra-marathon, or a respectable golf handicap. Life would be dull without a competitive challenge.