told myself, ‘You are the champion. You can do this.’ I remembered the stories I’d heard about Muhammad Ali and how, even in his senior years as a fighter, he never considered defeat. Likewise Usain Bolt during his Olympic gold-winning races. At the base camp of every mountain, I tried to think in the same way, never once imagining that the summit above me might be out of reach. Instead, I told myself it was there to be taken. ‘You are going to make this happen,’ I would say. ‘You’re the man here.’
