I wouldn’t go a day without taking Pura Collagen… and haven’t since August 2021. Let’s rewind a bit. I’m Georgina, a 35-year-old triathlete and runner. I’ve been running since 2008 and have dipped in and out of various sports since then, including CrossFit, Olympic weightlifting, rowing and triathlon. I like to pay attention to technique and mobility, but my ankles have plagued me since day one of lacing up my trainers. See, I’ve always been seriously restricted in dorsi-flexion (the action of closing the angle of your ankle). This has seen me struggle with various injuries throughout my running and training life, including two stress fractures of the fibula – a bone that is only supposed to bear 20% of your weight as you move. Another injury that’s kept coming up again and again is achilles tendinitis or, as it is named when it’s chronic, achilles tendinopathy. Starting in September 2020, my achilles issues got to the point of being recommended shockwave therapy by my physio. I had a course of four treatments and, after the recommended healing time, I was able to increase my activity levels again. Until I triggered a flare up in early summer 2021 by wearing inappropriate footwear for a hilly trail run. I thought I’d almost gone back to the start again with a palpable lump formed on my tendon again… But at the end of August 2021, I received my first bundle of Pura Collagen Flex+. I had heard great things about collagen peptides for aiding the body’s natural repair processes and was keen to give it a try. The packaging recommends one scoop in the morning and a second scoop at night, so I have mine in my morning coffee and in a decaf coffee before bed. I find this the easiest way to make sure I take it consistently because, while it’s tasteless and you can stir it into food, I don’t eat the same things every morning/evening, so feel like I’d forget when I eat differently. Similar to the shockwave treatment, I had seen it can take around 12 weeks to really feel a difference from taking collagen – this isn’t an arbitrary number – 12 weeks is the typical healing timeframe for soft tissues such as tendons. I can’t pinpoint the exact point at which my achilles felt “right” again, but before the end of 2021 I was starting to forget it was ever a problem. The lump on my left achilles is no more. As for pain and mobility, my physio had always told me to use a consistent point in the day to monitor my symptoms. For me, that point was how my achilles and calves felt getting out of bed in the morning. For a long time, I struggled putting my heels down when I take my first few steps – now I get out of bed freely again. I am truly so grateful to Pura Collagen for making a product I firmly believe in and that I find so easy to take. I genuinely feel like it’s the one supplement I couldn’t be without – it doesn’t just assist my training and performance, it enables it. And this is why I haven’t gone a day without taking it in the last 8-9 months.