I guess the title gives it away. I’ve not been posting much for two reasons.

  1. I’ve not known what to write, the distraction of fear and impending doom kept my word valves shut.
  2. I didn’t want to let anyone down.

Looking at the second, I’m welling up even now whilst I type this. The Ironman was a target I set last year having done a sprint triathlon and decided it was all about training. I enjoy a swim and a ride, adding a run should be manageable. I didn’t want it to impact my life but it did and those around me have suffered more than I would have wanted from my shortness here and there.

What I wanted to touch on was how all encompassing the thoughts of Ironman were. I’ve read pretty much every book on the subject in the last 8 months. If I wasn’t in the books I was reading the magazines or googling it. Everything normal conspires against training, a late lunch doesn’t give time for you to digest things before you exercise, a quick pint doesn’t help preparation. I became almost obsessive about timings, fat contents and everything else which I’m sure was frustrating for friends and family. BBQ’s with no bread, no alcohol and avoiding the majority of the meat during hot summer afternoons is not conducive to your social life. Avoiding the ad-hoc evening drinks with friends also takes a hit. There’s only so many orange juices you can drink in a pub before people stop asking.

Where I failed and always do is making the time to go and train. A day at the office doesn’t lead to an evening run and whilst I squeezed in a lot more than ever, it was never enough. Which takes me back to point 2. With all the sacrifices that I put on everyone else, failing would have been catastrophic. I’ve already admitted elsewhere I’m a fairly sensitive soul and I’m not sure I would have enough of a coping mechanism to cover it. I wanted to keep it low profile so as not to put people in the awkward position of saying ‘never mind’.

I’ll do a bigger post with a race report and final thoughts, but my first post is thankyou. Thank you to everyone who was subjected to being part of this journey whether they liked it or not. I know I’ve missed people but hopefully you all already know what a part you’ve had in this.

  • Sarah, Hannah, Nathan, Eloise, Austen – You are my world and without you this would mean nothing.
  • Richard ES and Paul C – You’re both exceptional humans.
  • Carl J, Neil C – It’s your fault this seed was planted.
  • Annameik & Marc, Ollie R, Nigel C, Mark Colbourne MBE – more inspirational people!
  • The team at Horseshoe Lake – where I learnt to open water swim
  • Everyone on the Ironman Journey facebook group
  • The rest of you  who have swum, run and shown an interest in supporting me!