Just another challenge?

Here we are again, coming towards the end of another year with thoughts racing towards what I could do in the future. Sometimes it always seems that I'm looking to the future to what might be, to what could be, but this time I'm booked up and ready to go. I'm all signed up and paid up for the Monster Middle in Ely on the 17th August next year. Training needs to start straight away for me as this 1.9km swim, 83km swim and 21km run is going to be a tall order.

Now, I've completed marathons before (the majority way back when I was in my early 20s) and have cycled London to Paris but all of those have seemed like I just got round with very little training. Each event never had a cut off point / a time that I had to complete it in otherwise resulting in failure. I have always felt that those moments of crossing the finishing line of the London Marathon or arriving at the Eiffel Tower could be completed by anyone with very little training. After all, it's what I did and I am no Superman, far from it in fact. I have the medals and photos to prove I have completed these events but I have never felt that I have achieved anything special. While running the marathon there were always hundreds and thousands of other people around me doing the same and I have always heard of others cycling from London to Paris. In the past I have tried to convince myself that these are events that not anyone can just do, but on facing facts I honestly believe that any average Joe off the streets can do it. Just by taking things steady and having the right mental attitude I think anyone can complete a marathon. All you need to to is keep going and believe in yourself! Upon working with Jona Davies at a primary school in Chelmsford I then found the next challenge, triathlons. Jona was, and is, a very motivating person who allowed me to see the person I wanted to be. He came up with challenges and introduced me properly to the sport of triathlon. I completed my first sprint tri after he suggested a race and I completed it with the same attitude and training I had done with the marathon, i.e. not a lot of proper training and an attitude where I told myself that I would finish it no matter what. At the end I mistakenly felt proud of my accomplishment but in my heart I knew that I could do much better. When two other people I knew started completing local tri's as well I knew I had to step things up a notch. I wanted to feel special, I wanted to feel like I had achieved something that others had not, I wanted to feel proud of myself.  Unfortunately, we do not have a lot of spare money and entering these races can cost a bit but I knew that I wanted to go longer in terms of a triathlon. I told myself that I wouldn't use this money to enter a small sprint tri but I would instead go for a proper long distance one that others would not even contemplate. This longer tri didn't materialise as I hadn't booked myself a place and I hadn't completed anywhere near enough training. From the moment I knew I wasn't going to compete I felt depressed and lost any motivation I did have to carry out any training. 2013 passed me by in terms of training and exercise. I was not a happy fella.

Everything has changed though. My wife has realised that I really want to do this half ironman challenge, even if at times I don't show the enthusiasm that is coursing through my veins. Thanks to some very generous parents at work and understanding family at birthdays and Christmas', I now have the majority of the equipment.

With the cut off times of this half ironman triathlon I now feel that it is a real challenge that I absolutely MUST train for in order to complete it. I feel that you can't just 'turn up' and complete this challenge and that many people out there will not even contemplate being able to do it. I must swim 1.9km within 70 minutes, I've got a maximum of 4hrs20 to then cycle 83km and finally I then have to complete a sub 3hr half marathon (21km).

I have paid my entry fee of £104, I have joined a triathlon club, I have books to read about training and I have a time limit. Is this just another challenge? I don't think so. Time to get on the bike!