Look Out World, Here I Come

After completing Ironman UK I was hoping to have a bit of a rest. To a certain extent I have. My training has been greatly reduced, to say the least, but I have been very busy with other things.

For the two weeks following the race in Bolton I was on holiday, mostly in Devon and Cornwall with my extended family. Apart from the odd walk on Dartmoor I did no exercise at all, but I am beer fit again after a long lay off.

Since then I have been spending time with my wife and children, who I have to say have been slightly neglected over the last year. Work is also a constant drain on my time and energy, causing me to spend the greater part of every week away from home. Though I don’t seem to have achieved much since the big race I don’t seem to have had any spare time. Quite how I managed to find time to train for the Ironman I don’t know.

In a couple of weeks time I have my last race of the season at Langport. This is a nice short race that, to be honest, I could do without training at all. Which is just as well. I am trying to get back into the groove of training again but everything else just seems to be a higher priority at the moment.

The Ironman is something I can always look back on and remember though. There were so many emotions during the course of the day. Nerves and fear at the start.

The warmth I felt when I saw my family supporting me out on the bike course, that is me in the red top throwing an empty bottle to my son.

The pleasure I felt when I saw them again on the run.

The pain I was really feeling when I didn’t think they were looking.

And of course the joy and elation when I finally crossed the finishing line and it was all over.

But I think the best thing I take away from the experience, after all the training in the rain and cold of winter (and summer), all the time away from my family, after making myself keep going during the race when I was so tired that I really just wanted to stop, is the knowledge that if I can do that then I can do almost anything. The challenges I face in my daily life are nothing compared to this and if I put my mind to overcoming them I will. So look out world I have a number of goals I want to achieve and things I want to change over the coming months and nothing is going to stop me.