It’s difficult explaining to people why you have chosen to do an Ironman. Most people look at you like you’re nuts. I guess my close friends and family aren’t that surprised. It’s just another daft thing that I’m doing after all but for other people it’s not easy to associate with. It took me a while to get my own head around doing it, or at this stage, attempting it so I guess it’s understandable that a lot of people look at me like I’ve got two heads when I tell them.
At the end of the day I enjoy playing sport and doing exercise. It’s not necessarily about keeping fit, I could go to the gym for that (although that has no appeal to me at all. Running on a treadmill, riding a static exercise bike or doing weights has to be as part of a training plan or as a last resort if I can’t get outside to run, bike or swim). I like the feeling that doing intense exercise gives me. There is something strangely nice about being physically exhausted. Your body aches and you have sore muscles, but you also get an afterglow that you cannot replicate from anything else. I’ve said it before but it’s my own version of a ‘high’.
I guess I get bored easily too so having a goal to train for is pretty important to me. Without something to aim for I just drift and end up just running or cycling with no purpose. Don’t get me wrong, going for a nice bike ride is ok, I just don’t necessarily see the point of it (unless there’s a pint at the end of it on a summer’s day, and even that isn’t massively appealing. I am a fairly useless drinker) other than a gentle ride with my daughters; I took my youngest daughter Lily out on her first bike ride on Saturday, that was special.
It’s not about winning, I haven’t won a race of any note since I was a kid. It’s about attempting to do something that I consider physically challenging that will give me my own sense of achievement. I can understand why people like James Cracknell and Sir Ranulph Fiennes end up doing one unbelievable challenge after another. I’ve read enough autobiographies to know that this comes from an obsessive and stubborn behaviour trait which then turns in to their profession. To be even be able to put yourself in to that kind of position requires a selfish nature which can be pretty destructive to those around them. I certainly wouldn’t want to be like that, but the life experiences they rack up are enviable. You only get one life after all so why not traverse the Antarctic solo or row across the Atlantic? Good on them I say.
That probably means that I will always be seeking my next challenge which begs the question ‘what’s next?’. I’ve been asked this a few times and, at this point, I have no desire to do an ultra marathon or another Ironman. I honestly see the Ironman event as the ultimate challenge for me so I don’t intend to do another one. That would be about improving my time which is not really the point of why I’m doing it. Maybe after I’ve done it that will be enough. Scary thought.
All I do know is that the next challenge may not be quite as extreme as this, but I will need one. That’s just who I am. A numpty in Lycra. Come to think of it, It’s quite concerning how much Lycra I’ve worn over the years. Maybe that’s what I’m addicted to. That’s not right is it?