Alex

There are two reasons why I’m undertaking this ridiculous challenge. Number one, four of my close friends and work colleagues are doing it and I simply could not handle the jealousy of listening to them referring to themselves as ‘ironmen’ if and when the challenge is complete. And two, I heard a rumour that if you complete this mother of all endurance triathlons there is a special tattoo that you can have to truly be ‘branded’ an ‘ironman’. Are these good reasons to go through days, weeks and months of pain preparing to spend 12 hours or more going through even more pain….? No.

Am I still going to do it? You bet ya!

My background in sport does not particularly lie in stamina based events. In fact I’d be a liar if I said I was a massive fan of endurance exercise! Don’t get me wrong there’s no better way to start the day than cracking a few miles early doors with the lads as the sun rises up. But 2.4 miles swimming, 112 miles on the bike and then a marathon? You’ve gotta be kidding me?! But I guess thats what sums up all five of us who are taking this challenge on. We are always up for a challenge!

My own sporting highlights have come in Rugby League where I achieved representative honours with Wales in 2002 and 2006. Being part of a team and putting in the big(ish) hits and hard yards for your friends is what always attracted me to Rugby League. Although doing an ironman is not quite the same, I think the biggest inspiration to get to the end will be not wanting to let the 4 other guys in my team down. I have more recently begun to dabble in the world of endurance sport including completing a 30 mile run across the Royal Marines selection course in Dartmoor, a number of half marathons (both on road and off road), adventure race challenges and a sprint triathlon. That said, training for this event is going to involve a complete shift in my training focus from the development of strength, speed, power and working the beach weights – to a full on aerobic conditioning programme…..goodbye biceps, hello abs!

So come race day there’s no doubt there’ll be one or two butterflies in my stomach, but I know that like my four team mates, there’s only one way to approach this ironman – go hard or go home! There aren’t that many people who achieve something like this and if what we are doing inspires even just one of our students, or someone who comes into contact with this venture to challenge themselves in sport or in life, then that’s a result in my eyes. 

The other result will be running or if needs be crawling over that finish line in Henley on September 18^th 2011! “Expect Nothing, Blame Nobody, Do Something!”