9 Months to become a Double Ironman

This week I signed up and paid to complete a Double Ironman on the 1^st June 2013.

I’ve been planning to do this since my failed first attempt 3 months ago. I’ve eagerly been waiting for entries to open and entered as soon as possible. I expected to feel excited, energised and really motivated to start the training. Instead the opposite happened…….

I felt nervous, scared and, all I could think about was the bad things about the training last year. The tiredness, the long long rides and the cold, being so cold and wet that I just wanted to cry.

There are times when I’m overwhelmed by negative feelings and I just have a total loss of confidence. Last year I mostly kept these thoughts to myself, this year I have decided to tell the world in the hope that it will help me cast them aside. I also hope that others will find my journey interesting and maybe even inspirational.

One of the reasons that I keep negative thoughts to myself is that I see them as a sign of weakness. When I think of the amazing achievements that I witnessed at Avon Tyrell last year, I get cross with myself, I saw others overcome and achieve things I’ve never imagined possible. I also experienced support and care from many many people; I was very humbled by the experience.

So, I need to man up, and not be so self absorbed, I also need to recognise I’m only human, and vulnerable sometimes.

I decided that I need to really think about why I was doing the Double and I needed to be able to remind myself of these reasons when times got tough. Why was I really doing it? It wasn’t something I’ve thought about  and  it took me a while to figure out the answer

So here they are, the reasons I’m doing the Double Ironman in 2013

1)      I love personal challenges and the IM wasn’t enough of a challenge

2)      I love the feeling of being at peak fitness

3)      I love pushing my body further than I thought possible

4)      Its great to be supported by my special friends who are also my support crew

5)      Through the journey I get to meet lots of inspirational people

6)      It makes me feel like I’m alive and living my life to the full

Just going through this exercise helped me feel re-energised and re-focused.

I have another secondary objective is writing this blog. I want to improve my writing skills  I failed English O’level twice and spending  25 year in IT hasn’t really done anything for my writing skills. I’m hoping that regular blogging will improve my skill and confidence in writing.

Here’s to a happy nine months of blogging.