http://forum.bcttt.com/viewtopic.php?f=3&t=2995
Have a read....
Anyway this is my entry..I just wrote it as I thought about it....it shows where you can come from and get to if you have the presence of mind to succeed :-)
Where did it begin....hmmm I swam from about 5 until I was 15 - five days a week usually two hours every morning and in the evening on Tuesdays and Thursdays...managed to win lots at Fly ....then everyone else shot up and I ended up being the kid with the big shoulders who was only 5' 7".....briefly dallied with competitive swimming again at Masters level but it didn't hold the same appeal....After I quit swimming I took up Karate in a major way making it to the week before my Black Belt grading before some muppet smashed my knee in training....end Karate career.....I had surgery (plus post op infection) and lost interest in sport for a while - did high adrenaline stuff for a while though....
In between I found smoking, drinking and a year at college which I simply do not remember....after that I gave up the illegal substances (not my greatest moment those says...sorry M&D) and joined the TA (as a gun bunny in the Artillery laterly as a Squadron Commander in the Signals) and continued the drinking/smoking/keep fit style of life the Army is so good at teaching....and took up rugby...I was rubbish at school but my significant weight increase...I was now 18 stone+ meant I was pretty good as a loose head prop.....spent a lot of time in the gym pushin weights and also an equal time in the bar (probably more actually) drinking.....played rubgy until I broke my neck (C4 fracture)...scary....and bummed around for a couple of years...weight hit somewhere over 18 stone...20+inch collar...discovered I had familial hypercholesterolaemia and a very poor 10 year MI risk.......the works...had enough and decided to get a bit fitter....
Started running agin...that really hurt...and kept getting a little faster and better at it until I developed anterior and lateral compartment syndrome (where the muscle develops quicker than the fascia sheath it is in.....v painful) in both legs....160mins of surgery to release the pressure and three months of relearning to walk/run later starting an hour after surgery (the muscles become very dysfunctional from this syndrome)
I decided to really improve the fitness level....I decided to join a friend competing in a sprint triathlon in Westonbirt, Gloucs - having wisdom teeth out and major post op infoections three weeks before the race didn't help but I got through it and didn't come last and loved it! Hooked!The following year in 2009 I decided that sprint was too easy and so decided to take it up a level - Wimbleball looked fun....after a lot of training and 8hrs 54mins of pain (cramp and huge GI probs) later I crossed the line, got my medal from Phil Graves (as I was the last across the line) and had to be held up as the legs failed.....it was slow and hard work but what a feeling....so obviousy 2010 meant I had to go one step further....IM Switzerland......a lot of training and pain later I crossed the line in 15hr 18mins.....an IRONMAN.....nuff said....
So why do I do it....not sure....it started to get fit...but triathlon is insiduous....it takes over your life, changing you subtly...I hope I am a role model of sorts for my kids...I hope I make it past 45 without having an MI ....I justify doing it to those who don't get the "I do it because it is there" aspect by raising money like many others...
Plus I suppose I am a bit of a nutter who likes to juggle a young(ish) family, three dogs, an 80+hour working week and long distance training....keeps me sane...but the Army had to go before IM - I just couldn't manage that job too...at least I am fitter now than I ever was serving Queen and country....
Later
I.
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