Iron Jack

I’m going to do Ironman 2011.

Did that get your attention? It sure got mine!

I’m a 35 year-old, overweight, clinically obese, self-employed mother of two small boys. Surely I can’t possibly complete the Ironman distance of a 3.8 kilometre swim, 180 kilometre bike ride, and 42.2 kilometre marathon – can I?

I’m going to.

If there is anything that this 35 year old, overweight, self-employed mother of two knows how to do, it is setting goals – the bigger, the better. But even I have to confess that I may have outdone myself this time.

So how did I get to “I’m going to do Ironman 2011”? It’s actually been a very short two month journey from my first triathlon on January 4, to my fifth on February 15, to my big hairy audacious goal of Ironman in 2011.

I’ve also been “into” triathlons since I watched Hamish Carter and Bevan Docherty battle out it for gold and silver at the 2004 Athens Olympics. I was fortunate to be offered the opportunity to work with the sport shortly afterwards in my professional capacity and my fascination with the sport has continued ever since.

But it wasn’t until just before Christmas 2008 that I literally got off my butt and onto a bike, doing that first triathlon just two weeks later. I came last. The bike just about killed me. I had to walk the run. But I was addicted.

I did the next one two weeks later. Loved it, ran the whole way, beat my time by 14 minutes.

All of a sudden I had more energy. I actually wanted to run around outside with the kids. I found I didn’t want that glass of wine and I started eating properly. For the first time in many years, I felt alive. I feel alive. And I want that feeling to last.

So that’s how I ended up with the big goal.

The first step was talking to my doctor to see if I was medically able to do it. I am.

The second step was getting some new orthotics (the last pair were more than 10 years old!) and some new running shoes. Tick.

The third step was telling my husband. After a short discussion he joined the support crew – he’s used to supporting my mad-cap ambitions.

The next step was organising my trainer. Two years is a decent amount of time for preparation, but I’m going to need every one of those 730 days to prepare myself and there wasn’t a moment to lose.

A cup of coffee with Lee-Anne Wann (the dynamic trainer from TV3’s Downsize Me) later and our plan was underway.

I’m committed to achieving this goal, not just for me, but for other busy, everyday working mums (and dads) to prove that you don’t have to be extreme to take on Ironman – you just have to do it.

This entry was posted on Monday, May 11th, 2009 at 8:03 am and is filed under Events, Ironman. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.