So this is it, day 1. After taking off a month to relax, take my mind off training and get fat (I managed to gain 4k), I have chosen to start my training and start my blog. It is freezing cold here (by Johannesburg standards) and getting up at 5am and hitting the road is not a pleasant thought. The Ironman is a daunting prospect, made all the more so by my inability to swim any sort of long distance and my dislike of open water.
So the plan is as follows, run & cycle plenty over the next two months, get myself a swimming coach to sort out my stroke and start an official Ironman training program on September 1 (that's two days before my 46th Birthday!)
Today
Weight 73,5 Kg (about 4k over my racing weight)
Height 171 cm (not expecting that to change anytime soon)
Run
Distance: 5.05k
Time: 28.04
Heart Rate: Around the 180 mark (first run in 4 weeks!)
Cycle
Swim
Why would you possibly want to do this?
Visit TTMAD Home Page
Call it crazy, call it a 'mid-life crises', call it boys being boys... I don't mind. I am 45 years old, been physically active most of my life (interspersed with brief periods of sheer laziness) and have decided to complete the South African Ironman in April 2008. (3.8k Swim, 180k Cycle, 42.2k Run)
Someone told me that when you are 45, rich and bored you buy a Harley or a sports car. When you are 45, poor and suffer from OCD (Obsessive Compulsive Disorder) you do the Ironman.
In 1987 I completed a canoe Ironman triathlon and suddenly realised that if I completed the Ironman in 2008, it would be almost 21 Years to the day since my last big physical challenge.
I have been training for a few months now but took 4 weeks off all training before the 'big push' that starts TODAY (2 July 2007). This BLOG will be a daily Web Log of the life and times of a Ironman Wannabe. I trust you will enjoy the experience with me and please feel free to comment on any of the blogs.
PS. I am doing this for charity and the details of that will soon be posted here, as well as on my own site at www.brandstrategy.co.za and at the TTMAD site (Tri-ing To Make A Difference)
Monday, July 2, 2007
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I Share My Road...
(This article I wrote, recently appeared in the SA Mens Health Magazine in July 2008 as the letter of the month)
I Share MY Road…
MY road? Well it’s not really MY road, I don’t really own it, in fact I don’t even live on it, but I do run it almost everyday and in my head that makes it MY road. I set out at about 5:15am most mornings and I share MY road with so many others.
There are the sprinters, the joggers and the walkers. What strikes me most about these people is that they are not wearing the latest in high tech running shoes or specially designed shirts to wick sweat from the body as they cover the kilometers. No GPS heart rate monitors strapped on these chest. In fact most are in ordinary clothes, overalls, construction boots, reflective security jackets, in fact, just about anything.
They are not running to get fit or to complete some race they have circled on a calendar, they are running to get to work, to catch a taxi, to make a change of shift or even to get home after pulling an all nighter. They are running to bring home the money they need to live, they are truly professional athletes.
We nod to each other as we pass and sometimes even share a greeting over the music blaring from my iPod. And each day I am reminded just how fortunate I am to have the opportunity and the means to choose when I run, to choose why I run and to choose where I run.
So to all those who share MY road with me, thank you for the lessons you teach me everyday and Gods speed and safety on your journey.
Mike Said
Somewhere on MY Road
Senderwood
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