“Identify your dreams and work backwards, using milestones to track and celebrate your progress. Progress doesn’t have to be becoming the best, but simply by
becoming better. Better today, than you were yesterday and better tomorrow, than you are today.”
This is an excerpt from my Faculty of Sport and Exercise Medicine Lay View and it will guide me on my journey from Fatman to Ironman.
These words were original spoken by Frank Dick OBE. As the President of the European Athletics Coaches Association and one the world’s top sport coaches, he knows a thing or two about training great athletes.
I am not, nor never will be a great athlete, but my dream is to be an Ironman, even if it takes me the full 16hrs and 10 minutes allowed, although I do hope to complete it a little faster! With the Kona Ironman 2016 World Championships happening as I type, it seems as good a time as any to lay down my plan for 2018.
First up is deciding on an event. Ironman is a truly global event, but as I am fundraising for Cancer Research, I wanted to minimise costs, so I looked for events in the UK.
Unfortunately, the options are Bolton and Wales and while I have nothing against either location, I am from Glasgow and the prospect of competing in the rain isn’t appealing. I may come across as a fair weather athlete, but my fellow Glaswegians (especially Travis) and anyone in Manchester and Cardiff will appreciate my hatred for the rain.
I am not expecting an invitation to Kona and while a return to Noosa, Queensland in October 2018 would be wonderful, I have to look closer to home and every search points to Mallorca in September 2018 as being my final destination. The run is relatively flat, the cycle has the most amazing backdrop and the swim is both seawater (i.e floaty) and relatively calm. That gives me two years to prepare. No, that doesn’t mean twenty months to procrastinate about my preparations and then four months of panicking about the lack of them, it means twenty-four months of discipline, determination and dedication. The three “D’s” that help make East African runners so successful.
It isn’t their DNA, their diet or the altitude, it is their attitude that makes them winners and I have to adopt it.
The countdown to Mallorca starts now and I cannot lose focus. The past two weeks have seen my training stutter as I have been sitting an exam and caring for my mum. As I type this, I recognise the need to decide upon a plan and stick to it. So having identified my dream, it is time to work backwards. I reckon that my milestones should be at least one Olympic Triathlon, a Sprint and possibly some Duathlons, Open Swimming and Cycling events.
However, If I am honest, I don’t actually know what it takes to prepare for a 2.4 mile swim, 112 mile cycle and 26.2 mile run, especially as I am not the greatest swimmer or the most confident of cyclists. I’ve done some searching and the general consensus is that two years should be enough, but I am going to ask the experts at Triathlon Scotland and Ironmen (and women) such as Mark Russell and Anna Symms to help prepare a proper schedule. One that will prepare me for the greatest challenge of my life, but one which will also recognise that I have others roles and responsibilities that present their own challenges. There will be no intense or special training for me, just a consistent approach to being better tomorrow, than I am today. And regardless of my training and event schedule, there are some essential milestones that I
need and want to achieve:
- I want to lose at least five stones of fat. I am currently sitting at 250lbs and having been
180lbs in 2012, it is a good weight for me and hopefully I won’t look too ridiculous in a tri-suit. - I also want to build more muscle. Ironman is an endurance sport and I need to be both physically and mentally strong.
- I need to learn to swim and swim well. Currently, the 2.4 mile swim is the most daunting aspect of the Ironman for me and it will possibly make me or break me.
- I need to master the art of the transition and learn the rules of triathlon. I won’t be trying to beat the Brownlee Brothers, but I do not want to attract any unneeded time penalties.
- I need to remember to book a place. Ironmen events are becoming even more and more popular and they sell out almost as quickly as they open.
- I need to raise as much as possible for Cancer Research and everyone can contribute here at Stephen Morrison’s Ironman 2018 Challenge for Cancer Research
So Mallorca Ironman in 2018 is the dream and there will be many milestones to achieve and many barriers to overcome. It will not be easy and it will not be something that I will take lightly. There is much to do and I hope that you will continue to follow my progress here and at www.howmanymiles.co.uk
And remember, anything is possible.
