Kia Ora Whanau,
This is my first post of many where I will try to give whanau an idea of what it takes to train for an event. Now i have chosen one of the most gruelling events to complete in Ironman but whether it is a half marathon, 40km cycle, harbour crossing or whatever you dream of doing anything is possible.
In January of 2011 I was over weight, not motivated and just really unhappy with myself. Waipareira started a regular training group that i decided to join and in that whanau environment I learnt alot about what I could achieve. During these sessions we were encouraged to set goals to try and achieve and for some reason I decided I would do a half ironman which involves a 2km swim, a 90km cycle and a 21km run to cap it off.
Once I decided what I would aim for I needed to get the right support and advice on how to train for this event and this is where I connected with the Waitakere Triathlon and Multisport Club. I was lucky enough to meet people like Andrew Sylvester and Ben Chidgey who supported and trained me for this event. I attended Iron Maori 2011 and completed the event in under 6 hours which was totally awesome as my goal was 6hrs30mins. The whole experience was awesome and the 14 weeks training towards the event helped me learn alot about what I could achieve.
This time around I have decided to tackle Ironman 2013 which involves a 3.8km swim, 180km cycle and 42km run. I will endevour to post each week comments on how I feel and really talk about some of the things I experience during training. I really want whanau to see that there are ups and downs but that you can achieve anything.
I am now 8 weeks into my approx 25 week training schedule. Week eight has not gone well. I have had a tummy bug all week and have not been able to train and this was to be a big week (18hr training week). This is an example of the not so good things that can happen during training. I am one of those people who doesnt miss any training session so i am very dissapointed about what is happening. however I am still a few weeks away so i need to stay positive and get my body right.
Thats it for now whanau. Next week will\ be more helpful as I can comment on my thoughts about my training. So until then go hard and safe training.
Mauri Ora Karl