David M Race Report

This is a story about me but it has everything to do with you. If you
want to loose a stone of weight, swim front crawl or run a marathon I
hope my story will help you. Like me you will have friends who will
discourage you, you will have work or family  commitments which will
interrupt training, you will have failures and setbacks and you will
question the reasons why you are training. If I can do it so can you.

Ironman Germany is a 2.4 mile swim, 112 mile bike course and a marathon all combined which I managed to complete in 12 hours and 57 minutes. When I started training I was only running 20 minutes on a treadmill, I hadn’t been in a swimming pool for years and didn’t even own a bike. What changed was seeing the results of an Ironman on a gym notice board and being astounded by the times of the 60+ age group. One day I casually asked Chris Clarke of F2K Personal Trainers if I could do this event and I was amazed to hear a one word reply “Yes”. However he did add on “If you do exactly what I tell you to do”.

Ironman Germany started with a 2000 competitor mass start swim in a
large inland lake. As I was walking down to the lake with the other
competitors the atmosphere exceeded any expectations I previously had.
The swim seemed to go quite well though I was to find out later it went
very well. The bike came next which is on closed roads throughout so
you really do feel like an elite athlete. I got off the bike after six
and a half  hours of eating energy gels and I did not feel like doing
my first ever marathon. However after a few miles my stomach settled
and I got into my running and felt stronger and stronger throughout the
run. I couldn’t keep the smile off my face for the last couple of miles
of the marathon and when I came into the finish I was amazed to find
that I had come in a full hour quicker than my target time. Nick and
Chris from F2K had always suggested my target time was a little slow
which is a testament to their skill and training.

Here are my top tips:-

1). THINK POSITIVE and don’t listen to negative thoughts. If you keep
on listening to the same negative thoughts don’t expect different
results. I often used to ask myself “How would Steve Redgrave THINK
now?”.

2). GET GOOD ADVICE. I couldn’t have completed an Ironman without F2K
Personal Trainers. I work 50 hours a week and they showed me how to
train smart.

3). FAIL TO SUCCESS. You will make mistakes along the way. Don’t beat
yourself up.

4). EXPECT DOUBTERS. This is hard at first but act like a champion and
take it on the chin.

5). JUST DO IT.

6). DO IT NOW.