......One year and five days ago a package arrived at my house, a box that would change me, my outlook, my future, my family and certainly my belief that anything is acheiveable given the right tools and the right knowledge.
Just over a year ago i weighed in at around 17 stone, not too bad for a 6 foot 5 inch rugby player you might think, but i wasnt. I was a 5 foot 9 inch shop keeper with a BMI figure close to my 38 years of age.
Inside the box was an electrically mechanised energy converter, it could be used to transfer fat to heat via the power a humans legs. It was a treadmill.
A few weeks previous i had tried to run down the road, within 50 metres i was gasping for breath. This was a shock. In my younger days I could run for miles. Time had indeed taken its toll and action had to be taken and the order for my machine was immenent. I felt too ashamed to run down the road and despite the old saying that you shouldnt care what people think, for me, the act of roadrunning at that weight was never on the cards.
I wish I had more data for the records but i started out with the slow runs of less than 1km. Everynight I would hit the tready, gradually increasing distance and pace. The earliest records I have are from the 7th September 2010, I did 5k on my machine in 35.16. I remember the first time i did 10k so vividly, around the 25th Sept 2010 in a not so lightning quick 68.59. That was THE moment. From that euphoric feeling of completing that distance, only a few weeks before would have seemed impossible, I was captivated by the fitness bug.
I knew i would need a focus so entered the Lincoln 10k, its close to me and pretty flat so that was my goal for the next few months. Even before i had ran the Lincoln event I was signed up for the London BUPA 10k. This method of pressurising seems to work for me as you can see from the races I have done upto now.
As my times came down on the treadmill my confidence grew and eventually in January 2011 I had the motivation or bravery to go out to the road. Running on the roads is a lot harder for me than the treadmill. Reassessing my times I was going for a sub 60 minute 10k at Lincoln. In the back of my mind I thought I had a chance of a sub 55 but never admitted it to anyone. Race day came and with it a sub 50 minute, not bad for a fat bloke!
Since then a steady flow of races have come and gone, getting that little bit longer, little bit harder ( I now had the confidence to tackle hills and trail 10ks ) and ever more diverse. Running 10km events was never going to be enough for me. The amount of miles I was putting into the treadmill and roads was silly, and knowing what I know now was totally the wrong thing to do. Luckily i never got serious injuries, just a few niggles. Days after my surprise results at Lincoln I bought a road bike and within 22 days had completed my first novice dualthlon. Coming in 5th was nice, especially nice considering that first place went to a local triathlete who runs as an age grouper for GBR, second, third and fourth went to local cycling club people using the event as a warm up. There was only about 20 people in the event but to come just behind people that have been doing it for years was a great ego boost. There was only one thing left to do. Swim.
On May the 11th, just under 2 weeks after the duathlon I ventured to the local swimming pool. I couldnt swim a length, I can laugh now but at the time it seemed swimming was going to put an end to my goal of doing a triathlon.
