After watching a friend complete iron man in 2014 I decided my goal was to complete a half…I am not built for triathlon, and I do not have the concentration so I thought a half would be an achievable goal. I could swim ok, could run… (well plod), and had never been on a road bike. Over the years I tested the road bike, did a few triathlons and decided to make it my goal for 2022.
I’m not going to lie - training around work was hard. A lot of sessions had to be forgone due to work commitments. I would often be on the bike trainer late at night in the garage and did all my long training sessions on my days off.
Then COVID-19 came along, good for training as we had a rolling on call roster and the roads were quiet, but then the event got cancelled…
I was a SET 1 trainee and there was no way I could maintain the level of training I was doing for another 9 months till the event was rescheduled.
So, some friends and I went out and completed the event anyway on the course the day of the cancelled event. Regardless it was still an awesome atmosphere - lots of people doing the event and support teams for everyone.
I achieved my goal of finishing. It was hard, but like many medical professionals, once you set your mind to something there is very little to stop us!
It allowed me to realise the limits of my work-life balance and find joy in long cardio sessions again. Now just looking forward to actually using my entry for March 2024 and seeing if I can beat my time.