Forth installment, if you have read the previous scroll down, this is not PC, you have been warned !





The Plan

The simple version of the plan is to do enough training, so that you find your self at 20 miles into the run in good shape, so that you can run the last 6 miles to the finish. 6 miles from the finish is actually the half way mark, once there you’re over the hump and a smile starts to creep on to your face, by the time you hit the line you will have a big shit eating grin that last for years. That is what we are going to do here.

The first thing is to have a plan, there are loads on the internet some you have to pay for, some are free, the choice is yours. Do you want to do a 13 week, 26 week or a 52 week program, figure out how much time you are going to spend on this, I prefer a long lead up, working on my base and endurance. Then go hard for 13 weeks, with a built in two week taper, any longer than that and my attention starts to wander, plus it don’t seem to long for your support crew to put up with your prima donna shit.

I do have a plan on the original script, this blog won't let me post it from excel, if you want a copy, drop me an email.



Friends, neutrals and speedbumps
I find my self putting people into one of three groups:

Friends, these are people who believe in me and support me in my endeavours, tell me the truth and have a genuine interest in what I am doing. Guys that are willing to put themselves out for me, just as I would for them. You know who you are, love you loads

Neutrals, these are the ones that normally aren’t quite listening then the penny drops, they do the mental mathematics on the distances and they stand with their mouths open, or they just aren’t interested, that’s OK, they are happy with their lot, good for them.

Speedbumps, You are the biggest one, you will stop yourself from succeeding no one else, you are the one who will ultimately cave in, when the training gets hard or it’s raining, blowing, too hot, too cold or any other fucking excuse. They come in many guises, they often seem like friends only to worm their way in to stop you from succeeding, some of the things they come out with seem innocuous, “You are training a lot, are you OK”, may sound like concern but it sows doubt in the mind, or the usual one is “Your becoming obsessed with training”, of course you are, obsessed is what the lazy call the determined. Speedbumps are the ones who tell you that it’s stupid to attempt such things, Fuck ‘em, go round them, don’t listen to their shit, they’re just jealous they haven’t the commitment you have, yet these are the same twats that bask in your reflected glory when you finish, “Yeah, my mate does the Ironman”, twat, or “ I knew he could do it really”, no they fucking didn’t cos they’re speedbumps, they don’t like any one else to realise they dreams, cos it make them think of their own wasted life.

Blueprint of a psychotic
Ironman is not hobby or something you do to impress “the partner”, it’s a way of life, an addiction an all consuming passion to finish or improve. If you can’t or won’t commit to it then fuck off, why have you read this much if you can’t commit. I’m not fucking about here, you become driven, obsessed, controlled by it, it takes over your life.
When your friends are going for a night out, you’re having an early night cos you have a 100 mile ride followed by a 8 mile run the following morning and you know it will fuck you up if you go with them. Your whole life revolves around training and racing, your view of society is not what it was, you look at people differently.
Let a ‘normal’ person read this, they won’t understand that we feel nervous, irritable and discontented with life if we don’t get our fix and that is what out training becomes, our drug of choice, we are no different to drug addicts, alcoholics, gamblers or any thing else that is addictive.
We live to train and train to live, everything else become secondary, although we say we give over time to friends and family, it’s done grudgingly, be fucking honest.
Notice how twitchy you become during rest days, the taper weeks are unbearable, this is normal for us, we have a distorted view of life, mortals will never understand it.


JFT Graham