Anything is possible.

Determination and dedication.

True commitment and grit.

Action Takers.

I witnessed all of these on the weekend at Ironman. For the uninitiated, Ironman consists of swimming, cycling and running…. and a lot of them!  For the Ironman 70.3 – they swim 1.9km in the ocean, cycle 90km and run 21.1km and for Ironman – they unbelievably do a 3.8km swim (also in the ocean), 180km cycle and 42.2km run. Yep. Phenomenal!! As you can imagine, this is well and truly more than a ‘one-off’ hour of effort!

We have just had a massive weekend of Ironman (spectating!) so just a short (and late) post this week.

Whilst supporting at Ironman (I’ve been to  4 separate events now) I noticed:

• There is no body shape or size that determines who can finish an Ironman.
• Yes, there are some strong legs and lean muscles.
• There are bodies that would be described as solid and also petite.
• There were vision impaired athletes (who had a buddy athlete to guide them).  There was also a man with paraplegia, truly remarkable.
• Training for such an event matters!! And in actual fact the day of Ironman could be seen as a celebration of all of the commitment and action taken in the months leading up to the event.
• Some spills had and injuries were sustained on the day – some of those people kept competing.
• No doubt, there were so many feelings experienced – from insults to the mind and body all the way to undoubtedly some incredible feelings of elation and satisfaction.
• what they all had in common though, is a big heart – you don’t keep on keeping on for up to 17 hours (that’s the time cut off) without one!

And it maybe a little cliche, but true to one of Ironman’s mottos, it is the ultimate demonstration of ‘Anything is Possible’

And I’ll tell you this for free – if you need your faith restored in what the body and mind is capable of – go and spectate at an Ironman! Or maybe you will take it on yourself??!!

So here’s to all Ironman finishers (70.3 and 140.6) out there – I salute you!!