On the 30th August 2015 my wife, Catherine and I will be taking on a long distance triathlon or 'Ironman' in Vichy, France.

The Event

An ironman, or long distance triathlon involves swimming 3.8 km (2.4miles), cycling 180 km (112 miles) and then running 42 km (26.2 miles) back to back and all within a 17 hour time limit. Or to put those distances into context, it's the equivalent of swimming across Belfast lough from Carrickfergus to Helen's Bay, cycling to Dublin and then running a marathon.

About me

I was introduced to triathlons by my girlfriend (now wife) Catherine in 2012. I have completed 4 triathlons, of various distances since then, from 'short' distance sprint triathlons, to 'medium' distance half ironman's. In most of these races, I have competed alongside (and been comfortably beaten by) Catherine. 

Training

Given the nature of the event, it takes quite a lot of training over a prolonged period to prepare your body for up to 17 hours of continuous, strenuous exercise. I have been following a 6 month training plan, which involves about 15 hours a week. I train almost every day and most days actually involve training twice. Weekends are dedicated to longer runs and rides which I can’t do during the week because of work commitments. In a typical week I would run about 40km (25miles), cycle 250km (155 miles) and swim 7km (4.5 miles). As a result of all this activity I burn between 10,000 and 12,000 calories per week in training alone, that’s between 40 and 50 Mars bars!