HOW I CHANGED MY LIFE – An Ironman Triathlon Story

is [Music] uh [Music] let's go [Music] oh [Applause] [Music] [Music] guys [Music] so [Music] so [Music] what am i doing so that was me drinking and going out late more often than not hangovers and lethargy plaguing my weeks always sleeping in never seeing the sun rise too quickly seeing it set eating poorly and a myriad of other bad habits that formed my life as a university student i willingly fell into the lifestyle of hedonism and apathy to be honest it was kind of fun it was easy to be carefree and get caught up in revelry in the moment i felt great everyone always does but when the lights got turned on and everyone had gone home i felt empty hollow there was something missing that this lifestyle could not offer i was confused and stuck i knew that living this way would not offer me purpose or fulfillment i knew that i needed to change but i lacked the courage to put a plan into place so i stayed in that same space bad habits didn't completely rule my life i've been lifting weights since the age of 14 and did so quite regularly throughout my teens and early 20s doing this kept me relatively healthy and sane it also gave me glimpses of what a better lifestyle would look like one of prudence self-control and healthy habits this could not be achieved by giving into impulse and short-term pleasures i would have to fully commit to change but i didn't just want to change i wanted to do something cool exciting and scary something that i could look back on and be proud of i found out about the iron man from the back of a jumper when moving house many years ago my dad pulled out some old clothes he had saved one particular garment this one right here caught my eye i read the embroidered words off the back and subconsciously filed them away somehow knowing that i would need them later on ironman forster australia 1991 3.8k swim 180k ride 42k run two years ago in the midst of one of my hangovers the idea of completing an ironman crawled out from the back of my mind but again i didn't have the courage to act on it i went on living my hedonistic lifestyle but the idea lingered after a year of delaying i finally thought about it seriously during the covert pandemic lockdowns this could be the way to change myself to do something worthwhile forego immediate pleasures suffer toil and chase a lofty long-term goal so i signed up to ironman australia in port macquarie on the 2nd of may 2021 i committed i was going to be an ironman [Music] i didn't have a plan when i signed up here was my situation the sport wasn't new to me i had little experience with endurance sports and no experience with triathlon the longest i'd ever run was 18 kilometers longest bike 60 kilometers and longest open water swim 1.8 kilometers i also decided to not get a coach i was weary of this decision but had a desire to learn the training methods for myself i was also short on funds i figured there would be enough information online for me to get by i just had to find it so i began searching i sifted through articles and research papers subscribe to youtube channels and watch video after video i followed the professionals on social media observing what they did and how they train there was a wealth of knowledge to choose from everything from a full 20-week beginner training program to an all-encompassing weekly training guide from the information i collated i highlighted common themes and laid out the three main pillars of my program disclaimer i am no expert and i am not claiming to be one i'm just a bloke who has access to the internet so do not take my every word as gospel firstly heart rate zones and the 80 20 rule heart rate is an indicator of exercise intensity in general high heart rate equals high intensity low heart rate equals low intensity the key measure to calculate is aerobic threshold this can be found using a very simple and clinically proven method called the mafitone method where your arabic threshold is found by subtracting your age from 180 then is adjusted for the following factors i fell into the b category so calculated mine to be 154 my heart rate zones were then calculated from this here's where the literature stressed importance aerobic heart rate zones are where eighty percent of training should occur the body can motor along in these zones for extremely long periods of time using slow twitch muscle fibers and high energy dense fat as an efficient fuel source the anaerobic zones activate fast twitch muscle fibers and use sugar as a fuel only 20 of training should occur here these are high stress zones where strength and speed are developed as a comparison aerobic respiration releases 19 times more energy than anaerobic respiration for the same amount of glucose the main takeaway from my research was to stick to the heart rate zones secondly training blocks to optimize the gains from training whilst ensuring that the body is getting enough rest it is suggested the training is split up into three to four week blocks with one recovery week in between each subsequent week should build in volume aiming at becoming as race specific as possible closer to the event i plan to start with a base fitness block then build into three four week phases before tapering into the event on may 2nd thirdly sleep and nutrition everything i read emphasized the importance of sleep and nutrition as they are the main mechanisms for recovery and fueling they are imperative to allow the body to function in times of high stress like training for an iron man there's too much info on nutrition to go into depth but i basically aim to eat a balanced diet of non-processed natural foods with heaps of carbs carbs are king and aimed to get eight hours of sleep every night after my research was done i felt i had a base level of relevant knowledge and a pretty holistic training program all i had to do now was execute it the journey didn't get off to a smooth start i picked up a small hamstring tear playing rugby which i had to give some time to heal this was frustrating as i felt motivated to train i just couldn't i had to be patient do my rehab and wait till it was better so that's what i did i was patient did my rehab and gave it some time to heal all the while longing to dive into some proper training my hamstring started to feel better but it was still quite weak so i slowly began to increase the training hours i still wasn't running for very long or very fast but at least i was running i also got a bike my godfather kindly gave me his a kolnago c40 beast day 7.1 kilograms of carbon fiber it was a classic beauty i love that bike from the moment i set eyes on it i knew it was going to take me far as i wasn't able to do much with the run or bike i started to focus on my swim i spent many grueling hours in the pool during the base phase my relationship with swimming was rocky from the start as i always felt heavy in the water kind of like a bag of sand my technique did improve as i spent more hours in the pool but that took time and patience i also felt i needed a more concrete goal than just finish so set myself a time goal of sub 12 hours these weeks were my first real taste of what proper training would be like it was challenging and i didn't see massive improvements but i knew it was only the first step of a long journey here's where the training really began the volume started to increase with sessions six days a week this was my first real taste of being an endurance athlete i learnt a lot during these long weeks i learned how to change a bike tyre i learnt about how an aerodynamic bike position can increase bike speed using the same amount of effort i learned how to put the bike on the trainer this took way longer than it should have i learned how to maintain and clean my bike i learned that i needed to eat before my long workouts or i wouldn't have enough energy to get through them i learned that swimming can be both frustrating and glorious i learned that i love to run especially when it rains i learned that perseverance is a skill that needs to be practiced or it will wilt away taking with it my dejected self i learned that mindset is everything everything and that strength came when i was able to focus and control my thoughts i learned to respect the training it could not be approached without planning and prior preparation this included constant body maintenance if this was not executed to a t the training would chew me up and spit me out [Music] it was a tough yet honest teacher i respected that it lit a fire inside me it brought back my drive i started to really enjoy the training it was rewarding immersing myself in this new sport pushing my limits every day and seeing the consequent growth i had once thought a 100 kilometer bike ride to be daunting i completed 102 and 121 kilometer rides by the end of phase one i didn't know my legs would be able to run a half marathon until i ran 22 kilometers four kilometers in the pool seemed like a feat i would not be able to conquer until i swam it two weeks in a row i had a mantra that i would repeat to myself when i was in uncharted territory or in the midst of suffering persevere through the tough times it's funny but this one sentence repeated over and over helped me through many a tough moment affording me the mental strength to focus and press on the training got me outside a lot i got to experience the days for what they were embracing the hot summer weather breathing fresh air feeling the warm rain it rained a lot seeing the sunrise and watching it set this goal was giving me a purpose it was forcing me to be disciplined and take responsibility for my life it was exhilarating people kept telling me to start off small to set a realistic goal that i knew i could achieve some didn't think i knew what i was actually getting myself into but i knew i had the back of that jumper tattoo in my mind they would suggest doing a sprint or an olympic distance instead but that just wasn't me i realized that this is what i wanted a true challenge to push my limits to find out what i was made of even the guy at the shoe shop thought i was crazy i could see it in his face when he asked what i needed the shoes for i learned so much during phase one of training it was a lot of fun i laid lots of bricks and built a solid foundation i would need it for the training to come would rigorously test my integrity exposing what i was truly made of hmm let's go like the ebb and flow of the tides the outgoing excitement of phase one was followed in by some tough weeks in phase two it all started when i fell off my bike in the rain i have no one to blame but myself it happened 40 minutes into a three-hour ride i washed myself off and finished the session initially i thought i just had some superficial cuts but later on when i took off my bike pants i found a deep cut on my glue i cleaned out the wounds bandaged them up and pushed on with my training clearly i didn't do a great job of this as they got infected warning the cuts are kinda gross just skip 10 seconds if you don't want to see them the wounds got pretty messy and i was getting by with only shabby diy bandages i went to the doctor who prescribed me antibiotics and gave me some proper dressings she told me i could still bike and run although probably with some pain but stressed i could not swim until the wounds had fully closed and the infection was gone i went inside myself in the weeks to come i was suffering more than i had imagined i would my leg constantly throbbed and my body fatigue i started to dread the training knowing what pain i would have to endure i thought this is stupid what's the point when i'm in this much pain what is the point why am i doing this was i just doing this to punish myself is this just some ego fulfilling conquest that i can brag about is this really about changing myself for the better i was consistently asked these introspective questions in the dark vulnerable times i didn't have answers to most of them so i just focused my energies on moving forward that was one thing i knew for sure that to find answers i just had to keep moving forward i just had to keep showing up day after day and persevere through the tough times it took all of me to get through these weeks all of my physical mental and emotional energies it wrapped me in a hurricane of struggle each and every day stripping me down peeling away any facades exposing my true character and forcing me to observe how this character operated when tested i was standing in the fire would i let the flames devour me or would i reside in the growing heat i began to focus on my new goals the next stroke the next pedal the next step all i had to do was show up for the next workout and take it one step at a time then focus on the next then the next then the next i continued to persevere through the tough times i would always remind myself that i chose to do this no one was forcing me to do it it was my choice to be here on this path although i was in pain i would find myself smiling at the sheer insanity of what i was doing i was actually doing this this brought me hope and lifted my spirits all i had to do was persevere through the tough time now that was tough [Music] i ascended through these tough times getting over the infection and feeling better by the end of phase two unreal i completed a half iron man in the last week just around where i live i surprised myself by feeling great throughout i even negative split the half marathon at the end while still feeling as though i had a bit more left in the tank let's go my half iron man times were as follows unreal half iron man done five hours 53 minutes it's all right pretty god damn tight though the sense of achievement after finishing three long challenging training weeks biking and running further than ever before living and observing my body changing and adapting getting stronger faster and more durable was so rewarding it was hard i definitely won't forget that there seemed to be more setbacks than successes more times i felt tired than energized but through the accumulation of consistent work i began to see results i had persevered through the tough times i took full advantage of the ensuing rest week preparing myself for the final training block a colossal effort that loomed down on me but i felt ready to go to war and go to war i would good morning we begin with the weather emergency in new south wales residents across the state are bracing for more rain as flood waters continue to rise east coast has been lashed by life-threatening flash floods in what's been described as a once in a generation weather system as we go to air emergency warnings are in place along the east coast including port macquarie tari newcastle and of course in sydney's word in front of me lay my biggest challenge yet the final training block four weeks of 10 sessions per week ranging from 18 to 20 hours of training with the longest session taking seven and a half hours this was where the race specific endurance was going to be forged this was where the iron man would be made i came into the final training block with what i thought was a battle-hardened mindset i knew that there were many long days of discomfort on the horizon i was ready bring it on i thought then the worst thing that could have happened happened i got injured on the third day of the first week i felt a little twinge in my calf during one of my easy runs i didn't think much of it the next day i went out for another run immediately my calf began to hurt i decided to give it some rest and take the week off running but it just got worse and by the end of the week i was limping around my mind entertained all the worst case scenarios this is my unravelling this is the end of the iron man all that work for nothing you aren't gonna do what you said you were gonna do you're a failure a fraud my anxiety peaked fear consumed me i put my head down luckily australia has a great health care system and was relatively easy for me to get booked in for an mri to evaluate the extent of my injury the results came back i had a tear in my calf the amount of stress my body was getting put under finally took its toll i was injured this actually might be it i had some very tough days around this time i had built up this event in my mind placing it on my top shelf that not being able to complete it to fall from that top shelf would shatter me achieving this goal was meant to be my turning point i thought that real change would only come through the completion of the event yet here i was injured unable to train the dream of completing an ironman dissipating before my eyes like smoke from a blown-out candle at the beginning of the journey i had read a book called meditations a journal of sorts written by the 2nd century roman emperor marcus aurelius in my moment of despair i looked back at the empowering words i had read i realized i had a choice to make i could either sit around feel sorry for myself and stew in my anxieties or i could take action stay positive and do whatever i could to recover i chose the latter four a rational being can turn each setback into raw material and use it to achieve its goal i changed my mindset throwing off heavy negative thoughts from my shoulders i could swim so i swam every day after a week of completely resting my calf i began to bike again only lightly for biking nonetheless i began doing exercises on my car three times a day slowly building the strength back up i did a six and a half hour ride by the end of the week two weeks after my mri i was back running only five kilometers but i was back it was time to rebuild strength and get the most out of the four weeks i had left before the iron man i wasn't going to let this setback stop me from achieving my goal my swimming had improved a lot i was no longer feeling like a bag of sand my bike legs felt strong i had done three rides longer than the race distance of 180 kilometers i was running again 5k 7k 10k 12k 15k everything felt like it was coming together nicely until it all came crashing down again i awoke on thursday the 8th of april 25 days out from the iron man expecting a normal training day little did i know my journey would be turned on its head so just checked my emails and um the iron man has been postponed until the 5th of september with a very heavy heart we are advising that the national storage ironman australia will not be taking place as planned on 2nd may 2021 and will be postponed to 5th september 2021 late last week our operations team headed to port macquarie to meet with the port macquarie hastings council to assess the impact of the recent flooding in the region during this visit it was evident that hosting the event as planned on the 2nd of may is not in the best interests of the community who are facing a long road to recovery so that's five months time i don't really know how i feel about that well now it took me some time to process the news one thing i knew for sure is that i wanted to take a few days off the body was sore and the mind tired i had just completed a full five-month training program i needed to recharge both mentally and physically it was only after the postponement that i recognized the full extent of my fatigue i was so focused on the 2nd of may that i didn't have time to evaluate my mental and physical states also my calf still wasn't 100 so that needed to be taken care of i began to see the upside of this i had just done five months of intense training i was the fittest i'd ever been i could treat this as a base and build off it i had learned so much from training all of which i could incorporate into a new program i knew i could use this to my advantage but first some much needed rest although the event was postponed i still traveled to port macquarie on the weekend of may 2nd it was a very insightful and worthwhile trip poor macquarie is a small coastal town in new south wales about four hours drive north of sydney with lots of bays and beaches which were great for swimming the whole place had a very relaxed feel to it i brought my bike up wanting to ride the actual course to get a glimpse of what race day would be like luckily i did because it was quite different to what i had expected i didn't fully grasp the topology of the course from the profile provided brushing off rolling hills as a few little hills scattered here and there i had replicated this in my long training sessions sprinkling some heels in and they were fine these hills however were much more frequent and aggressive than i had anticipated after the first 10 kilometers my legs were on fire and then there's matthew flinders drive a mammoth 22 max gradient hill located at the 85 and 175 kilometer mark along the course matthew flinders is a dream crusher i tried to get up it twice i had to walk up embarrassing i failed twice my legs just couldn't do it i had burnt all my matches before getting there i realized i needed to build a lot more strength if i was going to have a chance of getting out matthew blinders i left for macquarie determined to get better dreaming of the training to come and the steep hills i would conquer how about this i'm real unreal poor cry unreal after six weeks of limiting myself i felt energized and motivated to get back to the task at hand i thought a lot about my goals during my downtime it gave me some much needed space to think over why i was doing this and what i wanted to get out of this journey again i felt i only had shells of answers again all i knew was i had to keep moving forward it was june now and winter was settling in i've never really been a big fan of the cold but i knew it would harden me it was just another layer of discomfort to deal with it might not be enjoyable at first but i knew i would be able to adapt and overcome a few highlights from these weeks although i'd been getting better at riding my bike i still had my moments of idiocy i had a low speed crash at the traffic lights trying and failing to unclip from the bike pedals this snapped my handlebars great i felt pretty stupid but these things happen fortunately it wasn't too difficult to get them replaced i signed up for a five kilometer swim i wanted to push myself to see how i would feel over such a long distance the first 3.8 kilometers felt like a breeze which was reassuring however the last kilometer was no walk in the park i was glad when it was done i felt like i swam really well throughout but ended up doing 5.2 kilometers i would have to work on my sighting as unfortunately you gain no advantage for swimming longer than you need to i also signed up for 100 kilometer bike race it was my first time riding in a peloton and working with other people to take turns in the front i felt fit and quite strong and i won the lucky door prize how good i felt my luck was turning around getting back into training wasn't as daunting as starting the journey in the first place this was no longer uncharted territory i'd been here before i knew what was coming i could mentally prepare for what was ahead bike strength was a big focus going back into full-time training i started to incorporate more heals as well as focus on key high what hit sessions on the bike i wanted to try replicate matthew flinders and i knew just the place to go atunga street the steepest street in sydney with a 21 max gradient this was perfect for training it wasn't easy but it was just what i needed after being on this path for seven months just as i thought i was making a breakthrough that i was finally oriented in the right direction another curveball was thrown my way and it smacked me right in the face so from 6 pm today all of greater sydney the blue mountains the central coast and wollongong will go into a lockdown with stay at home orders in place the news many suspected but hoped would not happen the lockdown in greater sydney is set to be extended for another week hurts to say this but we need to extend the lockdown a further at least a further two weeks that new south wales will be or greater sydney will be in lockdown for a further four weeks covered lockdown this was the toughest most pivotal point in the journey it had already been turbulent enough i thought i was in the clear but it would just get more chaotic this is getting tough my internal struggles just right now it just keeps on coming at you it is completely demoralizing what the do i do i was doing something wrong i was starting to hurt in a bad way my hips would constantly ache and i had a lingering burning pain in my groin i had to stop running and cycling completely could this really be happening again could i really have wasted my chance to recover and get better what was this movie even about anymore it is just me getting injured eight weeks out and i couldn't train this was my lowest moment i was tired of failing i was sick of screwing this up i wanted to stop i wanted to give up questions flooded my mind maybe i should have gotten a coach was it arrogance that led me to believe i could do this all myself what if i do fail it is becoming a very real possibility how will i handle that will i ever get this right i knew i couldn't continue this loop of injuries it was just taking too much out of me i reached out and got some help from sports physio he pointed out that my biomechanics were all off my pelvis was tilted forward more than it should which prevented my glutes from being activated and overloaded my hip flexors and groin he also analyzed the way i ran which was inefficient unsustainable and damaging to my body i was prescribed rest and postural recalibration exercises once rested i would have to re-learn how to run we were still in lockdown i was hardly training i couldn't see anyone and couldn't go anywhere so i was left alone a lot of time with myself and my thoughts to look further inward to try to figure things out during this time i realized i had a fatal flaw in my mindset that was wearing down my mental well-being that was focusing on the result of the iron man by obsessing over the idea of a sub 12 hour iron man i lost focus on being happy and healthy my mind would always think you'll be satisfied when you finish the race that is when you'll be happy you said you're going to do it under 12 hours now you must go and do that this mentality was damaging and deeply ingrained in my mind it would take me some time to shake it off but it was necessary for my health going forward i also realised i had to earn the right to train pain free and that meant there was a lot more work i had to do with my technique posture strength and mobility i let go of the expectation i had of myself and tried focusing on the person i got to be because of the work i was going to put in my mental unrest didn't immediately withdraw but after a few weeks i started to feel better about my approach as i began to accept the situation as it was realizing the low likelihood of me being able to complete the iron man on september 5th the universe threw me one last bone remember how i said we were in lockdown well i think you can guess what that means the iron man got postponed the saga was going to continue this movie may be an hour long with 20 parts but i didn't care i had another chance to get this right the show goes on but there i was back at the drawing board needing to rebuild from the bottom i transferred out of iron man port macquarie as the event was postponed until may next year i was now entered in iron man western australia on december 5th this was it my last opportunity to do the iron man if i wasn't on the start line on december 5th then i was going to take that as a sign from the universe that it just wasn't meant to be reflecting during the lockdown revealed that deep inside me i wanted to get better i wanted to learn from my mistakes i wanted to embody the positive change i knew i could achieve but first i needed a few weeks rest the progress of my groin was painfully slow all i could do was pilates core work and a little bit of swimming indoor pools have been closed since the start of lockdown so i was swimming in ocean pools or just in the open water itself this was a blessing being in the ocean immersed in the salty cold water had a serenely meditative effect on my mind the worries i willingly harvard seem to dissolve in the vastness of the ocean it was great for my mental health i started to feel better about the situation i was in although my groin sidelined me for longer than i would have liked i was determined to return better than i was before this required a focus on progress not perfection progress coming from persistence and persistence requiring patience the basis of my recovery was postural recalibration to activate my core and glutes this would ensure that i would use the correct muscles when running and cycling the exercises i was doing required immense focus on my behalf i had to be conscious of which muscles were activating during the movements thus i couldn't play any music during these workouts as it would distract me there was about a month block of time of silent sessions just me in a quiet room trying to get better foreign so the progress was maddeningly slow doubts rose and lingered fear poked and prodded stubborn as ever but i stayed focused i was persistent and patient i gradually made progress after seven weeks of no running or biking i began my return the early runs consisted of 10 times 30 seconds on 30 seconds off after a week of this i started doing 10 times 1 minute on 30 seconds off progress not perfection then 10 times 2 minutes on 30 seconds off then the interval started to increase four minutes five minutes 10 minutes 15 minutes progress not perfection my bikes began at 30 minutes of low power just spinning the legs then 45 minutes then an hour progress not perfection my body started to get stronger the session started to grow in volume and intensity i felt like i was finally working in harmony progress not perfection we're getting there [Music] here's the start of the fairytale ending i got better i got to the start line and finished the iron man in under 12 hours but we all know that life doesn't always turn out the way we want it to the reality is that due to covert and state border closures i couldn't get to western australia to take part in the iron man i put the training on the back burner and stopped to reflect upon the journey as a whole i'd been training for this event for close to a year now it was a roller coaster i was exhausted i wanted to return to some semblance of life that didn't revolve around intense training i thought a lot about the goals i had coming into this journey i failed to complete an iron man yes but was that the overarching goal no change was the goal and change didn't come from the final day the race change came from every single day i showed up it was born in the day-to-day struggle forged in the heat and reinforced over time i realized that although the iron man was a necessary template for change it was not the crux of this story this was a learning experience i learned about perseverance persistence patience and resilience as skills they were developed through repetition i was weak in these areas at the start of this journey i was untrained in the realms of mental conflict and fortitude peeling away my character and training these skills on the daily has allowed me to gain a better understanding of what they mean and the power that comes with using them i learned that i love to be outside the challenge fuels my drive and endurance sports excite me i also learned that my limits are so much greater than i had originally demarcated i smashed all my personal bests and completed a half ironman i'm better than i was 12 months ago i'm proud of this development a year ago i valued hedonism and apathy now i see the importance of sacrifice and long-term goals i see that things only bring meaning to life when they are committed to wholeheartedly over extended periods of time this journey also led me to making this film writing down my thoughts and expressing them through a creative medium has allowed me to consolidate the meaning of all this it also gave me something else to aim for i couldn't leave this film unfinished despite this a few months ago i had no intention of making this film public i felt like i was going around in circles who wants to see that i don't think many people will see this anyways but i'm sharing it because the act of sharing in and of itself scares me and therefore using the lessons i have learnt i should do it to wrap this up i want to speak to you whoever you may be if you want to change your life sign up for an iron man i do not mean a little iron man it is definitely not for everyone but the iron man of your life some type of ambitious lofty long-term goal that scares you and seems unreachable commit to it wholeheartedly and find out what it has to offer you this has been the greatest experience of my life i'm a better man than i was 12 months ago you can change too at any and every moment that power is in your hands choose to do what you wish with it although i am proud of the work i put in there is still so much more i want to do in fitness and in life i also have unfinished business here i will be back there will come a time when i complete this iron man mark my words this is not the end of this but for now adios you

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Id: vT9LS2Z2RmI

Length: 55min 9sec (3309 seconds)

Published: Sat Jan 01 2022