Have you been inspired by the Ironman World Chamionships?

Did you see any of the Ironman World Championships on Saturday? Our Brit Chrissie Wellington delivered the goods in the women’s race for her 4^th title and Craig Alexandre took his 3^rd World title. The times were phenomenal and these guys show just what the human body is capable of.

The Best

Craig Alexandre crossed the line in Kona in a time of 8:03:56, 12 seconds quicker than the previous distance best. His spits were; swim 2.4M - 51:56, bike 112M - 4:24:05, run 26.2M - 2:44:03. Let’s just put these times into perspective;  in the Speedo Open Water Swim Series swimmers raced for 2.2 miles along the Thames, downstream. The winner finished in 00:45:06. For 2.4 miles this would have got a time of about 49 minutes, only 3 minutes quicker than Alexandre and they didn’t have to worry about a 112M bike and 26.2 run after.

Craig Alexandre crossing the line to take the win in08:03:56

Correct me if I’m wrong (which I might be) but I think the World Record for 100M bike time is 03:27:05. That pace would give a 112M time of around 03:51:40. That’s only around 30 minutes quicker than Alexandre’s effort and for those who know anything about cycling, things like course and conditions are very, very important – the slightest headwind makes a massive difference. I’m not saying that this world record was done in more favourable conditions or on an easier course because I don’t know. But, if it was, it again makes Alexandre’s time even better.

Finally, Alexandre’s marathon time of 02:44:03. If you know anything about marathon times I know you will already be impressed. In this year’s Berlin marathon, the fastest marathon on earth and against marathon specific trained athletes, Alexandre would have finished a hugely respectable 226^th. And that’s after he’s done an epic swim and a quad-busting cycle.



Chrissie Wellington - smiling, as always



Chrissie Wellingtons splits looked like this: swim - 1:01:03  bike - 4:56:53 run - 2:52:41. I could just as easily go through the ever-smiling Chrissie Wellington’s splits and show just how good they are but I won’t, you can just see for yourselves.

These figures are truly incredible. If you are an athlete or keep-fit enthusiast of any sort, you can’t look at those times without being in awe. The winners and top finishers of yesterday are inspirations, but so is everyone else who took part.

The Rest

First of all, I admit, I did not watch the whole race from start to finish without a break. That in itself would be an endurance event and if anyone out there managed it, well done, that is an achievement accomplishable only with training and dedication.

Of what I did see of the race, the part I enjoyed the most was the finish. Not the finish of the pro’s, but the finish of the people that were just happy to finish. Some of these people were amateur triathletes, some were just amateur athletes, and some were just ordinary people, some with a great story.

The person that was put in charge of welcoming and commentating on people over the finish line was great. He was enthusiastic and helped to make each person’s moment of triumph that little bit more special. As people crossed the line he addressed them by their name, cheered them on and called each an Ironman as they finished. He also shared a little bit of a back story of a few.

A couple of the stand-outs for me were a 71 year old man and a women that used to be overweight. The man was an Asian chap who clocked a respectable time of just over 14 hours. To be honest, I don’t think he cares about the time. He had this beaming smile as he crossed the line and was greeted with a huge cheer from the crowd.

I know that the women I mentioned used to be overweight because the commentator said so, not because I’ve got a biography of every finisher. I’m sorry that I can’t remember how much but the commentator said she had lost a lot of weight in training for the event and as she crossed the line she did this funky little foot shuffle.

If you’re reading this, first of all, thanks, but second, you can’t help but be inspired. I imagine that some people will see this and say, “well I couldn’t do that”. Fact is, you can. Most people could do this. The elderly Asian man and the overweight women didn’t have anything else except will and determination.

Whether you are an athlete that is stuck in the middle of the pack or someone that’s overweight or someone that’s clocked up a few years under your belt, this Ironman World Championship can’t help but motivate you. It has definitely put the thought in this writer’s mind about trying that little bit harder in training and even slighted tempting them to dabble into the world of triathlon.

Thanks for making it to the bottom. Please feel free to make comments on any of the posts. If you like what you’re reading then please subscribe to the blog. For daily health and fitness tips, links and more follow us on twitter at @FSLifestyle

Having an end goal

This post follows on a little from yesterday’s post, “The measure of success”. I said how you should use as many ways as possible to measure how well your diet or fitness plan goes. But what happens when you 3 months in and you’ve lost a little weight, your resting heart rate has lowered a little, the blood pressure has gone from bursting to healthy and you’re jeans are a little looser? How can you stay motivated to keep going, to carry on the good work? That’s where the all important end goal comes in.

An end goal is something to aim towards, something you look back on and say “I did that”. But an end goal isn’t “I will lose 3 stone in two months” or “I will go down 2 dress sizes”. They are things that will happen along the way. When you step on the scales and see that you have reached your target weight, you may be happy, but there is no moment of elation, no huge moment of triumph. It’s just you, in your bathroom, staring at the ground. Compare that feeling to crossing the finish line at the end of a marathon, or a 50 mile cycling race, open water swimming event or triathlon. The end goal doesn’t have to be a race though; it can be training for a sports team and finally playing competitively for the first time since you were in school. These events create moments of pure joy, elation and are something that you remember for the rest of your life.

Sound impossible? That’s part of the point. By doing something that you thought was impossible, you feel even better, for that one moment, you feel invincible.

So, how do you do it?

In small steps. First, you need to pick the goal and then give yourself a realistic amount of time to do it. If it’s some sort of race event (running, cycling, swimming or triathlon) do a little research. There a literally thousands of races out there: beginners’ races, fun races, small local events, huge national events. Pick one that you like the look of and gives you enough time to train and then enter it. Don’t think about booking it or say you’ll train and then book it. Just book it. Then there’s no whimping out. The same with a sports team; just take the plunge and find out about training with a club. No club will turn down a player because they are unfit or have not played in a few years (well apart from professional teams I can’t imagine you can just stroll up to a premiership football team and ask to train).

So, you’ve taken the plunge. The event is entered or the training session has been planned. Now what? Train. Get ready and put the work in.

Need a little more motivation? Then raise money for charity. Do something good for you and something good for lots of other people. That way, when you’re struggling in training, you have that little bit more incentive not to give up. And when you cross the line, you feel twice as good knowing you have helped so many people.

Thanks for making it to the bottom. Please feel free to make comments on any of the posts. If you like what you’re reading then please subscribe to the blog. For daily health and fitness tips, links and more follow us on twitter at @FSLifestyle

Chrissie Wellington: Iron Woman

I imagine that most people do not know who Chrissie Wellington is. I certainly didn’t until around a month ago when I came across her incredible story. Chrissie Wellington is a triathlete, or to be more accurate, an Ironman competitor. Actually, to be more accurate this woman is a 3 time Iron man world champion. 

Just quickly for those who don’t know exactly an ironman entails; it’s a 3.8km arm-aching swim followed by 180km saddle-soar cycle and finished by a full, blistering, leg destroying marathon. So....not much. This event has to be the ultimate test in human endurance.

So what make’s Chrissie Wellington’s story worth my time typing and yours reading? Is it that she is a three time ironman champion? Is it that she regularly beats most elite men as well as all the women? Is it even that her quickest marathon time (completed after the 3.8km arm-aching swim followed by 180km saddle-soar cycle) would have finished in 5^th place during the 2010 London Marathon? All of that alone would make this story worthwhile, just not here.

Chrissie Wellington‘s story is one worth telling as it can give hope to everyone. She did not start running until she was about 21.

“I started off doing 20 minutes, then 30 minutes, then 40. All of a sudden I’m running for an hour and a half.”

She then decided to run the London marathon in 2002 and did it in just over 3 hours (I’ve often seen it printed that a good first time is between 4-5 hours).  So in such a quick time she had already become a very competent runner. The following year, though, she was unfortunately hit by a car. She damaged her quadriceps muscles which meant that she could not run. Undeterred, she took up swimming to maintain her fitness. It was from this that she was introduced to triathlon. She started winning races and became a pro in 2007, the same year she won the ironman world championships on her debut.

This story is incredible. Almost as incredible at the lack of publicity she gets. Paula Radcliffe would get mugged going out to do the weekly shop. Chrissie Wellington could hit most people in the forehead with a huge rubber stamp saying, “Chrissie Wellington: Ironwoman” and most people would not have the foggiest who she was.

When I read the story it gave me hope. It proves that most people do not realise their full potential. It shows that with determination, there truly are no limits. You may not become a world champion at something but you might, just might. The overweight person with no confidence can cross the marathon finish line, can lose the extra weight, can achieve all that they want to, if they put the effort in. The middle of the pack swimmer can become front of the pack with dedication. You may not know it yet, but you could be a world beater. Chrissie Wellington proves this.