5 REASONS TO DO AN IRONMAN

Due to the scale and nature of the Ironman challenge its quite difficult to explain to someone what the experience was like in terms of the event itself, the six months hard grind you need to put in regarding the training program, and the way in which it completely takes over a significant period of your life. Some people also find it hard to understand why someone living with Multiple Sclerosis, would even be fit for all of this, never mind decide to take part In these kinds of events.  

Well for me, since I was a young boy, I have always been someone who never shirked a challenge, particularly on a football field, where I went on to do quite well for myself over the years, playing semi-professional football up until I took sick. 

When I was diagnosed with MS after a short period of poor health in 2007, I thought my life was over, and started to go into a very dark place which lasted for a few years. I’ve written more about this in my books, and go into great detail on the entire experience if you want more information around this part of my life.  

The good news for me is that I have been able to turn my health and my life around over the last few years and in doing so have crossed the Ironman finish line 7 times and also have 10 x marathons on the board along with a bunch of other adventures which has all helped me regain my health. 

The Ironman is regarded as one of the world’s toughest endurance races, and it is certainly not for the faint hearted, however anyone half interested in pushing on in life and really pushing their body and mind to the limit, then this might be the thing for you.  

I have found the experience life changing, in every sense of the word, and really has been the perfect building block for me over the last few years to go on and push hard at everything I am involved in, including my business endeavours. 

I now get so many people contacting me asking me about the Ironman experience and over the last couple of years I have written a couple of articles for some athletic publications about this, and was fortunate enough for IRONMAN the company to share my own journey of healing and recovery from MS on their world famous website which was a really nice touch. 

However, for LINKEDIN and my network on here, and all of you people out there who may need some inspiration in life to go after your own fitness and health goals, I would like to share some of my experiences and take-aways with you, in relation to my experiences with IRONMAN.

Below I have broken it down to five of my top take-away experiences from the event;

1.
SENSE OF ACHIEVEMENT

There is no doubt that if you are successful in crossing the finish line of a full Ironman race 140.6 miles, the overall sense of achievement is hard to put into words.  The training, sacrifices you have made over many cold dark months, the sitting in at weekends along with many other normal things you simply have to forget about, it’s all worth it when you hit the magic carpet and none other than the legendary Paul Kaye shouts aloud “Conor, you are an Ironman”.  This is an incredible feeling.  For me personally to achieve all of this whilst living with Multiple Sclerosis, well, it is something I am very proud of and hold dearly.

2.
SENSE OF ADVENTURE

Make no mistake there is a serious amount of planning, brainpower, preparation, amongst many other things that goes into actually preparing for an Ironman race.  It really is one of the best adventures you will set out on.  For anyone to be even contemplating swimming 2.4miles, cycling 112miles and the running a marathon, in itself tells you a lot about the kind of person and their motivation and attitude to life.  The key is to embrace everything about the event, as it is an experience you will remember for the rest of your life.  That is guaranteed.

3.
PHYSICAL BENEFITS

I am stating the obvious here but if you commit to a training program of six months where you are either running, cycling or swimming six days a week, the overall physical health benefits are terrific.  Quite quickly into your program, assuming you pick the program that is suited to your capabilities, you will start to feel better within yourself, have more energy and generally start to feel stronger.  The overall health benefits of regular exercise alone is certainly a terrific reason to give the Ironman a go.

4.
MENTAL HEALTH BENEFITS

Just as important as the physical benefits, the overall mental health upside to competing and finishing an Ironman is incredible really.  Not that long ago I would never have dreamt that I would be able to even consider entering one of these events never mind finishing the full distance course a number of times.  What I found through the training program and during and post the race is that my overall mental health improved significantly as my confidence was at an all time high.  This is one of the world’s toughest physical challenges, so you can only imagine if you can get it done, how good and confident that will make you feel in your own self and ability to get through whatever challenges life might throw at your thereafter.  An incredibly empowering feeling.

5.
MOTIVATIONAL AND INSPIRATIONAL IMPACT

This is something that I have felt more as the weeks and months passed since I crossed the finish line in Majorca.  Whether you set out to motivate or inspire people is irrelevant.  Once people hear that you completed the Ironman, I have found that this can have an incredibly inspirational and motivational effect on people.  One of the things I have found over the years is that it is one thing to inspire someone to go and do something but motivating someone is another level altogether.  For me the motivation really has to come from within the individual in question.  This is also something that can be developed by people if they can keep an open mind.  Whether you end up inspiring or motivating someone in any area of life can only be a good thing and for me by becoming that Ironman I never thought was possible, this I know has certainly went on to impact others in a positive way.  This is something I am incredibly proud of.

So there you go, if you were looking for a reason to sign up to one of these incredible races, I’ve now given you five. So go get it, sign up now, complete the race, get it done, and brag about it for the rest of your life :)

This article was taken from Conor’s LINKEDIN PAGE

Conor Devine MRICS is a Director at Clearpath Finance & GDP Equity Experts, and an Ironman Triathlete. He has completed 2 X Full 140.6m distances and 5 X half Ironman triathlons since 2015