In May of 2016 I ran a half-marathon. Chester Half Marathon in the north of the UK to be precise. I finished in 2 hours and 1 minute and absolutely loved every minute of it. An exceptionally average time but I had fun all the same and actually finished in a time faster than I was expecting so I was very pleased.
Here I am about to set off …
I trained really hard for that! So many hours of running, out on my own in the streets, along the rivers, in the hills etc. It’s completely time-consuming, tiring, at times painful, lonely but it seems that all of those hours feel worth-while for that moment of utter glory, relief and pride as you cross the line at the end of your race. Then you’re shattered and stiff for 3 days afterwards.
A very good friend of mine, as I write, is competing in Challenge Roth. An iron-distance, the second that she has competed in and right now, she’ll be about 5 hours in to a 15-or-so hour day.
She has no children and invests every bit of her time and energy into this sport. She’s completely addicted to it. She pays huge amounts of money on training camps around the world, on kit, on competitions. She has a personal trainer who sets her training on a phone app and she completes and logs 10 sessions a week.
I mean, look at this for a collection of training shoes ...
She has a turbo bike set up in her house and does up to 4-hour training sessions on it. Think for one moment about sitting on a static bike, looking at the same 4 walls for 4 hours. She tells me that this kind of session is as much for the mental preparation as it is for the physical side of things.
It completely amazes me how much of themselves these people put into these challenges. They have to in order to complete them. Are they completely mad or should I be completely in awe by their dedication and sheer determination? The latter I think.
I watched the Challenge Roth Promo Video and WOW - who wouldn’t want to be part of this? I’ll never have the time and money to dedicate but good luck to those that do. Good luck to everyone competing at Roth as I write this post and a special good luck to my friend. You're all amazing.