1. The Origins

So I'm sitting having coffee with 2 gorgeous women just chewing the fat, catching up.  I hadn't seen Zaids in about a year and it was really great chillin with my cuz. She starts telling me about this EVENT a few of her friends had being doing.

I had heard of Ironman, but it had never crossed my mind as being something for me.  I mean, it's just some dudes running around and playing games in tight clothes right?  Well boy was I wrong, it turns out these dudes are SERIOUS athletes.   There are sponsored elite machines, there are your hard core fitness freaks, even the average Joe trying to achieve a personal goal. 

I was not even considering thinking about it when in her really jolly, bubbly, giggly voice that is so uniquely her, Zaids says "They even do it like for fund raising and stuff, it's a awesome vibe the entire day with people partying and socializzz..." as I hear the angelic voices singing, I see the clouds open, light shines down and it hits me like a tonne of dirty, sweaty, socks.  I sometimes wonder if it happens to be the same tonne of socks that has overwhelmed and are escaping all 3 of my laundry baskets.

I should mention that not 2 weeks prior to that, a few friends from work and myself decided to make a change in some kids lives and have a braai (that’s BBQ for the uninitiated) for an orphanage. The thing is I was so touched by the conditions the kids were living in I felt compelled to do something.  But what?  

So this brings me back to the tonne of sweaty socks. My mind just kicks into gear all fired up to do this. I AM GOING TO DO IRONMAN TO HELP AN ORPHANAGE!!! Sounds simple enough don't it?   Swim a bit, ride a bike and take a jog?  I can do that in a heartbeat, I mean I had been doing kung fu for over 10 years this should be a breeze. 

Turns out the joke is on me.  It's called Ironman for a reason. This is not for any old chump who went to the gym last week, this is for some serious guys.  There's a whole other language, lifestyle, diet, wardrobe, not to mention equipment, jeez the cost alone was astounding.

Nevertheless I endured, did what research I could, started working out (what in my mind was training) even managed to get myself a bicycle. The more research I did the harder I worked out (some might even consider that I started doing training) and the harder I worked out the more I enjoyed it until eventually, I have to admit...

Hi everyone, my name is Zane, I am... I'm... I'm a triathlete. I use the rent payment for entry fees, my kitchen looks like a mad scientist's lab, vacations are planned around my "A" race, I just can't get enough... cept of course, during the race there is always the eternal question WHY? OH WHY do I do this to myself?

So for anyone interested, I'll be blogging about my training, my races, accomplishments, failures.  Basically whatever goes down on my road to Ironman South Africa 2016. Maybe someone can learn from my mistakes on a similar road, maybe some of you just want to laugh at my stupidity, whatever the reason you are welcome to take a peek into my road to Getting There.