Well it all started with a chat with Reesy in the summer of 06, the thought of completing the biggest triathlon event of my life seemed like a good challenge as I had only completed sprint distances in the past and wanted to see what all the fuss was about with becoming an Ironman.

I chose to do the Ironman Uk (to be honest I did not want to commit a large amount finacially just incase I did not complete the event) and so waited for registration to open, as soon as the Ironman Uk became available I entered back in August 06 and so my journey began.

I did not really do any extra training to begin with and finished off races that I had set out to do upto Xmas time with the intention of training for the event after Xmas.

2007 arrived, I had read various guides etc on various web sites relating to Ironman and suddenly it dawned what a commitment it was, I sat down and wrote out a trianing plan for six months that I thought I could sustain with both family and work/ shift commitments with no real knowlede other than what I had done in the past I basically upped the distances and regularity over the time period. I decided that I would not race at all and focus on the Ironman in 2007.

First plan was to learn to swim (properly) as I could just about manage 750 meters and did not know how to breath properly so I enrolled on a swimming course at Skipton later moving to Settle after moving house, this was the best move I could have made, as both swimming instructors said it is not about speed but technique, speed will come later, never a truer word said, within a matter of months I was swimming 2000 mtrs non stop and more importantly breathing correctly. Throughout my whole swimming training I did not swim further than 2500 meters as I thought that if I can swim that I can swim anything.

I started rides of various distances slowly building it up however, I could never work out the nutrition needed and struggled in this area as one day I did 90 miles on just 1 gel and 1 powerbar with 750ml of drink, I learnt the hard way physically from the ride and mentally from my other half giving me ear ache for days about food intake. I only rode that distance once and never ventured near it again, concentrating on shorter 45-60 milers.

Running wise I just set out running various distances between 5 and 13 miles at 8 min mile pace knowing that in the actual event the pace would be slower, I had read about a run/ walk stratergy but never tried it.

All was going well upto June when I seemed to feel ill during a shift at work, I finished, got home went to bed and the next morning I could not move, I felt like I had a case of man flu (as my daughter would say) I decided I would sleep it out and after three days of not eating and taking asprin I decided I should see the doctor, to my amazement my temp was 38.7 C on day three I thought I was getting better so I was instructed to take a few weeks off along with various antibiotics.

I took about three weeks to recover and after that I did one ride of 45 miles and one run of 11 miles that was my lot, I lost all motivation and had doubts about completing the race, I think the accumilation of training for so long on my own, not racing and being ill increased my fears, I had read about something called a taper and asked myself ' how can you taper nothing?' and so I did just that, nothing.

Well, I decided to camp at the venue and arrived early on the Thursday and picked a good spot, then the heavens opened up and some more, rain, rain and rain, I then discovered I had a sieve for a tent and an airbed that only liked to stay up for about three hours, what a start to my Ironman adventure.

I eventually met up with other club members at the site and thanks to all JC, John Robo and Buds for their invaluable advice and also for meeting Richie who was in the same boat as me (virgin) oh! and not forgetting Nic (another virgin) and of course Reesy. Simon H et al also present.

The night before I went to bed early knowing that my bed would last for about three hours, I could not sleep, I'm sure everyone feels that way, I eventually got up at 3.30 am had breakfast and then at around 4.45 am made my way on foot to the start, it was like going to the gallows, arriving in transition I was taken back by the shear size of the event and tried to stay calm and focused, I had a plan in my head of finishing between 14-15 hours and had told all my family to watch it live on the tinternet and look for me between 8 and 9pm.

I met up with Reesy in transition and good lucks were passed I eventually met Richie and so decided to stand waiting with him to boost my confidence as he was in the same situation as me, suddenly they called us forward to the lake for the start.

I crossed the point of no return 'ping' went the timing chip and I entered the water which I did not think was that cold and so began the swim to the start point, we seemed to tread water for sometime and people were starting to get cramp, all I could think of was keep calm float to save energy and enjoy the moment.

The hooter sounded and the race began, I immediately thought of my swimming training and remembered relax three strokes breathe, after the initial scramble I settled into a rythm and unexpectedly began to enjoy the swim, just zoned into my own little world and shut everything and one out, I approached the finish and on exiting the lake was not accustomed to the help given and was quite taken back when I was yanked from the lake and someone pulled my zip down, on the bank I was finding my feet when all I heard was "GO MARK GO" it was Simon and his family, I asked for the real time and someone shouted 10 to 8 I thought great 1 hour 50 for the swim that's the first time I've swum that distance and only the third time in open water great, then Simon shouted "Reesy is only just ahead of you", I then thought that can't be right, unbeknown to me the race did not start until 6:20 and so my actual swim was 1h 26 mins, fantastic, in transition I took my time getting changed into completly warm dry clothing as I wanted to enjoy the race and set off on the bike with an 8 hour plan in my mind.

The bike was good and after a short time I passed both Reesy and Richie, I stuck to a plan of eating food and drinking regulary however, I then encountered something I had not encountered before, I needed the toilet every 40 mins or so, so this is what happens if you drink whilst on the bike.

The bike itself was made worse by the wind however, onwards and upwards,  I never noticed either the Giant or Homer, the bike was great I took my time to save my legs and completed it in 7:29, half an hour under my objective.

T2 again I changed completly and set off on the run meeting JC on his second lap, after him telling me to slow down we settled into a steady pace where we could both talk, again I took on plenty of food and had set myself 8 hours to complete, after lap one JC moved off to the latter stages, I then met Nic who was just starting the run section but was going to walk as I'm sure he had his own race plan and so I wandered off heading to the dual carriageway, crossing the bridge and feeding my face I turned onto the A30, I could not believe what I saw when I hit that point, it seemed to go on and on forever, so again I settled into a steady running pace and made my way round the course, at mile 20 I looked at my watch and noticed that I had 4 hours left to complete the final 6.5 miles and so realised that I was going to be an Ironman, I decided to walk for a while and save my legs, I was not after any fast time just to complete, eventually I arrived at the final feed station with 3.5 miles to go I crossed over the bridge again and I thought well, I've got to run in at the finish and so I set off, gradually as I drew nearer my speed picked up and I was passing people all over the place, I felt good with myself and the crowds were cheering me, I felt on top of the world as I entered the final chute area and on seeing the clock I was over the moon, I jumped over the line at 8:30pm with a time of 14hrs 9 mins 43 secs, bang on target, now that's a plan come true.

Looking back I can reflect on all the build up and the event itself with pride knowing that I set myself a goal, stuck to my plan and achieved it, if I can anyone can.

I have been fortunate that I have have not had any cramps or stiff legs since doing this and have no aches or pains, personally I don't feel like I have done anything, perhaps I did not push myself hard enough or perhaps it was just a good race/ nutrition stratergy, one thing though is for sure, I will be doing events like these again, so watch this space, my times can only get better, but for now I can say

  "MARK BROWNE, I AM AN IRONMAN"