Loser

I've explained my plan and that I will be doing a triathlon to Thomas (6).His deadpan response, "well you won't win."

All Or Nothing!

Think I might be getting a bit carried away now!

Start!

Before I had cancer I recall often reading about people who had beaten cancer and then gone on to make outstanding physical achievements; completing a marathon after recovery, climbing a mountain whilst suffering from the hideous illness and even a professional footballer who played for his team the day after receiving his diagnosis.  In my bubble of family life, work and my own interests I would pay a fleeting moment of attention to these stories with merely a though of "that's nice."  It was only once I began my own battle from cancer that I began to understand their mind-set.  When my recovery from the disease began I gradually changed from wanting to 'get better' to getting my body in a condition as far as possible from the state it has been in for goodness knows how long. After having my body (and mind) ravaged by the disease I have become ambitious to use it to achieve something.  Something I can be proud of and after doing will be a big middle finger to cancer.  Something that would enable me to not only say I recovered from cancer but that I took it even further and to an extreme high!  My mind and body feel like they have been in the gutter and somehow I want to lift them as high as possible.

During the weeks after my operation to remove the majority of my pancreas with a tumour larger than a golf ball, my spleen and six further tumours from my liver I was gripped by the Olympics.  It was essential viewing and vital in me being able to gain a small amount of relaxation in the long and painful hours at home.  I have always loved viewing sport but my passion for the Olympics left me craving more which led to me buying tickets to the London 2017 World Athletics Championships, reading about the Jamaican sprinting phenomenon and watching more and more sports with greater variety.  When I watched the Brownlee Brothers' victorious triathlon though my main thoughts however were, "that looks like hell," and "I would never have ever contemplated putting myself through something as stupid as that."  Yeah, the scenery was stunning and the first bit of the bike run looked like fun.  But the steep incline and run in the final third of the event . . . no thank you.  Things changed over the following weeks.

Late last night after a tiny bit of research I confessed to my wife, Becky, that I want to complete a triathlon.  Something about admitting you have a problem is the first step to recovery I guess.  I expected her to laugh at me but she was encouraging, maybe in an effort just to shut me up so we could go to sleep.  I couldn't sleep, I was excited!  The next morning she was even more supportive; I should never have doubted my wonderful wife's support, it is what has got me through the last few months.  I'm not an idiot (well I am but I am realistic) and I am not visualising me in a full scale triathlon next spring.  I know very little about taking part in a triathlon (the training, the organisation and structure of an event) but my aim is to complete a triathlon sprint   (750m swim - 20km cycle - 5km run) within a year of having my operation.  After that, who knows!?!
So it begins, onwards and upwards!