An ordinary bloke

I guess I should introduce myself, now that I’m two months into preparing for the Deca.  I’m a 47 year old bloke, who is no great athlete, but has always been active, mostly in mountain sports like rock and ice climbing, mountain biking and various winter sports.  I have an interest in sport psychology and more generally, what makes some people excellent at certain things.

I’ve always liked taking on a challenge and although I’m a long way from being a good athlete, I do enjoy testing myself and having a taste for what I call ‘an adventure’.  I got into triathlon a few years ago because I wanted to do an Ironman – I just couldn’t understand how anyone could do such a thing, yet the idea never seemed to disappear from the back of my mind.  And that’s pretty much how my sporting career goes – I learn of an event, it starts to sound exciting and then I start musing over how it might be possible to do it.  Consequently, I do a lot of things once or twice and then want to do something else.  Not a great strategy for excelling at something, but it does add variety to my life.  Entering competitions and studying sport psychology have really emphasised the difference between what I do and what it takes to actually race with the intention of winning. 

I’ve done a few Polaris events (orienteering on mountain biking), got roped into a C Class KIMM once, ran the Nid d’Aigle race up Mont Blanc, and twice took part as an age grouper in the Winter Triathlon World Championships.  If this starts to sound impressive, it isn’t – I’m OK if I go at my own pace, but rubbish if I actually compete against others.  So why do I do it?  For me the answer is simple – at the end of my life I want to look back on things that I have done not what I talked about doing.  The Deca is the latest in a long line of activities that I fit the category of ‘daft....but what if it were possible?’