Looking for a new challenge? Here is something to give you a bit of inspiration for those of you sitting there thinking “I could never do that”. Take three friends, who had never done a triathlon but signed up to an Ironman as part of a research project simply for the half price entry, a trip to Barcelona, and predominantly their love of collecting medals...

Q: Why did you choose to do an ironman?

A: Lisa – I had previously completed a marathon and wanted to take on a new challenge. Also because Sarah and John made me and my Dad said I never would…

A: John – I love medals

A: Sarah – Yeah mainly the opportunity to do it, it was a new challenge that I probably wouldn’t have thought I could do previously but as we were provided with the training program and were part of a study it felt slightly easier to digest (at the time of signing up). Also I had a wedding to keep fit for and thought at the time this would be a great way to do that.

Q: What was your previous experience of triathlon training or endurance events?

A: Lisa – Never done a triathlon before but had completed a couple of half-marathons and one full marathon in Kerry (not Shannon which is where I sent my friend to watch)

A: Sarah – Yeah same, although I had completed one very short distance triathlon with a pool swim and thought it was fun.

A: John – Just the one marathon in Kerry. My main sport is Kayaking.

Q: How long did it take you to train and how did you fit it around your life?

A: Lisa - As it was part of a study we followed a strict training program for 9 months and went in for regular fitness tests at the Uni. At the time I was also studying for a masters degree and working full time so I fit it in by not actually completing all of the training from the “strict” training program. – But I did the best I could.

A: Sarah – Yeah it was tough. I was slightly stricter with myself on the training program but probably a bit too strict. I ended up putting a lot of pressure on myself and experienced that horrible guilt if I missed a session. Realistically it was very stressful but I don’t know I just found a way because I was determined to do it and not fail. Many early mornings and late nights finishing uni work and more coffee than I could afford to buy.

A: John – I think Sarah’s dedication to the program helped me along the way. But yeah I guess just determination to get across the finish line and pick up the medal!

Q: What were your low points?

A: Lisa – Where do I start? I spent approximately £1m on equipment (or as good as when you’re a poor student) and had 9 months of regular numbness and soreness in sensitive areas.

Many of the training sessions but there was one in particular (our peak session consisting of the 112 mile full distance cycle then a half marathon) that almost made me throw in the towel. There was a series of events that day including, my gears not working properly, fearing for my life whilst cycling on a dual carriageway, getting lost, getting even more lost then stopping for lunch and downing a load of milk thinking it would be a good source of energy mid session (it wasn’t, all it was good for was nausea). After this I got my nutrition plan even more wrong when I took in a load of energy gels with added caffeine for the run and spent more time actually vomiting than running.

A: Sarah – haha yeah there were tears that day.

A: Lisa – Yes there were a lot of tears.

A: John – I also fell off my bike that day!

A: Lisa - Then there was the event itself. I should have sensed how it was going to be from the start of the trip when I saw my suit-case burst open and watched my underwear blow its way down the runway as they were loading it on the plane. After I’d awkwardly gathered it all together, they sympathetically wrapped it all up in a Clingfilm sack for me so when I arrived at the hotel I looked like some sort of homeless Santa.

A: John – hahaha that was a high for me.

A: Lisa - As if that wasn’t enough, not only did I get knocked off my bike during the event, we then also faced a huge storm, with torrential rain, flooding and a landslide, which led to road closures for “safety” but more upsettingly, then stopped us from completing the full distance event!!! I couldn’t wait to run the marathon knowing I’d gone through all the training and come that far to cross the line being 20ish miles short of a full distance Ironman. - Still did though.

A: Sarah – haha yeah not sure I can top that it was awful, I think I felt all emotions on the day.. Although you forgot to mention the part where you strapped a banana to your crossbar for the cycle and it burst and smeared up your leggings. Another low for me actually was when we naively went for our first open water training swim in a canal in early March and excitedly leaped in the freezing cold water but quickly went so numb we couldn’t climb out where we entered from so had to be rescued by the guy on the boat and shamefully sat and drank hot soup instead!! Canal 1 – Irongirls 0.

A: John – erm the majority of the lows for me mainly involved falling off my bike whilst I was clipped in. It happened more times than it should have and hurt me more every time (more my pride more than my body). Actually we also did a practice swim two days before the event which nearly made me second question the whole thing. The current was so strong, which I’d not anticipated, so every time I went to take a breath I was caught by a huge wave. We found a spectator on the beach when we got out who was actually terrified that he was gonna see us drown! The current on the day wasn’t any better either I think we ended up swimming about 1.5miles straight into it! I cant get across in words how scary and tough that was.

Q: What were your high points?

Not a highlight for Sarah but a highlight for everyone else

A: Lisa – erm the medal? Kind of. It was a bitter sweet ending really. Although it was entertaining looking back at the pictures of Sarah when she finished the swim and it looked like a giant fish had sucked on her eyeball. She was none the wiser and although she stated her eye felt a bit funny had absolutely no idea what she looked like. For once it wasn’t me being laughed at and I enjoyed that.

A: In all seriousness though it’s amazing what you can get your body to be capable of and I am proud of the mental strength I showed – particularly pushing through the marathon knowing I still wouldn’t complete the full distance event overall after all the training for it.

A: John – The medal for sure. – and most of Lisa’s low points haha.

A: Sarah – Yeah the medal and getting to cross the finish line of my toughest challenge with John.

Q: Was it worth the medal and would you do it again?

A: Lisa – it was a great achievement and I’m glad I finished despite the trauma so in a sense yeah it was worth the medal, but it was one of the worst days of my life and I would never do it again. Well tell a lie I DID do it again because I had to complete the full distance and prove to my Dad that I would do it, but that’s another story. Now I have two medals and I can safely say it’s off the bucket list but I would not do it again if my life depended on it.

A: John – We’ll put that down as a maybe? Haha. Yeah it was absolutely worth the medal. I felt great. But no, no desire to repeat it in a hurry. – everyone is capable of completing it you just have to start somewhere and follow the correct training program.

A: Sarah – Yeah I would like to do it one day and say I have completed the full distance. But not sure if that day will be any time soon. It’s very life consuming. I’m very proud of myself for doing it and I know on that day we would definitely have completed it, which is enough for me for now. I think I’d like to stick to Olympic distance for a while, as they are challenging but still fun. – And Emily can be persuaded to get involved with those.

My Ironman Experience [interview with Ironman Veterans]