Ironman 70.3 from Scratch - What no one tells you

I've watched quite a few "zero to Ironman"/"couch to Ironman" videos on Youtube. Most of the videos follow the same structure: Decide to do an Ironman, Train for the Ironman and then become an Ironman. It makes the journey look so simple, so easy to achieve. However, most of these videos don't show the internal, mental battles that you face on a daily basis.

Gym gear: Sweat towel, water bottle and carbs for energy

1. The battle with your self belief

All of a sudden you start to question this decision and your capabilities EVERY SINGLE DAY. Although your exercise load has increased, the mental load is the most exhausting part of the journey. You constantly have to convince yourself that you have what it takes to accomplish this large undertaking. You have to have an exceptional amount of delusion all the time and "in a sense" force yourself to believe that you can achieve it.

2. Your comfort zone does not exist

The early mornings, the piles of laundry, the messy rooms and the constant planning are only some of the little things that this little adventure affects. Signing up to something completely out of your comfort zone starts affecting all aspects of your life. You start rejecting friend hang-outs so that you can do your 2000m swim, crazy I know. You have to learn to prioritise the new things and de-prioritise the things that could potentially hinder your new schedule.

3. Loneliness is real

Most of your workouts start exceeding the 1-hour mark. Most people do not train for that long, unless it's also for a triathlon. So unfortunately, you end up doing a large sum of the training alone. There's nothing wrong with this, but just be aware that some days you will feel alone. On these days you have to refocus your mind on the end goal.

Despite learning about this during the journey, there are some key takeaways:

• Although there are moments when you doubt yourself, the discipline you acquire along the way impacts your ability to push yourself further than you could have ever gone before. First you swim 200m and then you're swimming 1000m. It takes time but there will always be progress.

• Loneliness does not mean that you are alone. You slowly start to find a community. And that community will support your crazy decisions.

It's not an easy journey, but I don't think you would have done something like this because it is easy. Just keep pushing yourself, and when the doubt creeps in let the discipline take over.