Celtman, Coffee, Cake and a Collie

  This weekend, this arrived in my inbox... I've done it: I've paid my entry fee, and my name is on the Starters list.   Really not very long ago, I wouldn't have even considered that I was capable of starting Celtman, never mind finishing it.  That was for other people, 'proper' athletes, people thinner, faster, fitter, stronger than me.  But now it's not; now it's for me. I'm going to struggle with that idea over the next year, I will have days when I don't believe I belong.  I'll have days when I think I'm too fat, too slow, not enough.   But amongst that, there is a teeny-tiny bit of me who knows that I can do it.  I can work hard, put one hand/pedal stroke/ foot in front of the other, and put my name on the finishers list, not just the starters list; and I will do everything I'm capable of doing to make sure that that is in 2024.   Celtman is a race like no other, in a unique place with a unique group of people, all of which I am ine...

We're definitely into autumn now, the days are much shorter, the weather colder, and it's dark when I head to work for a day shift.  Now that I'm regularly training before shifts, it's dark and cold when I head out for my pre-day-shift run.  This is always a good time of year to reflect on how the summer has been, and that seems particularly pertinent this year.  Having signed up to the Brownlee Fitness  Squad for my triathlon training, and completed all my main events for this year, training is now moving into the 'winter base development' period... Then on October 16th, the ballot for Celtman  opens for entries.   To even get to the point where I can feel ready to enter the full-distance Celtman is a huge step for me - I never would have even considered it until the last couple of years.  So putting my hat in the ring - entering the ballot, stepping up - means I will be giving everything I'm capable of, to make it to that finish line. To read more ab...