My first ever blog entry

Almost everyone I have met in the last 10 years of my life has called me crazy at least once, and one of my friends only refers to me as “Krazy Kiwi”.  So I thought it was time to share the craziness, and in doing so, amuse, entertain, inspire or empower people by demonstrating that, with the right amount of hard work, even the things that seem impossibly crazy are indeed possible!

Many crazy adventures have gone before, but the current crazy adventure is the “Decatriathlon World Challenge”, a race being held in Monterrey Mexico from 22^nd October 2012 – 5^th November 2012.  This race is ten times the distance of  a standard ironman triathlon, so 38km swim, 1800km bike ride and finished up with a 422km run!  It’s hard to imagine a race of that distance (even for me), but those distances are roughly equivalent of swimming from the Auckland Viaduct to Waiheke island and back, getting on a bike and riding down to Invercargill via the west coast, and then turning around and running up to Timaru (and a little further).  Usually by this time in the conversation people will have already told me that they think I am crazy, and if not, the next bit certainly does – the swim will be in a 50m pool while the bike and run will be completed by riding and running on a 1km loop!!!

Is it physically and mentally possible to complete this race in under the 14 day time limit?  Well a small handful of people in the world have finished, so it must be possible. But can I do it? I believe I can.  It’s a huge goal, not only physically and mentally, but also logistically. But part of the reason that I undertake these crazy goals (which include Double and Triple Irontriathlons, Taupo MaxiEnduro bike race, and a PhD in molecular biology) is to work out HOW to do it – mentally, physically, and logistically.

This blog will not only track my progress in getting to and competing in the race (as well as live race updates), but I’ll also share with you how my life as a scientist is intricately important in my life as an ultradistance athlete and as an inspirational speaker.  I plan on sharing my aspirations, inspirations, and motivations. Who knows, I may even surprise people by showing them how normal I am – even though I most definitely do crazy things!