And so the journey begins....

This is it, day one is dawning. Sunday marks the start of the Ironjourney. In exactly 30-weeks time I will plunge into the murky waters of Pennington Flash to swim 2.4 miles, cycle 112 miles through the Lancashire countryside, climbing 5249ft and pound the streets of Bolton for 26.2 miles - all to claim the bragging rights to declare myself an Ironman.
Am I ready to start - hell yes! I've been steadily plugging away for months now, building a good fitness base. I've been training my body by strengthening my core with hundreds of squats, planks and more; rolling my sore muscles over a foam cylinder to keep them supple and swimming, biking and running 6 days a week. I've also been training my mind - training it to ignore the 'voices'. No, I'm not mentally deranged (although some would beg to differ!) I just hear the same voices as everybody else. Some days they're screaming: "You're too tired." "Far too busy." "You deserve a glass of wine, it's been a bad day." "You haven't spent enough time with your family recently, you can't go out again." "The house is a bombsite." "Sleep and rest are more beneficial today." "You can't possibly go out in that weather!" Sound familiar? They're like an unwanted mantra, programmed to repeat over and over again. Just because I go out and ignore them, doesn't mean I don't hear them. They are loud, frequent and clear. But I'm getting better at silencing them.
The bottom line is - train today when you really don't want to because you never know what tomorrow will bring. I always work on that philosphy. You never really know what life will throw at you tomorrow - you might feel really unwell, the kids might be sick, you might have even more work to do, the weather might be even worse!
I'm lucky too, because I have the added voice of IronPhil, aka 'reason'. He is very good at cutting through the nonsense. If I'm being lily-livered about cycling in the wind and rain, he provides a good kick up the necessary. If I'm stressing about fitting it all in; he reminds me that I'm not doing this for a living!
It is important to gain perspective - I am prone to being 'a slave to the schedule' which is good because it drives me, but it's also good to remember, as IronPhil says - this is just a hobby - it's something I've chosen to do for pleasure!
As these next 30 weeks tick by, I must keep that perspective. As I plough through the depths of winter I will record a whole set of new voices to talk to me - when I'm soaked to the skin, frozen to the core, weary and challenged. They'll be screaming: "This is just for fun." "Remember, it's your hobby." "You're lucky to be fit enough to do this." "Nobody forced you - it was your choice." "Maria Dye, you are an Ironman!" It's this final voice that rings in my ears and keeps me going when I want to stop,
because I know I will only ever hear these words when I cross the finish line in Bolton on July 21st 2014. Bring it on!