Let's start again.......

12 months since my last update and it seems many people have misssed the ramblings of the Big Bearded Bloke. Amazing.

So let me bring you up to date-

'The Improbable Dream' is my personal journey to achieve a seemingly impossible dream;  According to doctors  I have poor lungs from too many years of smoking, I suffer from blocked airways due to a constant sinus affliction, and I naturally manufacture a low level of haemoglobin.This means I have a low level of oxygenation in my blood, a condition known as Mild Chronic Anaemia. Basically I run out of oxygen sooner and more often than most people.

According to the doctors this means I will always have low energy, I will become very tired completing simple daily tasks like housework and gardening, and I certainly wont be able to finish any endurance sporting events.

Hmmmm I have a different view. While obviously the thing about housework and gardening is true I refuse to let the condition stop me from completing endurance events. I know I wont be fast; in fact I will be very slow but I am determined to give it a go.My dream is simply to compete, and complete - regardless of how improbable it seems.

It’s a hard ask. Along with the oxygen issues, there's some other issues; I am not naturally strong nor am I naturally fast. And worse, I am not by nature overly competitve.

So I am never going to be up the front. Instead, I will live by the dictum 'compete and complete'.

This means  -

I will put the work in, I will work hard, I will train my body and my mind with determination and consistently, and I will thoroughly enjoy the whole thing by having a very positive mental approach and an upbeat attitude overall. Always.

It will be a challenging, difficult, fun, amazing and interesting journey. I can't wait. Bring on 2012.

The story of last year was not good. Although I had lots of goals I eventually achieved hardly any of them. I did manage to finish two half-marathons in slow times (bringing the total completed to 5) and I finished the100km Brisbane to the Gold Coast Bike Ride.

But many of the other goals went by the wayside for one reason or another.  At the last minute I pulled out of both the Bridge to Brisbane Fun Run and the Mt Cootha Fun Run after months of focused training, both times due to chest infections. It was frustrating. What a wooz I felt I was!

I also pulled out of the Bali Triathlon at the last minute because my swim wasn't strong enough and I pulled out of the Around the Bay bike ride to concentrate on my running (which then didn't work because of chest infections.) What a wooz!

Things had to change.

And they have. I've hired a personal trainer to help with my strength and my aerobic endurance ('Devil Woman'- I'll tell you about her later), joined a swimming club and  joined a local triathon club (Shark'sTri Club, Victoria Point; Go theSharks!!) I have set a number of goals for this year (see side bar) and I am really excited about the 2012 challenges. Training is underway.

Yep, The Improbably Dream is once again alive and well.

So is this blog. The journal is about what I have learnt and will learn along the way. I promise to write with as much honesty and insight as I can. I will talk about what I do but mainly speak about what I've learnt.  I hope its interesting.

There's a lot to do. In terms of ability the unfortunate truth us ;  I swim like a brick, ride like a clown and run like a girl. So I'd better stop typing and go train - the pool, the bike and my runners await.  Oh yeah! LET'S GO!

More later, journey on.....

James