Training for IRONMAN Wales

Just before Christmas last year I took the decision to make a change - a change to be more healthy, a change that would drive me to my limits. A change that involves completing a 2.4-mile (3.86 km) swim, a 112-mile (180.25 km) bicycle ride and a 26.22-mile (42.20 km) marathon near where I grew up, in West Wales.

I am going to complete IRONMAN Wales.

I have been following a 30-week plan and have hit a multitude of firsts so far this year. I have completed my first Olympic Triathlon and also my first Half Iron Distance Triathlon. I have lost 13kg in weight (2 stone) - and with just about three weeks to go, I am finally starting to believe I can actually do this.

Supporting Two Brilliant Welsh Charities

I want to take the opportunity to raise some money for two very worthwhile causes close to my heart in West Wales.

The first is Tonic Surf Therapy in Wales - an extraordinary organisation using the therapeutic power of surfing to support veterans and those facing mental health challenges. It is the kind of no-nonsense, get-outside-and-feel-alive approach to wellbeing that I think is genuinely transformative.

The second is the Wales Air Ambulance - a charity that depends entirely on donations and makes a real, life-saving difference to communities across Wales every single day. Having grown up in West Wales, this one is particularly close to home.

If IRONMAN feels like a distant, slightly mad idea to you, I understand - I felt the same way twelve months ago. But here I am, three weeks out, fitter than I have been in years, and ready to go home to West Wales and get it done.

Three weeks out. Home turf.