It started in a pub In Henley.
Cold afternoon, end of 2024. Harry and I sat down to talk about what we were going to do next.
Year one had gone well. He’d lost weight, built consistency, got himself back into shape. The kind of progress most people would be happy to maintain. (Read Harry’s first transformation story with me HERE)
But Harry didn’t want to maintain.
He wanted something big.
So I said to him, let’s not just pick another goal. Let’s pick something that actually scares you. Something you can’t blag your way through. Something that forces you to train properly, respect the process, and show up even when you don’t feel like it.
Something you can’t ignore.
Ironman Wales came up.
Now, if you know anything about it, you’ll know that it’s widely considered one of the toughest Ironman courses in the world – out of over 170 events globally.
And the mad part?
Neither of us had ever done a triathlon.
Harry had once signed up for a sprint triathlon years ago… and didn’t do it. It was one of those things that just sat there in the background. Unfinished.
So when I said, “What about Ironman?” there was a pause.
Then he looked at me and said:
“Do you think I could actually do that?”
And I said, “If you train for it properly, yeah.”
Then I did something I didn’t plan.
I said, “I’ll do it with you.”
And that was it.
No big speech. No dramatic moment.
Just a quiet agreement that completely changed the next 12 months of our lives.
We Didn’t Just Sign Up… We Built a Year Around It
Once we committed, we didn’t mess around.
We decided to build what we called a “season.”
Fourteen events across the year. Everything from 10Ks, half marathons, 120k cycling events to a full Olympic triathlon.
The idea was simple:
Don’t just train for Ironman – become the kind of people who are ready for it.
So instead of one big scary day at the end, we created constant pressure.
Always something coming up.
Always something to prepare for.
Always something to get through.
By the time it was all done, we’d covered 3,156 miles.
Not in one go – but across a year of showing up.
The Reality: We Started Nowhere Near Ready
On paper, it sounds impressive.
In reality, we were miles off.
Harry hadn’t run in over a year. No consistent cycling. Hadn’t swum properly in years.
I was strong – but strength doesn’t get you through an Ironman. I hadn’t run consistently in years either, and my swimming… Let’s just say it needed work.
I could swim – but not properly.
I couldn’t breathe efficiently. Couldn’t relax. Couldn’t sustain it.
Two lengths and I was done.
And somehow, we’d signed up to swim 2.4 miles… in the sea.
The Middle Bit No One Sees
This is the part most people skip over.
The long, messy middle.
4am bike rides in the freezing cold with lights on.
Tyres slashed beyond repair three hours into a ride with no way home and no phone signal!
Crashes. Cuts. Sitting on the side of the road thinking, “right… get up.”
Runs where both of us seized up at the same time. Me cramping, Harry stiff as anything, both of us wondering how we were supposed to go further than this.
Trying to fit 10–14 hours of training into weeks that already had work, kids, and life packed into them.
This wasn’t convenient.
It wasn’t balanced.
It was a commitment.
And there were definitely moments where we both thought:
Are we actually going to be able to do this?
The First Time It Felt Real
For me, it was learning to swim properly.
For both of us, it was Dorney Lake.
Our first proper triathlon.
Open water. Transitions. All three disciplines together.
We were nervous. Properly nervous.
Didn’t know what to expect.
Didn’t know how it would feel putting everything together.
But we did it.
And when we finished, there was this moment where we both realised:
Alright… we can actually do this.
Not Ironman yet.
But we weren’t guessing anymore.
We had proof.
The Bit That Still Sounds Mad
We got all the way to race week…
And neither of us had done a sea swim.
Not once.
Just didn’t manage it. Life got in the way, time got tight, and suddenly we were standing there thinking:
“We’re about to swim 2.4 miles… in the ocean… and we’ve never done it.”
So the day before the race, we found a coach doing a swim session.
Got in.
Within minutes of swimming out to the first buoy – jellyfish.
Proper stings. Multiple times. Everyone is getting hit.
And the coach barely even mentioned it when we stopped.
That was the moment we both clocked it.
This is just part of it.
No drama. No panic.
Just get on with it.
Race Morning
4am.
Sat there eating breakfast, and every 20–30 seconds one of us would just go:
“Uhhhhhgh…”
Not talking. Just…releasing the pressure.
Because we both knew.
This is it now.
No more training. No more prep.
You either do it – or you don’t.
Walking down to the start, seeing thousands of people in wetsuits…
It honestly felt like we were going to war.
Everyone had the same look on their face.
Not fear exactly – but something close.
Like, this is serious.
The Race
The swim was chaos – but a good chaos.
Bodies everywhere. Arms, legs, people kicking, navigating through it all.
But once you settle, it becomes a rhythm.
Harry was strong. I found my rhythm.
We got through it.
Then the bike.
This is where it really starts.
At one point, I completely ran out of fuel. Properly empty.
That horrible feeling where your body just says “no.”
And then I was reminded – fuel!.
Took some on, came back to life.
Harry had gone ahead on the swim, but we had a plan:
Find each other on the bike.
Finish together.
So I pushed on the bike until I caught him.
Halfway through.
And from that moment – we didn’t separate again.
The Moment It Nearly Broke
During the marathon, Harry said it:
“I can’t do this.”
Not dramatic. Just honest.
And I just said:
“We’re doing this. Get that out of your head.”
Earlier in the day, I’d had my moment:
“My legs are seizing up.”
Harry’s response?
“Fuel. You need fuel.”
That’s the difference when you go through something like this with someone else.
You don’t let each other drift.
The Finish
The Ironman Wales marathon is four laps.
Each lap, you get a band.
And every time you see someone with more bands than you, it hurts a bit.
Because they’re closer than you.
Until you’re the one with four.
That last lap is different.
You don’t turn.
You go straight.
And suddenly you’re on the famous red and black carpet.
Lights. Noise. People everywhere.
And I just remember looking at Harry and both of us saying:
“We did it. We did it. We did it.”
Over and over.
All the pain from five minutes earlier?
Gone. Or at least… irrelevant.
We crossed the line arm in arm.
Exactly how we said we would.
What Actually Matters
Yeah, we did 14 events.
Yeah, we covered 3,156 miles.
Yeah, we completed one of the toughest Ironman’s in the world.
But that’s not the real takeaway.
The real thing is this:
We proved to ourselves that we could commit to something that felt way beyond us… and follow it all the way through.
And somewhere along the way, something else happened that neither of us expected.
We became good friends.
Not just coach and client.
That was never the goal – but it’s probably one of the best things to come out of the whole year.
And Then… We Did Something Most People Don’t
We didn’t stop.
A year later, we sat down again.
Same kind of conversation.
“What’s next?”
Harry didn’t say another triathlon.
Didn’t say “let’s go again.”
He said he wanted to get into judo.
Something he’d always wanted to do as a kid – but never did, because he was too scared.
And that’s the interesting part.
Because after a year of doing something big, that uncomfortable, that demanding…
Fear doesn’t hit the same.
So this time, it’s different.
This time, he’s all in.
The goal?
Black belt.
He’s already started – and he’s got his first competition coming up in May this year! (Of course I’m going to watch).
Completely different path.
Same mindset.
The Final Thought
This whole thing started with a question in a pub:
“Do you think I could do that?”
The better question is:
What happens when you actually commit to finding out?
Because once you do something like this once…
You don’t really go back.
Joseph Webb – MCIMSPA, RSPH.
‘Award Winning Coaching, Trusted For Over 20 Years’
