Update 16 July, post race

So, I completed the Ironman on the 1st of July and it was absolutely amazing!

Thanks for all the donations so far and feel free to donate to the page while it is still open for the next few weeks! :)

A bit more background here: https://www.facebook.com/enda.traynor/posts/10155298185506503

Original post, before the race:

Hi, you beautiful people!

Have you done something with your hair? Have you been working out? Well, you look bloody great, whatever it is!

No, I’m not trying to butter you up… well, maybe a little… but for a very good cause.

Some of you may know and many don’t that I’ll be venturing to beautiful Austria to take part / compete / survive in an Ironman on July 1st (I cannot believe the time is nearly here... yikes!).

I’ll be one of those characters in the water (in the banner image at the top of the page) pretty soon!

This will be my first ever Ironman and I’ll try to preemptively answer some of your questions based on the most common things I hear when I mention I will be doing an Ironman:

1. What is an Ironman?
• 3.8 km swim, 180 km cycle and 42.195 km run (i.e. a marathon)
2. How?
• This is the easy part to explain - a lot of training (15 to 20 hours a week), kicking off in earnest last November
3. Why?
• This is the hardest question to answer; the simplest answer I can give is that I learned a while back that setting a big and seemingly mad goal, then going out and training for it, while also sacrificing many things along the journey can be a transcendent moment. It kind of makes you think, well if I can do that, then what else am I capable of! The most vivid time I felt this feeling was when I set out to run the Dublin marathon back in 2012 and it was in that year that a small seed was also planted about Ironman when I read the book Iron War, passed on to me by a guy I was working with at the time... little did he know the impact that book was to have :)
• Also, as SJ will tell you, I am very impressionable… too impressionable some would say; when I saw the film Cowspiracy, I became a vegetarian; I read a book about Ironman and I end up deciding to do one… I’m pretty lucky I never bumped into Charles Manson along the way :)
4. What next?
• Catching up on a lot of “socialising” that I have put on the backburner the last few months - I’m looking forward to not saying “Let’s do that after July 1st”!
• And who knows what else I may be lured into with some subtle propaganda

As intensely personal and selfish a pursuit as this is (SJ, you are a legend for not just putting up with me but also supporting and encouraging me!), it has also felt like something with purpose and substance and I think it will make it extra special for it to be a part of something bigger than my own personal journey and with that in mind, I’d love for you to help me raise money for Medecin Sans Frontier (MSF) and the Dublin Rape Crisis Centre (DRCC).

I, like everyone I’d imagine, have been deeply affected by the humanitarian crisis sparked by civil war in Syria. As well as feeling empathy for the situation of those living in Syria, it is hard not to also feel guilty about the incredibly privileged situation we find ourselves in and I’ve questioned if I could and should be doing more to help those in need. Seeing the work that MSF were doing in Syria during the worst of the conflict highlighted what an incredible organisation they are and how deserving they are of our support!

Also, as some of you know, SJ worked for the DRCC a few years ago and that time brought to my attention the incredible work they do to support victims of sexual assault, while also being criminally underfunded. The DRCC are not a charity at the forefront of everyone’s mind, as so much of what they do is done in private and so any publicity and fundraising around their work is so important.