In January 2008 I’d read an interview with the swimmer Michael Phelps. I had no idea who he was as he hadn’t yet won a record number of Olympic gold medals, and I didn‘t know anything about swimming. During the interview he’d said something that stood out and appealed to me, which was “the more we dare to dream the further we can go”Normally I wouldn’t have bothered reading that type of article but for days afterwards I kept thinking about his words. At the time I weighed almost 16 stone, drank too much alcohol, and was affected by a spinal injury which had left me with limited mobility. I had a poor diet, hadn’t exercised in years, couldn’t swim and I’d had a phobia about deep water for most of my life. The last time I’d seen the inside of a swimming pool was in 1975, at the old baths in Warrington town centre.
Less than 2 years later I weigh 11 ½ stone and no longer drink alcohol. During 2009 I have completed several triathlons and also taken part in a number of road running and open water swimming events, swimming in the Mersey, the Thames, and the Pacific ocean. The readers of The Times newspaper voted for me as their health champion, and my triathlon performances have been documented in the sporting press on several occasions.In 2010 I have been invited to compete in the Abu Dhabi triathlon and have the opportunity to represent GB in an international triathlon challenge, taking on the Aussies and the Kiwis.
I am not in my current position because I am a naturally gifted athlete, far from it but I am where I am because as Michael Phelps advocated I dared to dream and I dared to believe in myself. I have made sacrifices and changes to my lifestyle, but I am no different from most people but if I can do it so can you. We are all capable of achieving so much in our lives and human progress is most rapid and glorious when we dare to overreach, or putting it another way, bite off more than you can chew and then chew like mad !On that note, I am hoping to organize free Saturday morning fitness sessions for all ages in Sankey Valley park this coming spring, and also currently producing a health and fitness related podcast that will be available shortly from itunes. Good health is one of the greatest gifts that can we possess and my dream was to take control of my health and enjoy the liberties that good health and fitness give you. It’s taken me a long time to realise how important these things are, but now that I have I don’t intend on letting them go. When you are making your resolutions on New Years Eve, ask yourself the question. What is your dream ?
