Time to meet the man

Here’s my history and journey to fitness, plus a little more to know me more personally

So let me start from the very beginning.

OK possibly too far. But that’s me and my twin sister. I’m not too sure how young I am here but I can tell you that I didn’t get much bigger or stronger for a long time in my life. I was a weak child. I didn’t like sports, I didn’t really like the outdoors, and I spent too much time playing computer games. I was more likely to cry and run then get involved with sports, mud and the outdoors during these years (seriously).

I went to an all-boy secondary school, and tough boys like nothing better than to pick on the runt of the litter. That runt was definitely me. Thankfully I was never picked on anymore than anyone else, but I would have made a pretty good powerless victim if I was. When my 14th birthday was coming up I asked my mother for some dumbbells. I wanted to get a little bigger and stronger, just to reduce my odds of a bigger kid sniffing me out, and my mother was happy to oblige.

The birthday happens. The weights are received. The lifting begins.

6 months in and I’m a little bigger. I am sticking to and enjoying it, and so a barbell and heavier weights are purchased. I continue to lift, get a little stronger, and when I’m turning 15, I’m rewarded by my parents with a home bench to complete the set.

1 year later and my school had a gym installed. Who should surprise everyone with more strength than the average kid? You guessed it; ‘little weak’ Thomas. Not so little and weak now!

My confidence grew massively. I got a bike and started to cycle with friends on the weekends and commute to school on it. I started to play table tennis and football after school. I took up Kung-Fu and playing tennis. I went Snowboarding on holiday. Thomas was a new boy!

So, let’s fast forward considerably now. While visiting some key points along the way….

I don’t and didn’t want to just lift weights. I wanted to learn properly about what I was doing and why it was good for me. I wanted to make all kinds of improvements. Muscular Strength and endurance, cardiovascular improvements, power, agility, etc. I was and still am hooked on the fitness life. I’ve had the right mindset for many years now regarding that, to keep myself fit and healthy, but I also don’t want to just be ‘gym fit’. That is to say, why just be able to challenge yourself and apply yourself to a gym environment?

So one day I entered the Dublin marathon. I didn’t know what I was doing, how to run at long distances (previous longest run was 30 minutes), or anything regarding running. But I entered, with 9 weeks to go, and managed to run a time of 3:56:33. It felt utterly brilliant to complete.

I started cyclocross bike racing. That was fun, really hard work, and I did quite well for a first timer. I entered many cycling events too, including the infamous Tour of Flanders Sportive, and went on a few cycle tours with friends.

After this I discovered Tough Mudder. ‘Probably the toughest event on the planet’ is it’s headline. I was intrigued! I managed to encourage a few friends to sign up and do it with me. Again, I’m in at the deep end. It’s hard to know how to prepare for something that markets itself like that. You’ve just got to keep yourself fit and prepare for the worst. We do it and we love it. It turns out I was more than prepared for it and we completed it well.

Afterwards it got me thinking. How hard can I be pushed? I had been keeping fit for many years now and enjoyed doing events here and there. But how fit was I?

Coming up to my 30th birthday, I decided to challenge myself big time. I loved the idea of doing a massive challenge, like climb Everest, but this kind of thing costs too much for me and was far out of reach. So I thought I’d do many smaller challenges, over a longer duration (the course of the year in which I turned 30), which all add up to one mammoth task. So I got researching and entering events.

From February to November of my 30th year, I entered and completed 20 different events. Half and full marathons, some back to back. An Ultra Marathon. I completed 2 Tough Mudders over 1 weekend. I cycled from Putney in London to Brugge in 12 hours, with a ferry crossing in the middle of course. I completed 3 different ‘Spartan’ races, earning myself their desired ‘Trifecta’ achievement. I entered an event called Man vs Mountain; starting at sea level, running to the summit and descending Mt. Snowdon, another smaller mountain after this, and doing some swimming and assault course obstacles too, just for good painful measure. I had never done any running on any mountain before but managed to finish in the top 10%. I completed Rat Race’s ‘Dirty Weekend’, the longest obstacle course event on earth; 20 miles with over 200 obstacles to be precise. Essentially, I did a lot, and it felt unbelievable to complete the year.

By the end of it all, I felt a new man. The experience taught me a lot about myself and in particular how health and fitness is so important to my life. It’s something that has shaped, educated, and helped me, and it has given me a fantastic edge to understanding how to train, get fit, and apply this for others. I am certain, with my own personal experiences in the world of fitness, my fitness education and qualifications, and my unchanging passion for being fit and healthy, I will succeed in getting others to realise and achieve their physical and mental potential. You’ll get 100% commitment from me in achieving your fitness desires and goals. If you put in 100% too, you’ll get there.