Need inspiration? That's what friends are for.

I've just read my friend Megsy's account of her latest achievement - she raced the Kokoda Track, completing the trek in around 36 hours, non-stop.

Yes, she "raced" the Kokoda Track. As if walking it over 10 days isn't enough (which she does regularly as a tour leader) this time, she took the opportunity to race it.

When she first entered the Race, she was told she was the only woman ever to do so. She's since told me that three Australian women entered the Race this year, and that local PNG women have also previously raced the Track. While official results haven't been released as yet, only 14 people finished from the 34 that entered to walk the same direction as her (the other two women raced the opposite direction).

By her own account, she had "a couple of hairy moments... and many inspirational ones". I have to say that your "hairy moments" make my efforts during Ironman seem positively lame in comparison. And as for inspiration, well, how much better does it get?

I don't bandy the term "legend" around too much, but Megsy, you are a legend. Thanks for the inspiration.

Racing for a Cause

I've learned a lot from my Ironman journey to date. What I've learned more than anything is what a privelege it is to be able to call myself an "Ironman". I've reflected a lot on how fortunate I am to have been able to get past many obstacles in my life to be able to achieve something that many people would consider "impossible".

The fact of the matter is, there is no such thing as impossible. All of us have the power to achieve anything in life, if we allow ourselves to believe we can. It's an unfortuate fact of life that some of us need to dig a little deeper to find this within ourselves. Not all of us have the luxury of a nurturing environment in which to begin our life journey.

Operation Flinders is an organisation that helps at risk youth to develop their self esteem, motivation, team work and a sense of responsibility. I have a strong belief in these individual values, and know they can make a real difference to how an individual views the world and their potential impact upon it.

While many people I know consider Ironman to be an incredibly indulgent lifestyle (in some ways, it is) I hope I can make a difference to people's lives by raising funds throughout this latest Ironman campaign for Operation Flinders. It might not be much, but sometimes little things can make a big difference.

Just because you've done it before, doesn't mean you don't have to train!

I am training for my third Ironman race, Western Australian Ironman in December this year. Well, maybe "training for" is a bit of a stretch... let's just say I've entered - I am the first to admit that I've been fairly lax about my training and the time for excuses is over! There are only 98 days to go until I have another chance at The Perfect Ironman...

I have been blaming the extra cold winter, flu season, and for the last week, I've even been able to blame RAIN of all things! But in the last couple of days I've come to realise that there's a part of me that thinks nothing can stop me in an Ironman race! Of course that's not true. If I do the work, then yes, nothing can stop me... so now's the time to buckle down and start doing the work.

If my past experiences at Ironman are anything to go by, it will be more than worth it in the end.