There is no doubt that March 2025 has been a bit of a roller coaster, but it was also the month that I upped the training schedule in preparation for the Race Against The Sun later on this year.

Every sporting event I have ever taken part in has been approached with the intention of training really hard to be at peak physical performance… but something always seemed to get in the way! 

In 2012 I ran the Stockholm Marathon. I had trained hard but 12 weeks before I injured myself on a run and it just never healed enough to get proper training runs in — I ran that marathon, overweight and under prepared and it was painful all of the way through. But I did it.

A few years later I ran the London Landmarks Half marathon – cue 6 weeks before, catching the flu. The type of flu that would not go away – my Asthma was holding my exercise ransom!  I ran the event coughing and spluttering and struggling to breathe but I crossed the line and thought, well at least you did it.

The next event was the moonwalk marathon – overnight 26.2 miles walked wearing a bra – a new job role meant I missed all but one of the team’s training walks. I then worked 9am – 9pm and started the event at 11.15pm! Exhaustion was not the word. My body went into shock following crossing the line and I realised this was no joke.

London Marathon 2018 I was due to take part in, and again I got injured just 3 weeks before. When I say injured, more specifically I tripped on a loose paving slab in King’s Cross and ran into an on-coming bus. At the time I was sore and the adrenaline was running through my veins so I kept running (A decision I soon regretted) I could barely walk and the severe sprain of my ankle and the bruising from the collision didn’t subside. I was lucky it wasn’t more serious, but 2018 was not my year.

In 2019, I geared up to run my deferred place in the Marathon for Parkinson’s UK.

From the start of my training to the very day, my knees hated their existence!  They would swell and I couldn’t sit for long periods time without cramps that made me wince. I was determined to run it in memory of my Best friend’s dad, Don, who had suffered with Parkinson’s Disease before he passed. When I walked up to the start line, not knowing anyone, I had only managed 14 miles in training! 

Just after the half way point I was in so much pain in my knees that I vomitted repeatedly. But I couldn’t stop there I had to finish. I made slow progress on the second half, I ran with tears streaming down my face from the pain and feeling devoid of energy. The crowd pulled me through this race and my friends and family who battled the crowds to find me! 

At mile 20 I came over the crest of a hill and I saw a giant king-size sheet banner that just said:

GO-WAYNE-GO

It’s actually brought tears to my eyes thinking about it – I needed that sign at that exact time and seeing my bestie run down the steps from the bridge to see me was incredible. I was fed by this energy and I pushed towards the finish line where I knew my three-year-old son and my lovely wife were waiting to meet me.  I had never known such pain and such joy exist so strongly inside of me.

Now that was a very long way to say that I decided I had to prepare properly for this upcoming type of triathlon – of which I have never trained in any of the disciplines! 

And March was the month to get the Game face on! 

I have been out on my bike weekly –  and this week will be first week of two training sessions a la Bicyclette!  I am planning my first hike and at some point I need to learn to kayak! 

I have never been a naturally sporty person, but I am super competitive and love a challenge. 

I will be racing alongside my niece Shannon, for ACTION MEDICAL RESEARCH and would appreciate any support that you can offer us! 

https://www.justgiving.com/team/burkies?utm_medium=TE&utm_source=CL

So help us get our game faces on and sponsor us for this challenging race. 

As I wrote this I remembered that I have yet to book my hotel… so I should probably go and do that!!