Experience all that life has to offer

Experience all life has to offer.

Because one day it will all go.

Just like that.

Was reminded of that this week with the passing of Diogo Jota, one of Liverpool’s top strikers.

He was 28, 2 years younger than me.

He just got married to his childhood sweetheart last week.

They had 3 kids together.

He just won the Nations League with Portugal.

He just lifted the EPL trophy with Liverpool.

He was literally on top of the world.

Everything going for him.

When tragedy struck.

He died in a car accident with his brother.

Gone.

Just like that.

A mom had to bury her two sons.

A wife had to bury her husband.

3 babies had to bury their dad.

So tragic.

So shocking.

So unfair.

That’s life.

It’s all gone in an instant.

Just when you think you have time, you don’t.

It can all disappear so quickly.

It reminded me of Kobe’s death in 2020.

So sudden.

So quick.

Almost doesn’t feel real.

It felt like I lost a family member.

Someone I never knew but who became such a part of my life for years.

Unfortunately that’s life.

We don’t know how long we have.

For some it might be 60 years.

For others, it might just be today.

So you might as well enjoy it.

You might as well maximize the time that you have.

Time is your most important asset.

Not money.

Not wealth.

Not status.

Not material things.

It’s your time.

You never get it back.

You can never make more of it.

It’s here one moment and gone the next.

Most of us waste our time.

Especially these days.

Our phones have made us all addicted to social media.

We’re wasting our time.

Wasting our life.

Wasting the most important asset we have.

Instead, I’m trying to maximize it.

Try to get the most out of life that I can.

Always optimizing.

Always planning.

Always thinking about how best to spend my time.

Does it hinder me sometimes?

Absolutely.

But have I been able to have life experiences that I wouldn’t have otherwise had?

1000%.

I decided to go skydiving on my 25th birthday.

Just because.

I decided to get my scuba license last year.

Just because.

I decided to run a marathon in 4 months.

Just because.

I decided to leave medicine after graduating as a doctor.

Just because.

And now this.

Decided to try and become an Ironman in 7 months.

Just because.

Why not?

Why not use my time to challenge myself?

To raise money for my cousin who passed away from cancer.

To show myself what is possible if I commit.

To experience all that life has to offer.

All the good.

And all the bad.

No one gets out of this life unscathed.

We will all go through ups and downs.

All struggle.

But how you choose to see that struggle is up to you.

How you choose to spend that time is your choice.

I’m choosing to maximize it as much as possible.

To challenge myself in new ways.

To experience all that life has to offer.

This week in training - (Follow me on Strava here):

Swimming - 6.2k. 3 straight swimming sessions this week including my first practice open water swim. Felt great in the pool, fastest times I’ve ever had including 3:28/200m and 7:05/400m (my previous best for 400m was 7:35). However, was quickly humbled when I went open water swimming as it was windy and choppy. Swam ok with the wind but man, is it tough when you’re swimming into the current. Felt like I was barely moving. Need to get more practice sessions in open water the next few weeks.

Biking - 215k - MASSIVE biking week, including my longest ever ride. Legs felt pretty good throughout. Dehydrated a bit by the end of the bike so need to lock in nutrition, but overall felt great. 138k on my long ride and will do probably 150k+ this weekend.

Running - 32.5k - great run week. Had my fastes ever 10k time with 57 minutes and did my first sub 5 minute kilometre. Long run was tough on Sunday in the 30 degree heat so had to cut it a bit short. Trying not to overdo it during these training sessions to make sure my body feels good going into the last month.

Notes from Week 27 of training:

• Huge build week, including 200k+ on the bike, 138k long ride (longest I’ve ever done), fastest 10k ever (57 minutes), and fastest 200m+400m times in the pool. Was humbled in open water but overall awesome week. Peaking at the perfect time.
• Nutrition was ok this week. Crashed during the bike ride. Was hotter than normal (30 degrees plus) so didn’t have enough of my carb drink at the end. Could feel my quad cramping the last 10k so was scared of finishing. Nonetheless got through it and realize I need to overconsume on race day, especially with the heat. No issues during the long run, added the salt tablets to help, especially with the heat, so feeling pretty good. Glad I got to feel this now so I know what to do next time. This weekend will be a good test.
• Swimming was up and down this week. Definitely humbled. But also surprised myself. Felt like I was plateauing for weeks and not getting faster, then had some of my fastest times ever this week. Shows you that progress is not linear and often 1 step back, 2 steps forward. Need to get in open water more, especially after my session this week as it’s completely different from pool swimming.
• Great bike week. Best I’ve ever had. Most volume ever. Longest ride ever with 138k. Legs felt good, besides the cramping at the end.
• Good run week. Happy with my progress. Went for it during the week during my tempo run and so happy I got to run a sub hour 10k. Have never done that before so felt good knowing I could get there. Tough long run on Sunday as I cut myself half an hour short due to the heat, but still glad I ran 22.5k in 2.5 hrs.
• Movies - no movies this week. Started watching the final season of Squid Games (so far it’s ok) but otherwise not much.
• Huge build week and have to be happy with my progress. Showed myself I have way more in the tank than I think, but also glad I’m not overdoing it, especially with the long run Sunday. Learned a valuable lesson with the cramping this week on the bike so know I need to lock in on my nutrition. Crazy to think we’re less than 4 weeks out to race day. Was telling a friend this week that I remember talking about this with him last year and it felt like a pipe dream. That this was impossible. Yet here I am. Doing 200k+ on the bike in a week. Insane. Truly unbelievable how far I’ve come on this journey. Hope you’ve enjoyed it. Final big build week now before the last few rest weeks before race day. Less than 4 weeks left…

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