Hi!

I truly hope you're doing well.

It has been a while since I sent you an update.

This is a different message that we usually send and it actually marks a period of transition, both personally and professionally.

First, a little bit of context.

Last week marked one year since I finished my first Ironman 70.3 - I shared my story with you on this blogpost. At the time, it culminated the journey from going to veeeery obese to a resemblance of being fit.

The post's title hints of my personal goal: becoming an Ironman. That was the plan all along, to tackle the full distance of 1,9km swim, 180km bike ride and a marathon run. It still is and, there I say, it will always be.

Most people may ask incredulously "why?" and wonder what can possible be the reason for anyone to volunteering to go through the commitment and pain of all the training hours that are needed to accomplish that..

The easiest answer would be "why not?". The more complex one is, well, more complex. It involves identity, lifestyle and goals.

In the middle of the bike part of my 70.3 I understood what freedom is: being on a bike feeling strong, accomplished and focused just in going ahead, savoring the result of months of effort and living the triathlete lifestyle.

I go back very frequently to that moment and, every time I do, it makes me smile. I was really proud of how I was living, the whole thing and thriving to be the fittest, healthiest and happiest I've been for a loooong while.

Unfortunately, it went downward since.

Because of the ankle injury, I decided to pause training to maximize recovery. A couple of months afterwards the race I resumed rehab but it was progressing as I expected - the recovering process didn't seem to be going as it should. After a few setbacks, I did a bunch of MRIs and found out in August that I had multiple partial ligament tears in the ankle and hip with several soft tissue inflammation and bone edema and contusion.

Meanwhile, my whole lifestyle got sideways. Work load is consistently increasing, great opportunities rising and worth pursuing, baby girl demanding more attention - heck, she will never be 1 year old again! But I was the weak link in the chain and health and lifestyle took a turn for the worse.

Not being focused meant that weight came back, a whole lot of it. I will not tell you that I don't know why... know exactly why! However, without a solid strong enough reason to say no to this and that, I just let it get out of hand.

I also realized the training hours gave me structure to my days and tied my whole lifestyle together. I was definitely more efficient and effective when I needed to balance 10 to 14h or training per week - a clear example of the Parkinson's law. It was an anchor for diet, sleep, stress management... the lifestyle I want to live.

All in all, I was definitely a better person a year ago and I want to be better again - as best as I can be.

The last push came for this came actually before I even started to train for the 70.3. My wife and I had the absolute privilege and luck to be able to spend our honeymoon in Hawai'i in 2022. As you can expect, we loved it to pieces and we promised we would be back sometime in our lives.

As I was boarding the plane to return home, I found myself thinking about how insanely awesome it would be to return for the Ironman world championship in Kona, Hawai'i... and I kept thinking about it, time and time again. So I'm tackling it!

Today, I have absolutely excited to share that I am starting the "Project #Road2Kona", the project of qualifying and taking the starting line in Kona during my lifetime

Different from most races in which you just need to register, for Kona you need to qualify by finishing in a top position in other Ironman races. Each one gives different number of slots for the world championships but, either way, it will tough: in normal circumstances, you'll need a finish time around 9h to hope to get your slot.

Is it possible? Of course!

Is it hard? Definitely!

Will I make it? Absolutely!

The reason I'm making it public and want to share the ride are these three reasons:

1. I want to make a public record of the journey, the ups and downs, the wins and losses, documenting the path forward;

2. You will be my accountability partner and help me stick with it along the way;

3. I hope I can influence you and motivate you to take on a big challenge for your health.

This is the ultimate reason to be sharing with you.

The first time I was called an influencer was a few years back, after a talk in Chennai, India. Some of the attendees told me "you are a real-life influencer". I shrug it off thinking "how could I possibly influence people...?".

But the fact is that I'm seeing more and more people around me taking charge of themselves, starting to work on their fitness and challenging themselves towards bigger goals. In fact, last week one of my best men showed up at my door during the middle of the afternoon asking for water as he was running from home - a scene I never expected to see in a million years, specially because the weekend before he was just laughing when I shared with him this project... When I asked him why he decided to run, his answer was "our chat in the weekend poked me to start".

If I can poke you to take on a challenge and get stronger, healthier and happier along the way, this project has served a bigger purpose than just my personal goal. It will be worthy.

So, how can you stay updated about this journey?

There are 3 ways:

1. Sign up for a #road2kona newsletter (just click in the link and sign up for it - I'll send updates on broad topics, such as training options, strategies, doubts, material, etc)

2. Follow me on Instagram - I'll be sharing information and updates about the "triathlete lifestyle" and how I will be balancing my professional projects

3. Follow me on Strava - all my training sessions will be logged there.

Whether or not this will speak to you and you want to tag along, look around you and give a pad on the back to those trying to overcome their physical (and mental!!!) limits by tackling endurance efforts. They will definitely appreciate - as I will.

Thank you!

Miguel