This post is an intro to my website and to give you an idea of what you can find here now, and in the the future.
By way of introduction, my name is Shane, my goal is to help other people find exercise and the power within the achievement and challenge that it can offer to make positive changes in all aspects of your life. While I had always been active as a teenager (racing at a National Level in Road Cycling), I had left that behind me following the lifestyle that is University. I gained weight, and lost touch with exercise.
My realisation as to the real power of exercise was experienced a while ago:
April 2014, lining up to do my first ever triathlon, at that point in time I had no idea what I had gotten myself in for. I’d done some running before, and a lot of cycling historically. But had I done enough training, the right type of training, did I have all the gear I needed? I wasn’t sure, but the adrenaline was coursing through my bloodstream and I was going to give it my best. After 4 hours and 14 minutes, mostly of pain, I crossed the finish line, went straight to the lake and lay down in the shallows of the water. What I found in this experience (the race, the preparation and in the reflection) was that for me exercise was incredibly transformative. It changed my physiology as you would expect, but also transformed by habits, my relationships, my mental patterns and my place in the world. I
came to two conclusions following this; that exercise can be a keystone habit and that completing something that is beyond what you thought you could do is incredibly powerful – boosting confidence and driving you to try and achieve more than you may have otherwise.
Since then I have done different events, including half marathons and multisport events culminating in spending the majority of 2021 and 2022 training for the two day individual Coast to Coast. Unfortunately neither came to fruition (perhaps more on this in a later post).
To be clear, while I grew up active, I have constantly struggled with weight, and the motivation to exercise and I am on my own journey learning how to live in a way which allows me to use exercise to be happier and healthier. This website is therefore a summary of my learnings, both through experience and academically (more to come on this also). I will release blog posts which I believe will help others, as I know had I known them earlier they would have helped me also. Finally it is a place where you can reach out for support. Check the services page for more details on how I might be able to help you.