My first book review.

A book review. I know! Me doing a book review! You may or may not know, reading books is not one of my favourite pass times. I'm more of a news paper, magazine, how to, blog, internet material, text book kinda reader. Escaping into a land far away in the form of a novel is just not me at the moment. I like reality. I want to read about; how did something work for them or how did they get over that challenge. That's probably why I enjoy reading peoples blogs. The last two books I have read have been biographies and I wanted to tell you about the latter one. "Going the Distance" by Tracey Richardson.


I remember hearing about her story on TV a few years ago so I knew who she was when Hubster brought us the book from the library. She is a NZ woman whose eldest two children have Cystic Fibrosis, an incurable chronic disease, which takes their little lives usually before the age of thirty. The story is about how she goes from depressed mother of four and overweight to two time iron woman in two years! An Ironman is the longest endurance sport in the world, a 3.8KM swim, a 180km bike ride and a marathon run (42.2km). Even elite athletes find it hard to finish this grueling event. All the while raising awareness and funds for the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation.

This book is a no holds barred story about how she got to the Hawaii Ironman. At times her honesty astounds me. She certainly doesn't hold back what she thought of her ex-husband...I wonder if he was offended? She gives her account of what it was like spending a brief time in a Psychiatric facility, an experience she was very ashamed of. I also learned so much about CF and what that means to the kids who have it and their families who live with it too.

Does this story inspire me to do an ironman? Heck no! I better finish my triwoman event first! But it did inspire me to think no matter what the circumstances of your life, you can push yourself to the limits by as she puts it " one rung at a time on the ladder to success". A super inspiring story that is sure to encourage you to do all that you can with the life that you have.