Salisbury PT urges men to check for most common cancer
Toby Giles is taking on the Weymouth 70.3 Ironman today (17th September)
A personal trainer from Salisbury says he wants to keep shouting about prostate cancer in men as he takes on an Ironman in Weymouth today (Sunday 17th September).
Toby Giles is tackling the Ironman 70.3 to raise funds for Stars Appeal and the Prostate Cancer Fund at Salisbury District Hospital.
An Ironman is similar to a triathlon, in that there are three disciplines that make up the event. Toby explained the differences to us:
“The full Ironman are both longer distance than your so-called sprints and Super Sprint triathlons. So, the 70.3 event on Sunday is a 1.2-mile swim, a 56-mile cycle and a 13-mile run.”
Toby said he chose the Prostate Cancer Fund as it’s close to his heart.
His father had prostate cancer and has since recovered, but Toby says more men to be aware of this ‘most common’ cancer.
“At some point they're going to know somebody or affect them directly.
“We want them to be able to go and get themselves checked out. Going to the doctor, just to just to have an examination or even have a blood test. And it is so, so important that you go and do this once a year.”
Hardest sport to train for
Toby describes the Ironman as the ‘hardest thing’ he’s ever had to do.
“My training regime is flipped on it’s head,” he told us, “I've I've been a strength and conditioning coach and that's the way I've trained myself and actually happening to train for an endurance event has been the hardest thing I've ever had to do.
Toby says he’s been training 10-12 hours a week to improve his endurance and has even had to change his swimming technique.
“I had to re develop my swimming technique because I only swim to a support and complement my scuba diving and also surfing when we do that, that sort of thing. I never swim to swim as such or race.”
We can support Toby's efforts here.