2025 Year in Review: Ironman Done, Balance Found, and The Next Chapter Begins
🎉WOO HOO! I Am An Ironman! The Finish Line Story
I’ve spent the last decade working my way back to this finish line. After regaining my health and fitness, I needed to be absolutely sure that pushing my body for a long-distance triathlon wouldn't send me over the edge again—a conflict that required close monitoring in the run-up to Barcelona.
This event wasn't just a physical test; it was also a rather special, if slightly masochistic birthday treat to myself. I turned 50 in September, making this Ironman the ultimate celebration of being a much healthier and happier version of my old self! It’s the first one I’ve done since the wheels truly fell off my health 10 years ago, proving that full vitality is possible at any age.
The journey was one of massive strains and tough decisions, but last Sunday, I finally achieved my goal. The swim (1 hour 10 minutes) and bike (5 hours 30 minutes) went exceptionally well, setting me up for a very respectible sub-11 hour time which would have been a personal best for me. The run, however, was tough, as I knew it would be. With a clearly overstressed nervous system in the 3 months leading up to the event, I’d had to reign in my training, resulting in too few run miles in my legs to cover the distance easily.
But with dogged determination, and after 7km of just not feeling it, I decided to "Jeff it"—running 800m and walking 200m every kilometre for the whole marathon. It was an hour slower than I’d hoped for, but it was the effort I needed on the day to make it to the end. In an overall time of 12 hours and 6 minutes, I crossed that finish line and finally heard those magical words again: “Sarah Eglin – You Are an Ironman!” Given where I have been over the last 10 years, achieving my second-fastest Ironman time at age 50 is a result I am extremely pleased with.
Now, it’s time for much-needed rest and recovery. After that? I’ll be fixing that running form, speed, and general run fitness and gradually building myself up for IM Barcelona 2030—watch this space!
2025 Ironman Calella-Barcelona Results: Sarah Eglin
The Journey's Milestones: Reflecting on My 2025 Goals
Before looking ahead to 2026, I want to take a moment to look back at what I set out to achieve in 2025. It’s so important to celebrate the wins, learn from the shifts, and reflect on how far the journey has taken me.
✅ Mission Accomplished!
Goal 1: Complete an Ironman Triathlon – 10 Years On.
Result: TICK! In October, I crossed the finish line at Ironman Barcelona 2025 in a time of 12:06. What a journey! Thank you to everyone who cheered me on. This event truly marked the end of the ten-year recovery chapter.
Goal 2: Bike pack around the French Alps.
Result: The original title was perhaps a little misleading; given time constraints, this was only ever going to be a 5-day tour rather than a grand tour of the whole region! This was my first ever bike packing adventure—carrying my clothes and all necessary equipment. We opted for hotels instead of carrying a tent and cooking gear to reduce the load, but in all honesty, we still significantly underestimated the difficulty. With planned back-to-back days of almost 100 miles (160km) and over 2,000 meters of climbing, we definitely bit off slightly more than we could chew! Thankfully, the planned five-day figure-of-eight route was successfully revised and reduced to a challenging, but memorable, four-day circular tour. Lessons learned for the next adventure!
July 2025: Col de la Bonette (2,802m)
🔄 The Pivot
Goal 3: Fully launch my on-line wellness community.
Result: This didn't happen, and that’s okay. I made the conscious decision to stop and focus on what truly energises and sustains me: building my core Nutrition and Lifestyle Medicine business. Recognising when to let a goal go to commit more fully to another path is a form of self-care in itself.
🧘♀️ The Most Important Goal
Goal 4: Prioritise my own self-care.
Result: I'm giving myself a passing grade! Training for an Ironman while running a business and managing family life is intense. Because of this, it became crucial that I prioritised listening to my body and mind—recognising when my stress and anxiety levels were escalating and intentionally reducing either my work or training load. This constant calibration, achieved through focused self-care, is a vital component of Anti-Cancer Living.
Highlights of 2025
Looking Ahead: 2026 Goals Coming Soon!
What did you learn about yourself in 2025? Let me know below! Stay tuned as I share my exciting 2026 goals next month, focusing on sustainable performance and balanced living.
June 2025: Matthew & I setting off on our 5-day (soon to become 4-day) bike packing tour in the French Alpes
Steering Our Destiny: Adjusting the Sails
“We cannot direct the wind, but we can adjust the sails.”
- Dolly Parton -
This powerful adage, perfectly reflecting Dolly Parton's own resilient life story, holds deep truth for navigating health and recovery. While we cannot control the winds of our present circumstances—a diagnosis, a setback, or chronic fatigue—we possess the power to shape our future, one day and one intentional choice at a time.
This quote highlights the essence of empowerment: we must be open to making the necessary changes to steer ourselves in the right direction. It emphasises our ability to take control of our well-being and life's direction, a principle that lies at the heart of the Eglin Health Metholdology. We choose the course, even when the wind is against us.
🌟 Ready to Master Your Health and Longevity?
My journey from chronic illness to the Ironman finish line proves that achieving a true and lasting Health Span—living well and actively for longer—is entirely possible when you integrate evidence-based lifestyle strategies.
If you are ready to shift from simply managing health challenges to optimising your energy, performance, and long-term vitality, explore my programs designed for ambitious health goals:
✅ Optimise Health & Healthy Aging Programme
This program is designed to help you harness the power of nutrition and lifestyle medicine to boost energy, improve metabolic health, and ensure sustainable performance—allowing you to thrive at every age.
🎗️ Foundational Health & Long-Term Risk Reduction
For those focused on maintaining the vitality you have achieved, reducing future risk, or simply creating the strongest possible internal environment, our foundational Cancer Support programme offers the science-backed roadmap for resilient, anti-cancer living.
➡️ Not sure where to start?
👋 Let's Stay Connected
If you would like to read more about my personal experience with breast cancer and my journey back to great health—which is the foundation for all my programmes—you can find more in-depth information here:
I look forward to connecting with you and supporting your journey! You can also follow me and join the conversation on:
📚Further Reading: The Science of Movement
Before you go, I want to leave you with one important thought: a growing body of research consistently demonstrates that movement is being considered a form of 'targeted medicine' in the context of cancer recovery. Identifying a type of movement that can be sustained both during treatment and long-term afterwards is crucial for your recovery.
To understand the 9 key, scientifically supported ways exercise helps prevent cancer and recurrence—and why consistent movement is non-negotiable—read my detailed guide here: Create a Body Where Cancer Cannot Thrive: 9 Key Ways Exercise Helps Prevent Cancer