Why!?

I have had tinnitus for ten years but two years ago it got much worse seemingly over night. Tinnitus is basically a noise in the ears that can be a ringing, buzzing, hissing or popping noise, it varies from person to person; it can also be pulsating, i.e. in time with your heart. It can drive people quite literally mad, even to the point of suicide. Imagine having noises in your head that you cannot stop, there is no medication or cure. It is left to the individual and how best they cope with it, thus it can lead to a massive sense of isolation, frustration, despair etc, etc.....
My tinnitus is a kind low toned ringing. When it first got bad, around January 2007, it hit me very hard. There were many sleepless nights, with what seemed a very loud constant ringing in my head, both ears. I have had to have weeks off work as I have been exhausted through lack of sleep. It is something that is also difficult to explain to people, how it effects your life can be incomprehensible to others. It has led to depression, not surprising really, as when it kicked in I had never been fitter. I had been racing mountain bikes, for a couple of years before and was so strong, yet I took it all for granted, never again. I have just come out a of a particularly bad phase, feeling very positive. I have always kept biking and running as and when I could over the past couple of years and do my best to keep fit. Before the tinnitus got bad I trained every day, sometimes twice a day. Now I manage a couple of times a week and generally feel tired and struggle when I'm training. But things are getting better, I have habituated to the tinnitus and luckily for me, it doesn't bother me anymore, yet the fear of not sleeping has become a subconscious thing, a side effect of a couple of years of having little sleep.
I can see light at the end of the tunnel.
I have been reading through some tinnitus forums lately and seeing how people's lives are being ruined by it, literally. People lose their jobs, their homes, their relationships as they struggle to cope with tinnitus. They feel lost and hopeless as there is little help available and no cures, and it takes so long to habituate, years and years, sometimes never.
I want to give people suffering from tinnitus some hope, I have always wanted to do the Ironman, which is a 2.4 mile swim followed by a 112mile bike ride followed by running a marathon, all in one go. I have decided that I am going to do it before I am forty, it may take longer than that, or it could be quicker but that is the plan. I am often exhausted yet need to train my body to it's limits for this event.
I can visualise it, so I am already on the road to my goal. It's going to be more, much more mental than physical. I am in no doubt that my body is capable of it, but the tinnitus is affected by mood and stress.
Sorry for the long first post but people have to understand a few things first.