Why… for myself and because it’s hard
This weekend I went to cheer on athletes as they were going to do a
1/2 Ironman. After everyone that we knew had finished we left to go have a hot tub. A woman was just starting the second loop of the ½
marathon. I wanted to stop the van and give her a huge hug. Not because I knew her but because I knew what she was going through. We didn’t stop but seeing her made me think.
Why?…
Why would a woman who has 11km left during her ½ Ironman run with only 1hr left before the cut off, still turn around 200m from the finish line and go out for the second loop and try to finish it knowing that she does not have the speed to do so? It was obvious she was in pain but she knew she had a few choices
a- I’m not going to make it so I’ll stop here with my friends and this sucks
Or
b- Fuck them if they think I’ll just give up! I trained for hours and
hours so if they want me to stop, they will first have to catch
me and second the will have to drag my ass off the course.
I can't answer for this woman why she kept going or what kept her
going but it made me realize how much it has been as asked of me..
why…
Do I run for 100miles at one time without stopping? When I have heard most people say "I don't even like to drive that far, you're crazy!"
or
I have even heard comics make fun of Ironman participants: http://ironman.com/columns/gruenfeld/i-know-a-lot-about-ironman.-after-all-ive-watched-more-of-them-than-most-people-have-done
.
Sure it's very cool that according to the TrailRunnig magazine only a
little over 25 000 people finished an ultra last year in North America
(31miles and over is considered an ultra so the number of 100miler
finishers is even smaller). Or that only 30 000 people out of 6 billion
do Ironmans. For me it's about more than just covering the distance,
it's about the entire journey as you go from extreme highs to extreme
lows. It's knowing that you can achieve anything you set your mind to
and that when things get hard, you can handle whatever comes your way, during a race, and in your everyday life because you are mentally strong enough to know you will get out of this stage. Like Kris said before, “it’s is an important part of racing to of having a community there with you.” That’s how I met some of my best friends, however mythe main two reasons for doing these races are:
1- for myself!!
I like one of Edmond Hillary's comments about finally scaling
Everest: "It is not the mountain we conquer but ourselves."
It’s not the course I beat at the end of the day, but my mind that told
me so many times to stop. That’s a very rewarding feeling.
2- because it’s hard.
It shows who wants it and how bad you want it. Let me tell you, when
you have been running for 21hours straight, it's dark, your ipod is
dead, you're trying to figure out every way possible not to lift your legs over that 15cm log,(that looks like Everest at this point of the game), it’s raining, you now have to pee leaning on your poles because your legs are in so much pain you can’t squat anymore, you seem to have been going uphill for the last 22hrs of this 21 hr race! You seriously think what the hell??!!! But this is why I do it. I feel strong enough mentally to know I’ll get out of it eventually. People quit because they have not found the strength in themselves to push through their thoughts of being in their hellhole for the rest of the race.
I believe we all need these challenges that will give us the sense of excitement and happiness from overcoming them. Running a mile, a marathon, 100miles, an Ironman, a ride across Canada, a 10 day or 36 hour adventure race, are all difficult goals that ordinary people can achieve and could test themselves to see what they are truly made of and how bad they want it.
People can keep telling me I’m crazy, but at the end of the day it’s
being in these situation that have made me who I am today.
What are you going to test yourself with next? And how bad do you want it?
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