While many of us enjoy triathlon for recreational purposes, I’d wager that many more of us (especially on this board) enjoy the competitive aspects. In addition to the fun of racing against others, I hear- over and over- about a desire to test oneself and to see “to find out what you’re made of.” Last night, as I traipsed down the Chicago lakefront, accompanied only by howling lake winds, I was thinking about what I’d actually learned about myself from doing all the extreme, difficult things I’ve tried. Frankly, I don’t think I’ve discovered any major life lessons or had any major revelations. So far, all I learned is that I feel like dying before I actually die. So I put it to my betters: What great revelations have you made after forcing the last six miles of a marathon, or going until you’ve puked in a race, or (insert impressive feat)? I’d be really interested in hearing any great life lessons you’ve accumulated on what I will call ‘The other side of the wall.’
I’ve learned that I can run a 26.2 miles
I’ve learned that I can run a 5 minute mile
I’ve learned that crushing dreams is fun
.
So far, all I learned is that I feel like dying before I actually die.
Really? just for riding on the Chicago lakefront bike path? man you got a lot of learning…
DNFing halfway through a tough trail ultra, I was already pushing myself more than I ever had, and what I found that was fascinating was some of the different components of what I am: I found, in my psyche, the quitter, the guy who makes excuses, the guy who hopes someone else will make the decision for him to pull the plug. Compared to these guys, the show-off, the ‘character’ and the Ironman didn’t have much in the way of answers, but I also found the defeated warrior, even before his wounds were healing, planning the next campaign. I want to meet all of these again, and see what more they have to say to each other.
I was prepared to meet that warrior by marathon training and racing - especially that last six miles where each hurt twice as much as the one before, but where stopping was something I couldn’t even consider - and then by my first 1/2IM which had me in tears twice on the run portion but then made me realize that I could dare to attempt the full IM. And then the first IM itself where I got to the stage of being apprently empty of emotion, having used it all up. And then the second IM, which taught me that I could deliberately do something that scary again!
In almost every race too, there is a point where I really feel like I never want to do this again, without which I feel I haven’t really raced - and then after it’s done it’s a thing of joy, perhaps precisely because my experience contained the bad as well as the good; and accepted both, which is a pillar of wisdom.
There are some things you can’t imagine, and no-one can really tell you about, ‘on the other side of the wall’. j
I like making up all the crazy personalities and nicknames of the regulars in the pool you swim in…