Training for an iron distance event? I got hooked on multi sport races (Triathlons) a few years ago. I ran a sprint race just to show me I could do it. At the time an 800 yd swim, 18 mile bike and 3 mile run seemed like a marathon.
As a kid I loved - and I mean loved the feeling of zooming along on my stingray. It was my first taste of freedom being able to go where I wanted when I wanted. I've never lost my love of riding the bike. As a pubescent I swam on a division 2 team and hoped some of that muscle memory might have stuck with me.
On race day, 500 yards into my 800 yard feat (too far from shore to touch the bottom and to close to call for help - yes I would rather drown than be embarrassed) I thought I was going to die. Swimming turned out to be a lot more work than I remembered it being. The run wasn't much better. You've seen people run who look relaxed and efficient. Quiet and swift. Right? Me? Well, lets just say wounded asthmatic water buffalo.
Since then I've improved a little. Not because I'm one of those genetically gifted types. It's because I've worked my _ss off. I set the bar high, committed to my goals and created the circumstances of my success. I did the work. Next month on November 11th I run my 1st 1/2 iron man. A 70.3 mile test of individual fitness and endurance. I'll be racing in a division of over 40 men, Dad's, businessmen, amateur athletes just like me over 1.4 mi swim, 56 mile bike and finally a 1/2 marathon (13.1 miles). I'm actually excited, I'm not going to survive the distance I'm going to race.
Silverman Full & Half Distance Triathlon
When people ask me or my training buddies why we do it, we respond with cliche platitudes; I want to test myself and push my limits, It's always been a dream of mine, I missed getting into the Olympics because of ____. When the real answer is too obvious; we're insane. Utterly around the bend bonkers. A certifiable sandwich short of a picnic danger to ourselves.
Funny thing is, we love it. We make sacrifices to train and compete. Clean diets, rigorous schedules, 2 a day work outs, early wake ups and long long days. After all, each of us has a career, a family, children, spouses, community commitments etc. We just layer on this challenge of training our bodies and minds to surpass every obstacle and barrier to achieve something that prompts others to cringe at the very thought.
There is a great quote that recently came from a lecture by Randy Pausch a Carnegie-Mellon professor and father of 3 dying of pancreatic cancer. He said "brick walls exist for a reason. They exist so we can show how much we really want something"
Pretty powerful words coming from a Father who won't live to see his children grow up. A man who is being denied half of his life expectancy. I hear him telling me; live your life to the fullest, pursue your dreams and don't let anyone tell you that you can't. The obstacles you encounter reaching your goals are their to help you reach them, not stop you from reaching them. That strikes a chord with me, it gives me courage. I give thanks for Randy, I pray that his children will carry his voice.
That's a message I want my kids to hear, to learn, to embody. It is therefore, an ethos I must embody. Not in my easy chair holding court in the living room. I do it getting in a long run at 430am on Wednesday (before the kids are awake) and in the pool at 630pm Tuesday & Thursday (after the kids are done with their swim team practice) I do it when I share with my kids how nervous I am before a race or how pleased I am at a 3% improvement in my 10K or a 1% increase in their 50 yd freestyle. I do it when I take that extra moment of time to gently recall with my 7 yr old his triumph over constructing complete sentences or my 8 yr old on her improvements in reading. I do it by living it. I teach it by be-ing it.
It's not about how to achieve your dreams it's about how to live your life.
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