Digging deep
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beads1985 posted 2 years ago.
I got that feeling during my 1st Marathon and a few times since and definitely during Ironman Florida.
You can do the physical training but the mental discipline holds you together when your body wants to give up.
Nothing to it, but to do it
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Anton posted 2 years ago.
I'm not sure where the quote is from but it means alot to me:
" No man crosses the same river twice, for the river has changed and so has the man."
On the U-notch Couloir (Longs Peak) back in the late 70's a friend and I were ice climbing in some nasty conditions. Despite an alpine start (2am) and prior planning we got a tad off route at one point.
When the sun came up so did the sleet and other types of frozen gack. Water running down the ice into our boots...rocks whirring past...this being the days before helmets (besides hard alpinists ie.young and stupid, don't wear them!) it wasn't long before WHAM! I get smashed in the head. Out for a few minutes, when I came to we had to think...how to get the bleeding stopped and how to get off. Down was out, so it was up and over the top and then a 12 mile hike back to the car. No rescues in those days...you got into trouble,you got yourself out of trouble. Discipline.
Since then running ultras and doing IM's seems easy..I'm always smiling and having a good time...
Had to dig deeper than that when my parents died...but that's not a story for here.
"What would life be if we had no courage to attempt anything?" - Vincent Van Gogh
My Blog: http://agingsuperhero.blogspot.com
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dr_rios_ec posted 2 years ago.
Great stories.
For me happened at my first Marathon...
I was so scared, I thought that if pass de half point would be a good result. So the race started, I was trying to listen to everything that my body was telling me...my breathing, my heart, my muscles...I was tense.
So I started, and set a good pace. Things were going really well. I so my mom and dad at the 11 km mark, and my dad, started running right next to me, giving me some liquids and a gel...he said "come on my man...this is yours...I´ll see you in the finish line" That really sinked deep in to me...all the way...
Blisters came out...big time...my spleen started to hurt..all of this with 6 km to go...I was going to "throw the towel"...then I looked up, to talk to my grandpa...I prayed...and started pushing...
Best reward...my dad at the finish line...to hold me....
Now we do run together...so is even better these days...!!!!
-Santiago
"Man!! Defeat is worse than dying, cause´you have to live with it" -My Dad
"It ain´t about how hard you can hit...it is how hard you can get hit and keep moving forward"-Rocky Balboa
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kona_expat posted 2 years ago.
I don't so much think that you become a different person--who you are is indelible--but that you find out who that person is. It can feel like an "aha" moment, though, as the layers of the onion (you) are successively peeled away. This is why, I believe, endurance sports attract a certain type of person, because it can be a way to really get in touch with yourself.
Others do it by pursuing other passions, such as art, child-rearing, meditation, other sports, whatever. But, I think, the physical effort has a way of accelerating the process when you are reduced to the bare necessities of survival--breathing, eating, drinking and moving.
Each time I finish a race I find out more about myself, but I don't fundamentally think I've become a different person. Those who go through life never finding out the truth about themselves are missing a lot, and is why, I believe, we have wars and other unspeakable human conflicts.
What have I found out? That I am strong, compassionate, comfortable experiencing a full range of emotions without judgment, feel a purpose in life and that I enjoy helping others do the same. That is not a unique discovery to be made through endurance sports alone, but it's a neat way to get there.
773
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1413 days
Star posted 2 years ago.
I think your first IM is the best, because you don't know what to expect. When I finished the swim and bike in the times I'd predicted, I was psyched. I even ran the first 1/2 of the marathon in time....but when my body caught up with my head at mile 13, I had to dig deep. My stomach shut down, and I visited every toi-toi on the route for several miles. I told my husband (who could see me through every bit of the run course) "This is the STUPIDEST thing I've ever done!!!!" But, despite those thoughts, I knew that quitting wasn't an option...so I kept moving....and even ran the last 2 miles. It was a day of mixed emotions: thrill, anxiety, sickness, confidence, fatigue, fear, elation, exhaustion. So many thoughts that day...I wish I could have had a journal with me to write as I worked through the race. I did write out my thoughts and feelings the day after so I wouldn't forget what happened to my mind and body that day.
Have you ever read The Long Walk by Richard Bachman (i.e.Steven King)? Its a short story about 100 kids in the Northeast who compete in a walk to the death for "anything they want". I've read this story before long races and find many of the same emotions I had on IM day. Its an interesting journey...check it out.
"I'm more fun than an iPod!"
My blog: http://star.trifuel.net
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942 days
bouli posted 2 years ago.
Yeah, i've had that feeling. during my second ever 10k race, i came to a stop just after the 8k mark. I hadn't trained very hard for it, and it had been my 21st birthday the week before, so i'd done a fair bit of partying. needless to say i wasn't feeling too good. about 2 seconds after i'd stopped a guy ran by and said "come on, soldier on."
Second wind came, and i absolutely lashed the last 2k out of it. came over the finish line and was on the brink of collapse. a first aider gave me a bottle of water, a pat on the back and said well done.
I checked my time later on that day, and i had beaten my previous best for a 10k by 9 seconds. not bad i guess for being far less fit. After that, training's always been easier because i felt so much stronger mentally. That line's always stuck in my head "come on, soldier on".
People always say "wow, you're training for a triathlon", and i always say that a lot of it's mental. it really is. i feel i'm such a stronger person (physically and mentally) because of this. i love it.
"Only those who will risk going too far can possibly find out how far one can go."
-- T.S. Eliot
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1413 days
RV posted 2 years ago.
You really do find out what you are made of in some races. And each time you push through it, you get that much stronger - mentally. I am proud of the times when every part of me wanted to stop and give up - and then that one little whisper of a voice in your head or heart or gut or whereever it comes from just says 'Shut up and keep moving forward!' And you do. And you finish. And the next time it gets rough you've been there and know that you can go on.
RV
It takes a long time to get good. - Scott Molina
Slow is smooth; smooth is fast. - Rich Strauss
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beads1985 posted 2 years ago.
When I start to have any tough moments I think about my kids.
I want to tell them how I finished, and show them the t-shirt or medal I get from the race.
I want to be a good example to them.
If I have to go deeper I think about my ex and how I don't want to give her the satisfaction of seeing me fail.
Anger can be a great motivator too!:D
Nothing to it, but to do it
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dr_rios_ec posted 2 years ago.
Is also interesting while you start your journey into this great world of endurance sports, how you always listes that little voice inside your head saying: "well you just finished your first 10k race, or 15k, or half marathon, marathon, Sprint tri....now is time to go to the next step in distance" It is like some sort of adictive behaviour, that after you got to taste this...now you feel like going for something stronger....in this case something longer...
For me as a doctor is fascinating all the body responses, and mental responses that your body delivers under preasure during a endurance event....just fascinating....
I discover every time how well designed is this machinery called human body.
-Santiago
"Man!! Defeat is worse than dying, cause´you have to live with it" -My Dad
"It ain´t about how hard you can hit...it is how hard you can get hit and keep moving forward"-Rocky Balboa
Has anyone ever discovered that they are a different person at the finish line than who they were at the start line of a race? What I mean is, somewhere in the middle of your race you had to dig down to a place that you never thought you had just to keep moving.
I pride myself on the fact that I have been here a few times and survived to tell the tale.
My first 50 ultra I came to a stop with 1.5 miles to go. I had battled at a jog for the last 20 miles and slowed from that to a walk and from a walk to standing still. As I swayed back a forth on my feet I looked at the ground and said a short prayer. I got a chill from head to toe. I looked up and took off running all the way to the finish line. The other story is too long to tell but let's just say the last 15 miles I finished on a stress fracture in my foot.
I thought this might be a good post for some inspiration for those that are going to be racing soon.
Please share your stories.