I have been thinking about this a lot lately as I am trying to find something I can focus on throughout my training for my second Ironman - Louisville August, 2010. I started my training back at the beginning of January and it is going well as I just started to build for when the big stuff kicks up in March. One benefit of training is that you can think about anything while you are swimming, pedaling a bike or running. Here are my thoughts on it.
For my first Ironman (Couer d'Alene 2008) it was as if my brain said "Do it!" and I signed up without doing any research on it. From that day forward it was the fear of the unknown that drove me to workout everyday and push my body farther and harder because I just simply didn't know how my body would react. I read about the event (and training) and that made me more uneasy about it, which added to my drive. Even if you put the training in there is that unsure feeling about having the right nutrition on race day. It seems like one salt tablet short and your race could be destroyed.
Now, anyone that has done one will tell you that the hardest part is all the training and hopefully getting to the starting line healthy. I managed to do just that for my first one and had a decent result (12:10:16). The big negative is all the time you have to put in to train. And the other big unexpected time cruncher was preparation – getting bike ready, plotting routes & distances, clothes, nutrition selection, showers and driving time if necessary.
Some benefits include:
- Losing weight
- Realizing that cross-training is actually a good thing
- It may reduce your cholesterol
- Having more energy to do things
- Meeting great people
- Living a healthy lifestyle (You treat your body like an engine and watch what you eat)
- Raising money for a non-profit to help others
I do think one driving element may very well be the fact that you are doing something that few people have done. One song that drives this point home is Eminem's "Lose Yourself" where is he states "you only get one shot." I listened to this song all the time on my runs as I realized that "this may be the only opportunity I got" to do an Ironman.
And maybe that's it. That those of us that decide to do an Ironman Triathlon — whether your first, second or tenth — understand what we are doing could be our only opportunity to push through fear ... and shine.
I leave you with a poem by Marianne Williamson that I think powerfully captures this point.
Our Deepest Fear
Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate.
Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure.
It is our light, not our darkness
That most frightens us.
We ask ourselves
Who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, fabulous?
Actually, who are you not to be?
You are a child of God.
Your playing small
Does not serve the world.
There's nothing enlightened about shrinking
So that other people won't feel insecure around you.
We are all meant to shine,
As children do.
We were born to make manifest
The glory of God that is within us.
It's not just in some of us;
It's in everyone.
And as we let our own light shine,
We unconsciously give other people permission to do the same.
As we're liberated from our own fear,
Our presence automatically liberates others.
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