Seriously, why are you doing Ironman? To prove something? To be a better person? To be in a community? To post pictures in skin tight clothing?
I think it’s really important to understand or you can get caught up in the spectacle and make the entire process counterproductive.
This morning I was swimming in a lake at 6:15 am. It was overcast, sprinkling rain, and there were two other people in the water. It was desolate, peaceful, and once I started breathing right, incredibly rewarding.
It was all I could do to relax as I plowed through the choppy waves and passed the lonely buoys one by one. The day started as Ironman training, but morphed into a positive experience for my soul. 1500 yards later my bare feet walked through the sand and I toweled off.
It wasn’t about the distance, but I was intensely in tune with the motion. My brain and body felt measurably different at the end of that swim.
I continually tell myself it’s not about the race, but it’s hard not to make it about the race.
Ironman is a big and exciting event. You train because you want to perform. Your day is on the clock and you want to cross that line in the fewest amount of ticks. But, training for Ironman is a condensed example of why life should be about the journey.
Man, I can’t tell you how many times I’ve tried to figure out my perfect pace and ultimate goal. It becomes consuming, agonizing, and packs pressure on your bones that doesn’t deserve to be there.
There’s no time for premature optimization in life. What are you doing today?
This is why I’m not a fan of goals. It’s one thing to have a target, but to obsess over goals is a waste. 40 or 60 or 100 days from now doesn’t matter. What matters, is today.
Living with right intention, right action, and right mind will carry you to the right place. If all we think about is a goal time, we lose the moment.
Training is training. It’s teaching your body to respond better to difficult situations. It’s slowly pushing your limits so you feel better and more alive.
Ironman isn’t our job, our family or our life. It’s a vehicle to get better at all three.
In the end, it is simply a stage on which we perform for one or two days a year. The reward ceremony at graduation.
By the time you toe the line, you have done the important stuff. You’ve done the work and regardless of what happens that day, if you truly believe in your effort, you can self-define yourself as an Ironman. Whatever that means.
PS. I wrote this for myself.
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