I have often told my clinics to think “I am a marathon runner…” even before they complete their first marathon. The practical argument I make is that people who train to golf are golfers, people who train to play hockey games are hockey players, and people who train to climb rocks are rock climbers, etc. So, why is someone training for a marathon NOT a marathon runner already? Is the difference a medal around your neck?
In the wild kingdom, animals do what they are made to do… Lion’s hunt in a certain way… they hunt like, well, lions. They don’t hunt like buzzards, or like alligators, etc… They hunt like lions. They don’t question whether there is another way to hunt, they just do it the way lions do. Eagle’s soar like eagle’s, not like seagulls. So, if I think about it, we run like marathoners because we are, well, marathoners… Being a “successful” marathoner is another story (depends on your definition of success) but, for now, you have to realize that you are a marathoner the moment you decide you’re training for one. Or, at the least, you need to start acting like one.
And that’s where I get into the process, rather than the results. It is the process which makes us athletes, not the results. We are inspired to attempt a certain distance or goal, by whatever within us has given us this drive and determination. Ironman is not something you do on a whim, you are called to it. There are lots of folks who have no desire to even try to train, and that’s fine. That’s them. Whether it happens to be because you have a friend who trains for the Ironman and you think “I could do that” or you read about one of the many inspirational Ironman stories, something about it captures your (and my) imagination and causes us both to stir and think of a possibility…
For some, it will be climbing Everest. For others, it is a calling to serve the church, or build houses in 3rd world countries, or build a company. Each of us is moved by different interests, and mine is Ironman. I also endevour to build a business, to be a writer, etc. but right now, in this moment, I am driven to complete the Ironman.
I see other triathletes toil in cells all over the lower mainland on Sundays, each riding in their own groups and training for something (some for Ironman, others for Half Ironman, etc.). We have a monk’s devotion to waking up on Saturdays (like a calling) and, like monks, some of us get these visions of glory, visited upon us on a breakthrough bike ride or a sudden feeling of an effortless run. And some of us see it at a distance, having progress come slowly, but still remaining stoutly devoted to the little voice inside us that says “keep trying”.
All this comes in planting the seeds of training, trusting in the process, and being around to cultivate the harvest when it sprouts. Some plants take months, some take days, but we can’t make ourselves grow faster or stronger by yanking on the roots… We can only focus on our process, which is unique. Keep doing what we do, with long rides and intervals, and swim sessions with pull buoys. In that discipline, we are ALL Ironmen (women), regardless of where we finish on race day.
“Man is asked to make of himself what he is supposed to become to fulfill his destiny.” – Paul Tillich
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