Tuesday, February 14, 2012

The hard part is the training

I've run in to a number of people this week who have, in some form or another, entered in to an endurance race for 2012. Lance Armstrong just finished 2nd in his first half ironman (at least for some time) and raised a few eye brows in doing so.

There seems to be a commonality when entering these forms of endurance racing. Be it a marathon, all the way up to an ironman distance event. The traits are that the majority of participants, certainly first timers, focus on the race itself, failing to see that the true challenge is the training leading to the race.

For example, presently, as I type, I sit desperately trying to delay getting on my indoor bike setup to complete a 70 minute workout. Ultimately, I do not have to get on that bike. I do have to do the Ironman France which we have each paid $600 to enter. There's a date for that. An termination. A definite. However, I the world will not end if I do not get on that bike. THAT is the challenge. Summoning the will power to get on the bike, or step out the door to finish the run, or even submerge in to the pool to begin the swim. THE TRUE CHALLENGE IS COMPLETING THE TRAINING. The race is the easy part.

That said, off I will now go to start the bike, despite the almost irresistible urge not to! Luckily, The Departed should keep me comfortable.

Can't believe we are beginning week 7 of training.

Good luck to us all!

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