That’s a great motivation- pushing personal boundaries. It will be fun to follow along your journey. Want a bit of advice? Enjoy each step on the process, because every training milestone will be a challenge in and of itself- ie. your first century ride, first long open water swim, first 18-mile run, ect. Those are things to celebrate and enjoy. In that way the race is just the culmination of the journey.
And yet, this is why so many people take on these kinds of challenges!
I’ve met people who suddenly decide to train for a 10K race, having never run for more than 10 minutes in a row. They go at it too hard, get shinsplints or injuries, suffer hard, and quite often quit early on. Not only do they not follow a reasonable training plan, they don’t have the motivation nailed down. Because like you say, they haven’t figured out a good enough why.
Very true. I think the one thing I’ve realized is that it’s great to have that end goal as motivation, accountability, healthy habit development (whatever works for you) but that can’t be the ONLY reason or you risk ending up feeling unfulfilled.
All of this applies to ultrarunning, as well (and I guess to any challenging pursuit). I have a… complicated relationship with whys, so I always appreciate a well-written, non-“airy-fairy” argument for having them. Great article.
Wales next year to see how far I can push myself and get out of my comfort zone!
That’s a great motivation- pushing personal boundaries. It will be fun to follow along your journey. Want a bit of advice? Enjoy each step on the process, because every training milestone will be a challenge in and of itself- ie. your first century ride, first long open water swim, first 18-mile run, ect. Those are things to celebrate and enjoy. In that way the race is just the culmination of the journey.
“Doing an Ironman won’t help you love yourself.”
And yet, this is why so many people take on these kinds of challenges!
I’ve met people who suddenly decide to train for a 10K race, having never run for more than 10 minutes in a row. They go at it too hard, get shinsplints or injuries, suffer hard, and quite often quit early on. Not only do they not follow a reasonable training plan, they don’t have the motivation nailed down. Because like you say, they haven’t figured out a good enough why.
Very true. I think the one thing I’ve realized is that it’s great to have that end goal as motivation, accountability, healthy habit development (whatever works for you) but that can’t be the ONLY reason or you risk ending up feeling unfulfilled.
All of this applies to ultrarunning, as well (and I guess to any challenging pursuit). I have a… complicated relationship with whys, so I always appreciate a well-written, non-“airy-fairy” argument for having them. Great article.