Test your limits

Hi all! 

 

The weather just keeps getting better and better!  Fall is in the air.  That means perfect temperatures for my outside activities.  Thats one less excuse I can make for not getting out the door.

 

I have an upcoming race that has snuck up on me.  I haven't been training.  I'm slow as an asthmatic fat kid and all around feel horrible.  Unfortunately, I can't back out of this one because I have teammates counting on me.  Due to this fact, I have to train whether I want to or not.  I began the week not very motivated and quite intimidated by recent race times of the runners I will be joining in a few weeks for a little 200 mile trek from Virginia to Asheville.  When I'm not in the "mood", and my head is simply not in it, I absolutely have to engulf myself in things that I know will motivate me.  One of those things has been to google David Goggins. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DrlmLvPFdg8&feature=related  Its been a while, so I thought I was due a dose of some "suck it up" pills.  I came across one of his blogs and found a lot of insights that I once possessed more of.  He HATES running, but still does it, and to a degree that few of us can relate to.  So...... WHY does he push himself to the absolute limits of the human body and mind?  Because thats where he grows.  I too believe we learn FAR more from pain than from comfort.  I even have a tattoo between my shoulders from a passage in Romans that states "Rejoice in your suffering..........."  Too bad it not visibly where I can constantly be reminded of this.  When I ran 5ks, it was hard to imagine racing twice that with a 10k.  I've been around tons of people that have signed up for a half marathon and after completion, not fathom doubling the 13.1 distance.  I too once thought 26.2 miles was more than I could rap my brain around.  Eventually though after running a 100 miles in a day, you look at a marathon the way you once looked at a 5k.  The discomfort is relative and the growth through each experience transforms you and your way of thinking.

 

Too often we begin to grow complacent and complain if everything isn't perfect.  We want to be comfortable, have life simply glide by with our feet propped up and be completely stress free.  How quickly we forget that being out of your comfort zone is where you truly experience life.  Absolutely glorious life changing things happen in the valley.  Thats the place you learn more about yourself, others, and decipher what life is all about.  All the "junk" goes away and the focus on what truly is important becomes crystal clear.  I used to CHOOSE to put myself in those moments far more often than I do now.  Why on earth would anybody choose pain?  Because we thirst for life and all that we can suck out of it's experiences.  Thats why we're the one percent.  We keep pushing for more.  I don't want to be near the end of my earthly life wishing I had given just a little bit more.  So how can you know where your limits are if you're not challenging them on a daily basis.  When was the last time you gave it EVERYthing you had?  When was the last time you signed up for something that scared the crap out of you?  You felt unprepared, did it anyway, and came out a new person completely transformed.

 

Its that time again.  Just Do It!  I know people that have done triathlons with a borrowed or rented bike.  I witnessed the first 1/2 Ironman completed by a double amputee.  I have heard stories that still boggle my mind of mental fortitude and miraculous/inspirational feats of the human spirit.  Its time again to rediscover your spirit!  As Goggins once said: Its time to push beyond the mental/physical, and "Test the limits of the human soul"