What makes an ironman so daunting to contemplate? Yes it is
a long way to swim, bike,and ride, all in one day. I think what it is though,
is the knowledge that to complete an ironman, you will have to get used to the
idea of being uncomfortable. The images of participants along the course
projected during televised ironmen competitions are those of pain, even agony.
Even those who seem to cruise to the finish have had to deal with discomfort
along the way. Contrast this with the elation and jubilation of finishers as
they cross the finish line. I submit that the source of this pinnacle of
emotion, which many describe as life-changing, is the realization that all the
discomfort that preceded it was worth it, and then some.
It all started, as these things often do, with a simple
comment. My son-in-law, David, told me that he had heard many triathletes take
cold showers regularly. There are several reasons to do something so
“uncomfortable”. It toughens them to the rigors of training; it instills a
mindset that makes being uncomfortable seem not so, well, uncomfortable; and it
serves as a reminder of what they are ultimately striving for. I decided to
give it a try.
That first morning, July 1, 2012, I woke up in my
comfortable bed in my comfortable climate controlled room in my comfortable
home. I felt COMFORTABLE. Stepping naked into a cold shower stall I had to
contemplate for a moment what I was about to do. I steeled myself and turned
the shower on full cold. The water spray couldn’t have felt colder if it came
from a glacial waterfall. I sucked in my breath and my body went rigid for a
moment. I wanted to hoot and holler but didn’t want to wake up my wife. Let’s
say I didn’t dawdle in taking that shower. That was 97 days ago and I haven’t
taken a hot shower since. In that time, my life has undergone a dramatic change,
truly a paradigm shift that has been, no kidding, physical, mental, and
spiritual.
We take our comfort for granted never pausing to think that
perhaps we are an aberration. Comfort is not the default mode of human beings.
The vast majority of people in this world will never know the level of comfort
that is our norm. Even the poorest Americans live a life of comfort beyond the
imaginings of someone in, say, Somalia, Sudan, India, or any of dozens of
countries. Many people in the world will never know a comfortable day in their
entire lives. I’m not trying to make anyone feel guilty here; this is just a
fact of life. There is nothing wrong with feeling comfortable. I think where we
go astray is in seeking out comfort at all costs and ignoring the important
role that feeling uncomfortable can play in our lives.
If our primary goal is to be comfortable, we will never seek
a challenge, we will never push ourselves in any area of our lives if this creates
even temporary discomfort, we will not deny ourselves that second helping of
food we really enjoy, we will look away from things that might be disturbing in
the world around us. In short, life will revolve around avoiding any discomfort,
whether it is physical, mental, emotional, or spiritual.
It was the cold showers that made me think, “I can do this”.
“I can train for, and do a full ironman”, something I have contemplated and
dreamed of for years, ever since I first heard of this crazy event. They helped
me deal with the fear of being uncomfortable. I have come to conclude that
being comfortable is highly overrated. For the foreseeable future, the cold
showers stay.
This week’s summary of my road to FI-2013 with 392 days to go:
Swam- 4100 yards
Ran- 5.48 miles @ 8:40 avg/mile pace
Bike- 1 hr 37 min (no data as my Garmin 910XT shut off
several times during the ride. Technology!)
No comments:
Post a Comment