Rewards

This week I had to run a 2 mile time trial. For those who don’t know, this means that I had to run 2 miles as fast as I could. If you haven’t tried it, running as fast as you can isn’t easy, or very much fun. It is one thing to try to sprint, say, 100 yards. Most people who are reasonably physically fit can sprint for that distance. Two miles, however, requires a different approach. No one sprints 2 miles. You have to run as fast as possible but marshal your energy so that you can finish the distance. The whole while, if you are like me, your mind is working on several levels.

 

On one level, you are monitoring your breathing, your perceived effort, how your legs feel, how fast your legs are turning over, and much more. You adjust as necessary trying to ration your efforts to complete the distance yet not have too much gas in the tank at the end. The whole idea is to spend yourself totally. On another level, your mind is telling you how hard this is, asking you why you are doing this, and, in general, making sure you are very aware of just how unpleasant it is to push this hard. On yet another level, you are thinking about the ultimate reward.

 

In my case, what I keep going back to is hearing the words, “Rick Bosshardt, you are an ironman” as I cross the finish line just over 3 months from now. That will be the reward for all the pain, effort, and discipline of the past year. Having that followed by someone putting a finisher’s medal around my neck is just the final validation of all that I have done. In the case of the ironman, I have personally seen innumerable people who accomplished just that. Seeing it makes the reward tangible and very real.

 

This got me thinking about the other race I am running; the one that every one of us is running. It is the race called life. Like all races, it had a start, our birth. It has a course, our journey through this life both in time and space. Finally, it has an end. Wouldn’t it be nice to think that we have a reward at the end of all those years and miles, of joyous accomplishment and the heartbreak of failure in so many areas of our lives? As much as I want to hear the words spoken above, by some anonymous announcer at the finish line, what I really want to hear some day are the words, recorded in Matthew 25:23, “Well done, good and faithful servant. You have been faithful with a few things. I will put you in charge of many things. Enter into the joy of your master.” Implicit in the passage is that these words are spoken by none other than the maker of the universe itself.

I have never seen someone finish life's race and receive this reward, which makes it less tangible, i.e. real. I don't think  anyone else has either. I take this aspect of my life on faith. Not blind faith, mind you, but faith none-the-less. All of our logic and reasoning can  only take us so far. After that, faith steps in to take us the rest of the journey.

 

Not to get too deep into theology here, but all of us have a world view on which we base our actions and decisions each day. Everyone has a set of fundamental beliefs regarding the world around them and their place in it which guides their every movement through life and provides their life with meaning or, in some cases, not. My particular world view is decidedly Christian and those words, recorded by the Matthew, are especially meaningful. If I fail in this attempt to complete an ironman, I will be disappointed and I may or may not try again at some future date to complete one. It is not going to ruin my life. Such a failure, however, pales in comparison to reaching the end of my life and not hearing those words, “Well done, good and faithful servant…..” from the One that I profess to believe in and whose precepts I claim to follow. That would signal failure on a level so monumental, not to mention eternal, as to be inconceivable. Yet, many live life as though what they do has no consequences. I cannot understand that.

 

Florida Ironman Training log:

I am tired! This week, there were several moments when I just did not want to do my scheduled session. Running sprints around a simulated track on the treadmill because the weather outside was stormy was not my idea of fun. The time trial was an ordeal in the afternoon heat and humidity, after a busy morning and was made tolerable only by the rain at the end, which cooled things down by at least 10 or more degrees. My left shoulder was sore, I did not feel like doing any strength training, and I miss the fun of just riding my bike for the heck of it. I don’t think I am burning out yet but I think that sometime in the next month or so, I will take a light week to recharge. Still not getting enough sleep during the week although I do try to make up for it on the weekends. Love those Sunday naps! Still concerned about trying to put all the pieces of the puzzle in place: strength, endurance, nourishment, hydration, etc., by November 2.

 

Week’s sessions:

Mon., 7/22- Swim, 2525 yards @ 2:22/100 yds, total time 1:12:05 hrs

                     Bike (spin with intervals), 8.82 miles @ 13.3 mph, total time 40:05 min

Tue., 7/23- Swim, masters at NTC. Did not have Garmin. Swam ~45 min with drills and intervals

                     Strength training at NTC, 1 hours

Wed., 7/24- Run (treadmill at YMCA) 3.35 miles @ 8:13 mi/min (with interval sprints), total time 40:05 min

Thu., 7/25- Swim, 2650 yards (time trial) @ 2:27 min/100 yds, total time 1:04:56 hrs

Fri., 7/26- Run (2 mi time trial), 6.41 miles @ 8:56 min/mi, total time 57:18

Sat., 7/27- Bike, 50.17 miles @ 15.1 mph, total time 3:19:51 hrs