It's 4:30AM. The moon is still out. Sunrise will not be coming for 3 more hours. It's so early my dog rolls over and glares at the inconvenience I've bestowed upon him by waking him up at this ungodly hour.
So why is my alarm going off? Why am I getting out of bed? My body is tired. My mind needs more rest. I will be sluggish at work if I do not go back to sleep. I worked out yesterday, how about an off day? These are potentially factual excuses the brain is trying to convince you to skip your planned morning workout. I have realized that the sole difference between a triathlete and someone who is not is one simple fact: we ignore this inner voice and we get out of bed.
But why? We all do this sport for many different reasons. Here are some of mine:
1. A triathlon is about limits. Reaching them, exploring them, exceeding what you thought yours were, or maybe, coming to the conclusion that there aren’t any.
2. At the end of the day, I can say that I did an Ironman, and no one can take it away from me.
3. For most things in life, if you want it, you can buy it. For this, you can only earn it.
4. Racing is pain, and that’s why you do it, to challenge yourself and the limits of your physical barriers. You don’t experience that in an armchair watching television.
5. Ironman requires no one else, no director that says yea he’s right for this. I can do it myself. I put on my shoes and I go outside and I run. I get to say who I am. I am a triathlete. I like the identity of being an Ironman triathlete, that’s badass.
6. At the end of every race day, you'll discover something new about yourself.
7. Why not do an Ironman?
So why is my alarm going off? Why am I getting out of bed? My body is tired. My mind needs more rest. I will be sluggish at work if I do not go back to sleep. I worked out yesterday, how about an off day? These are potentially factual excuses the brain is trying to convince you to skip your planned morning workout. I have realized that the sole difference between a triathlete and someone who is not is one simple fact: we ignore this inner voice and we get out of bed.
But why? We all do this sport for many different reasons. Here are some of mine:
1. A triathlon is about limits. Reaching them, exploring them, exceeding what you thought yours were, or maybe, coming to the conclusion that there aren’t any.
2. At the end of the day, I can say that I did an Ironman, and no one can take it away from me.
3. For most things in life, if you want it, you can buy it. For this, you can only earn it.
4. Racing is pain, and that’s why you do it, to challenge yourself and the limits of your physical barriers. You don’t experience that in an armchair watching television.
5. Ironman requires no one else, no director that says yea he’s right for this. I can do it myself. I put on my shoes and I go outside and I run. I get to say who I am. I am a triathlete. I like the identity of being an Ironman triathlete, that’s badass.
6. At the end of every race day, you'll discover something new about yourself.
7. Why not do an Ironman?