Guts!

Steve Prefontaine once said something to the effect of, "I don't race to see who is the fastest, I race to see who has more guts!". Well, my 70.3 is now only a few short weeks away and I am coming to the realization that it is going to hurt. Not just a little, I'm talking about major suffering. I have some experience with discomfort for long periods of time. Long unsuccessful summit attempts in the Cascades, death march hikes with extremely heavy packs, long slogs through chest deep snow in the mountains. I know a little bit about discomfort. But the closer I get to race day the more I hear that little voice in the back of my head telling me this is really going to hurt.

Now, I know that I could show up on race day and cruise through the race, not push, and finish feeling strong. I've put in the hours to do that. But, I have missed out on many others parts of my life due to my training. I don't regret any of it, yet. But if I go there and race and don't push my body over the edge I may be a little upset with myself. Ok, I'll be pissed.

I have been saying all along that I wont' push hard on the bike because I don't want to suffer through the run, and I want to finish strong and not in death march fashion. That's not right! I know, deep down inside, that when the guns goes off it's go time. The more I think about it the more I find that I want it to hurt and I want to suffer. I didn't miss out on a summer of disc golf, rock climbing, hanging out having cocktails with my wife, and couch surfing to just show up and go through the motions.

My out look has changed from just wanting to finish to wanting to see if I have the guts to do it my way! My goal is still to fisnish, but I now realize that I may be in a death march, I may be crawling!!! I will only be truely happy with my finish if I do it my way.