Another Introduction
Tuesday, January 08, 2008
Rebecca went to work on a different introduction...
In 1978, the Ironman Competition extended the somewhat comprehensible traditional triathlon distance to a mind boggling ultra-endurance event. Racers would swim 2.4 miles, bike 112 and run 26.2 miles… all in one day. What’s even more shocking is that it was televised. Despite warnings that it would be “about as exciting as watching a lawn growing contest” ABC took a gamble. Couch potatoes all across America – present company included - could delight in the carnage of the world’s first genuine reality show.
Perhaps there is something in the human psyche that revels in watching others suffer. We spend our money buying tabloid rags and chicken neck at freeway pile-ups. Case in point: the majority of folks can’t recite the distances of an Ironman race, but will tell you that it’s the race where competitors are reduced to primal forms – knuckles dragging as they limp, crawl and claw themselves across the line.
Or maybe it’s something different.
What if Ironman’s allure had nothing to do with suffering? What if it’s about possibility? It seems impossible to cover 140.2 miles. Yet – thanks to ABC – all you need to do is turn on your television and watch the impossible unfold. No time for that. How about TIVO or UTube? It’s everywhere now. Here’s why.
Ironman sucks you in. It starts with a beautiful panoramic shot of the race venue and close ups of some really, really fit people in workout gear. What’s not to like there. Then a guy starts talking and he’s got this accent – the kind where he could be telling you about … well, watching grass grow … and you would be riveted. So you listen. Mostly because you’re comfortable on the couch. “Hey. Wait a minute. These are real people.” Yep. People with children and grandchildren. People with jobs and responsibilities. People that each carry their own burdens in life. People like you.
And for a moment – however small - reality is suspended. A little voice in your head says “What if that was me?” What if I was the one carrying my kids across the finish line? Limping through the night with a glow stick leading my way? Reveling in the blood, sweat and tears of countless hours of preparation? Crying - head in hands -overcome by an intoxicating mix of pain and joy? What would it be like to hear “INSERT YOUR NAME” – You are an Ironman?
This book is about that feeling. Making the impossible, possible.
Training for a triathlon can be a bit of a grind. Kinda like life. Swim, bike, run, repeat. But somewhere mixed up in all those long workouts, dirty laundry missed social engagements, late nights and early mornings are some lessons. And the lessons have pretty much nothing to do with swimming, biking or running and everything to do with dreaming, daring and doing.
We don’t profess to be elite triathletes. Far from it. This book is not going to unlock the mystery of breaking your PR, increasing your VO Max, or decreasing your body fat. You wouldn’t want our advice in those departments anyway. Instead, we are going to tell you about what it felt like to hear the voice, listen to it and get up off the couch and go do it. And, while we aren’t out to get you to sign up for Ironman (though we certainly wouldn’t discourage it); we hope that you will find something in these pages that speaks to you. That motivates you to dream, dare, do and repeat.
In 1978, the Ironman Competition extended the somewhat comprehensible traditional triathlon distance to a mind boggling ultra-endurance event. Racers would swim 2.4 miles, bike 112 and run 26.2 miles… all in one day. What’s even more shocking is that it was televised. Despite warnings that it would be “about as exciting as watching a lawn growing contest” ABC took a gamble. Couch potatoes all across America – present company included - could delight in the carnage of the world’s first genuine reality show.
Perhaps there is something in the human psyche that revels in watching others suffer. We spend our money buying tabloid rags and chicken neck at freeway pile-ups. Case in point: the majority of folks can’t recite the distances of an Ironman race, but will tell you that it’s the race where competitors are reduced to primal forms – knuckles dragging as they limp, crawl and claw themselves across the line.
Or maybe it’s something different.
What if Ironman’s allure had nothing to do with suffering? What if it’s about possibility? It seems impossible to cover 140.2 miles. Yet – thanks to ABC – all you need to do is turn on your television and watch the impossible unfold. No time for that. How about TIVO or UTube? It’s everywhere now. Here’s why.
Ironman sucks you in. It starts with a beautiful panoramic shot of the race venue and close ups of some really, really fit people in workout gear. What’s not to like there. Then a guy starts talking and he’s got this accent – the kind where he could be telling you about … well, watching grass grow … and you would be riveted. So you listen. Mostly because you’re comfortable on the couch. “Hey. Wait a minute. These are real people.” Yep. People with children and grandchildren. People with jobs and responsibilities. People that each carry their own burdens in life. People like you.
And for a moment – however small - reality is suspended. A little voice in your head says “What if that was me?” What if I was the one carrying my kids across the finish line? Limping through the night with a glow stick leading my way? Reveling in the blood, sweat and tears of countless hours of preparation? Crying - head in hands -overcome by an intoxicating mix of pain and joy? What would it be like to hear “INSERT YOUR NAME” – You are an Ironman?
This book is about that feeling. Making the impossible, possible.
Training for a triathlon can be a bit of a grind. Kinda like life. Swim, bike, run, repeat. But somewhere mixed up in all those long workouts, dirty laundry missed social engagements, late nights and early mornings are some lessons. And the lessons have pretty much nothing to do with swimming, biking or running and everything to do with dreaming, daring and doing.
We don’t profess to be elite triathletes. Far from it. This book is not going to unlock the mystery of breaking your PR, increasing your VO Max, or decreasing your body fat. You wouldn’t want our advice in those departments anyway. Instead, we are going to tell you about what it felt like to hear the voice, listen to it and get up off the couch and go do it. And, while we aren’t out to get you to sign up for Ironman (though we certainly wouldn’t discourage it); we hope that you will find something in these pages that speaks to you. That motivates you to dream, dare, do and repeat.
