Thursday, July 09, 2009

cautionary tales

over the years since the first running in 1978, Ironman has developed its own body of lore, with stories used in various degrees to inspire, awe, shock, and warn both competitors and spectators about the nature of the distance.

the underlying theme of the stories is consistent: the race is not easy, and is not something to be taken lightly. the distance carries with it strange properties, and provides each athlete with individual challenges reaching not only into their physical depths, but also their mental and spiritual ones as well.

while all sports holds these characteristics to some degree, the distances associated with Ironman endow it with a greater measure of these aspects. it makes the race unique, because of the pathos it brings, because of the enlightenment it provides, because of the empowerment it offers, and most of all because of the depths of humanity that it reveals. and each race brings with it its own lessons and its own revelations of the self, and so thereby brings the athlete one step closer to a realization of life's greater truths.

a sense of the drama can be seen from the following series of videos. they are the ones most often played to show the nature of Ironman.

julie moss, Ironman Kona 1982--julie moss was a college student who signed up for this race as part of a study she was doing in physical education. she never expected to be leading the women with only a few miles left to go. what happened next established Ironman--and julie moss--in international sports lore.

sian welch & wendy ingraham, Ironman Kona 1997--sian welch and wendy ingraham were vying for the world championship title, and were in a near dead heat heading into the finish. the vision of their final meters has become one of the most replayed videos in sports, as difficult as it is watch. it is also one of the finest displays of sportsmanship you will ever see (watch what happens when they reach the finish line).

chris legh, Ironman Kona 1997--unfortunately, there is only the Gatorade commercial made from chris legh's story. what happened to him at the world championships is one of the more shocking moments in sports, and has thus largely disappeared from public viewing. the excerpts used for this commercial fail to show the extent of suffering chris endured--he almost lost his life, to the extent that 6 feet of his intestines experienced necrosis (the tissue literally died) and had to be cut out, leaving him permanently damaged and advised to not compete in Ironman ever again for the sake of his health.

you can take from these videos a sense of the drama, and just how serious the race can be. you can also take from them a sense of what i mean regarding the physical, mental, and spiritual depths associated with the distance.

but i would be negligent if i also didn't point out some of the cautionary elements associated with the stories in these videos:
  1. the athletes in these videos suffered a loss in motor coordination induced by severe dehydration and loss of electrolytes and calories. the exhaustion goes without saying. by the time you experience the symptoms you see here, it's too late, and your body--and quite possibly you--is in serious trouble. thing is, these are issues that are preventable with proper hydration and nutrition. you have to be diligent.
  2. you have to know when to quit. the athletes here, as commendable as they are for their determination, also put their lives at risk. each athlete has to decide for themselves just how far they are willing to go for their race. and you have to come to terms with the implications of such a decision. all of them.
  3. have someone you trust. someone not in the race. someone observing. people are like horses--just like horses can (and will) run themselves to death, people can (and will) do the same thing. by the time you get to the state the athletes in these videos are in, you won't know what's going on and you won't know what state you're in and thus you won't be in any condition to make any judgment about what you want or should or need to do. you have to have someone you trust tell you when it's time to quit. and the 2 of you need to have discussed just what this means before you get to that point...preferably before you even start the race.
  4. this is no picnic. it's not easy. it's for real. you will face the truth. whether you want to or not. respect the distance. respect the race.
  5. respect everyone in the race.
  6. respect yourself.
i don't mean to scare anyone with these videos. but i think they are good to see, and good to contemplate.

Ironman is a very personal, very powerful, very profound experience, and it's important to see it for its full nature, not just to better recognize its dangers but to also better appreciate its lessons...and to see just how special it--and we--can be.

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