Could I?

The most amazing conversations happen in the Repsol hot tub. I know lots of people there well enough for a 'Good morning' or the nod and smile of recognition. Some I see fairly often, others much less so. One of the less so showed up for the first time in a while, or at a time when I was there.

After some getting caught up chat, I got asked if I was still doing Ironman training. Not! But then they asked, assume some sadistic benefactor was willing to pay a million dollars if I completed a regulation Ironman, could I finish?

I told them I was pretty sure I couldn't. We didn't discuss the why much, as we both had to go, but I kept thinking about it. I like to figure out the why of things.

Firstly, pure money isn't that big of a motivator to me. Ironman needs a certainly level of fitness, but mainly it needs mental toughness to be able to keep going. Not just in the race, but in the training. You have to learn to tell the difference between tired and about to be injured. Learn how not to be bored doing the same things over and over again. Learning to say no to buddies proposing fun outings because you NEED to sleep. The motivation to suck it up and keep going comes from within. You have to want to do this pretty badly.

Secondly, there's that physical training. The harder you do something, in terms of big effort in a short time, the more likely you are to injure yourself. The longer you do something, even at a fairly easy exertion level, the more likely you are to injure yourself, even just tripping over your own feet and doing a face plant. Ironman training means finding the sweet spot, pushing hard enough for a training effect, but allowing time to recover.

As you get older it takes longer to recover from an effort. Boy do I know that one! This is the main reason I don't think I could do it again. Even being retired, I don't think I could recover faster than the workouts would take it out of me. Sigh.

These days my workouts are swimming and water running. Plus carrying around a camera and heavy lenses. Camera curls are a thing. I'll bet you didn't know that. Carry around several kilos, lifting it to your eyes and holding it steady periodically. Say, just for example, 681 times in a 2 hour period. This is a real thing. There may be evidence later.

Funny how faded flowers and this post came together.

 

Deadwood of the Day