"I run very fast because I desperately want to stand very still."

People ask me all the time why I do what I do. I normally give them a quick reply that includes health benefits, challenging myself or because it is my "thing." Occasionally, if I feel as though someone can understand, appreciate or benefit from the metaphor, I will tell them about my journey and how training and racing is my therapy. This morning my brother sent me what I consider to be a very profound (and hilarious) link to an article/comic written by a staff member from the website, The Oatmeal. Check it out: http://theoatmeal.com/comics/running This guy has obviously been asked multiple times why he does what he does, and his response is hands down better than mine...

The Blerch
We are all born with this, the built-in devil's advocate, the "wretched lazy beast" that tells us to do the opposite of what we know to be true and good. It's the voice telling you to stay in bed when you are running late, telling you that tomorrow is a new day and you can work extra hard to put off today's tasks. For me, it's the voice telling me that I am too tired to keep going or that quitting is a viable option. With practice, you can silence this beast and put it in the back of your mind. With even more practice, you can harness the negativity to fuel your body, mind and spirit to exceed its limits. And just as the author suggests, The Blerch will never go away because it is part of our anatomy. It will be here "morning, noon and night" and if you let it, it will eventually catch up with you. There is a scientific principle whereby negative force is used to create positive energy. Think of how a jet ski works, water is pulled in via an intake valve, passed through a jet, and redistributed via opposite force to create propulsion. Same principle exists when you jog and your feet brace for impact, then use this negative force to roll forward onto the forefoot, propelling you to take your next step. Harness the negative force and destroy The Blerch....

The Feeding
My friends and family members assume that I have taken on the form of a rabbit and eat salad for every meal. I assume this is because my body has trimmed down considerably over the last 12 months. I swear that I have had more voices of concern than I would have ever gotten had I been 40 pounds overweight...What they don't realize is that I have only lost a net 6 pounds (which I probably needed to get rid of), but my body fat percentage has dropped down to single digits, which would have equated to a net loss of 20+ pounds. I have actually replaced fat stores with body mass, aka, muscle. Most athletes do not lose weight (unless its needed) but instead replace stored weight with mass weight, aka, fat for muscle. I don't eat salad for every meal. I have never tried tofu. I eat candy. I eat ice cream (low-fat). I eat hamburgers (limited to 1x/week). And I LOVE beer, drinking not guzzling. See the trend? Moderation. The only time I actually watch what I eat is 2-3 days prior to a race and it is pretty much to limit fiber and saturated fats that are hard to get rid of. Otherwise, Emily can attest, I am a human garbage disposal. BUT, I stay away from excess, believing there is such a thing as too much of a good thing...It's simple math:

(What I put into my body) - (What my body naturally burns + Calories burned by exercise) = Net Calories Stored



 

We should all strive to keep this equation as close to 0 as possible. For example, I consume calories based upon my activity level for the day. If it is Wednesday, I know that I have a long run scheduled which will burn anywhere from 1,000-1,500 calories, so I must take in at least 3,500-4,000 calories on that day just to break even...Please also remember that the equation works as a loss generator as well. If you'd like to burn calories, you must either put less in or burn more off. Seems simple, but most people tend to overlook the simple theory. Maybe it's The Blerch striking again?

 

Selfishness and Krakens

"Running is a magical shortcut to that euphoria." I agree. For me, triathlon training is an escape from a world that only takes and never gives. When I am swimming, biking or running, I am taking back my freedom. I can go anywhere I want as quickly as I want and with no regard to the issues of the day. The "high" is a real thing unlike any manufactured buzz and can be obtained free of charge (and without jail time). Emily can always tell when I have gone a significant time without "escaping" and she will always avert by telling me to get out of the house. Once I go out and "slay the Kracken" I feel an overwhelming sense of accomplishment and I am ready to return to earth. Refreshed. Pick up your sword...

 

Vanity

Let's begin this section by remembering what we as triathletes train and race in. Spandex. Biker shorts. Speedos. Goggles. Alien starship bikes. There is absolutely nothing vain about what I do. Trust me, I have seen my race photos and I NEVER buy them because they are atrocious. I have never, ever, thought that I looked good doing what I do and have never raced or done a training session because I just had to try on a new pair of shorts. Vanity is slow and uncalculated and has no place in my sport. Vanity causes wrecks and will never push you to placing in the top 10 of a race. As the author suggests, endurance athletes don't have beach bodies. Instead of biceps, pecs and traps, we have legs and shoulders. We get abs because we breathe so heavily that the muscles expand and contract naturally, not as a result of the number of sit-ups we do (the illustrations cracked me up). I don't go to a tanning bed, but I am tan, because I spend a considerable amount of time outdoors. The best idea from the article is the following: don't wear your athleticism "like a fashion statement;" instead, find your strength by measuring it internally each day.

 

Agony

What I do in my spare time is agonizing. Each day represents a new hurdle to jump and presents itself much more difficult than the last. There are injuries, fatigue and you will ALWAYS find someone who is faster than you are. But that is what keeps you going. Knowing that if you try harder, you will get better. If I am tired and I continue on with the workout, it is an exponential value-add to my preparedness for the next race. There are times when I hate my Garmin watch so much because it is completely disconnected from my brain, i.e., the mileage it has tracked is significantly less than what I feel like I have done. But then there are times when it surprises me...maybe I am giving a 7:30/mile effort on a run and I look down and it is measuring a 6:47/mile. Awesome. Surprise yourself with what you can accomplish with willpower and how amazing it feels to finish an agonizing task.

 

The Void

The world we live in is very "noisy." We are in the midst of a technological revolution, no different than the industrial revolution of the early 20th century. There is sensory overload all around us. However, there exists a whole world out there void from Trayvon Martin/George Zimmerman, abortion, racism, etc. and it's peaceful. Perhaps if people had better things to do than sit around and stew about things they cannot control, there would be much less hatred in the world. I train for triathlons because the void makes me feel better, and ipso facto, makes me a better person. I find the void everyday because it is a freedom that can never be taken away.

 

Great article....