Going Longer Part’s 5/6: Revel in the Experience_Success is Relative
(our continued discussion of Going Longer than we have prior in endurance sports)
Revel in the Experience. A client who recently did his first Ironman in Hawaii had a very poignant goal for the race: “I’m so excited to go to this race, I really just want to race smart and take in the whole experience.” His main objective was to finish the race. It being his first Ironman, he didn’t know how that would play out. So he came up with a plan for pace and fuel, adapted it as needed along the way, and then metaphorically sat back and enjoyed every minute of the experience. The result: a life-changing experience and a desire to go back and do it all over again.
Going longer is a journey of which you’ve never participated. If you allow yourself to put aside all the worry and hype and revel in the extended experience of your training and the race itself, you may come away with a refreshing view of life and yourself.
Success is Relative. My personal successes in the distances that I have raced or trained are not about you. The way that I define success for me is based on my own experiences and interpretations of their value in my life, and yours need be based on similar criteria–for you.
Your distance-based successes and accomplishments are relative to your own experiences. There is no point in comparing your success to others–they do not live your life, nor you theirs. Each of us will have a definition of success that is relative to our own life. Period.
