naseba7: finish or failure

Tomorrow, starting in Fujairah, UAE I will begin my 7 ironman in 7 day challenge.

….but I have to make it happen.

5 days ago… Mario and I were doing an easy 90 minute run, but I stopped after one hour because of the pain in my groin  – the result of my recent crash on my bike and subsequent infection in my leg.

On the drive back home, I suggested to Mario that maybe we postpone this challenge until January – “this entire 9 months is a complete waste if I do not complete this challenge…..”

That night I slept very poorly, and my leg, hip, groin, nuts, back … everything was sore, but mainly what kept me from sleeping was thinking about all that I have done over the past 9 months to prepare for my challenge…and I seemed to be going down the path to failure.

In the morning, over breakfast … Sophie told me that her favourite blog entry I did this past year, and surely one of the defining moments of my training and preparations for naseba7…

was the story about my 2^nd day of 2^nd 7 day test week — on that day I had a 4km swim, 150km bike and a marathon schedule
.
During the 150km bike my knee hurt…so mentally, I decided that I would not run the marathon which was to be immediately after the bike session…

(over the past 9 months, I had both my knees operated on and as to be expected they get sore during training sessions)

Once I finished the bike, I told Mario that my knee hurt and I didn’t want to run the 42km …

Mario looked at me like I was a total pussy and said, “you can go home and sit on the sofa and hurt, or you can do your training and hurt …it’s the same thing, but what’s going to help you prepare for your challenge – what’s going to help you achieve your goal?”

Oddly, something clicked and I ran a 4:36 marathon … and then ended up having a great training week… and my knee never hurt after that day.

The power of the mind.

We set goals … and go after achieving them, but often we get distracted from achieving them until the end. 

Over the next 7 days, think about me somewhere in the UAE plugging away for (ideally) 12-15 hours a day ….

And think about your own situation and goals.  A diet, getting in shape, work related, studying a language, a course in school, or going after a big challenge, etc …

It sounds cheesy, yes, I know … but it’s worth thinking about – are you making your goals happen?

The conclusion of my 9 month adventure begins tomorrow….

I fully understand … whether I achieve my goal and finish or not affects no one … but myself.

But to be perfectly clear:

This week, and this 9 month adventure comes down to this simple thought:   finish or failure.

We will have a live tracker on my blog and post a map of each day.
Ideally, highlight videos will be posted each day as well.