Super Challenge 2006

How do you know when you've given 100%?

Did you have a coach in High School asking you to give 110%? Didn't everyone?

World-famous triathlete, Chris Legh, knows what that means. Chris is best known for his painful collapse and near-death experience at the 1997 Ironman Hawaii finish line, and a subsequent Gatorade commercial that aired all around the world. Safe to assume that Chris gave it 100% - with nothing left for breathing, brain function etc. I hate to think what 110% would look like.

I also think this question is related to last weeks blog - is that final 10% you need to dig out of yourself really just 10%? With Wally close on the heels of the 135 Floor Stepper Challenge - how far is he away with his 120? Math tells us another 12.5 % of exertion will do it. But we know that's not how the body and physics in general works. As we move closer to our maximums, we are testing all the links in the chain - transfer of oxygen, muscle effectiveness, energy use both aerobic and non-aerobic - and we face the inverse square rule. We get smaller and smaller returns from increasing effort at the top of the curve. (Just playing with your head, Wally!)

When I started running in 1998, I logged every day in a spreadsheet. After a year I noticed a basic training truth. In the beginning, big improvements were easy but even small increases became more and more difficult as time went by. Eventually I began looking for 1-2% improvements over a month and even those were hard to come by.

On one perfect night, the stars were aligned, I felt great, and I hit my best time for a mile, 7 minutes. Not a big deal for anyone but myself (certainly not for Roger Bannister who was the first person to break the 4 minute mile back in the 1930's), but it was a goal I had set a year before. So I was pretty pleased.

I never got even close to that time again no matter how I tried.

How much of that would be 'heart' or 'spirit' versus pure ability or preparedness? As motivated as you might be, and as pure of heart, you're not going to win the world's fastest 100 Metre without training, coaching, commitment and a ton of natural ability. But if those things are in place, heart will help to get you there. (Are you motivated yet?)

There are hundreds of movies I have seen since a kid which extolled the virtues of 'heart'. If you beleive, you can accomplish miracles. And that's essentially true. Most humans are hampered more by their own perceptions than by real obstacles. But one of the lessons they need to include is that belief has to cover more than just the two hours of the big game. Beleiving in yourself has to happen months and years before the big event and includes all the sweat and tears necessary to prepare one for big challenges.

Congratulations to all of you Super Challenge achievers. You're doing a great job! Vince Lomabardi would be proud.