A couple weekends ago I was up in the gorgeous Whistler BC with some friends. Last year was the first time I had ever been to Whistler (you can see some of the magic of that trip here) and I was surprised how much I loved that touristy town nestled into the mountains and was mighty excited to get back there this year.
In Whistler there is always a festival of some sort each weekend of the summer and it so happened that this year it was the Ironman Canada Race. I knew it would be cool to check out a bit of it but I must confess, I kind of caught the Ironman bug (no…i can’t forsee myself ever wanting to do it, but it was so inspiring).
Now, as someone to whom body-positivity and being able to see yourself with love as you are, not just when you become a better version of yourself, I might have had some assumptions about what an athletic event of such grand proportions would be like (they swam almost 4km, then biked 180 km and then ran a frickin’ marathon…42kms). I kind of assumed it would be all about fitness and athleticism and while that is indeed an element of it (I have never seen so many compression socks in my life) as part of the crowd watching the race I was pleasantly surprised that the energy around the event was so much more than that.
Perhaps I should have recognized the kinship by the love notes and hearts and messages written on sidewalks, or the posters on lamp posts, or the messages on people’s posters. Or maybe it was when I realized it when I noticed that so many of the posters had messages of love. “Love is all you need” “We love you so much”. Sure, some were more about the race but a surprising amount of them were about love or that the racer was believed in.
I wasn’t alone in feeling choked up by the support and cheering.
A friend and I went down to the finish line after dinner to check it out and oh my, it was really the best part of all. Cheering as each person crossed the finish line, with radiant smiles on their faces (even if you could see they were in pain) and just being able to be one person saying ‘You just did what you might not have believed you could’ through clapping and cheering was really touching. The announcer rocked and as each person crossed the finish line he’d say ‘You are an Ironman’.
In a way I don’t think it is just about the running, biking and swimming and I think that this part of the Ironman energy. It seems to be about doing something beyond our own expectations which is something that deeply resonates with me.
Here are a few themes I saw that go beyond Ironman and that had me smitten with the event (even seriously pondering being a volunteer for next years event).
Doing something beyond our wildest dreams
As I mentioned, this was one of the common themes I felt and it was mighty inspiring outside of the idea of the race itself.
What could we do that is beyond our wildest dreams, that would feel like crossing a finish line, arms up in celebration and pride?
What is something that we could do today that might feel like one step towards it. Perhaps putting up a profile on an online dating site (that would be one for me) as finding love sometimes feels like its unreachable. Maybe it is looking at ourselves in the mirror with love today, knowing that it is one step towards some day looking at the mirror and smiling widely at ourselves full of compassion and love. Or maybe it taking our camera out for a photo walk and not listening to our inner critic but going for it anyways (or finishing a painting, or submitting an article to a magazine). What are our wildest dreams and what if they weren’t impossible?
Support
It was really beautiful to see and chat with the racer support teams. Because they can’t do such a superhuman task alone. It was clear that while it might be physically possible, it was truly important that these racers had emotional support cheering them on throughout the race.
Not just that, but you couldn’t help but get caught up in the energy of giving support. Throughout the day I watched bits of the race and cheered people on. It was especially amazing to be at the finish line and see the racers so radiant with joy as they ran down the final stretch.
While I didn’t go down to the finish line at the very end of the race (the cutoff is midnight…which would be nearly 17 hours of racing for those who finished just before the cut off) I heard all day how that was the best part of the race and seeing videos of the final finishers, so amazing. Are you picturing the last lone racer coming in to an empty finish line? It was entirely the opposite, the stands were full to the brim and the people were cheering more than ever. I was in awe watching the videos of it. All the folks I chatted with during the day who were supporting a racer told me that it was amazing to be there cheering on the people who really needed it. It seemed like from the crowds perspective, value wasn’t given by how fast you went but rather that you tried. Amazing.
I know for me, this brings up the idea of asking for help, especially when we know that we may not be able to go it alone. In the last 2 times I’ve done races I haven’t ever asked a friend to come cheer me on, not wanting to inconvenience them to come into busy downtown (though my amazing friend Emilia always meets me afterwards for a celebratory brunch. Thanks E)…but what if in asking folks to come cheer me on, they might find themselves inspired by the supportive energy like I did watching the Ironman. There are so many ways I don’t ask for help from friends (I find it much easier to ask for help from my family though) but we can’t do it alone can we? This is actually a hard one for me as I have this thing about not wanting to ask too much of people but really, when we ask for help or support we are inviting people to know us better and show up for us.
Endurance
Okay, obviously this race is endurance to the max. I know in my first 10km race (oh, and my second) I didn’t necessarily believe I could do it and so much of the race was me fighting my own inner critic. I can only imagine the challenge it must be to push yourself that extremely.
But if we take it outside of the context of athletics and into the realm of self-love, I think committing to a practice of self-compassion is a path of endurance and resilience. It is showing up for ourselves again and again, even when we don’t think we can and saying ‘I can do this’, ‘I’m worth it’ and recommitting to self-compassion.
So will I ever do an Ironman? Heck no.
But I might just have to take more notice of the places where I might learn unexpected lessons about self-love and of letting ourselves be supported.
My friend Jo and I were joking after going to the finish line how we just wanted to cheer on every person we saw saying ‘You can do it’ or ‘Looking Strong’ or ‘You’re going to make it’.
Just imagine a world where we did that and I’m pondering some of the ways that we do that or have the potential to.
So in case you need it today…
You can do it.
Looking Strong today my friend!
and
You’re going to make it!