Crawl of Fame by Julie Moss

Author:Julie Moss
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Pegasus Books
Published: 2018-09-11T16:00:00+00:00

We all need something to push us when the usual motivators don’t work. Maybe we call to mind our love for a spouse or concern for a sick friend, how good the food will taste when we’re done—or creating something truly magical that draws in the inherent energy of a place. Nothing rolling through Mark’s mind pre-Kona touched the phenomenal experience that followed.

As Mark approached the sixteen-mile mark, an image appeared to him in the lava fields. It hovered between his eyes, like a passing daydream, the face of an old shaman healer portrayed in a Yoga Journal ad that promoted an upcoming shamanistic training. The shaman in Mark’s vision was over 100 years old. Mark had spent much time seeking the connection between his desire to win Ironman and the pain of pounding out marathon miles at a six-minute pace with Dave. It all came together at Mile 16. Mark told me it was a supernatural moment in which the shaman offered his strength—and Mark received it.

On this day, he would not falter down the stretch.

Mark focused on executing the strategy for which we’d trained all summer, and becoming the first to make a move, rather than reacting and hanging on. He emerged like a blade of forged steel. How does someone overcome a previously insurmountable challenge when mind and body aren’t always enough? Mark found the answer: draw from deep inside.

Mark later told me he was trying to connect to the spiritual element of the Big Island. He made the connection that he hadn’t properly tapped into the elemental energy unique to Hawaii. What happened if he did? He felt drawn to the ancient Hawaiian religion of Huna, or at least its shamanistic aspects, along with the visionaries, healers, and heiaus, sacred places or sites. Now, for the first time deep in a Kona race, he thought, Why fight the pain and distress, this course? Why not just surrender to it?

That realization is the key to Ironman—surrendering to what the elements and course give you. It’s also a critical step on the hero’s journey, the Wonder Woman journey. We must let go, surrender, and trust the process. It becomes hard when the world dumps its expectations on us, and, like Mark, we have to figure out how to draw power from surrender while overcoming our rivals in any type of life or work conditions that present themselves.

Mark surrendered to the place and race. He even offered up a little prayer: “Allow me to be here. Whatever you bring, allow me to be here.” He did exactly what I did not do in 2017, or in many previous Ironmans. He took what the course and conditions gave him. He didn’t force anything on the race. Out came a wisdom burnished into his muscles and mind from six losses at Kona. His past struggles with bonking, hitting the wall, further forged a superior willpower. The Grip. This time, Dave was chagrined to find out Mark did know how to close

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