Sunday, September 16, 2007

NothingMan--Initial Thoughts


While I sit here debating on whether or not to write a report, I will leave you with this:

Smith: Why, Mr. Anderson, why? Why, why do you do it? Why, why get up? Why keep fighting? Do you believe you're fighting for something, for more than your survival? Can you tell me what it is, do you even know? Is it freedom or truth, perhaps peace - could it be for love? Illusions, Mr. Anderson, vagaries of perception. Temporary constructs of a feeble human intellect trying desperately to justify an existence that is without meaning or purpose. And all of them as artificial as the Matrix itself. Although, only a human mind could invent something as insipid as love. You must be able to see it, Mr. Anderson, you must know it by now! You can't win, it's pointless to keep fighting! Why, Mr. Anderson, why, why do you persist?

Neo: Because I choose to.

And that is the only reason I can give for doing NothingMan.

Think about it—would you, could you do an Ironman if you had no competition, no spectators, no volunteers, and the only thing you would walk away with was your own inner satisfaction that you had done it? No t-shirt, no medal, no corporate logo souvenirs, no online results. I’m not saying there’s anything wrong with doing organized races. Sometimes I just question the reasons people give for doing them in the first place, and at some level I needed to prove to myself that it’s not about any of that external stuff to me.

8 comments:

Cindy Jo said...

I don't know if I would ever want to do Nothingman, but I'm happy to be able to watch you do it!

YOU HAVE to write a report - when you're ready. It is so much more interesting that a regular IM!

Flo said...

Every year, a few really hardcore folks do Ironman revisited here on Oahu. There is usually only a couple of them. There is no support except for spouses/friends and they do the original Ironman course. They also do it when the first Ironman was done which is not October. Anyway, it's definitely a bragging point to say you've done Ironman revisited. You, have earned even more bragging rights for Nothing Man I would think.

Born To Endure said...

Amazing..you are a true Ironman. I admire you for doing this and I want to hear all about it.

Fe-lady said...

I have done the distances separately, back to back -but never all together. I must say, that when I was doing things like 28 mile trail runs and 100+ rides up the local mountains, I felt just as much satisfaction as I did when I crossed the IM line...maybe even more, as it was private and not public.

21stCenturyMom said...

You named yourself well Ms. Crackhead! Congratulations on doing it just to do it - just for yourself - just to see.

I hope you make a NothingMan logo and get a tatoo. That would be awesome!

Oly said...

If you ever want to do it again let me know. I think I would be in.

Look forward to a report.

Brett said...

I would definitely do it if I had the time and could fit it into my schedule. Let me know when ... :) Congrats to you! It sounds like "fun."

effendi said...

Hmm - I can see where I might have done one by myself to see if I could in the past, but now - nah.