Anything is possible.

Determination and dedication.

True commitment and grit.

Action Takers.

I witnessed all of these on the weekend at Ironman. For the uninitiated, Ironman consists of swimming, cycling and running…. and a lot of them!  For the Ironman 70.3 – they swim 1.9km in the ocean, cycle 90km and run 21.1km and for Ironman – they unbelievably do a 3.8km swim (also in the ocean), 180km cycle and 42.2km run. Yep. Phenomenal!! As you can imagine, this is well and truly more than a ‘one-off’ hour of effort!

We have just had a massive weekend of Ironman (spectating!) so just a short (and late) post this week.

Whilst supporting at Ironman (I’ve been to  4 separate events now) I noticed:

• There is no body shape or size that determines who can finish an Ironman.
• Yes, there are some strong legs and lean muscles.
• There are bodies that would be described as solid and also petite.
• There were vision impaired athletes (who had a buddy athlete to guide them).  There was also a man with paraplegia, truly remarkable.
• Training for such an event matters!! And in actual fact the day of Ironman could be seen as a celebration of all of the commitment and action taken in the months leading up to the event.
• Some spills had and injuries were sustained on the day – some of those people kept competing.
• No doubt, there were so many feelings experienced – from insults to the mind and body all the way to undoubtedly some incredible feelings of elation and satisfaction.
• what they all had in common though, is a big heart – you don’t keep on keeping on for up to 17 hours (that’s the time cut off) without one!

And it maybe a little cliche, but true to one of Ironman’s mottos, it is the ultimate demonstration of ‘Anything is Possible’

And I’ll tell you this for free – if you need your faith restored in what the body and mind is capable of – go and spectate at an Ironman! Or maybe you will take it on yourself??!!

So here’s to all Ironman finishers (70.3 and 140.6) out there – I salute you!!

 

THAT fire.

I have had a couple of different conversations with various people this week about how the scales aren’t reflecting how good they (the beautiful people I have been speaking to) are feeling… I truly wanted to shout “THE NUMBER ON THE SCALES DOESN’T DEFINE YOU!!”  In the interest of social etiquette (and for them not to think I was a little crazy), I didn’t shout and I didn’t even say those words.  I said something more along the lines of ‘…as long as you are feeling good, that’s what matters…and…take some measurements, I think you will be surprised!’

Here’s 4 things I know about weight not coming close as a measure of wellness:

1.  THAT number definitely doesn’t reflect how hard you have been trying to balance everything that you have going on right now, or that you have made some awesome positive choices for your long-term health in the previous weeks.
2. THAT number matters less and less when your focus is wellness, rather than skinniness.
3. Alexx Stuart (Low Tox Life) was way ahead of the game in 2013 when she quoted ‘The conversation is no longer about skinniness.  Its about wellness.  A much more exciting conversation to have.’  By the way, that quote is the background on my computer, that is how much it shouts out me.
4. A weight can form part of objective data that is compared.  If you have a burning desire to look at numbers, and some people do, you could do some body measurements and partake in some fitness tests!  Go right ahead!

So obviously, I think what matters is not THAT number but rather, THAT fire in YOUR belly… Do you know what stokes the fire in your belly?  Can you remember the last time you felt so energised and determined about YOUR life, you could actually feel THAT fire?  If you can, you can clearly understand that wellness is about a feeling, not any number.

So here’s an idea – the next time you are in a conversation that includes THAT number, do yourself a favour and change the topic to THAT fire!