It seems that inevitably I always find myself at some point each year, trying to answer the same question: Why do I do this?
A friend of mine recently sent me a link to the soon to be released documentary Bicycle Dreams, which chronicles one of the most grueling endurance races in the world, the Race Across America. As you can see in the trailer below, the narrator quotes a comment from Lance Armstrong stating that, “Endurance Athletes are running away from something inside of themselves, and that is one of the reasons they do what they do”. The film also suggests that endurance racers are trying to fill a void inside of them with a burning desire to do something unimaginably great, not only to the spectator’s imagination but more importantly their own.
Are we running away from something inside of ourselves? Why do I now prefer to go the distance on my bike rather than a short and fast criterium race? Why did Robert Herriman ride 17,000 plus miles last year when he knew it was a detriment to his racing? Why do people want to try and climb Mt. Everest when they know their life could possibly be the cost of their endeavor?
I’m not sure there is an easily definable and understandable answer to these questions; I presume it is more a feeling than anything else. Getting close to this feeling only makes the quest/addiction/obsession more intense. Perhaps these answers can only be revealed through the pursuit of whatever the dream is. Furthermore, maybe it is this pursuit through which we discover our own definition.
While I do relate to Lances quote about running away from something inside of us, I would like to retort my own quote:
“Endurance athletes may not only be running away from something inside of themselves, but I believe they are also running towards a burning desire to discover something about themselves they never knew or dreamed imaginable.”
-Finkelstein
