I am SO behind! I feel like I can't move on to talk about anything else until I talk about the half-marathon I participated in...which was no officially, like, four months ago! Where does the time go?!
One of my favorite quotes to live by is this: “The true test of a man’s character is what he does when no one is watching.” There is a period of time in any athletic event that requires a lot of time and miles in which you will experience what it feels like to be putting in A LOT of work when no one is watching. A period of time when 'the hush' falls over the crowd of participants and suddenly if this is not a concept you have been of aware of in the past you are suddenly living it! You can either stop where you're at (and since no one is watching it would be a really easy thing to do) or you can keep moving forward and do the work for YOURSELF. The very first time I experienced this I was fresh out of college and participating in an adventure race which started with a 25 mile bike ride. The bike ride started on this HUGE hill which was no easy feat to complete even with all the cheering from the sidelines. When I got to the top of this enormous, mile long, hill the crowd had fizzled and it was quiet and from the very top of that hill all I could see was miles and miles and miles (and miles) of country roads with LOTS and LOTS of hills. I literally wanted my mom. I had officially experienced 'the hush' and I didn't like it or appreciate it, in fact I was suddenly a toddler who needed my mom to rescue me and I'm not going to lie-there were tears. There was no one on the side line cheering me on, or holding up signs for me to read so I could forget about my troubles. My mom was hundreds of miles away at home and, truthfully, if I would have called her she probably would have told me that if I would have listened to her in the first place I wouldn't have even signed up for something that would lead me to this predicament (gotta love moms!). So with no help available I did the only thing I could think of-I swore,out loud-I said every swear word I could think of while riding up and down those hills for at least two miles, maybe five... fortunately after about mile five my brain had caught on that I wasn't giving up and the ride got better after that.
The next time in life that I can think of when I truly experienced this was in 2011 when my best friend and I did one 90 mile day of RAGBRAI. We started that morning in Marshalltown and ended in Cedar Rapids. That morning as we got on our bikes and rode through town everyone was along the route like we were in some kind of parade but as we left town and go out into "the country" suddenly there was a hush-'The Hush' -all the people were gone, there were no signs, no accolades- the only thing you could do now is pedal your bike and hope to make it to the next town where you once again experience a party or festival being held just for you!During the half-marathon, the entire first mile there was hundreds of people along the sidelines holding up signs and cheering, in fact I had to laugh a little when everyone cheered as we crossed over that first mile marker (one down 12 to go....or for the people running the marathon it was one down 25 to go!)Woo hoo we're almost there! (*insert sarcasm here). As we crossed over that first mile marker and headed into the second and third mile and beyond I felt 'the hush' go over the group and again all we had left to do was the real work, with out the accolades.
I believe that I experience 'the hush' from a much healthier perspective now and have even come to appreciate it. In fact, I think 'the hush' is what keeps me coming back for more with these types of events! I can't help but also feel like 'the hush' is when you really feel the connection between your own mind and body and also when you really feel the connection with the other runners/bikers/etc that are participating in the event with you. During Ragbrai this is when fellow bikers really started taking care of each other-giving a hand signal to let others know that a rumble strip is coming, or a shout from the front to alert you to be careful ("Car!" "Debris!" etc.). It was during 'the hush' that I remember pedaling up a hill to nowhere and a biker came up next to me to provide some encouragement. During the half marathon it was during 'the hush' that volunteers on their bikes would come along and offer licorice or a tissue. Other runners, too, always seemed to have a few words of encouragement to hand out just when you needed it.
I believe that the experiences that occur during 'the hush' are the ones that are going to stick with you so much longer than the accolades from the sidelines; these are the experiences that are responsible for building genuine belief in yourself and your abilities....and isn't that true for every day life as well???
