How much is too much?

“Iron Mom” article
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB121695015234783463.html

Interesting article about an extreme-extreme endurance event. Sort of makes the Ironman look pedestrian. It really points out the progressive nature of this and (for me at least) brings up a bunch of questions.

I think many of us can relate to being at the end of something we have trained a long time for and within 24 hours beginning to think about how to improve our time, or increase the distance or whatever. I read the quote in the last paragraph and agreed that it is “really sick” yet at a certain level I can relate to it.

I can’t help but notice that long ago many athletes (and certainly all the ones mentioned here) left the “I need to keep my body in shape” camp and headed off towards higher ground. In a world of using muscle as fuel, bloody feet, and toe nails falling off the idea of “staying healthy” is really not fooling anyone. So while many may start the journey for “health reasons”, some clearly leave that “base camp” to move on to something else.

So the question remains how much is too much? It’s easy for me to look at the subjects of this article and roll my eyes at this kind of event. “What is the point?” I’m thinking. Of course, this is the same thing many people would say watching 50,000 people finish a marathon. Just because more people CAN do it, doesn’t mean it’s not too much.

Nobody has drawn a line for us. Many of us could complete an ultra-marathon or an Ironman if we trained and were able to stay injury free. So the question of where to draw the line is more than academic.

To be continued…