tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18907675.post3717333661229630730..comments2014-07-15T20:50:21.627-05:00Comments on To The Finish Line: Mind Games and Life Lessons - 2011 Kettle Moraine 100KSteve Emmerthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06936392811933824008noreply@blogger.comBlogger12125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18907675.post-19454045465346797422011-06-11T17:17:52.161-05:002011-06-11T17:17:52.161-05:00That was awesome! Thank you for sharing that adve...That was awesome! Thank you for sharing that adventure!!<br />-BrianAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18907675.post-9846116988037658862011-06-10T18:41:25.792-05:002011-06-10T18:41:25.792-05:00Excellent post, Steve!! I read it several times an...Excellent post, Steve!! I read it several times and it spoke to me each time. Thanks for the lessons learned. Keep finishing what you start. I like that!kellyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08838103329838184258noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18907675.post-20832893390238627902011-06-09T13:32:50.227-05:002011-06-09T13:32:50.227-05:00Thanks for posting this. I, too, started to strug...Thanks for posting this. I, too, started to struggle after those fields & didn't take the time at Scuppernong to recover. Started cramping and stopped sweating shortly thereafter. I finished, but it was a LONG second half of the race for me, finishing about 2-3 solid hours beyond what I'd thought I could do. Glad I finished what I started, without doing any serious damage.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18907675.post-55245050728136040672011-06-08T20:01:37.713-05:002011-06-08T20:01:37.713-05:00Glad you were in a place where you could rehydrate...Glad you were in a place where you could rehydrate and refuel, or else I would have pulled the plug for sure.<br /><br />I agree it's best to finish what you started, but only if you can do it without taking unnecessary chances with your health, and you didn't do that because you gave your body what it needed so it could keep up with your will to finish.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18907675.post-36000848436705377052011-06-08T09:15:34.670-05:002011-06-08T09:15:34.670-05:00Thanks for the nice comments everyone. Glad to he...Thanks for the nice comments everyone. Glad to hear my words could strike a chord with others.<br /><br />@Steve: I think I just got a little lucky that I didn't immediately turn in my chip. I didn't do so consciously. Time, food and drink bought me the opportunity for my mind to clear and body to recover. For most of the hour I sat there, I was sure I was done. I wasn't consciously trying to get back in the fight. Finally, I'd recovered enough that quitting just felt too wrong. If I hadn't taken the time, on purpose or by luck, this report would have been very different. Thanks for being there for me for the rest of the day! It helped!<br /><br />@Lee: Dude, I gotta admit, that's tough! There's no way you could have ever imagined you'd get over 55 miles in, and not be able to push through the last chunk. Just like I never could have imagined I'd come that close to bowing out at half way. Really goes to show how brutal the day was for so many of us. Don't beat yourself up. Just tuck this experience away in your back pocket and try to remember to pull it out and use it next time. My experience that day tells me, when you made the call to drop, if you'd have gone back to the Bluff AS, sat down, taken some time, got some more food and drink in you, there's a good chance you could have mustered up the will to push on and finish. You'll get another chance to stamp out this "pain of regret". Don't forget, you did in fact cover 57.2 miles (counting the 1.5 miles into Nordic). That's a damn long way. The line between finishing and not just gets really thin when it gets that damn hot and humid, especially so early in the year. Good heat training for L'Ville, right?!Steve Emmerthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06936392811933824008noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18907675.post-89222985709152121992011-06-07T21:10:30.653-05:002011-06-07T21:10:30.653-05:00Nicely done! I can relate to how you felt, but no...Nicely done! I can relate to how you felt, but not the outcome. I could have used these insights around 9pm on Saturday... Made it all the way back to Bluff and reluctantly started heading in. Ran into Dominic on his way out for the night run, and he told me how proud he was of me that I would finish on my first attempt at the distance. Shortly after that I cracked. The little voices told me I couldn't take 2 more hours and I headed in the direct route to Nordic. Handed in my chip. No fanfare. No relief. Just a sort of numbness. Now I have only the "pain of regret" of not showing the perseverance you write about. I know there will be other days, but to have gone so far only to give up so late is a tough one to swallow. Great work. <br /><br />See you on the trails.<br />Leelemeyer3https://www.blogger.com/profile/09231045532854292962noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18907675.post-68401448719446502402011-06-07T14:56:47.655-05:002011-06-07T14:56:47.655-05:00Well done. Reminds of what Martin Dugard talks ab...Well done. Reminds of what Martin Dugard talks about in his latest book. Two choices. The pain of suffering or the pain of regret.David Rayhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16895710357380541330noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18907675.post-50627807615403743522011-06-07T12:50:34.797-05:002011-06-07T12:50:34.797-05:00Steve, I really enjoyed the report. I was telling ...Steve, I really enjoyed the report. I was telling Mike Johnson over a beer last night, that I admired you for what you did. I felt fine on Saturday dropping at 27 and all day felt it was the right thing as I saw people dropping like flies and I was better off being able to help those in need, then be carried off myself. <br /><br />Then Sunday afternoon and Monday came and I was getting bothered by my choice. You said it in your report. Didn't I expect it to be tough? If it was supposed to be easy, everyone would do it. When I gave up, I alerted the aid station immediately. You, however, took a break, recomposed your attitude, got hydrated and fueled up and set out to complete your mission. <br /><br />Well done my friend, I'm glad I was there at the aid stations to cheer you and at the finish when you claimed your victory.Steve Connhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14946777185599635895noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18907675.post-72259126443914197932011-06-07T10:35:26.671-05:002011-06-07T10:35:26.671-05:00really enjoyed this. I have done both now...quit ...really enjoyed this. I have done both now...quit and unquit, and also quit and stayed quit. We both know which one is worth doing again.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18907675.post-15988716012593031742011-06-07T10:13:09.714-05:002011-06-07T10:13:09.714-05:00Excellent race report, Steve! I was sitting on th...Excellent race report, Steve! I was sitting on the deck at Nordic watching people roll in. Your family was nearby (but I didn't realize it at the time), and your daughter was climbing on and off the deck, asking, "where's daddy? When is daddy getting back? I miss him!" It was so adorable!<br /><br />Great job getting it done, and ignoring that little voice!Paigehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16936117159619262436noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18907675.post-90802431521349453102011-06-07T09:51:10.054-05:002011-06-07T09:51:10.054-05:00Nice report. I too have finished races that I &qu...Nice report. I too have finished races that I "quit" in the middle of.<br /><br />ollieAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18907675.post-53706281231810671292011-06-07T07:03:32.744-05:002011-06-07T07:03:32.744-05:00Nice write up. I'm impressed that you took the...Nice write up. I'm impressed that you took the time to listen to that quiet voice that pushed you out your comfortable chair and on to the finish. <br /><br />Kids are an amazing motivational force as well. I know I think of my daughters when I find myself in those lows and wonder how I would explain to them that Dad quit. <br /><br />Nice Race,Chris Swenkehttp://blog.enjoycollisions.comnoreply@blogger.com