An anonymous person posted a comment on my last link and it brings up a question on which I would love some discussion. Are Limits real, or self-imposed?
About Me
- Thomas W Chorny
- I haven't run a PR on the track in over 9 years. I haven't even run the Steeplechase since 2008. I've been told I should retire, I should "Hang up the spikes" I'm "too old", but HOW??? I love to run! I love to race! I KNOW I've got more! The Flame Within burns hot and bright, and until it fades, there will be no sleep for this weary soul.
As a collective whole, we have all the potential we need to break through any and all limits that we've imposed on ourselves. If a great number changed their mind about a perceived limit at the same time, the limit would no longer exist. A paradigm shift would take place. Individually the same is true, however I believe it's more difficult because you wouldn't have the advantage of the exponential multiplication that a group holds. That's why like-minded community is so important.
ReplyDeleteself-imposed, limits are the opposition of goals. When we aim for something limiting factors can mentally discourage you in such an overwhelming manor that your body can become tricked into being worn out. At least fifty percent of all pain and fatigue is in your head.
ReplyDeleteGunder Hägg ran 4:01.4 for the mile in 1945. It took 9 more years for a sub 4 to happen. Then once that barrier was broken, only 10 years later people were running 3:54. Self imposed barrier broken.
ReplyDeleteNotice your quote said "man" in general. Fact is, individual men have limits, and they are not self-imposed. You see this every day on the track. There is a reason certain people run the 100m, and others the 10,000m, to varying success. Different people are constrained by their inner limits to run different events.
ReplyDeleteI dare say you, Tom Chorny, in your prime, could not run under 3:50 in the mile. Nor could you run under 10 seconds in the 100m. Nor could you high jump 7'4''. It isn't in you to do it. No amount of training would get you there. This limit is not self-imposed, it is imposed by your fundamental biology, the make up of your genes. Likewise, there are innumerable people who could not run as fast as you can over a mile, 800, whatever. They just don' t have the innate athletic ability. In fact, to ignore this concept is to indulge in some of the worst, and most damaging forms of self-delusion. Believing one can do something when in fact one has no chance just prolongs irrational behavior.
The more controversial aspect of this dynamic, of course, is that individual people have varying mental capacities, and not everyone can learn to the same degree, and grasp the same concepts, as some people can. Our society is stratified for a reason, and it is not ephemeral. It is caused by innate genetic differences that impose very real limits on individual achievement.
I agree with the above poster, however, there are some self imposed limits. You cannot deny the mental aspect when you are in the middle of a race and don't feel well. You tell yourself you will not finish the race in your goal time, and that is what happens.
ReplyDeleteReally, the problem is that what a man CAN do, and what a man WILL do are often two very different things. If you feel you can't run a sub-4 mile leading up to the big race, it makes it infinitely more difficult to do.
Was going to look up Tom Coburn to make a political comment & it started to pull up your name. Kind of about to have a surgery I need to get out more, but been running more in the meantime, & gave your page a look-see. Anyhow, what i was going to say was have you heard this? - http://www.radiolab.org/blogs/radiolab-blog/2011/apr/05/in-running/
ReplyDeleteAlexandra! Thanks for the comment, thanks for the link! Maybe I'll see you out in Eugene next week!
ReplyDeleteTC