Inspiration

In hopes of posting daily on Running Pride, this author needs content to publish. With enough inspiration in my personal pursuits/exploits to fill a few days a week, I'm still short several others. In the off-season - which is now - I might be down to a single day of content. And even then, I don't think detailing an hour-long core workout is all that exciting.

So, I search for inspiration. It starts simple by checking running tips from the weekly email I receive from Active.com. There's some information on speed work, nutrition, recovery... nothing exciting or enlightening. Just the fundamentals which are always great to touch base with from time-to-time. The emails are a great reminder to keep it simple.

Then, things get not-so-simple. I read about Andrew Murray from Edinburgh. Before I knew his name I heard about his astounding accomplishment on Saturday Night Live. My first thought was, "An ultrarunner made it on SNL!" Congratulations on completing a logistically improbably feat: 7 ultramarathons on 7 continents in 7 days. Kudos.

After unsuccessfully trying to view some adventure sport videos, Wim Hof popped into my head. Who is this two syllabled named person of indistinct gender? Wim is the hairy chested man from the Columbia Omni-Heat Electric jacket commercials that eagerly dives into ice water presumably somewhere near the Artic Circle. I annoyingly make it a habit to analyze every commercial I see, so when I noticed some fine print at the bottom of the screen I had to rewind and pause. It reads, "Wim Hof is a professional." So this guy isn't an actor in front of a green screen?! Apparently, this Dutch gentleman can control his body temperature - scientifically proven! - and holds the Guinness World Record for full-body ice immersion at 1 hour and 52 minutes.

The moral to all of this is that the human body can endure a lot. The limits of the mind are endless.