DLOHSERHT
Far from shore, his swim was concluded. His last stroke floated helplessly in the water. He crossed the dreaded line. Tears flowed into the salty sea…
The decision to stop an endurance swim or event, “quit”, regroup, and plan for another day is a different form of “threshold”. The previous blog, is written from the perspective of fulfilling a vision of forward motion in accomplishing a goal or pursuit. Those special quiet moments of achievement loudly resonate years after their birth. As athletes, we train ourselves and are coached to overcome everything thrown in our paths on the way to crossing the finish line. Finishing is positive, glorious. Quitting is failure, it is quitting. Or is it?
An ultra-marathon swimmer friend and I were talking about situations in which friends terminated their long swims. She remarked that the community is generally aware of their limitations of continuing (in the context of ultra-swims) and knowing when to pull the plug on a multi-hour swim. We dug into the reasons that lead to terminating an attempt. It may be weather, fatigue, or safety crew determining to halt the effort. Ending something in which you are so totally invested can be heartbreaking. I asked her, have you ever quit in a long swim? She responded immediately, “No”. Neither have I. There was a pause. We burst out laughing! The irony was hilarious, and so true. Sure, it’s ok for others to stop before the finish, but not us…
The irony isn’t lost to my teacher, the cold water. I realize day after day of pushing the limits of time and distance against the real claws of hypothermia, I quit virtually all the time. Joyful and grateful for the time I enjoyed swimming into that threshold, I pull the plug before my “goals” are achieved. In January, 30 minutes at 39F one day may yield to 18 minutes the next day.
Until you find your breaking point you don’t know where it lies, in what form it exists, and what it takes to work beyond it. It involves risk, focus, determination, and awareness. That breaking point lies somewhere between the shadow of “it’s not my day” and death.
Our quitting threshold is in the 50% - 70% of maximum cold-water exposure based on how our body is responding to the conditions. 90% is too late. We have never regretted terminating a swim too early. Nor have we regretted getting out too late. We practice finding our thresholds and know how to listen. Very often we remark, “I could have gone longer.” (but didn’t)
“Frightening!” “really crazy unsafe” Those are unsolicited comments from people that lack the respect or education to allow us to determine what our thresholds are. My first response to them begins with f and ends with off! My second response is the same, but in song. My third response suggests they afford us the dignity to be our own “nanny” and swim into our own joy as we discover and perceive it.
The difference of the ‘Threshold” of which I wrote earlier and this (dlohserhT), is this threshold approaches the unknown, uncertainty, and pulls away into acceptance. The focus turns from “finishing” to accepting what is given to you in the very real present. It is a different energy. It guides you to its destination. Nature has a way of teaching us righteous balance.
“No direction but to follow what you know,
No direction but a faith in her decision,
No direction but to never fight her flow,
No direction but to trust the final destination.”
-The Green Valley, Maynard James Keenan
Whether your endeavor is a work project, work of art, crossing a large body of water, or climbing a mountain, seek the limits that reveal your thresholds. They live in a very real arena that requires conscious effort to enter and engage. There is no quitting in this arena. Nor is there room for critics. Victory resides in the attempts. How your threshold speaks to you dictates how you persevere, determining which shore you walk upon. Create the energy for ripples and waves that attract and stimulate our innate human spirit. Welcome those that feel it and are curious. It’s big a place with many rooms and hallways that I call home.
