I know this guy from when I was in boot camp.. He's about 34-35 years old and still in the corps. Guy has competed in five ironmans.. 5 of them.
Ironman is 2.4 mile swim, 112 mile bike, followed by a full marathon 26.2 miles.
It's amazing to me what the human body is capable of doing. It's even more amazing to me how much power the human mind has to push the body to such feats.
I think of that guy Aron Ralston who they made a movie about.. Got his arm pinched between a boulder and a canyon wall. Had to cut his own arm off in order to survive. The minds will to survive and keep living was incredible in this circumstance.
I have no desire to compete in an ironman or cut my arm off but I do desire to push my mind and body through a certain amount of pain to achieve a goal. Running requires the least amount of special equipment, skill or money... Plus I read an article a few months ago about a 91 year old lady who ran a marathon in record time for her division while undergoing skin cancer treatment in the weeks leading up to the race.. After reading that I asked myself 'what's your excuse?'