What is your pain threshold ?

A friend of mine, recently inspired by Eliud Kipchoge's sub two hour full marathon run, decided that he too would make a sub two hour 10 km walk next year. Now that seems laughable, but taking into account that he has not been in active sport for over 20 years should  tell you something about the power of Eliud's inspiration and my friends humility. There is no way he could do even a half marathon in that time. After doing the math he started out with 20 minute morning one kilometers stretches before committing to a 3 km walk every other day. That is when he encountered a threshold of pain. All of a sudden every muscle in his body revolted painfully. For a couple of weeks the pain persisted, then went away. Feeling good, he decided to do 5 km every other day. After a while the pain came back, but not as bad as the first time.  He kept at it.  The pain went away with a new lemon massage technique he learned. Now he is at 7 km, but again the pain is back . This time he has not been able to walk for a week. He's wondering  whether to go back to level off at the 5 km comfort zone. After all he has made progress. Nobody is pushing him to do it. He does not have to endure the pain. But he tells me what he is learning is that for every gain there is a threshold of pain. He thinks the pain will intensify as he approaches his goal. He will have to decide if he really wants it or whether it is worth it at all. That's the only thing that will keep him in the race. Most of us have to decide sooner or later whether we want something or not whether it is worth it or not. What we are not prepared for is the thresholds of pain it may require to get it.

Think on this as you make plans, resolutions and commitments for the coming year.

Happy New Year