The Hardest Thing I've Ever Done

The Hardest Thing I've Ever Done: Why It's Impossible to Pick Just One

14 years of slogging, no wonder I look as old as I do!!

Lots of miles on the clock, lots of challenges overcome, but some of those challenges, challenged a bit more than others!! I promise that's the last time I say challenge. 

And yet, when I ask myself, ‘What’s the hardest thing I’ve ever done?’ I hesitate. How can I possibly choose one?

Anyway, What even makes Something “Hard”?

Is it Physical Hardship? You know those moments, they come in most races, or at least they should!! Those last miles of marathon, those first miles of an Ironman Marathon or every single step of a 10km race!! 

Whether it's sheer exhaustion or lactate coming out your eyeballs, they may be different but they all hurt. Is it the duration of the suffering or intensity?

Or maybe it's the recovery after a race, the adrenaline has worn off and you can't walk down stairs. 

Or maybe it's a Mental challenge, some challenges test your mental grit even more than your body. The battles against doubt, fear of failure, or those endless internal debates that play out over the course of an Ironman are exhausting in their own way.

For anyone crazy enough to have done one, those first steps after a 180km cycle when you know you've a marathon to do, that tests the mental strength!! Or one of those "short" races where you've started at a pace that the group has decided, rather than what you're capable of!! We've all been there, you look at the watch on horror at your pace, "this is unsustainable!!" Pretty much every Duathlon that was ever held!!

Or maybe it's Emotional,  Sometimes, the hardest part is the emotional toll, like dealing with setbacks, injuries, the pain in a race is one thing, but you're getting to do the race, being deprived of that by injury, but getting up and keeping going nevertheless, for something that's a pastime, that's hard!!

Or navigating personal life stress on top of training demands. We're all amateurs, we all have busy lives and let's face it, bigger commitments, but still getting our training in, late at night, after a days work and you're wrecked, that's pretty damn hard!! And do that every week, for months!!

So which is harder??

It's at this time we should look at some examples.

And whatever you think is the hardest will not only tell you a lot about yourself but might just give you an edge on how to prepare for your next challenge.

These stories are all mostly mine because you can only really measure how hard your own experiences are.

There's an event that takes place in Ballymacarby every year called the Nire Valley Drop, it's an MTB event, and it's the most ironically named event there is, as it's all uphill, or at least it feels that way.

That's me there, literally in way over my head 

I can't even remember how long it was, probably around 70km off road. Now I'm not blowing my trumpet here, but I'm fit. I've done countless 200km plus rides, raced in the Alps and through lava fields, I've done a lot of miles on my bike over the years. But honestly, the NVD came closest to breaking me. Now maybe it's because I'm a roadie and just soft, and that probably had a lot to do with it, I wasn't able for being bounced on a bike for 4 hours straight. In the end all balance, coordinatio n, logic  and will to live had gone out the window.I fell off countless times and wanted to leave my bike out there and walk home. It didn't matter how fit I was, physically I was gone. I got back to the car that day and just sat in it for half an hour. Then drove straight home, they could keep their cakes. And I haven't sat on a mountain bike since.

Now it wouldn't be a Comeragh Coaching blog post without some reference to Kona, so here we go. 

Those most mentally gruelling experience I've ever gone through in a race. We could see it last week at the men's race and it's the same every year, and theres a reason why so much is made of Natural Energy Lab in Kona. The combination of thermal heat from the ground, mid day heat, high humidity, dead air, and the accumulation of fatigue from the days exertions. Its a pro killer!! 

In 2022, as I turned at the bottom of the Energy Lab, to come back up the hill to the Queen K, I had well and truly blown, nutritional mistakes earlier were rearing their head. 

Now you come to Kona to finish, one way or another, there's few who'll pull the plug on it, so as you shuffle up the road, at the furthest point on the run from the finish, and with the desolation and misery of the Queen K fresh in your mind, you realize that you're locked into this situation of prolonged suffering that you can't escape. And knowing you have the option to stop, but you don't really. And that the quickest way to end it, was to make it worse. It was definitely the toughest mental battle I've had to face in a race.

Lastly and I'll prefix this one by saying that fortunately I've never had a bad injury, and I place emphasis on luck there, I think despite what most people say, I think injury is down most likely to bad luck, you can do everything right and still suffer from injury. You can make the odds higher though with regular strength and conditioning.

So this example is from the outside looking in, from what I perceive to be a hard battle!!

This person will remain nameless but in my opinion what they have gone through is in my opinion the toughest challenge of all. Persistent injury preventing them for racing. Too many false starts to remember, things appear to have settled.

Here's me moaning about how hard my races have been, but I got to be in the position to able to suffer,.the training and hard work had its conclusion, the full cycle. Imagine putting in that work but not getting that opportunity, that has to be harder.

And I don't feel sorry for them, I actually envy that drive and determination, I've no doubt that when it comes to that low point that comes in every race, they're well equipped to deal with it and push through. And I hope they get their opportunity to!

And that's what I'm getting at, when you go into these big challenges, there's the question of do you have the traits to deal with what will be thrown at you, it's a hard one to gauge on your first one, but maybe taking the time to look back at the previous challenges you faced, what you found tough, but overcome, or maybe what you didn't, and being prepared for these in case they rear their head again on your journey, be it in training or the race. Might just be the difference between you having the race of a lifetime or not. How you prepare for a race is more than just running up and down the road!! 

Maybe there isn’t a single “hardest” thing, but rather a collection of challenges that each leave their mark. Life, like endurance sports, is full of different types of battles, and each one contributes to who you are and equips you with the skills to overcome them.

But if you feel you need a few more skills, head on over to Comeragh Coaching , I've loads to give you!!