Fuel tank as its literal meaning, the nutrition and hydration. Ask any long distance triathlete about nutirtion, and they will tell you that it is something that has to be researched, experienced and stick to the plan. In an ironman distance triathlon, for an average age grouper, the time on the road ranges from 12hrs to 17hrs. During which, lunch is on the bike and dinner is on the run. If we neglect this physical need, in no way can the race be continued in the manner we want it to be.
The will tank, on the other hand, is probably more sacred. It is not something that we can fill up with. I think it is something that needs to be nurtured. And I experienced it today while I did my double century ride.
I have never fully comprehended what it is meant by "digging deep". I recall Triathlete magazine depicting Craig Alexander's run in Kona 2009, how he had to "dig deep" to make up the lost time in the bike, while Chris Lieto was in the lead. Mind you, it was a 12min deficit for Craig to close up. In the end, Craig won by 2.5 min.
I would not put myself in the same shoes as Craig for sure. But as I hit out for the 200km ride, by the time I reached the 185km mark, the mind was playing all sorts of games. Yes, by then, the ride had slowed down by a lot. I had to shift my posterior into various positions so that I could get into a more comfortable posture. I had 2 fuel stops - one at 50km mark, the other at 106km mark. And with the 5km run at the back of my head, and while grimacing all the way home during the last 15km, I had already made up my mind not to do the run.
It was during this moment I had this thought about fuel and will tank. And had thought that, my will had gone empty on me.
Lo and behold, as I got home, jumped off my bike after having spent 7.25hours on the saddle, I felt fine! Put on my shoes and hit out on my run. It was a decent pace I must admit. Because my legs really felt fine. I did a 4.3km run because its the loop round my estate, instead of the stipulated 5km, in 22:37, at a pace of 5:14min/km. How long I can keep this up, frankly, it wont be long.
I think many times we think that we were running on empty. But is it an empty fuel tank or will tank? Both are so closely knitted, that I think we cant distinguish between the 2 of them. I will say that if we had observed our nutrition diligently during the leg, and if we give up, its the will tank that has been cleared. However, having said that, I think the will tank is deeper than we think it is. How deep is the will tank? I think it is proportional to how much we want "IT". I am no pschologist nor an expert in this area. Something that I concluded while fueling myself up in the endurance race preparation. Perhaps food for thought.
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