Badasses and heroes

It looks like my world is full of badasses.

So, there's a bunch of these people who just came back from Ironman Loo-uh-ville, they're badasses. I want to touch their finisher medals. Although they are people just like me, I will now have to call them "Iron" people. Badasses, one and all, they did it. Not only did they set the goal for themselves, they trained for it and they went the entire distance. These are all remarkable accomplishments. Lots of people will say they want something, the preparation is not always there. They made it happen.

And Geekgirl will tell you, "if I can do it, you can do it."

I know that people co-exist in houses where one spouse is "normal" and the other is an athlete, but I have to wonder what that's like, 'cos that's so not how it is in my house. My beloved has been training for a 50 mile run in Steamboat Springs. Toying with it. Out of the blue. That's how he rolls. He's called the "8-ball" (that's 8-ball as in Magic 8-ball, the nickname bestowed on him by the Outlaws).

He's not one to just set random targets, he will actually follow through too. Earlier this year he decided to do the Half at Show Low (at the last minute), did virtually all of his biking in the month before the race and still came in at a 5:47. He's crazy fit. But in the case of the 50-miler, he thinks maybe he'll do something else, even though he's been doing 70+ miles a running for this thing - still confident that he could do it, were it not that it's an 8-hour drive away (what next honey, the Hard Rock 100?).

It blows my mind that he's so confident about it - and the craziest thing is, I know he could do it. I want him to do it. But still: who in their ever lovin' mind trains for a 50 mile run? 50. Miles. Running. He runs 70 miles a week and he comes home looking strong.

Crazy.

I know other mere mortals in my local running club who have recently returned from Leadville, where they ran the Leadville 100 trail run. I even have two friends who were pacers for runners this year - they came back to tell me how fun it was. Leadville is even insaner - who the f*ck runs 100 miles? With a STARTING elevation of over 10,000 feet? I know - these People. Yes, they're real too.

Real Crazy.

I've also been following the adventures of this crazy woman, who defies all definition of pretty much anything. "My favorite running distance is 100 miles" she says. She does 100's and 50's routinely, but this time she's gone long: she is 91 days and 1830 miles into her latest adventure in which she runs/hikes/crawls the Pacific Coast Trail. Though I have never met her, oh how I love Catra, her crazy tattoos, her nutty piercings. She's the one who turned me on to running skirts, and for that I thank her most sincerely.

And she too, at the end of the day, is just a person. Just like me (except, well, I have less ink). She has arms and legs. She bleeds, she cries. She probably even swears occasionally.

The accomplishments of these humans will never cease to amaze me. Even so, I have to remember that human potential is a resource that we have never really fully explored.

I have to remember that anything is possible.

How far can I go?