Endurance Mathlete

I just ran a ridiculous 8 miles in 85 degrees, and then sat back with my feet up to watch Running the Sahara, a documentary that's been in my queue for the last few weeks.

First of all, after feeling quite sorry for myself during my run this morning, I can assure you that nothing put things in perspective better than this. A team of three elite endurance athletes undertake an expedition to run across the Sahara, from Senegal to Egypt. They run about 50 miles (yes, that's two marathons) each day, with zero days of rest until the Red Sea. Pretty intense stuff.

They each have their highs and lows. At one point Kevin, the Taiwanese marathoner, has a conversation with his girlfriend about potentially leaving the expedition. Read below, and tell me if that doesn't sound familiar.

Kevin: What do you think I should do?

GF: If you don't finish, do you think it means you don't have spirit?

Kevin: A lot of people haven't finished expeditions, but they still have spirit. The way we're going about things...we can't just go forward blindly without a goal, and continue to change directions, relying on luck to get from one place to the next, going a different direction because we can't go where we want to go. It's a big waste of time.

GF: You think you'd regret it?

Kevin: If I don't continue?...

I feel like I've had that exact conversation inside my head about a billion times #whyamIingradschool.

It was actually interesting how many parallels I felt between such extreme endurance athletics, and the great academic marathon that is a PhD. I think it takes a similar type of person to really attack each one wholeheartedly. Physical exertion, or mental exertion, there's something about taking one monumental tasks that seems at first impossible, then unbearable, then totally ridiculous, and all the while, fueled entirely by some internal flame. Something that has such tremendous and sweeping value to you, and probably seems pointless, trivial, or even stupid to the outside observer.

Ah, when business and pleasure collide- I do love affirming moments like this.

<3