The Invictus rules are as follows. 1)Be bold. Fortune favors the bold. Be bold and challenge yourself! Set a goal to achieve something that is so big it excites you and scares you at the same time. It must be a goal that is so appealing, so in line with your spiritual core, that you can’t get it out of your mind. If you don’t get the chills when you set a goal, you’re not setting big enough goals. In the end, the journey toward these more challenging goals will be more meaningful. 2)Amat victoria cuman (Victory loves preparation). After you set a goal, prepare for it properly with respect for the goal and with a sense of purposeful determination. What fun is this? Why all this hard work? Where will it get you? The philosopher-coach Brutus Hamilton said, “It is one of the strangest ironies of this strange life that those who work the hardest, who subject themselves to the strictest disciplines, who give up certain pleasurable things in order to achieve a goal, are the happiest of men.” 3)Quocunque jeceris stabit (Whichever way you throw me, I stand; the motto of the Isle of Man). In Invictus, Henley gives example after example of him being positive, even thankful, although life has not gone his way. When things don’t go your way in life, in training, or in a race, check your mindset and think not only about what you’re thinking, but how you’re thinking. What’s your attitude when things don’t go your way? When you’re injured or sick? Are you being positive? Are you being upbeat? Smile when things get tough and you’ll find it easier to land standing up, wherever life throws you. 4)Be courageous. Author and diarist Anaïs Nin wrote, “Life shrinks or expands in proportion to one’s courage.” I am reminded, too, of the words Christopher Robin spoke to Winnie the Pooh: “Promise me you’ll always remember: You’re braver than you believe, and stronger than you seem, and smarter than you think.” Be brave in training and you’ll have a better chance to be brave in your race. Train yourself to be brave. There are great wells of strength in all of us. The harder you work, the harder it is to surrender. 5)Pain is inevitable, suffering is optional. Endurance training and racing always involve a certain level of discomfort. I won’t tell you to ignore it, but I will tell you to embrace it and deal with it, in an Invictus way. My crew chief for the Furnace Creek 508 wrote the word Invictus on the back window of the van. Every time the van would pass me I was pleasantly reminded about the option I had to suffer or to smile, be positive and deal with it. After all, this is where I wanted to be. I choose to be here in the desert and I am not suffering even though there is a great deal of discomfort. Why? Because this is where I choose to be. Alfred Lord Tennyson’s classic
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M ISSOURI RUNNER AND TRIATHLETE SPRING 2012
poem Ulysses runs through my mind. In the poem, Ulysses describes, to an unspecified audience, his discontent and restlessness upon returning to his kingdom, Ithaca, after his farranging travels. Facing old age, Ulysses yearns to explore again. For most of this poem’s history, readers viewed Ulysses as resolute and heroic, admiring him for his determination. Endurance athletes understand this restlessness, determination and discontent. Endurance athletes understand the final line in his poem and this yearning to explore again our personal limitations. “Made weak by time and fate, but strong in will to strive, to seek, to find, and not to yield.” Endurance sports are different than, say, football. You need courage in football because large guys are going to hit you really hard. You have no choice. But a marathoner does have a choice. You can back off—or stop, step off the course, sit down and call it a day! It takes deep perseverance, resilience and courage to push yourself, rather than be pushed by someone else. You can make your own rules about how you want to think and the attitude you have when training and racing. I truly believe there is a crossover with our attitudes on the athletic field and our attitudes in life. With this in mind we need to be careful with what we think and how we think. An unknown author once wrote the following. Watch your thoughts; they become words. Watch your words; they become actions. Watch your actions; they become habits. Watch your habits; they become character. Watch your character; it becomes your destiny. Your destiny and the goals you choose and the races you compete in are strongly influenced by your thoughts. The difference between a great outcome and a poor one can be one, small, good positive thought or one, small, positive word. INVICTUS RULES. — Coach Arenberg Coach Michael Arenberg has an M.B.S. in exercise physiology from the University of Colorado. He has been a competitive distance runner and triathlete for 39 years, completing 28 marathons and 15 Ironman triathlons, including 3 times qualifying for the Ironman World Championships. He has coached U.S. men’s and women’s Olympic Trials qualifiers in the marathon and two top-10 finishers in the U.S. Men’s Marathon Championships, as well as multiple Ironman World Championship qualifiers. Coach Arenberg is available for coaching and can be contacted at makona94@aol.com If you have a training question for Coach Mike, send him an e-mail at the above address. While he is unable to personally respond to every question, answers will appear from time to time in Missouri Runner and Triathlete.
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