Thursday 22 December 2011

Finish line in sight

When reading up on Ironman I cam across a very interesting fact.  It is that people running endurance events can collapse in sight of the finish line.  The reason is that the runner's brain has blocked out the pain during the race but when they see the finish line the brain stops blocking the pain out and the runner collapses.  So for Ironman when I saw the finish line I had pre-programmed my brain not to accept it as the end and that it was beyond the finish line.
In the run up to Xmas it feels like an endurance event and I can feel the finish line in sight but don't want to acknowledge it in case I "collapse".  Like most people I've been "running on empty" and I'm looking forward to a break, time with the family, a change of routing.  But that doesn't mean sitting on my bum for the holidays, but it will be a welcome break.  So tomorrow as the finish line approaches I will be looking beyond it and will probably see my family sitting round the table with a big fat turkey and all the trimmings!