What Are You Training For?

People who see me lifting at the gym or running on the track often ask, "What are you training for?"  Setting aside their poor English for a moment, I usually just shrug my shoulders and casually respond, “nothing special.”  However, this response is not all-in-all accurate.

The simple truth is I train to test my soul, venturing inward to see if I am willing to accept that day’s challenge.  “Can I add one more kilo to this or that particular lift?”  “Can I shave a few tenths of a second off this or that repeat?”  Irrespective of my day-to-day results, this test, this internal challenge, this search for perfection is what keeps me coming back for more.  I must accept and battle that challenge each and every workout.

Now, I realize most people can’t handle this answer, especially at six in the morning, and the unfortunate reality is that we are all living in a society that is growing ever softer by the day, both mentally and physically.  Nonetheless, select communities give me reason to hope, and I am striving to embody the change I want to see in this world, nothing more, nothing less.

The road to improvement is obstructed by the mightiest of gauntlets so keep testing yourself, folks.  Don't get slow.