Sometimes The Victory Is Not The Finish Line - It's The Starting Line

Sometimes, the win isn’t crossing the finish line. It’s having the courage to step into the arena. To do what's required to step up to the Starting Line. 

Last weekend, I lined up for Ironman Chattanooga ready for war. The pinnacle of triathlons which included a 2.4 mile swim, a 112 mile bike and a full 26.2 mile marathon. Months of training had led to that moment. But the day had other plans...

I cramped immediately during the swim, something that had never happened to me before. Both quads locked up so hard I had to hold on to a kayak twice just to stretch them out. That cost me twenty minutes, but I refused to quit. I pulled water with only my arms for over 1 mile (not using my legs at all) and somehow made it through the 2.4-mile swim in 1 hour 29 minutes. My training, conditioning and mental fortitude definitely paid off in that moment. 

Then came the bike. On the first climb my quads seized again. I couldn’t bend my legs. I had to lay on the side of the road until another athlete gave me salt tabs. I got back on and kept going, only to lock up again on the next climb and take a zero-mile-per-hour fall.

The heat was brutal. The highway was wide open with no shade. Every twenty minutes I passed someone down on the side of the road.

Still, I pushed. But my nutrition was off. My salt intake wasn’t dialed in. My lungs felt strong but my legs simply wouldn’t cooperate. The cramping was just too severe. I started the second of three loops knowing I wouldn’t make the cutoff and rode anyway. When officials stopped me, I had to accept it. DNF (Did Not Finish). 

That hurt. Bad. But as I sat there afterward, I realized something important. The win wasn’t crossing the finish line. The win was showing up at the starting line. 

Three months ago, I couldn’t swim across a 25-meter pool without being out of breath. That day, I swam 2.4 miles and completed 77.9 miles of one of the most grueling IRONMAN bike courses in North America. That was my victory.

In life, in training, and in business, the greatest wins don’t always come with medals or finish lines. They come when you have the courage to test yourself and do something you’re not sure you can do. Something that many say is impossible. With IRONMAN, something that less that 0.01% of the world's population ever complete. 

In Japanese culture, there’s a concept called Misogi. It means doing something so challenging and uncertain that it strips away everything unessential and shows you who you really are.

That’s what this race was for me.

So if you’re facing your own “race” right now, something that scares you or feels impossible, do it anyway. Step into the arena. Because that’s where you find out what you’re truly made of. Whether you cross the "finish line" or not, you will walk away better than you were before. 

Keep pushing forward,

Suresh Madhavan
Founder, 221B Tactical

Gear up for your next challenge.
Shop 221B Tactical