AN ESSAY ON PAIN
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Fri, 10 Aug 2007 by William Lobdell
Last night, the Iron Kahuna is reading Outside, his favorite magazine, and he came across a story headlined: "Swim. Bike. Run. Shoot. Kill." It's about how the Navy SEALS have discovered that while their graduation rate is 26%, among triathetes its 40%. So, the Navy is trying to recruit athletes into the SEAL program.
The author of the piece, Tim Sohn, says that triathletes make good recruits because they are "wiry all-arounders who tend to be focused, good both on land and in the water, and largely indifferent to physical discomfort."
The Kahuna understands what the writer is saying about being "largely indifferent to physical discomfort," but that seems suggest that triathletes don't feel or mind pain. The Kahuna hurts, a lot, when training or competing. Still, for him, it's one of the main draws of triathlon. He doesn't get pleasure from the pain. In fact, he fears it. But by working his way through the fear and the pain, he molds himself into a tougher, stronger, more mature Kahuna.
Pain is good.
