Have you ever bonked?

Read the link HERE to an adventure blog which I follow. It discusses the sensations of "bonking". I think most people have never been to this physically depleted state where the body revolts and starts to shut down.

I am perpetually disappointed when I hear people say stuff like 'Oh I could never run a marathon'. In most cases that isn't true, rather they don't want to commit to the training necessary to prepare the mind and body for running that far.

Similarly, I think people believe they are done, tired, out of energy, spent. But in most cases this is purely a mental trick, and the body is capable of much more. I contend that if you haven't bonked, you have no idea how far you can push your body, where the outer limit of your body really is. A favorite and relevant quote:

"The mind is too fickle. Optimistic one minute, pessimistic the next, pitching back and forth like a rowboat on big seas. Not the body. the body doesn't exaggerate or self-deprecate or play mindgames. The body is a machine, a realist...The body is an animal. It moves and lives only in the present."

Mark Jenkins
A Man's Life

Have you ever bonked? (Marc I don't mean the over the handlebars at 30mph kind of bonk). Do you really know how far you can push yourself? If not, the next time you run, swim, bike, or hike go until you can't go any further...then go further. Maybe 2 more laps in the pool. Perhaps another lap around the block. That one extra mile in the saddle. I guarantee you can do it, then you'll have to figure out how much further you could go the next time!