Extremists?

Simmer down t-shirt boy.  You lumped yourself in that group, not me!

Brad, I can't say as I TOTALLY understand what you're saying, but I kinda get it.  But whatever strand of DNA that is, it's not in my blood.

I have to agree with Ed on a couple of points.  First, although there ARE people who want to "find the limit" of their physical and mental abilities, I guarantee that the "Tough Mudder" and "Spartan Race" crowd has very few of those people.  I would love to see a survey of Tough Mudder participants about the degree of their preparation for the race.  My guess is that the majority of the participants did little to no preparation at all.  Those people don't qualify under your description Brad.

If you read through my earlier post again, I referenced "extreme" athletes who push themselves to the limits for the purpose of competition, because that's what it takes to be at the "top of their game".  I get that.  I also understand people like you, Brad, who must actually train to accomplish the feats that you set out to do.  I'd venture a guess to say that there aren't a lot of people that hop on a plane willy nilly and fly to Africa to climb Kilimanjaro.  Nobody signs up for a marathon and shows up the day of the race with a new pair of shoes that they bought on the way from Denny's to the starting line.  I doubt that people decide to climb Everest and show up at the base of the mountain asking directions about the best way to the top.  There is a HUGE difference between people who seek to push their limits in a way that requires training and preparation to accomplish it, and people who show up to run a 5K that happens to have some hanging cattle prods and people shooting you with fire hoses.  That's the t-shirt crowd, and that's what I don't get.

Another point that Ed made that I tend to agree with was his question about where it stops.  I am curious about your feeling of emptiness on the mountain and your immediate swing to "what's next?"  What does it take to make a man say, "That's enough."  Is it physical exhaustion that requires a trip to the hospital?  Is it a near death experience?  Is it a mental breakdown that forces you to admit defeat?  I'm just curious how someone like you (not the t-shirt crowd) ever reaches that point where you aren't empty anymore.  Do you have any thoughts on that?

We probably won't ever come completely to terms on this, and I'm okay with that.  Admittedly, I'm a little fascinated by people who feel the need to test their limits, primarily because I've never been one who has felt that need.  I don't really think one way is right and the other is wrong.  It's just different.  Having just finished Pete Sampras' book, and Andre Agassi's book not long before that, there couldn't be more different people in the tennis world, and yet in the realm of professional tennis they both had absolutely amazing results.

Ultimately I guess it comes down to what makes you tick.  Do they sell "I climbed Kilimanjaro" t-shirts??