Hitting The Wall: From Ironman to High School Competitors - The Spirit of Julie Moss

Recently, I was trying to explain to beginning runners what "hitting the wall" means. Here are some examples:

1. Paula Newby Frazier, a world-class triathlete champion, hit the wall during the 1995 Ironman Hawaii. For a while, she seemed disoriented and at one point lied down onto the ground. However, she refused to give up and eventually continued on !!!



2. At a 5K cross-country race, a high school competitor seemed to have hit the wall, fell and could not get up. One spectator was upset that nobody would offer assistance. But like any official races, if he had been helped, he could have been disqualified. In the end, the fellow crawled and collapsed at the finish line. But he completed the race by sheer will power !!!



3. I had tears in my eyes when I first watched this video. They were fighting for .... 4th place !!!



4. And finally: The Spirit of Julie Moss in the 1982 Ironman Hawaii !!!



Reference:

* Wikipedia / Hitting the Wall: "..... In endurance sports such as cycling and running, hitting the wall or the bonk describes a condition caused by the depletion of glycogen stores in the liver and muscles, which manifests itself by sudden fatigue and loss of energy. Milder instances can be remedied by brief rest and the ingestion of food or drinks containing carbohydrates. The condition can usually be avoided by ensuring that glycogen levels are high when the exercise begins, maintaining glycogen levels during exercise by eating or drinking carbohydrate-rich substances, or by reducing exercise intensity...."

* Wikipedia / Ironman Triathlon: "..... An Ironman is one of a series of long-distance triathlon races organized by the World Triathlon Corporation (WTC) consisting of a 2.4-mile (3.86 km) swim, a 112-mile (180.25 km) bike and a marathon 42.195-kilometre (26.219 mi) run, raced in that order and without a break. Most Ironman events have a strict time limit of 17 hours to complete the race, where the Ironman race starts at 7:00 AM, the mandatory swim cut off for the 2.4-mile (3.9 km) swim is 2 hours 20 minutes, the bike cut off time is 5:30 PM, and all finishers must complete their marathon by midnight..."