The first thing I need to do in order for people to properly understand this article is to define two terms. Those terms are Hurt and Injure. There may be better terms to use, but I've found these are the easiest for people to understand and differentiate between.
One of the dictionary definitions of Hurt is, "to cause bodily pain to". That's the definition we'll be working with.
The definition for Injure that we'll be using is, "to do or cause harm of any kind to; damage; impair".
Now that those terms are defined, please do not confuse my usage of "hurt" in the text below to mean "injure". Injuries are real and should be dealt with wisely.
ONE of the Beautiful things about OCRs is that they are designed to HURT you.
Isn't that one of the big things we love about the sport? We muster up the guts and grit to travel to a race where we KNOW we'll be hurting for (potentially) hours. People who were never athletes, who've never ran a race in their lives, who are overweight, who are "too old", who are "too young", who are "too weak" make a conscious decision to put themselves through the HURT of the race.
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Why would anyone do it? Why would anyone knowingly put themselves through that pain? I've heard more than one person say that people who run OCRs must be crazy. I know I'm not just speaking for myself when I say that many do it because they know that the hurting doesn't matter when they have so much more to gain on the other side of that pain.
Real growth is achieved after swimming through an ocean of hurt. It Does make us stronger. It does make us tougher. Our minds and bodies grow as a result of hurting and continuing on anyway. We break through mental barriers and show ourselves that we are capable of more than we ever thought was possible. We break through doubts and fears.
OCR has given hundreds of thousands, if not millions, of people the opportunity to strengthen their bodies and minds through pain. For myself, I started racing for fun and found that it hurt a lot. But I also found that I grew so much because of the pain I experienced on the course. Every time I conquered an obstacle I knocked down another barrier in my mind. Every time I reached the top of a daunting mountain climb, I pushed through another obstacle in my mind.
I can't imagine some of the changes other people have experienced as a result of allowing themselves to be hurt. I'd love to hear about some of those changes though! Please comment and tell your story!
I'm so heavily involved in OCR for many reasons. I think it's the greatest, most complete sport available to the public. I think it is the perfect mix of endurance, strength, and speed. It gels with some of my favorite childhood activities. It's given me an outlet to push my limits in a competitive sports environment. It's given me a competitive outlet. It's brought me in contact with innumerable awesome people. And I've grown as a result of the physical and mental hurt I've experienced throughout.
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