This week, I am competing in the World Master's Winter Games in beautiful Quebec City. I love visiting Quebec, even in winter, when it can be bitterly cold. I had been training all season for this week, and would compete in long track speed skating, short track speed skating, and for my first time ever, attempt a 50km skate marathon.
I had very good success at the long track and short track events, with many new personal best times and a lot of medals. But along came the marathon.
In reality, I had no idea what this would be like. 30 laps on a 1.65k track on a lake, with cracks and bumps and uneven surfaces. It was blindingly sunny, and cold enough to be a concern (-15 degrees C with a steady ~15kph wind). But I was here and it was there and so I figured "how bad can it be?"
Anyone who knows me knows I am pretty stubborn. I hate not finishing what I start. I know that if I believe I can finish, I do, that mental toughness is what gets me to the finish line. But 2/3rds of the way through this marathon, I was beginning to think that perhaps I had met my match.
Starting lap 21, I realized that my left hand was starting to go numb. I had packed in my jacket pocket some fleece hand covers (think: basic mittens) for exactly this situation. I pulled one on and within a lap, the hand felt better. Then the right one - same problem, so same solution, right? Well, I guess that left hand hadn't really warmed up because it probably took 2 laps to get the fleece cover on my right hand. I had to use my teeth to pull the cover on, and to position it. At one point, I accidentally bit my right hand - and couldn't feel it - at all.
That's not good, I thought to myself, really not good.
6 laps to go. What do I do now? Finish? Quit? I had already committed so much time and effort, and was so close to being done. But I knew this was getting very close to the edge of being dangerous (frostbite perhaps? Nerve damage? Hypothermia?) so I better decide. Ok, I'll decide at the end of this lap.
Which turned into the next lap.
Then the next lap.
Two to go. I can finish. I tried to wiggle my toes, something I had been doing every half lap (every turn), and realized they were now numb too. Oh MacIntosh, what have you got yourself into this time?
The last stretch was probably my fastest leg of the entire race. I crossed the finish line and immediately bolted for the warming hut and the hot chocolate. I sat in the hut, wearing all my clothes, shivering for at least half an hour, and even today, the day after, I still have some tingling in my big toes and one fingertip.
Why didn't I stop? I clearly knew I could have seriously hurt myself. There was no pride in stopping, in not finishing, as many others had already done so throughout the race. And this was my first time trying, right?
It comes down to self-persuasion. In Robert Cialdini's landmark book Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion he described the six universal principles of persuasion: reciprocity, authority, scarcity, consistency, liking, and social proof. I wanted to be consistent with my commitment to finish, and with my already-committed efforts so far (if I didn't want to finish, why had I already invested 20+ laps into this endeavour?). I wanted to be part of the social proof where others had already finished, and I wanted to be in that group (if they can do it, so can I right?). The scarcity, or exclusiveness, of the finishing group was also appealing (this is pretty bad ass, not a lot of people can say they've done one of these). These factors essentially got me to the finish line, even when there were clear signs of risk to my well being.
It is amazing what we can persuade ourselves to do.
AMac
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