Birth of My AlterEgo – 39 Days Left

Yesterday was a big day. It was my birthday. Now before you start wishing me happy birthday, it was not Guy Reams’ birthday. That occurred in July. Yesterday, April 24th is the birthday of an alternative me. One that I may or may not like. This new me, this alternative me is unpredictable. I have no idea where this unruly new born creature is going to go. One thing is for certain, he is not going to be constrained by what is normal, what people expect. Today, this morning, I am riding at dawn with a new companion. So my alternative self has become manifest. I better get ready. This alternative me does not accept excuses, or weak cop outs. He takes the challenge head on, runs full force into the tempest.

As Eminem has Slim Shady. As Bo Jackson has Jason, As Dr. Jekyll had Mr. Hyde, I now have my other self. My alter ego if you will. This morning is the rise of Tyler (If you know what that means, the first rule is we do not talk about it). So I am embracing dissociation behaviour. When I need to drive to new heights, when I need to break the mold, when I need to run 50 miles instead of 20, when I need to finish my pushups and not quit half way – Tyler is going to step in. Tyler Reams. He is that punk you hate, the one you avoid, but the one when you really need to survive – trust above all others.

I am a nice person, spend most my time thinking about how I can help those around me. I am altruistic by nature, appreciate beautiful things. I like to relax, spend time with loved ones and enjoy great conversations and love to inspire others and to be inspired. Tyler is not so nice. He is a crazed animal who is not afraid to lob a few heads as he passionately drives, with purpose, towards an objective. He runs blind, focused and oblivious to the damage he is causing to himself and others. I really do not like this Tyler character. We would never be friends, and I certainly would not want to hang out with him.

However, it is 6am. I am about ready to go do a sprint routine for my marathon preparation. This is going to be brutal. I will most likely falter and fail before I can complete today’s objective. The sprint intervals are so hard, and so frequent that I will be pushing 90% max for an extended period of time. The goal is an hour – but I will most likely crumble after 20. Rarely have I made it very far in this process, although each week I try on sprint day. Guy will fail, and quit before it gets too hard. Tyler, however, will not. Tyler will charge down the track with reckless abandon and when pain comes, and fatigue sets in he will grin with a devilish smile and pour more into his running stride. Instead of quitting at an hour, he will go an hour and 20 minutes – just to crush the soul of Guy and prove what a weakling he really is.

Tyler doesn’t just meet the objective of running a marathon in 4 hours. Tyler destroys it. Tyler runs so freaking hard that he puts fear into competitors that he is behind. He hunts down pour souls that are running in the loop around my neighborhood and flies past them with speed and strength that causes them to wilt under the comparison. Tyler takes no prisoners, Tyler does not stop. Tyler dominates everything, anything and anyone around him. Tyler does not need gels, nutrition supplements, compression sleeves, and other toys. Tyler needs a path and an objective. That is it. Set him on the course and he lights the world on fire. He is the Sherman that burns the South and crushes the rebel resistance.

So clearly I cannot let this guy take over during my normal day. That would be disastrous. I would lose friends, upset my colleagues, ruin my health, and damage the things that are important to me. My moral compass always points North and I will not, nor cannot accept a path that leads in any other direction. However, I recognize that I will encounter obstacle in my life’s journey. Mountains to climb. Streams to ford. Canyons to trespass. The straight line is not always possible, so therefore, I will call upon Tyler when then times get tough, when the sun falls below the horizon, then the ravens flock overhead and the canteen runs dry.

So for the next 39 days, Tyler is taking over my running preparation program. Sorry Guy, soft little wimps like you are not allowed to run marathons, do sprint training or strength training. Wimps like Guy can go ahead and eat sugar filled smoothies and tasty little treats, Tyler eats raw complex natural macro nutrients and loves the fact that it tastes like cardboard. In fact, he will sprinkle a little extra cardboard on top of his bowl of cardboard just to make it so much more nasty. Tyler wishes it was not so nice out this morning. He wishes it was raining, or worse.

Tyler accepts no excuse, listens to no objection, overcomes any obstacles. Setbacks are actually just hurdles to jump over along the way. Sorry folks – the next 39 days – Tyler is in control of this blog.

Tyler Reams (1)

365 Member

39 Days Left Until 1st Marathon