Seek that which is most precious.

“Whāia te iti kahurangi, ki te tuohu me he maunga teitei –

seek that which is most precious, if you should bow, let it be to a lofty mountain.”

I first learned of this through an article on IronMāori, unsurprisingly it resonates deeply with me. Like many Whakataukī it has a brief meaning but the story behind it broadens the context. My understanding is that the background involves a beach, a shell and the longing for a lost love.

The Beach – Is training, there is always more of it, a place I can go when I need to be with my thoughts.

The Longing – Like many my age, I pine for the youthful power I wasted. I know how good I was and have a sense of how much better I might have been. But here I am, searching in the now, still hoping to find something.

The Shell – Found on my beach in training, it does not reveal itself when I race, but through all the precious moments training has given me.

Running 36km in training on a warm humid evening by the sea, I ran a pace that would easily have ended in a personal best marathon; tip-tap, tip tap. I ran that fast, because on that evening, at that time, it felt so good.
I wasn’t racing anyone.

Riding four or more hours from Takapuna to Mangawhai Heads on New Year’s, tired, tired, pedalling over that last small rise to get blasted by a crystal turquoise sea.

Swimming through a calm, calm, sea, into the Sun as it roars up from behind Rangitoto Island.

If I finish Ironman NZ this year it will be my 14^th consecutive finish. If I’m going to train for something it might as well be something big. I’ve never gotten the best from myself in the race. In a sense I’ve been bowed each time. I yearn for a better day, going back again and again to find it. What I gain from that struggle is priceless, never spending a worthless year.
So much searching, so many, many, beaches, so many shells.

“Whāia te iti kahurangi, ki te tuohu me he maunga teitei –

seek that which is most precious, if you should bow, let it be to a lofty mountain.”