By Bill Plock
My 11-year-old daughter watched the video of Rinny and immediately said she wants to run with her. I found that interesting. I asked her why and she said Rinny seems “cool”. I would agree, but wait, there is so much more!
I had no idea what to expect when I met Mirinda Carfrae as we filmed “Road to Kona through Boulder.” I would say “cool” is a good first stab at describing her, but after seeing it filmed live and re-watching her video in the Audi TT with Amy, I would add many other words; genuine, likeable, intense, private, simple, smart, and fun to name a few.
I want to focus on “simple”. When you watch the video, about two-thirds into it, she comments about growing up on a farm as one of six kids. Her tone changed compared to rattling off advice to Amy about racing Kona, and I felt like Rinny was opening that crevice into the mind of a World Champion that I so wanted to experience. She said, “I guess no one ever expected me to do anything in life.”
She continues saying she loves the challenge the sport gives her and seeing how fast she can go and adds, what motivates her to get out of bed each morning is her quest for a “perfect race”. She admits she has had some great races but not the perfect one.
There is a saying that I sometimes use, maybe abuse at times, and that is “don’t ruin good for perfect”. But maybe, the quest for perfection is what drives a champion more than anything. It feels like with Rinny she has an amazing depth of self-motivation that goes beyond perfect, maybe more like “utopic.”
At the end of the filming session a day after my own painful experience at Harvest Moon 70.3 where I felt like I dug deeper in my run pain than I ever had, I asked Rinny to describe her ability to dig deep. I really don’t think she understood my question in that she gave me a look like “isn’t pain just normal and taken for granted.” It truly is in her nature to dig deep; she doesn’t decide to be in pain she just is and that is the part of the challenge she relishes, that part she wants to test and perfect—I believe.
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I think “perfection” is what we as amateurs share with pros, but I believe it also separates us. I suspect I weigh the consequences of pain with how it will affect the rest of my life and choose how much to suffer rather than just letting go. I believe Rinny lets go and in each and every race she learns something else about herself and that is why she can push so hard and is so motivating and inspiring.
I hope you check out the videos in this series and listen close, and watch her, see her body language, listen to her tones and find those secrets that for her are just who she is. Hopefully if nothing else maybe you can step outside yourself, imagine it is you who is being asked these same questions and as ask yourself to respond.
I hope in Kona after cheering her on, my daughter will feel inspired for the rest of her life, and maybe she will have the honor of meeting Rinny!
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