Skip to main content

A Little Inspiration

No one can ever get too much inspiration. About six years ago I passed out on the YMCA pool deck after the BEST swim workout of my life. I totally forgot it was the best swim workout because I was blinded by the incident which included my face and body planting on the metal bleachers and finally on the hard tile pool deck. It was one of those moments you would only expect to see on TV: Person passes out, doctor is present to be the good Samaritan, Pool staff has banana in back pocket, and another swimmer gives me Gatorade. I recovered quickly; as a matter of fact that same night I was at the bar getting drunk with my bestest friend!

It took me years to get over that incident. Every time I went to the pool I was worried that I was going to pass out again, every time I went out for a run I thought I was going to hurt myself, and every time I hopped on my bike I thought I was going to get hit by a car or fall off. I still went to the pool, hit the trails and rode my bike but never comfortably. It is many years later and I rarely think about that moment anymore because I started drawing inspiration from new, positive sources.

I realized that when I would experience a 'tragic' moment in my life I would focus on the tragedy rather than what I learned from that moment. I am now in the habit of focusing on the good things. Do you remember that extremely difficult run I had a few weeks ago? Do you also remember that I finished that run and felt great afterwards? Yeah, I do too. Of course I remember that I broke down, but what I learned from that moment is that I can get through any struggle.

This morning, while engaging in my favorite Sunday morning activity, otherwise known as Facebook, I ran across a video posted by both my sister and cousin about Rick and Dick. Dick wanted to run a marathon and Rick instead of focusing on why Dick couldn't run a marathon, focused on making Dick's dream come true. This is not the same video I saw on facebook but it is a great interview with Rick. I am going to draw inspiration from this for quite some time. Take the five minutes to watch. It will change your life:



Comments

  1. I love watching the Ironman because they tell of these amazing stories of the people who overcome and finish.

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

All in a Day's Work

I don't even know how to begin this post... Several months ago, my sister had this bright idea to do her first half iron distance triathlon. I have always wanted to do one so I told her if she did it I would do it too. Next thing I know I was clicking register now on the registration page of the Highcliff Triathlon in Wisconsin. You can read about some of the reactions I received when I announced to various friends that I was going to do this race here . Over the months my friends have taken on the challenge of being supportive and cheering me on along the way. This was no easy feat as I was on the training roller coaster. As the day approached, I thought about all of the possible things that could go wrong and right. I had visions of myself standing on the side of the bike course with a flat tire, me holding on to a lifeguard boat, dreams about wearing clown shoes for the run, and on and on... I also day dreamed about the finish line, what it might look like, who would be the

I Have Multiple Sclerosis

One of my favorite bike rides ever! I have debated whether I was going to make this public for quite some time, however there really aren't any significant reasons why I wouldn't share. It hasn't impacted my life dramatically, and if I'm lucky, it never will. I also don't want to be a poster child, nor do I require or want any special treatment simply because I have MS. The thing is, I know more and more people who are impacted significantly by this disease and I feel compelled to help the cause. So for one purpose only, I am outing myself. Here's the brief story. Two years ago my tongue went numb, my arm went numb and I though I slept funny or had a mini stroke. I brushed it off as sleeping funny day after day, after day. Then my eye started twitching, among other symptoms. I decided I was simply crazy... After a while all of these symptoms became so infuriating so I went to the doctor. While at the doctor, he chalked it up to stress, but after a closer

Jumping the Gun!

This is a 'total' bonus post for the week. I highly recommend reading my previous post, to better understand where I am coming from. You can check it out here .  I am not going to go into details but my name and grandma have been used in a sentence TWICE the past two days. Seriously? Do I look or act that old??? I must... Perhaps it is all the pie making! I am a woman of my word (for the most part, we all falter from time to time) and I mentioned in my last post that there was a chance I was jumping the gun with my dramatic flare related to being sidelined! Well, sidelined I am, but maybe for less time than I initially anticipated. The doctor will tell me my plan in three weeks. The overarching goal? The Chicago Marathon!  While running the Columbus Marathon, last year, I was blessed with amazing spectators and also running companions during the race. One of my companions was my sister. Somewhere near mile 25 she took a picture of me STILL smiling. It isn't ofte