Lately I have been just sitting back and doing nothing that you could call exercise. I have been doing some thinking as to what I like in sports. I have determined that I like watching the people who are mentally strong.
Sports like marathons, triathlons, distance swimming, ultra –anything is what is now catching my attention. When I read about people doing an Ironman race it’s always the people that struggle and overcome that make me want to sign up. I love to see people want to stop but keep going. They overcome and do more then most.
Overcome! A few weeks back I was flipping through the channels when I saw what I thought was the Olympic opening ceremonies. I flipped back just in time to see a man in a wheelchair hoisting himself and his chair up to light the Paralympic flame. I jumped up and ran to the other room so that I could record it. I watched as much I could until I had to leave. WOW!
That night my wife and I watched these folks swim, run, wheel, and just plain compete. They did a bunch of athlete profiles that my wife said depressed her. A co-worker said the same thing as I spoke to him the next day about the games. I think the opposite. I see mental strength beyond what most could imagine. I watched a person who can barley walk to the pool get in and swim like a fish. I watched a man frozen with ALS move gracefully in his boat on the water. You can almost see all they have overcome in life just to compete. I see the fire in their eyes and it makes me want to be better. Now I just need to get up and get going.
2 comments:
Don't forget you just ran a marathon! Chin up!
Slow Sam, you hit the nail on the head. Each of us has our limitations...obviously, the ones on TV were more dramatic than yours and mine...but you overcame and finished your marathon. The people who were challenged on tv overcame and succeeded as well.
You finished your marathon. Are you done? I bet you are not. You need to pick your next challenge and move toward conquering it. The beauty is that you and I get to pick because we did not get our challenge handed to us (ALS or other physical obstacle).
My next challenge is a trail run in February (Red Top Rumble). It will be cold and maybe wet. It will be uphill (both ways). I will not win, take second or win my age group...But I would not trade it for anything!
John in Cartersville
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