— Tommy Lasorda
Perseverance is defined as the steady persistence in a course of action, a purpose, etc., especially in spite of difficulties, obstacles or discouragement. Deciding to persevere is no more difficult than deciding to quit. And when you decide to keep pressing forward, the rewards are infinitely greater than if you had decided to give up.
I chose the word perseverance as the main theme in this weeks entry because all of us can identify times in our lives when we've had to persevere. This certainly holds true for the cancer patient. And while they persevere day after day, though chemotherapy, radiation, surgery or any number of other protocols best suited to combat their particular diagnosis, we too, the non-cancer individuals, need to persevere in any way we can, to do our part and remind them that we are with them each and every step of the way.
Who, among us, has not had to dig deep down, at some point in our lives, to see something through to its completion? In my life, I have been presented numerous opportunities to either persevere or quit and, if I am to be completely honest with myself, have done my share of both. While it is true that in those instances where I chose to quit, I may have missed out on the rewards those particular opportunities offered, luckily, life always seems to present me with others.
Who, among us, has not had to dig deep down, at some point in our lives, to see something through to its completion? In my life, I have been presented numerous opportunities to either persevere or quit and, if I am to be completely honest with myself, have done my share of both. While it is true that in those instances where I chose to quit, I may have missed out on the rewards those particular opportunities offered, luckily, life always seems to present me with others.
I realize I am very fortunate that, as things stand now, I have my health and I am able to pursue whatever it is I want to pursue. Having my health is a gift, no doubt, and I try never to lose sight of that and to give thanks for that every chance I can. That's why I feel so blessed and honored to still be able to run and raise funds for innovative cancer research. To be able to do this for those that can't truly is a gift and one I feel compelled, determined and motivated to take advantage of as long as I can. I say "able" because there is a fine line between wanting to do something and being able or not being able to do that something.
Ask any runner and they will tell you that running is a love/hate relationship. There are some days when I absolutely love running and other days, not so much ! Runners will agree that they love, (ok....maybe not love so much as enjoy) running, especially when they are feeling good, their body is free of pain or fatigue, and mentally they are in a good spot and have their "mojo" going for them, if you will. However, if any one of those elements is missing, it's easy to understand how the opposite holds true. It makes perfect sense. I can tell you from experience that running long distances can be enjoyable when everything is cooperating. Realistically, the "challenges" or obstacles that present themselves typically do so well into the long run and that's when we have to dig deep, persevere and press forward. Persevere or quit !!!
With just 9 weeks until the marathon, that leaves only 6 more weeks to build up our long run distances ideally to the 20 to 22 mile range. We enter a phase called tapering 3 weeks before the marathon where we cut back on weekly mileage to give our bodies a chance to recover, rest and build up strength to run the marathon. With intense training week after week, the likelihood of injury increases, so the taper phase is just as important as the actual training.
Training for a spring marathon in New England poses all kinds of weather challenges. Two weeks ago the group long run was canceled because of extreme cold temperatures. Kerry and I ran 14 miles indoors, on side by side treadmills, at her gym. Mind over matter, I can't say for sure, but what I can say for sure is that there were times when quitting was at the forefront of our thoughts. "No shortcuts" was the theme of that weeks long run and so we forged on, saw it through and were very happy to have those miles logged in the books. Thanks to the blizzard this past weekend, our second group run of the season was canceled. Once again, Kerry and I opted not to take the weekend off, even though it was perfectly justifiable, and ran again, side by side, on treadmills at her gym. This week we added 2 more miles to the distance we did on the treadmills a few weeks ago making it 16 miles. I was so grateful that Kerry was their, along side me, the entire time. We didn't say it at all during the entire run, but both of us wanted to stop long before we even hit the 8 mile mark, let alone mile 16. I speak for both of us when I say that we hope and pray that the weather cooperates the rest of the winter as neither one of us can bear to think about doing any higher distances on the "dreadmill!" There is a huge difference between running 16 miles on the treadmill and 26.2 miles on a marathon course. I'd rather run 26.2 miles on a marathon course any day !!!
Once we were done, we decided to relax in the hot tub, good for those sore muscles.....right? Well, it turned out not to be a very good decision on my part because I got very dizzy and felt sick to my stomach. While taking a shower, those feelings got worse and I ended up passing out. There were no chairs and it happened before I had the chance to sit down. I ended up hitting my forehead on the side of the shower when I fell down and banged my knee too. When I came to, I was face down on the floor of the shower, cold water pouring down on me and my towel completely soaked. Luckily, other than a very sore forehead and a small bump, lots of ice and ibuprofen did the trick for me. In fact, I showed no signs of a concussion and ate like a king about an hour or so later. I consider myself extremely lucky as there could have been any number of bad outcomes. As for why I got dizzy in the first place, my internal temperature hadn't had the chance to cool off from 2 hours and 40 minutes of running and sitting in that hot water only added to my already high internal temperature. Another valuable lesson learned.
Once we were done, we decided to relax in the hot tub, good for those sore muscles.....right? Well, it turned out not to be a very good decision on my part because I got very dizzy and felt sick to my stomach. While taking a shower, those feelings got worse and I ended up passing out. There were no chairs and it happened before I had the chance to sit down. I ended up hitting my forehead on the side of the shower when I fell down and banged my knee too. When I came to, I was face down on the floor of the shower, cold water pouring down on me and my towel completely soaked. Luckily, other than a very sore forehead and a small bump, lots of ice and ibuprofen did the trick for me. In fact, I showed no signs of a concussion and ate like a king about an hour or so later. I consider myself extremely lucky as there could have been any number of bad outcomes. As for why I got dizzy in the first place, my internal temperature hadn't had the chance to cool off from 2 hours and 40 minutes of running and sitting in that hot water only added to my already high internal temperature. Another valuable lesson learned.
Fundraising: I am happy to announce that our fundraising efforts, thanks to so many of you already, continue to come in. As of today and with your help, I am at $2,985 towards my personal goal of $7,000. I am just $500 away from being at 50% of my personal goal. So again, a great big thank you to those of you that have already donated and I look forward to future donations. I can't say enough how grateful I am that with each new entry in my blog I am able to share with you an increase from the previous entry. This is yet another testament that, collectively, we are all doing our part to be difference makers!
I will close again with the definition of perseverance at the top of the blog as it applies to the work that continues to be done to rid the world of cancer:
Perseverance is defined as the steady persistence (kicking cancers butt is a 24/7 commitment) in a course of action (raise funds for innovative cancer research), a purpose (a world without cancer), etc., especially in spite of difficulties (running a marathon is hard), obstacles (the weather, injuries, self-doubt) or discouragement (the possibilities that the trials may not work, time is running out). Deciding to persevere is no more difficult than deciding to quit. And when you decide to keep pressing forward, the rewards are infinitely greater than if you had decided to give up.
With heartfelt thanks and many, many inspired miles......
Steve
I will close again with the definition of perseverance at the top of the blog as it applies to the work that continues to be done to rid the world of cancer:
Perseverance is defined as the steady persistence (kicking cancers butt is a 24/7 commitment) in a course of action (raise funds for innovative cancer research), a purpose (a world without cancer), etc., especially in spite of difficulties (running a marathon is hard), obstacles (the weather, injuries, self-doubt) or discouragement (the possibilities that the trials may not work, time is running out). Deciding to persevere is no more difficult than deciding to quit. And when you decide to keep pressing forward, the rewards are infinitely greater than if you had decided to give up.
With heartfelt thanks and many, many inspired miles......
Steve
No comments:
Post a Comment