Inspiration

I have always been a very driven athlete. I tend to train alone with little to no outside motivation needed to get out the door each day to train. Lately, however, I am finding it harder and harder to get out of bed when that 5am alarm goes off.  Excuses I use are that I am getting older, slowing down is inevitable, my body is telling me it's tired and needs rest, I'll work out later in the day, etc...ya know what I mean?  Of course temps below zero with -20 degree wind chills don't help either!

Another reason I am lazy when I hear the alarm is that I have been dealing with a weird injury (nothing about me is ever normal :-) ) down my left leg. It seems to be some sciatic pain due to either weakness in my hips or tightness in my hips...or most likely both!  Either way, I am still able to bike and swim so I am not completely miserable. But the bottom line is I am still just not that excited about the upcoming season.

Recently, however, two separate incidents occurred that started getting my competitive juices flowing again. The first was in the form of an email from one of the local coaches. Here is an excerpt:

"there was a time, long, long ago......while driving my daughter to the high school in the late 90's in the early mornings in the freezing cold on days much like today,  when we would usually drive by an adult female runner on salt springs road who would be wearing a  t shirt and running shorts and maybe a hat and gloves and that's it. that runner would be the daily inspiration to my daughter, who was a somewhat accomplished middle distance and xc runner on the hs team, to get out there in the cold, daily at practice. she would motivate her teammates, by her example, to get the job done daily regardless of the weather. the image of that woman exhaling frosty smoke each morning would make us smile and prepare our resolve to better handle the winter conditions while others stayed inside. it was rumored that the woman was also a pharmacist..."

I awoke to this email on my phone and it put a smile on my face all day. It reminded me of how tough and determined I was only a few years (well 15 years) ago.  It's hard to put into words how I felt reading this. I was amazed and honored to be someone's inspiration. I decided right then that I would use this to motivate me to keep at it...get back to my 5:30am workouts.  It is so important to me to be a good example for my daughters...someone for them to look up to...something to aspire to be. I've worked hard at this and it was definitely not time to quit yet!

The second incident came when a fellow Monroe-Woodbury High School alum decided he was going to attempt to break the WORLD record for age 45-49 in the indoor mile run. John Trautmann was an amazing runner back in the day. OK amazing is really a HUGE understatement! He broke Steve Prefontaine’s HS national record in the 3,000-meter run then went on to win the 5000m at the 1992 U.S. Olympic Trials.  He dropped out of the semis in the Olympics due to a (seemingly) career-ending foot injury. Twenty years later, foot surgically fused and 60 pounds heavier he hooks up with his old college coach to get back in shape. Read more of John's story here.

I started following his return to racing last year when he ran a 4:24 mile in Boston. He fell short of the world record last year but was back at it again this indoor season.  On Saturday, we tuned in to Facebook to see if he would break the record. The previous week he went 4:18 missing by 2 secs. He went 4:12 and smashed the record by 4 seconds!! What inspired me the most was that a year older (at 46), he runs 12 seconds faster than the year before.  He showed me it is still possible to improve...even as a masters athlete. Age is REALLY just a number!

Inspiration and motivation can come in many forms and is unique to each individual. Find your inspiration and continue to strive to be your best.