Athletes, Running
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The Passion of an Athlete

Anyone can be an athlete. It is true. Don’t give me excuses like there is not enough time, you only have one leg, or you can’t catch a ball. When someone says to me “Oh, I could never do that” – ‘that’ being something seemingly out of their reach like running a five kilometer race, climbing a mountain, getting up every morning and running ten miles on a tread mill – I never believe it. My response is always, “yes you could.”

In my work I get to meet people doing amazing things. They are world class athletes gifted with a body and mind where limitations are not boundaries but rather challenges to work through to get where they want to go. See here for one of my favorite inspirations. No, I don’t climb but am none-the-less inspired.

I used to get so nervous talking to these celebrity athletes because they seemed so untouchable, like a movie star. Then as I worked with them more I start being less star-struck and seeing them as people like you and me.

One of the coolest realizations I had in the past few years was that if I trained, I too could do things my most admired athletes do. Certainly my skill level will be far behind them and I will be the slowest to the top but, I could do it my own way. It is like realizing that if you had people dedicated to you hair, make-up, and wardrobe you too could be beautiful on the red carpet.

You may not reach as far or as high as the famous ones. This is not because you can’t but, because what you do is scaled to your own individuality. My individuality currently tells me to keep my feet firmly on the ground. I want my Mom to know this in case she is reading. But think about this guy’s Mom!

Athlete’s accomplishing incredible feats inspire me to get out there and find the adventure that feeds me and get’s me thinking “maybe I can do that thing I once thought I couldn’t do”.

What drives this trail running Momma? It is teaching my boys that they are capable in their own bodies. Being a good example of this drives me to run, pushing my own limits to a place that brings me both awe and comfort.

Some day they may say, “Hey, Mom did all that training and was able to run far in beautiful places. So I can do it too”.

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