Don't Quit!

I have been reading a book called "Born to Perform" Gerard Hartmann, great book but yesterday I read this poem he had included in the chapter I was reading. I really liked it.
I was prompted last night to pick up the book "Touch the top of the world" Erik Weihenmayer, I had read it before but a long time ago. I was paging through it and than a page jumped out at me. What was it...the same poem I had read earlier. Was to good and to 'God' lead not to share! here you go........

When things go wrong, as they sometimes will,

When the road you're trudging seems all uphill,

When the funds are low and the debts are high,

And you want to smile, but you have to sigh,

When care is pressing you down a bit-

Rest if you must, but don't you quit.Life is queer with its twists and turns,

As every one of us sometimes learns,

And many a fellow turns about

When he might have won had he stuck it out.

Don't give up though the pace seems slow -

You may succeed with another blow.Often the goal is nearer than

It seems to a faint and faltering man;

Often the struggler has given up

Whe he might have captured the victor's cup;

And he learned too late when the night came down,

How close he was to the golden crown.Success is failure turned inside out -

The silver tint in the clouds of doubt,

And you never can tell how close you are,

It might be near when it seems afar;

So stick to the fight when you're hardest hit -

It's when things seem worst that you must not quit.

Baby steps, 30seconds faster closer to a dream

There are times in life when we feel we work so hard at stuff but never see results no matter how small and in that moment we can either decide to give up or keep going. Let me give a small story to encourage you to keep going no matter what.

If you are reading this you will know I am training for a triathlon, you might also know that this comes with just slightly more effort because of my disability and yes many a times I get very frustrated with my body and would like to just take the dream of competing in a triathlon and put it back on the shelf. Yet if you do know me personally you would know that I have three words that stand out in my life. HOPE, COURAGE and DETERMINATION.

I had my weekly gym session with Greg yesterday. Two little things we both were amazed at were my walking speed had increased and one of the core exercises we have been doing for ever suddenly took on a different form. Now how did that happen?

There is a 140metre track at the gym so two weeks ago it took me 3minutes to get round, yesterday 2,30 minutes to get round, Greg found that my steps had become shorter which in turn increased my stability to walk faster. Usually I would take long/wide steps but somewhere in the past two weeks this changed. (No idea this happens but Greg noticed).

We usually do a lot of core body stuff, and the one is lie on my back and then lift my legs towards my stomach and hold there for 30 seconds. (try it and you will see what I am talking about). We have done this a lot and in general it is a mission and my legs are unstable sway from side and don’t want to stay up etc. Anyway yesterday we did it and was like nothing ever before, the legs came up they stayed put and Greg and I were in shock J J, so we did the exercise again and once again, the legs came up  and stayed put. At times I wish I could take pictures of our faces when little things like this happen because they would be absolutely memorable.

You see small little things like this are very encouraging for me and Greg because it means something is working in what we are all together doing.

It means one more baby step closer to the dream, that baby step is closer than the day before, and that’s my point you will always be one baby step closer to your dream than the day before do not dismiss the baby step no matter how small. Those changes we saw yesterday have encourage me to keep working towards my goal.

106 days to go!

109 days and hanging out in the deep end of it all!

“Your body will argue that there is no justifiable reason to continue. Your only recourse is to call on your spirit, which fortunately functions independently of logic.” 
― Tim Noakes

Pulling up to the pool today I saw a few more extra cars than usual, I have to admit swimming in a crowd is no fun and at this point meeting new crazy triathlete’s is a small bit scary.

We all know by now I am the only disabled athlete in this club so I practice with the big guns when it comes to swimming, and remind myself that I am in a different league all together J!

Today was or seemed to be one of the harder days in the pool and just felt I could not keep up. Here is the thing, I keep telling myself I don’t have to keep up but in the back of my mind I still try, so after about 1.6km Luke (swimming coach) says that’s it for today, and then says to me “I love swimmers like you, you don’t complain you just dive in and swim what I tell you even though I have thrown you into the deep end in this group”

So my first real week of training past last week, and as of today its 109 days till the first triathlon I get to compete in, and ahead for the next 109 days is some serious hard work.

My schedule has slightly changed.....up at 4h30am in bed by 8h30pm. On some days we have two training sessions, ie swim or run, swim or gym and bicycle.

Till next time or let’s say till tomorrow!

THISABILITY - The Power Of The Soul

I was given this newpaper this morning at a course I am attending on Disability and Social Inclusion. The Newspaper is called "This Ability" which is a disability awareness newspaper. And I turn to the back page and I realise I am on it!  see link THISABILITY - The Power Of The Soul

Thank you to my company CBM International (Southern 

Africa Office) for sponsoring me some money towards my 

training.

Check out our website to find out more about what CBM 

does.  www.cbm.org 

Persevere – relentlessly

5 June 2013

“People of mediocre ability sometimes achieve outstanding success because they don’t know when to quit. Most men succeed because they are determined to.” ~ George E. Allen

I had a training session at gym today with Greg (Biokentikist). Today’s focus was on...legs, basically tackling the big questions – How do I do the 5km run, but Greg is good and has focus and comes across as a problem solver, which for me is an added bonus.

He is also a drill sergeant and continues to tell me when I walk........KNEES UP, LEGS UP, FEET UP AND STRAIGHT LINES...DON'T NOT CHEAT I AM WATCHING YOU

I need to always remind myself of why am I doing this but I have started with the knowledge that I am going to do this and nothing will stop me J

Mid Mar Mile and nearly half way back

4th June 2013

That’s what I swam today, 2.6km, and as Luke said ‘I am just throwing you in the deep end, you will soon catch on and up.’ and then he continues “so next set please swim 4 sets of 400m with 15 seconds break in between each set”

My mind still thinks in lengths of the pool, so I was trying to figure out how many lengths that is, he obviously picked this up on my face and said “that’s 16 lengths per set, so by the time you have done the 4 sets of 400 you would have swam your mid mar mile so better get going”

One thing I did not say in the beginning before this set I had already swam 600 meter warm up and 200 meter technical stroke stuff, but it’s all good and enjoying it so off I went.........because this is what it’s about, going further than before.1600 meters later, 4 sets x 400 meters and my arms are burning. I rest for a few seconds. Luke says “well done, now do 200 meters cool down and you are done for today”

I pull myself out the pool, there are no stairs, so I act like a beached whale first then turn around and push myself up and there we go, standing out the pool. I dry off put jacket on, go out into the freezing cold to drive home, jump in shower, get in car drive to work and realise I have been awake for 3h30 hours I have swam 2,6km and its only 8am.I remind myself this is all worth it and having the opportunity to pursue a dream of being an athlete is and will come to life.

I know and realise that pursuing a dream comes with hard work, courage, determination and a tenacity that no matter what is going on around me, inside me and my body I need to keep on keeping on, and soon we will be doing mid mar mile twice in one morning!

Always remember, whatever the goal--keep your eye on it

Confidence and Education - Battle to Victory

Monday 3rd June 2013

I was reading a book the other day and this little paragraph stood out

“It was only years later, many years later into adulthood that I was able to see that my diagnosis was really the journey towards the meaning and purpose of my life. A journey we all have to take, disabled or not.

Regaining confidence is where our personal fight begins. It is rare to find a person, able body or not, healthy or sick, who has not been knocked down by life at one time or another. Regaining confidence is particularly difficult when we face a debilitating physical challenge. But we need to transcend our human propensity for self pity if we want to feel fully alive and live up to our potential. I have always found that my confidence is boosted when I push my body to the limit – skiing, riding my bike, swimming long distance – and deal with the physical pain.

Win one victory, go on to the next battle, and win that to, soon these little victories start to add up to confidence. At that point, self pity becomes but a distant memory.” Book – Who says I can’t, by J Rosenberg.

That pretty much sums up my words for today...... Win one victory, go on to the next battle, and win that to, soon these little victories start to add up to confidence. At that point, self pity becomes but a distant memory.

This week swimming on Monday, (which is actually this blog post, its just a bit late coming online) gave me a bit more confidence than last week Thursday. Yet it is not the swimming that is hard, it’s getting over my thoughts of being disabled and having to swim with people who are top triathletes in South Africa. Remember I am the first disabled person in the club I have joined – My Training Day. So it’s all new to everyone! I had the question this morning from one of the ladies, “so are you just part of the swimming practice?” 

As a friend of mine said – it’s about Education....so I educated her on Paratriathlon!!

Distance swam today 2.4km!

“You can’t put a limit on anything. The more you dream, the farther you get.” Michael Phelps

It’s the 2^nd of June, 124 days to go, a new month and a lot of training coming up.

I took the day off today from training, some days I just need to be able to do that and listen to my body at times.  

Yet there are times where I will try talk myself out of exercise and recognise that this “talking” is just an excuse for not doing something I have committed to. What I have learnt is to recognise the good from the bad J and go to train whether I feel like it or not.

Most people don’t feel like going to gym or training, it does take a lot of effort, and no matter how many motivating words we speak to ourselves in the end the decisions becomes very clear.......I will go tomorrow.....tomorrow never comes.

Motivation does not create action, action creates motivation. When I walk out of the gym after a training session or get out of the pool, I always feel great and ready to come back and do it again.

I can make and do make many excuses or as a friend of mine equates it to at times “trash talking”, but I still go to train no matter what I feel like or say to myself that is not healthy. For instance:

-          I am disabled, I just can’t do this, and what difference does it make

-          My legs just don’t want to work today, maybe they will tomorrow. But wait tomorrow won’t come.

-          My goal in the reality of my world seems so unrealistic and impossible, so just forget about it.

Then I take a quick stock of my dream and goal and realise its time to stop talking and go train because at this stage:

-          My disability is there so let’s use this opportunity for something good

-          Reality is my legs generally don’t feel like working and at times feel like I have 10 bricks on my feet, but I know that when I go workout it does seem to take off a few bricks, even if it’s just for a few minutes.

-          The goal is only impossible if I turn around and walk away, the only turning I will be doing is the bicycle peddles towards the impossible.”

Tomorrow morning 5am we are going swimming, good thing it’s indoors because Cape Town is proving that its winter, and storms/rain and cold is what winter is all about. And as Dory from finding Nemo would put it...just keep swimming, swimming swimming, just keep swimming, swimming swimming!