Inspiration

     Running releases 99 percent of the stress and tension that builds up in my life.

I'm not photogenic (as you can blatantly see), but it was the
only recent running picture I could find.
Taken by Jenna Jones in Oxford this past summer.

     It’s the one time I’m OK with being alone. Usually, I’m fearful of solitude. But hearing my heart beat in my chest, feeling my lungs expand and contract with each breath and placing the balls of my feet oh-so gently on the ground and lifting off again absorbs all the fears, nerves and negativity cycling through my body. I escape from reality to clear my head.

     But running can also be a struggle.

     I’ve had more injuries than a 20-year-old college student should thanks to my stubbornness, my drive and, sometimes, my bad luck.

     Shin splints have taken up permanent residence in my legs. The constant feeling of someone separating my muscles from my bones never seems to disappear.

     I’ve dislocated my kneecap three times – twice in Alaska (a story for another time) and once at summer camp (kids are so competitive). The excruciating pain worse than anything I’ve ever felt has made me pass out each time.

     I’ve had stress fractures running through the top of my left foot and my left tibia – both at the same time. My orthopedic surgeon still worries the pressure from running on cement surfaces could possibly shatter my bone, so I have to be attentive to what I’m running on.

     It’s been a rough road. I’ve wanted to give in. I have at times. Sometimes the pain overpowers the release, and I lose sight of why I do it.

     Since I stopped competing, the injuries have lessened to an extent. But there are days when I struggle to remind myself I’m not the only one pushing through injuries.

     Sometimes finding a bit of inspiration is all someone needs to move forward. 

     I’m a big news geek. Every morning, I’m up at 6:10, off to the gym by 6:30 and on a treadmill, watching CNN by 6:45. It’s a ritual.

     Recently, I saw a commercial for Dr. Sanjay Gupta’s “Human Factor,” a TV show and online blog profiling Americans who have overcome odds. I typed the name into my phone and kept on running, thinking it might spark an idea.

Photo courtesy of Gizmodo.com

     I checked out the site later that morning, and I’m glad I did. Scrolling through, I found a post featuring Don Wright who suffers from multiple myeloma, an incurable form of blood cancer. He writes in the post that his goal is to run 50 marathons in 50 states.

     Running marathons has always been a dream of mine. But I’ve never been in good enough condition to run in such a lengthy race due to all my previous injuries.

     I can’t chalk it up to just the injuries, though. My paralyzing fear of the unknown hinders many of my dreams, including competing in marathons.
     Will I finish? Will I hurt myself again? Will my family and friends be proud of my time? Will I be proud of myself?
     Thoughts like this always overflow in my head, shutting down any dreams I’ve had of competing.

     After hearing Wright’s story, my fears and struggles seem inconsequential.

     Patients diagnosed with multiple myeloma, Wright writes in his personal piece on CNN’s website, have a median survival rate of five years after diagnosis. This cancer attacks the white blood cells in a person’s bone marrow, and if one of Wright’s bones were to break, his running career would end.

     With his fear of the unknown, at 62 years old, Wright began running.

     And now, eight years after his diagnosis, as of the Nov. 29 blog post date, Wright has completed 60 marathons in 41 different states.

     This man is not letting cancer define his life. He’s going the distance, literally, and not letting an incurable disease keep him from completing his goal.

     Just as Wright will run with cancer, I will run with distant memories of injuries. Whether it’s a dull ache in my knee after the second or third mile or the fear of an operating table to tighten the loose screws (in my knee, not my head), something will always make it harder to keep going.

     I’m fairly confident there will always be some obstacle in front of my path. It might be an injury, a little voice in my head telling me I can’t or the fear of the unknown. I just have to keep reminding myself of the other people battling a setback.

     Inspiration.

     That’s what Don Wright is to me.

     He’s not letting an incurable disease keep him from living his life, and I shouldn’t let some injuries keep me from doing what I love.

     I might have to walk during a marathon. I might not finish with the time I wanted, but I’m going to run at least one marathon in my life.  

     Sometimes looking beyond your own life and examining the world and the people around you changes your outlook.

    Wright did that for me.

     Is there something in your life you’ve always dreamed of doing, or something you’ve kept from trying to do, for fear of the unknown?

     Find some inspiration. It might put your life and struggles into perspective. That one person, that one realization, might help you complete a lifelong goal. You never know until you try.