A Lesson from Bryan

I had a terrific run yesterday...the best I have had in a long time. With the holidays finally behind me and a recovered leg injury I figured it was time to crank it up a notch. I ran 6 miles in 46:00 which gave me an average mile pace of 7:40. It is always nice to have runs like this to remind myself that being fast again can be done. That being said, I decided to swim today to loosen up my legs. I am not a natural swimmer but over the years I have finally found my swimming grove. I did 2X800m in the pool today. I remember when swimming 100m at a time was overwhelming. Since I was curious to see where my time was I stopped after the first 800 to check my watch, get some water, and catch my breath. I clocked the first half mile at 15:49 and knowing that I wanted to beat that time for the second half mile I swam strong. I ended up finishing that last 800m in 15:47. It was a good swim even though I didn't think much about anything while I was swimming except for how far I had gone.

One of the nice things about my gym is the hot tub that is only five feet away from the lap pool. I usually reward myself with 5-10 minutes of relaxtion in the hot tub. It is always interesting the kind of people you meet in the hot tub. Today I was greated by a man who seemed to think my strokes looked fluid. Seeing as I don't see myself swim so I don't know how crazy I look I took that as a compliment. We started talking about our exercise routines and such. Then a rather awkard and slightly overweight man entered the tub. His name is Bryan. He greeted both of us with a handshake. At first glance I knew that there was something wrong with his physical appearance. Then without staring too much I realized that half of his face was paralyzed. He proceeded to talk to us in the best way he could. After listening to him I found out that he has had 3 strokes and a brain aneurysm. He couldn't have been over 45 years old. All of that has left half his face paralyzed and his speech rather slow. I could tell it was hard for him to convey what his brain was thinking. He talked about how Lance Armstrong was one of his heros. He was so inspired by how Lance overcame his trials. Bryan was obviously no Lance Armstrong but to him he could accomplish anything. Here I was sitting in the tub thinking how sometimes it is hard to motivate myself to get the most out of my workouts. Sometimes it is easy to just do the minimum requirement to say it is done. I can only imagine what Bryan must say to himself to get the motivation to keep moving and pushing himself to greater heights. There is a saying I heard somewhere but don't know where I heard it or who said it. I love it though. It says that you can either spend your life living or spend your life dying. When I have been faced with trials whether physical, emotional, or spiritual, I have often thought about this quote. Sometimes we find ourselves so stuck in that dark hole that we can't see a way out. It is people like Bryan that inspire me to keep moving despite the odds, to crawl out of that hole never to be found there again, and to be grateful for every moment of my life. My life truly is a gift from God.