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On Sunday, Pam and I went down to Eugene to witness some people who epitomize fitness. The US Track and Field Olympic Trials were amazing to watch. What those athletes do with their bodies is absolutely mind boggling. Even as I’m starting to call myself fit, I know that I can’t perform half as well as the average Olympic athlete. Yep, I think it would take me almost 20 seconds to complete 100m, or almost 90 seconds to complete 400. I’m damn sure I can’t pole vault 9 feet, or long jump 15. It was, in a word, breathtaking.
But, on Sunday morning, as we were walking through the metal detectors to get into the festival surrounding the trials, Pam looked back and me and said that I looked good, athletic, and fit. Now it’s really nice to receive compliments from strangers when you post pictures of yourself on the internet. But it’s entirely different when the people who see you everyday, the ones who know you the best, the ones who you are getting fit slowly for (at least in part) pay you those same compliments. It makes you feel wonderful. It makes you feel like you’re on top of the world. It makes you feel like anything is possible and that everything you’ve gone through has been worth it. It makes you want to work harder and succeed more. It’s the most inspiring thing that’s happened to me since October. Yes, even more inspiring than watching myself get stronger, leaner, faster and happier. To all of you out there who have significant others struggling to get fit–praise them and encourage them and they’ll work even harder. Thanks Pam.
My response to her also made me think about being fit. I said something about how I’m not working too terribly hard right now and my fitness levels are still getting better. I said that if I’m not working that hard, imagine how much fitter I could be if I worked a little (or a lot) harder. But her response to mine was even better and it really grounded me. Pam reminded me that you don’t have to work very hard to maintain your current level of fitness. I guess what she meant was that with fitness, and a lot of things in life, if you work at them a little every day, they’re not so hard to accomplish. I for one am not planning on letting the inertia of inactivity and poor eating habits get a hold of me ever again.
J.D.
4 responses so far ↓
1 greenman2001 // Jul 2, 2008 at 6:39 am
Mac,
I wonder if you and JD might take some time and each write a post defining the word “fitness”. In November you weren’t fit. Now you are. What’s changed?
In your very earliest posts, you and JD both described past failed efforts to “get fit.” As you near your goal, I wonder if you have thoughts on what made this most recent effort a success and what has been different in your approach this time around. It seems to me that the basics have remained the same — eat less, exercise more — so I’m curious about what you each see the effective variables as being.
2 mhb // Jul 2, 2008 at 8:13 am
“…with fitness, and a lot of things in life, if you work at them a little every day, they’re not so hard to accomplish.”
I feel like some of those things in life could be “marriage” or “family relationships” or, heck, “grad school”… it’s a good thing to remember, but it’s also a reminder about WHY any of us get fit. I want to feel good, sure, but I want to live longer and spend better time with my husband and the rest of my family. It’s definitely not just about me looking good or fitting into a size X pair of jeans.
You and Pam sound like a great couple, and it’s cool that you two encourage and support each other so much. Thanks for posting this.
3 Susan // Jul 2, 2008 at 12:45 pm
Words of wisdom from both you and Pam. It’s encouraging to know we don’t have to train like an Olympic athlete in order to get fit, isn’t it?
4 Sheamus // Jul 3, 2008 at 1:28 am
Tyson Gay’s 9.68 100m, wind-assisted as it was, was unbelievable. Of course, it’s all drug-assisted, too, but that’s over a tenth of a second now shaved off of Ben Johnson’s 9.79 gold-medal winning/losing 1988 mark.
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