Foot Pain – Disney Employee Engagement Speaker

Pain In The

Have you ever had something really important or “big” in your life, a long-time dream perhaps, where you where getting close to the end of your journey?

And you were so close you could see the glorious end in sight, but then the unthinkable happened.

How did you deal with it? Did it work out for you?

Where you forced to compromise? Or maybe (gasp), quit?

Pain in the as foot.

Pain in my left foot. Still.

It plagued me during the August Master’s Track & Field World Championships. In fact, it has bothered me all year.

In the Spring, it seemed to be a dominant topic at Lane 8.

By June however, I pretty much had stopped writing about the pain, but not because it went away.

Eventually, I had to suck it up and do what needed to be done to make it happen.

In Finland, it didn’t turn out the way I had dreamed, but that’s the beautiful lesson – nothing turns out the way we dream.

It’s either better or worse, but never the same.

Hurts Like Hell

Blah, blah, blah….hurts like hell. Still. My foot hurts. A lot.

If you’re new to Lane 8, welcome. Earlier this year, there were quite a few Lane 8 blog posts discussing my foot pain and whether or not I could travel to Finland for the Master’s Track & Field World Championships.

And yesterday, after writing the post, “43rd”, it caused me to do several things:

Be amazingly thankful
Become more confident
To feel like a victor, rather than a victim
Pray for others to overcome their own struggles

The last one in particular is the one that seems most important.

When the going gets tough, the tough get going.

Fall down seven times, get up eight.

If you’re goal isn’t impossible, you’re not reaching high enough.

Carpe diem. It’s completely up to you. You are the CEO of YOU, Inc.

Yep, it’s gonna hurt like hell to reach your big dreams. Nothing worthwhile is ever easy. Once you realize that hard work is the way, the way gets easier. It doesn’t become easy, simply easier.

Can Barely Walk

Last night I could barely walk. Foot pain. Left heel. Why? Not sure.

Some of you know I represented the United States at the 2009 Masters Track & Field World Championships in Lahti, Finland. The first week of August seems like so long ago, when in fact, it wasn’t. Since then, I’ve completely tapered off on training. Completely.

So why the pain?

What is amazing to me, and something I tried to hide in the Lane 8 blog posts before traveling to Finland, is that I was actually able to compete at all.

“Then why put yourself through all this”?, is a common question. Roger Bannister, the first human to break the four-minute mile barrier, said it best:

“I sometimes think that running has given me a glimpse of the greatest freedom a man can ever know, because it results in the simultaneous liberation of both the mind and body….. The runner does not know how or why he runs. He only knows that he must run….. We run, not because it is doing us good, but because we enjoy it and cannot help ourselves”. — Roger Bannister 1956

Still In Pain?

Injuries and pain can make exercising a challenge. No brainer, right?

Well, I’ve been dealing with injuries for five years now. Guess you could say, “It’s the cost of doing business”.

I hate to complain, because complaining is fairly unproductive. There is one instance that I’ve discovered where complaining actually is effective.

If it causes you to do something positive about it. This is a tough one. Misery loves company. Another no brainer, right?

So, saying that to ask you this, “How many times have you exercised this past week”? Carpe diem!

Pain Update

Pain update. Short and sweet.

Yes, the pain is still nagging me, slowing things down, tempting me to become very discouraged.

Tempting me, and I shudder to think about it, to quit.

Quit?

Yes. Quit.

This has been going on for years. YEARS!

Being 50 years old and achieving and sustaining a world class fitness level is not easy.

Why work so hard, so long, so quietly? You know there are many, many people who know me well and have no idea I went to Finland for the 2009 WMA Master’s Track and Field World Championships? So yes, quietly.

So why then, all this work?

Remember my big goal? To see our son graduate from High School in ten years. No man on my Dad’s side has made it past 60.

What’s your “excuse”?