Inspiration

With fall arriving, and shorter amounts of daylight and cooler mornings coming with it, I thought there might be some of you that could use some inspiration to still get out there and run when either you don't feel like it or the weather isn't the most ideal.

This post is about that inspiration, and while it doesn't pertain exclusively to running, it is at least running related. It is inspiration set within the context of triathlon.

Triathlon consists of swimming, cycling, and running—in that order.

One of the most intriguing athletic events that I see on TV is the Ironman Triathlon World Championship. An Ironman distance triathlon is simply grueling. It is 2.4 miles of swimming, 112 miles of cycling, followed by 26.2 miles of running. Yes that's right—140.6 total miles!

Many of us spend 8 hours at our job. Could you imagine exercising for a minimum of 8 hours? That's how long it takes the elite athlete to complete an Ironman. The average participate will take close to double that time to complete the course.

Just finishing is considered victory, regardless of where you actually finished in comparison to everyone else.

Now imagine if someone could complete this Ironman triathlon—only they knew someone else who wanted to complete it—but couldn't. Not because they lacked ambition to start training or lacked the time to continue with training—but because they were physically unable to due to a disability.

What if that person said "I'll just take them along," so that the physically unable person can experience everything the same as the physically able person?

At this point, you might be wondering, doesn't that sound a bit ridiculous? Take along another person for 140+ grueling miles? Is that even possible?

I'll introduce you to the story of Dick and Rick Hoyt.

I have only four more words so say:

Watch…and be inspired!