Inspiration

in·spi·ra·tion

 [in-spuh-rey-shuhn] 

noun

1. an inspiring or animating action or influence: I cannot write poetry without inspiration.

2.something inspired, as an idea.

3.a result of inspired activity.

4.a thing or person that inspires.

Many people have been asking me what inspired me to do this. I've been thinking about it a lot. It goes beyond the 'bucket list' item. When I stop moving (which has been rare these last several months it seems) and I think about what inspires me, I have this amorphous thing in my head that I can't really articulate. And so, I will attempt to articulate it here. And you are the lucky recipient of my inability to articulate.

In 2005, my mother was diagnosed with, and subsequently lost the battle, with gastric cancer (stomach). That was the moment of inspiration for me to re-evaluate my health, and what I had been doing with the gift that is the human body. It was at that moment that I joined a cycling team. 

As I've started this journey, I have found that on a daily basis I must pause and look for inspiration on that day. It's my motivation to get out the door and run in the Seattle rain and gloom. It's how I manage to drag my butt to the pool on a Friday night to swim. It's what keeps my pedaling when my legs say stop. My mother is always there, as an over arching inspiration, but sometimes, her memory isn't enough. After all, Mom would have preferred a game of bridge with her best friends and a good bottle of wine to running in the rain. 

Daily inspirations I have captured mentally and carry with me to keep on this journey, now in it's 4th month:

1. The rainbow seen at Green Lake during one of those rainy runs
2. The thought that every run is a new personal best
3. The pride in which my daughter will tell people, including total strangers, that I'm training for an Ironman distance triathlon
4. My jeans don't fit me, in the best way possible
5. My resting heart rate
6. My blood pressure
7. The bunny rabbit shaped cloud I saw on a bike ride
8. The fact that I am still able to push my body hard