Motivation and Inspiration

What motivates you to train everyday?  Who inspires you?  How do you get through those 8 hour workouts?  I often field questions like these from other athletes, family and friends.  My motivation comes from a desire to make the most out of every opportunity I have.  I try and maintain 2-3 priorities that take precedence over everything else.  I constantly ask myself the question 'Will this helping me achieve my goals?'  If the answer is 'yes,' then the motivation has been provided.  It has always been much easier for me to answer the question of what motivates me, than it has been to answer who inspires me. 

The people who have inspired me, or do inspire, however have changed throughout the years, and at certain times there is not always someone who readily comes to mind.  Janet Evans was the first person I can recall inspiring me - when I was 8 years old I remember watching her swim in the Olympics and winning three gold medals; they showed footage of her dominating world record performance in the 1500m freestyle from the previous summer.  My family was incredibly fortunate to have a 40ft x 20ft in-ground pool in our backyard at that time, and I figured out how many lengths it would take to swim 1500m in that pool - I did not complete the swim, but only because my worried mother pulled me out at some point in the middle (I can only imagine how long I had been swimming at this point and what it must have looked like, as I had never been on a swim team, and when I finally did join a year and a half later, my freestyle was not very good).

Two weeks ago, I had the pleasure of meeting 9-year old Skylar Mascarinas and her Dad, Chris.  They were riding in the CT Challenge, an event I have worked with for the past few years organizing support crews, mechanics, and other logistical matters.  That day I was in a sweep vehicle.  I saw them for the first time walking up a hill shortly after the 25 mile ride turn-off.  As we leap-frogged back and forth over the next few miles, we waved to each other and exchanged a few words.  Skylar was smiling, walking up the steep hills, and pedaling steadily everywhere else. 

At the first rest stop I was able to speak with them for a little bit longer before they set out.  I was held up there for a while and that was the last I saw them for the rest of the day.  I was super impressed with Skylar's tenacity at such a young age as well as Chris's patience and support and was curious as to whether they had finished the full fifty mile ride they had started - after all I had only seen them ride through 14 miles. 

After that weekend, I sent Chris an email to say how impressed I was by Skylar and to satisfy my curiosity.  They had finished!  It took them 6.5 hours.  This was actually Skylar's second year participating in the CT Challenge - she had ridden the 25 mile course as an 8-year old.  Why had Skylar done this?  A friend of the family - Bill Mahoney - had lost his battle with Pancreatic Cancer.  So for the past two years she has ridden in his memory.  Her goal this year was to raise $10,000 for the Center for Survivorship (www.ctchallenge.org) and I for one want to help her get there.  Her fundraising page is here.

For the past two and a half weeks I have been in the final training block heading into my final races of the year: Ironman Wisconsin on Sept 7th and Ironman Lake Tahoe on September 21st.  This has been the largest and most difficult block I have ever gone though.  Every time fatigue has threatened to prevent me from getting out the door, or a workout gets long and tough and I want to back off, I think about what Skylar accomplished, how long she pushed through on that day, and the selfless reasons she was out there in the first place. 

Thank you, Skylar.  You have a truly bright future ahead and I consider myself fortunate having met you.