Ordinary Inspiration

The winter Olympics are over now but while they were on last month, they consumed a lot of my time. I couldn't tear myself away. Those athletes are so amazing - so fit, powerful, beautiful. In some distant way, they were inspiring to me, reminding me how important it is to get out there for each and every workout. In other ways, though, they are so far removed from me that I don't always make connections between what they do and what I do.

At spin class, we often watch recorded Ironman races on the big TV while we ride. The coverage tends to focus on the elite athletes at the front of pack. Like the Olympic athletes, the elite Ironman racers are also amazing and I admire their tremendous ability. I love to watch Crissie Wellington race. She is a British triathlete and three time winner of the Ironman world championships in Kona, Hawaii. What's so great about her is that she smiles for the entire race! Still, I don't feel like I have much in common with Crissie; she is in a completely different league than me. What I always watch for are the back of the packers, the ordinary people who are out on the road way past dark, making it to the finish line just inside the cut-off time. These are the people I can relate to. I can see myself doing what they do and I want to be like them.

I have some friends in triathlon who inspire me, too. They may have been overweight or sedentary before but they are hardcore athletes now. When they make huge improvements in their times or take on great challenges like Ironman, I am motivated to raise myself to a new level, much more so by them than by someone who has always been athletic.

I think, in some small way, I've been able to pay this "ordinary inspiration" forward. There is something to be said for being at the back of the pack. Being a slow, fat triathlete has been good in some ways. People who are curious about triathlon can relate to me. I am pretty far from being intimidating! I think that triathletes like me are proof that this sport is for anyone who wants to try it.

Yesterday I saw my physiotherapist, whom I have not seen for several months. Every time I see him, he tells me that he has signed up for another race because he has been inspired by me! He did his first triathlon because I told him how fun it was. He did a 1/2 iron last summer, after hearing me tell him about my experience with Great White North. Now he is going to do a marathon because I did one last fall. This amazes me. He is thin and fit and I seem like the last person who would inspire him. But I seriously think that he looks at me and thinks, "If she can do it, so can I." And that actually thrills me.

Several members of my family have tried triathlon because they knew I was into it. My brother, Paul, and my niece, Stephanie, are very into it now and we have done some races together. My husband, Dan, the ultramarathoner, has done a triathlon, too, and is signed up for his second one this year. The Vulcan Tinman Triathlon, in southern Alberta, which was my very first triathlon, has now become an almost annual tradition for my extended family, with several family members signing up and the rest of them cheering for those of us who are racing.

I think it's natural that when you find something that you love, that makes your life better, that makes you feel good about yourself, you want to share it with others. And it's my "ordinariness" that has actually made it possible for me to inspire others to give it a try. I find that so satisfying because it gives triathlon new meaning for me and makes it something that I can share, rather than something just for me. I have noticed now, too, that what has happened is that the new triathletes I have inspired have turned around and inspired me all over again. They are so keen and enthusiastic. They keep me pumped up. Now, the downside to all of this is that all them end up being faster than me! But I guess that's inspiring it its own way; I better get out there and train so I can beat at least one of them!