Hey there! Here’s the fourteenth in our series of guest post from Lance Rogerson, who has partnered up with us for his Ironman training. Read on for this week’s update.
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Race day is almost here di’lishiNATION! The countdown has moved into the single digits - just a little over a week left. As of now the forecast is calling for a sunny day with a high of 65. I’m hoping that holds because it’ll make for a perfect race day.
I was talking to a buddy of mine yesterday, who is also doing the Ironman, and we were discussing that to complete this race, we have to become more mentally strong than physically ready. Which is right on track with where I wanted to take the blog this week. I wanted to talk about who/what inspires you. When your body is screaming for you to quit but you know you can’t. When you have to dig down deep and find what you are made of – what inspires you? Who is it in your life that inspires you to stay active and healthy?
During the past few months, as I have been training, I’ve learned a lot about myself and a lot about who inspires me. First and foremost my biggest inspirations are my wife and son. They believe in me, inspire me, and encourage me constantly. I want to be active and healthy so that I have a long healthy life with them. When I’m on one of those crazy long bike rides and all I want to do is quit, I think of them and keep going. I want them to be proud of me and I hope to inspire them not to quit and to keep going whenever things get tough. I know on race day when my legs are on fire, I will imagine seeing their smiling faces at the finish line and how good it will feel to give them a nice sweaty hug. There are no words to describe the courage and inspiration that my wife and son give me. My son is 16 months old. I know he will not remember my training or the race, but it will be so cool to be able to tell him stories about it when he is older. Hopefully I will inspire him to dream big and then achieve those dreams.
I also find great inspiration in my youth. I don’t think they realize it but they inspire me on a daily basis. From joining me for daily workouts after school to comments they make about the race that display their excitement for it or their faith in me to complete it. More often than not I think my youth believe in me more than I believe in myself – that is to say they seem to think I’m capable of far more than I think I am. And that pushes me further. I recall one long swim when I was tired and I just wanted to get out of the water - I did not want to complete the swim that day. I remember thinking of my youth and how I knew they believed that I was fully capable of doing that swim and so much more. Their faith in me has helped to push me far beyond the limits I would have set for myself. Many of them have said they will be out their cheering for me on race day. I know how encouraging that will be, especially during that run. They cannot imagine how important their presence will be to me that day and how thankful I will be to see their faces, knowing they believe in me.
Last, but certainly not least, I have many friends that have been such a huge encouragement every step of the way. They have told me how great I’m doing, listened to my stories, and have gotten excited for me as race day approaches. I have run races with them in the past (which means that in some way they have helped to train me) and I plan to run races with them in the future. It takes a good friend to let you freak out over how quickly the race is approaching and then helps you to laugh through the nervousness. And of course all of you, my friends in di’lishiNATION! I know all of your signatures on my biking jersey will be a huge encouragement on race day as I take all of you along with me for part of my journey.
Of course I cannot leave out the inspiration I get from knowing at the end of each training session, and definitely at the end of the race, I get some amazing di’lishi fro-yo! There have been days I have been in the middle of training and can almost taste the fro-yo. That will definitely help to push me towards the finish line!
To everyone out there who believes in me, encourages me, and inspires me – thank you! You cannot imagine what it means to have your support!