A little Wednesday night inspiration...

I’ve been feeling inspired today. I would say I give 66% credit to the leadership class I just came from, 14% to the three cups of coffee I had today, 10% to the epiphany I had a few minutes ago, 7% to Michael Strahan talking about his new documentary this morning, and 3% to some Kanye I am listening to. Now, I realize I’m not biking across the country anymore, so this blog post might not interest anyone at all, but I do hope to motivate or inspire at least one person to face obstacles with confidence and faith in the fact that when one door closes, more doors definitely do open.

I think I was walking to my car in the parking garage tonight when the thought came to my mind that I am finally and truly happy at where I am in life currently. I would have told you the opposite this time exactly two years ago. Long story short, and I’m sure many of you that are reading this do in fact know the long story, I was cut from the varsity cross country team during the season my junior year at Virginia Tech. I don’t need to go into detail, point fingers, or bad mouth anything for you to understand that it was an absurdly difficult point in my life. After finding out that information by email, sitting on my friends couch and proceeding to cry my eyes out, I thought I had nothing else to pursue. I admit, at that point in my life I had mainly come to college for running, of course I picked a major that I was interested in, but the main thought in my head when choosing a place to spend my life for four years was absolutely track and field. So as you could imagine, I was thinking “what now?”

I called my parents, I even actually went home that weekend (clearly I was upset at the time). They knew how distraught I was, but at the same time – they were supposed to be parents and parents give you good advice whether or not you believe them at the time. And looking back, they gave me some of the most important advice I could ever carry with me throughout my life. They both definitely supported me of course, but I specifically remember it was my dad that said “you know, this was an important part of your life, but you just have to realize that it’s time to put it behind you and look at all the new opportunities that will come about.” As he was saying that, I didn’t even think I was listening enough to be able to remember that two years later. I just responded with something like “yeah, whatever.”

Michael Strahan said this morning that a lot of these athletes, no matter what level – high school, college, semi-pro, professional – all seem to be defined by their sport. That’s also how most of us feel. Now, I will say there are some athletes who make it a point to balance themselves out completely and be defined by other aspects of their lives, but the higher up you get in your sport, the more clearly it defines you. I haven’t watched it yet, but Strahan was saying the premise of his documentary is finding happiness outside of this sport and redefining your life. I think this is such an important thing to teach even the young athletes in our society because more often than not when you’re good at a sport, academics take a back seat and this should definitely change.

Taking what my dad said two years ago and looking at where I am right now, he was absolutely correct. Yes, I was upset for a long period of time that fall semester – not to mention topping it all off with mono over winter break – but once I finally became myself again and tried to find a new direction that was not collegiate cross country & track, I realized all of the things that were out there for me. I started doing triathlons that summer, I joined VT’s club triathlon team, and it was on the way to one of our final season races when I signed up to ride across the country with 4k For Cancer. When I look back at all of the things that happened in my life because I got cut from that cross country team, 4k is the most amazing thing. I simply would not have had that experience if I had still been running, and I wouldn’t trade this summer for anything, not even continuing my running career – which at the time I would have traded anything for that. 4k was way after that devastating junior year fall semester, but it still helped me to continue to grow and see the amazing opportunities life has to offer.

After signing up for 4k, I started fundraising for that and also decided to start applying to grad schools. That in itself is another big thing I probably wouldn’t have done had I still been running. I probably would have redshirted, competed a 5^th year doing God knows what fill-in major, and then stood at graduation saying “oh shit.” Walking away from running immediately had me focus on school and what I would do after college. I truly believe that would not have been the case if I ran up until graduation. I am now at James Madison University, on a triathlon team I love, in a program I’m passionate about, and about to begin volunteer coaching at a local college to begin my career path. Along with that volunteer coaching, I have set out a goal to get back into decent track shape so I can potentially do workouts with the girl’s team. I have finally found my love for running again.

Life is going to throw us obstacles, we’re going to be upset, we’re going to cry at times, but there will always be more opportunities. It’s about what type of person we are in the face of adversity and how we grow from it, because adversity is inevitable.

References:

Michael Strahan Documentary – End Game

Kanye West – Everything I Am 

Day 70 - 4,000 Miles To Date - San Francisco, CA

"Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn't do than by the ones you did do, so throw off the bowlines, sail away from safe harbor, catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover." - Mark Twain

When I first thought about signing up for the 4k For Cancer, I was in the car on the way to a triathlon. I filled out the application on my iPhone and texted my parents "I'm biking across the country next summer." They told me no way, until I got an interview and got accepted and at that point they finally started to accept it. When I was in that car listening to Kelly tell me about the 4k, all I was thinking was how cool it would be to bike across the country. What I didn't find out about the 4k until this very moment, was the new family I would become a part of. I didn't know how inspired I would feel every single morning simply standing in a circle and hearing everyone's story. I didn't know I would care for people more than I even knew I could, I didn't know that I would gain 29 people that care equally as much about me. I was never told I would cry. Before this trip, the idea of losing a little brother, a father, a mother, a boyfriend were all ideas and I couldn't fully imagine what it would be like. I look at some of my teammates every single day and I feel like I am fighting with them, I feel like I know their family members that have passed away because I know them. I also feel their strength day in and day out. What they have been through, no one should ever have to deal with and the way they have fought through every single day is so admirable. I truly have never met such strong people and I wish every day that I can once be as courageous as they are. The day I rode for every one of the people my teammates were riding for this summer, I specifically thought of each of them up the hardest climb that day. I thought of Chad, Samy, Gerry, Dani, Dom, Ryan and it got me up that mountain faster than I could have imagined and I could have never done it by myself and with my own thoughts. When I signed up for 4k, I was never told the emotions I would feel during and directly after this amazing trip. I will carry everything I learned this summer and all of the strength from my teammates throughout all I do in life. I will always remember the Appalachians we got through together, the headwinds we fought through by each taking our turn in the front, the Rockies we got up with our climbing partners, the tears we shared the night before San Francisco, and the pride we felt as we ran into the Pacific Ocean.

It's a very weird feeling I have right now. To be completely honest, I do not feel like I biked across the country. I feel like I met 29 people, I rode my bike a lot and in a lot of different places, and got incredibly closer to these complete strangers from 70 days ago. A lot of people have been texting or commenting about how amazing I must feel, and don't get me wrong this is incredible, but I physically don't know what I feel. I was confused this morning when I didn't wake up next to my 29 new family members, rushing to the bathroom to put on my bike shorts and brush my teeth, and try to find the nearest coffee place before I did my chore for the morning. That being said, even if I don't feel physically different at this very moment, I cannot describe to you how appreciative I am of all of the people following my trip and cheering me on. I could not have done it without everyone who donated, sent me mail, wished me luck, texted me to see how it was going, etc. It is truly amazing the support and love we felt everyday and especially as we rode into that beach just yesterday afternoon, as all of our family and friends were waiting for us and cheering us on. I will absolutely never forget this summer and I know we are all already looking forward to send-off weekend next year when we meet up and ride out with next year's team. Everyone in the age range to do this trip should absolutely consider it, you will not regret it for one second. What an amazing experience. From San Francisco, CA, have a great day! What's next?! 

A few fun facts for you:
Though we collectively did 4,000 miles, I physically rode my bike for 3,604 miles. We climbed the equivalent of 4 Mount Everests and the fastest I went on my bike was 49mph. My least favorite state was Kansas, favorite state was Colorado, and favorite city was South Lake Tahoe by a landslide. I will never eat Subway or a Clif Bar another day in my life, but I think I still like bagels.Thanks again to my teammates, my supporters back home, and most importantly the 4k For Cancer and the Ulman Cancer Fund.

Day 64 - 3,722 Miles To Date - Yosemite, CA

We made it to Cali!! We literally rode our bikes from Maryland to California, so crazy! I'm currently sitting in a lounge in Curry Village in the middle of Yosemite National Park. I got a cup of coffee and my team is just relaxing and waiting for some more of us to show up. Our last rest day was probably the best yet. We woke up and headed over to the Carson City Cancer Center to deliver chemo care bags and get a tour of the facility. It was pretty neat and towards the end we were able to learn about some of the hats and wigs they make. After listening to what the woman had to say, Holden decided he wanted to donate his long ponytail to make a wig for a cancer patient. The woman set up the appointment and half of us went with him while the other half went to talk about our trip to the Rotary Club that hosted us. Once we finished up with both of those things, we were able to go over to one of the beaches on the lake and hang out on the water for a while. Jeff made a jet ski reservation for us, so after laying on the beach for about an hour we took it out. It was so much fun and I definitely wish I brought my GoPro. I think I can now update my list of scariest things I've ever done in my life: Jetskiing with Jeff driving, ATVs with Jeff driving, and skydiving. The Rotary Club hosted a dinner for us a little while later on the beach so we were able to hang out into sunset. None of us wanted to leave after a really fun day, but eventually we went back to the host and prepared for a long, hard day (though I was scheduled for a van day.) The next day went like most van days do, boring and long. Everyone else definitely had a much longer day because it was about 118 miles full of heat, wind, and climbing. Everyone made it to Lee Vining though, and we ate dinner and slept, like most century days go. This morning we got ready and were told breakfast was at a different location two miles away, so we biked out and followed the van to what looked like the airport. We all arrived to Landis' parents by their little plane and breakfast set up on the wings for us. We were all really excited and surprised but of course Landis was very surprised and happy to see her parents again. We ate a delicious meal and had a really great dedication circle and cheer and headed off to Yosemite. Today was also going to be another hard day of climbing, so I decided to dedicate it to all of the people my teammates are riding for. I've gotten to know everyone really well and as I've said in previous posts, they are so inspiring and I really wanted to ride for all of their families and friends. Today's ride ended up being kind of a - pardon my French - shit show, but it was also SO beautiful and I really enjoyed it. My group got split up and Jeff and I ended up finishing out the ride through the national park and to Curry Village where we eventually met up with Draper, Casey, Chris, and Emily again. The ride was definitely a tough one but the descent through Yosemite was absolutely worth it, as usual I'll let the pictures do the talking. Tonight, we camp.