Choices And Inspiration

It's been three days since I last skated and it certainly feels a little strange. It was on and off drizzling rain so the dampness combined with the cold temperature was rather unpleasant to say the least. At Thursday's club practice, I did something that I haven't done before. The sky threatened to rain several times, spitting down droplets of rain, and we were unsure if practice could proceed. After standing around in uncertainty for a while, I decided to pack it in and head over to the gym instead for an indoor workout.

It may appear that I was a wimp. The way I see it, I could stay around for the sake of just staying on skates. However, with the uncertain weather, would the quality of training be worthwhile? Would my time be better spent on an indoor workout instead? I chose the latter. With only a limited amount of time I can spend on training, these are the kind of decisions that I need to make. In retrospect, I really can't say if it was a smart decision or not.

On days like these, motivation is hard to come by yet many of us in the club still commit ourselves to training. It got me thinking...what exactly inspired me to take on this mindset? I remember there was a time I announced to anyone who would listen that one day, I would stand on top of the masters podium at Nationals. That was when I only completed one marathon (ever!) and barely squeaked under the two hour mark. I did not even expect anyone to take my words seriously. However, SZ listened. Not only did she believe in me, she told me that I could aim higher and break the current records for the different distances. She showed me how I can get there with training programs, knowledge, and hardwork. Coach SZ's support is one very powerful motivation which inspires me to train hard for my goal.