The Olympics

The Winter Olympics will be held in Vancouver/Whistler in a couple of weeks and you'll find a lot of people that, simply put, don't like this. I could explore that side of the argument more here but that isn't what this post is about.
The Olympics are coming- hell, they are already here- and I'm excited.

I grew up in Whistler, mecca of snow and skiing, a Vegas in the mountains. I am partial to the Winter Games but have been known to practice my gymnastics on a foamy on the deck when the Summer Games were on (when I was a kid of course). I wanted to be a figure skater so that was the sport I watched the most. Had I started my 'career' earlier and stuck with it I could have very well been competing in these Games. As it were, Whistler didn't get an arena until I was 11, Squamish was a fair drive away in the dead of Winter in an '85 Dodge Aries, and life got in the way.

Fast forward to the summer of 2008 where I was watching the Beijing Games unfold from my apartment in Victoria. People were muttering about Canada not doing well. Then a wrestler won gold, as well as the men's eight rowing team. Things were looking up. I watched all of this with pride. I love the games because it's people who work hard at what they love and will settle for nothing but the best. Their sport could be 30 secs long or 3 hours. It's exciting, dramatic, and emotional.

I sat down on my couch to watch the men's triathlon, a sport I'll admit to never having watched or paid much attention to. I knew the basics (swim/bike/run), and the only reason I was watching was to cheer on a local hero Simon Whitfield.
The swim and bike portions were done and things were looking okay for us. Again, I didn't know much about the tactics of the sport except that the Canadians were using one that a lot of people didn't agree with, but one that was working well for them.
The 10k run portion of the race was coming to a close and Whitfield was 'fading' as the commentator had put it and said that it didn't look like there was any way he could fight towards the 3 runners in front of him.

Cue the visor.

The guy took off. He caught up to the others in a way that seemed effortless. It was amazing. And then he passed them. And put space in between. It was so incredible to be able to witness this, and so exciting that I felt like I was running right along with him. An 88 yr old patient at work said the same thing to me the next day!

At this point I was screaming at my poor TV, Jan Frodeno caught up to take the gold and Whitfield was claiming his hard fought silver and he had recruited a new fan. I thought to myself 'I want to do that.'
The next day I registered for the next race available to me, the 8k road race in Victoria held during the RVM in October. I ran that 8k race, giving myself an hour to run it not knowing my pace or how long it would take me at all. As I ran passed the 2 km mark Simon was on his way back at the 6km mark already. That guy is fast. Wait a minute- I'm in the same race as an Olympic athlete? Cool!!
I came through the finish at 50.07 and I was hooked. A week later I registered for the half marathon clinic held at The Running Room, and the rest of that story is in the previous post, but my experience was everything I had hoped it to be: emotional, hard, and rewarding.
So my dream was to be a figure skater and I ended up running, because I was inspired by an Olympic athlete and that little stunt he pulled while doing something he loves. I still go for skates at the rink and try some jumps and spins and adore the time I get to spend doing something that I enjoy. I always look down at my feet when I skate thinking 'wait a minute, I can do this? Cool!'
While I know that I will never run as fast as Simon Whitfield I'll continue to train in Victoria and enter in races. I never run them expecting to win, but just to say that I did it and finished, and to do it and enjoy it. I'll be watching the Olympics in February with Canadian pride, cheering on our athletes in all the different sports.
I think this is an important thing to remember when it comes to the Olympics: it boils down to athletes doing something they love, trying their best and inspiring kids (and grown ups, if I can call myself one) to get out there and try it too. One day I'd like to race in a triathlon. I may never win an Olympic medal but I'll damn well earn my finishers medal and that means just as much.