These days, I’m finding an unexpected solace on the gravel bike. Maybe it’s because I have to concentrate on the trail, so there isn’t much room in my mind for me to think other thoughts other than to focus on what’s happening in the moment. Maybe it’s something new, or maybe it’s overcoming fears. Whatever the reason, riding dirt feels “right” to me. It’s distance and it’s solitude— and it’s, oddly, like meditation on its insistence on the here and now.
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Week 20: You Are Never Alone
It’s funny sometimes how life works. One moment, we think we’re on a certain path and then something happens— a pandemic, for example—and everything we believed about ourselves and our lives evolves to fit the situation. And then we wake up to discover that we, too, have changed.
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Week 19: The 54-Things-to-be-Grateful-for-Challenge
If you want something to feel grateful for, you can get involved. Supporting organizations like the Arthritis Foundation is important now more than ever given the recent data that is being released about COVID-19 and its impact on those who have pre-existing conditions. I also challenge you to take out a sheet of paper and write down 54 things for which you are grateful. Share them with your loved ones… or share them with me. :-)
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Week 14: Conquering Fears = Growth (in a good way)
So, there I was: 3 a.m. on a Wednesday morning, wide awake and thinking about my 5 a.m. workout at Orange Theory Fitness (OTF). The coaches had warned us in advance that it was a “benchmark” workout (a template they surface every six months or so as a way to gauge our gains in fitness.) Today would be the 12-minute run for distance.
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Week 10: Getting Over Myself
A part of this journey is physical: the training, getting to the start line, eating right, resting right, etc., etc. But then there’s the mental part, and that, to me, is just as important. We’re all warriors in one way or another, fighting our own battles, winning some, losing others but hoping that the win-loss ratio comes out positive in the end. I’m a warrior of words, and for years I have struggled with bearing my soul to the world, or more precisely, of feeling worthy of doing that sort of work. I need to become stronger because the writing demands that of me. So, here I am.
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Life is full of beauty and of miracles. After avoiding another injury, I’m grateful for them all.
Week 9: Oh, Snap!
This and experiences like it make me feel as though I can, at times, glimpse what having a form of Arthritis must be like. I know, of course, I’m wrong. That this is an approximation, a clunky metaphor at best. Yet, to live a life in which what you want to do— what you can imagine yourself doing— and what you can actually do diverges and goes separate ways, that is the territory of athletic injury, too. In these moments when I am more fragile than a small child, I’m reminded not to take anything for granted.
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Photo by sergeyryzhov/iStock / Getty Images
Week 5: The Holiday Season
Instead of giving you the ordinary laundry-list of training details, recovery tips, workout ideas and other essentials for a 525-endurance ride, I thought I’d take a break all from that and share some holiday stories with you. Because, well, it’s the holidays.
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Left: Jerry Davis with his grandson, Carter, the inspiration for “Team Carter” of which I am part. Right: taken on the 2018 CCC when members of Team Carter hugged me because I was shivering and for the first time I really felt what it’s like to be a part of something larger than just another “win”.
The Day I Met a Hero: Carter's Story
As I start my multi-month training for the 525-mile California Coast Classic cycling event, I wanted to introduce you to the reason behind Team Carter (the team I’m riding for): Carter. He was diagnosed with Juvenile Idiopathic Arthritis (JIA) when he was three years old. Since, his grandfather Jerry Davis has ridden the CCC to raise awareness—and funds— to help find a cure for his grandson.
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