The True Athletes

Good afternoon.

We like to look at ourselves and believe that we obtain the qualities for greatness. We do. Some, however, epitomize greatness in ways I will never know. I saw three people this weekend that were the paradigm of greatness. And for those three people I dedicate the next few words of praise and hope the words find them someday.

Will. We all say we have it. Some people stop smoking, exercise, eat right, etc. Some of us need a boatload of will just to finish a race. Some need to tap into it daily to get through struggles we may never understand. I admit, it is extremely hard to get out of bed, or off the couch with a bowl of ice cream, but I do. I have will. So do the rest of you. But one special person has will I only hope to emulate someday.

His name is Grady Gaskill. Grady Gaskill finished the White Lake sprint tri this weekend in approximately 2:35. This isn’t a great time. In fact, this time officially stands outside the “cutoff” set by the race. Ok. But Grady finished. And Setup Events let him finish. And at the awards ceremony Grady received a tear-jerking 5 minute standing ovation. Grady has will, mountains of will. What did Grady do? Oh, Grady only exercised more in his two hours than the 80% of the nation does in a month. So what? Whooppeee, he finished a triathlon. Yeah, he did. And when he did he beat all of us Sunday. Grady is 81 years old. He is a statistical anomaly by being alive. As Bill Scott said, I hope to be able to recognize people at 80, let alone finish a triathlon. My hat is eternally off to Grady, and I hope we all use him as motivation. Grady is 81. How old are you?

Courage. It is the force behind taking that first step into the dark, the juice that fuels the jump off the airplane, or even talking in public. We all think we have courage. We all think we are brave and can face our demons. Think about an adult who didn’t swim until their late thirties. Six months ago I met this adult and without sugar-coating anything…I was afraid she wasn’t going to make one lap in the pool. Yet she tried. She spoke about her fears. She faced them. And she swam two laps. And three. And four. Sure, some of the swimming was a backstroke-like concoction. But does that matter? On Sunday she jumped into the same water with the rest of us. An outside observer might look at her time, or see her in the water and wonder what happened. Though I was in the middle of the race course I thought about her and the fear she was facing. Then as I came in the run and saw her hammering away on her bike, I knew she had arrived. Her name is Amy Barrett. She did her first open water tri on Sunday. I hope I can summon her courage when my fears face me. She showed all of us Sunday what it meant to be brave, and although most will never recognize this, I hope she realizes how much she accomplished. Amy didn’t quit, even though she spent some serious time in that choppy water. Amy overcame, can you?

My third is a real special person. She is a punisher, an intimidator, a force, and the tiniest little ball of power you could ever meet. Twice now I have started the run portion only to see her cruising toward the finish. In an age where waistlines are exceeding IQ’s, I see much of our younger generation falling victim to processed diets and uncaring parents. It is a health crisis, a pandemic of apathy, and a very grey, bleak outlook. In the middle of that, though, is Kathryn Buss. Google her and you can find out much more. Plainly put, Kathryn finished third or so in White Lake this weekend. My coach, Marisa, finished 2nd. Kathryn, at age 15 or so, finished about 1 minute behind her. Let me put this into perspective. Marisa is badass. She punishes most of the males she races with. Marisa is fully versed in physiology, nutrition, kinesiology, training…etc. The point is she has a huge arsenal to attack a race (and other competitors) with. Kathryn does not. Kathryn has a teenager body, an unsteady metabolism, and growth to look forward to. Yet she hammers. Not only does she hammer, but she does it in age of exponential distractions. Girls her age hardly think a great transition is cool, or shaving a minute off of your 5k time. Facing ostracizing comments she pushes through. As all of the pre-teens and teens search for identity, Kathryn has found hers. Let her be an example for that, and I hope someday to see her finish in the top 5 in Kona. Kathryn you should be inspiration to many more.

Until next time…race smart.

Lux aeterna Grady, Amy, Kathryn.

-The Mental-ist