C.: Hey, d.c., what’s going on?
d.: Give me a second. There, 20,000 steps. Now, what can I do for you?
C.: You’ve taken 20,000 steps, and it’s not even one o’clock in the
afternoon?
d.: Yes. First, I went to the gym and rode the stationary bike for twenty miles, and then I came home and ran and walked about five more miles. I’m tired, but I feel good!
C.: You need to be careful, d.c. At your age…
d.: What do you mean at my age?!! I’m not that old. Besides, in human years you’re…
C.: We’re not talking about me! I want to know what possessed you to do a brick, when you aren’t competing in triathlons anymore.
d.: I decided to cycle and then run because I’ve gained some of the weight I lost. I just wanted to get back to where I was (and then lose twenty more pounds).
C.: Be careful, d.c. Many people get into trouble that way. I remember you telling me about your epic workouts when you were training during some of our training sessions. Working out for four hours a day, almost every day seems a little obsessive.
d.: It does to most people, Cal.E., but I enjoyed what I was doing then…
C.: It sounds like a lot of work…
d.: No, Cal.E., it wasn’t work. Work is a four-letter word that implies that someone doesn’t enjoy what s/he is doing. I put a lot of effort into what I was doing, but I never considered it to be work. Besides, physical exercise makes one’s brain work better. The book that I wrote twenty years ago, when I was training so much (and recently updated) got a five-star review when I submitted it to Online book Club. That website has more than one million followers, so I feel confident that it will do well when it’s released.
C.: So, you think the your first book you wrote is the best book you wrote?
d.: I believe so, Cal.E. If one is passionate about a subject, it shows when s/he is communicating about that subject to others. I stuck with that program because I enjoyed it. It also meant that I needed to eat five thousand calories a day to maintain my weight, and I like to eat.
C.: But that was after you lost forty pounds. Why didn’t you gain that weight back?
d.: Because I was burning it off every day. Most competitive eaters aren’t really overweight. Sonya Thomas, the “Black Widow,” who’s the campion female eater who once beat the champion man, Joey Chestnut in a one-on-one match, is five feet tall and weighs 115 pounds. Chestnut is considered to be the greatest competitive eater of all time. Most competitive are triathletes or some other type of endurance athlete. They need the calories they’re consuming to participate in the activities they choose to participate in. Even if they aren’t ranked in the endurance sport, they still get attention because of how many calories they can consume in a short period.
C.: Did your doctor tell you not to run on your knee that was replaced, d.c.?
d.: No, not really (mainly because I never asked). I’ve seen men and women who have overcome horrible injuries that left them with permanent disabilities accomplish incredible things. If you remember when you read my book, I talked about Glen Cunningham. His legs were burned severely when he and his brother were caught in a church fire when he was a young kid. His brother died in that fire, and he was told by his doctor that he would never walk again, much less run. He literally tied his hands to a plow and had a horse pull him until he could walk, and then run. Cunningham held the world record for the mile run for two years. He went on to win a silver medal in the 1500 meters (a.k.a. the metric mile) in the 1936 Olympics in Berlin. I’m sure that made Adolph Hitler unhappy, because he disliked anyone who was imperfect, in his opinion, and Cunningham had a duck-like stride due to his childhood trauma.
.
My mother told me that story when I was a teenager and started having knee problems. Her point was that, if one is determined to do something, it is possible to achieve it. Cunningham was a talented runner who used his talent and determination to accomplish great things. He became a minister later in life and established a ranch for boys who had been abused and needed a place to live.
I don’t have Cunningham’s story or ability, but I have been through many injuries and surgeries in my life. I believe that I can use the knowledge that I’ve gained rehabilitating from those injuries and adjusting to the changes that those injuries caused in my body. I think I can help others train for endurance events using that knowledge, as well as the medical knowledge I’ve gained by working as a nurse at The Human Kennel for the last ten years.
C.: Good luck, d.c. I must get going if I’m going to finish the workout you gave me to do today before I go to work tonight, so I will bid you adieu.
d.: (Cal.E. must be exercising her brain, too. Now she’s quoting Shakespeare!)