My neighbourhood is not exactly an active person's paradise: The streets are narrow and busy; the sidewalks are uneven and littered with obstacles; and the severely slanted road surface has ITB written all over it. On top of all of that there's also Cindy. The one direction in which a run would be half bearable, has Cindy. Cindy is a dog with an attitude with an owner who has no clue - she's leachless, fenceless and loves to charge. And every single one of the gazillion times that we've been charged by Cindy, her owner has had exactly the same response: "His (?) name is Cindy!". No excuses, no reprimanding Cindy; just a big, toothless grin. Uhm, okay...
Anyway, knowing very well that I still have a lot to be thankful for, I decided to do a bit of research on fellow runners who kept at it in less than ideal conditions. And I discovered a wealth of inspirational stories.
Like the inmates at the Pretoria Central Prison in South Africa who have been training for ultra marathons on a 200 m loop located inside the prison's premises, and more recently also on donated treadmills, for over a decade. They've completed, amongst other races, a virtual Bonitas City to City 50 km, as well as a virtual Two Oceans 56 km, with one of the inmates missing the silver medal cut-off time of four hours with only five minutes. Wow.
Or the countless soldiers braving life threatening conditions in war torn countries in order to run. For both fitness' and sanity's sake.
And suddenly Cindy pales in comparison. Nothing like the big picture to remind you that you're richly blessed.
[Source.] |
Or the countless soldiers braving life threatening conditions in war torn countries in order to run. For both fitness' and sanity's sake.
[Source.] |
And suddenly Cindy pales in comparison. Nothing like the big picture to remind you that you're richly blessed.
No comments:
Post a comment
I love hearing from you!