Monday, April 13, 2009
On doing it Oprah-style
A while back I said I had some mixed feelings about the fantastic treatment I got at Diabetes Training Camp.
You see, back in 1994 Oprah Winfrey ran a marathon. I hate to pick on her, because many other celebrities have completed things like marathons and Ironman triathlons much the same way, that is with personal trainers, personal nutritionists, basically everything that can be done to make it easier, given nearly unlimited financial resources.
To me, this always put a qualifier on Oprah's marathon. She ran it, *BUT* she had help, even to the point of having her personal trainer with her every step of the way on the course.
I never had that much help. Like most marathon runners, I did it myself.
And yet, here I am training for Ironman and taking all of the help I can get. Well, I have to be honest about this. If I could have had the help Oprah had, I might have taken it. And in the end, it was Oprah who ran her marathon. No one else can do it for you.
(Unless you're that Big Loser, Dane.)
I appreciate the help I'm getting. I don't think there's much chance of anyone who knows me thinking I wouldn't do this without the help. There have been many times that I drove for hours alone to the start on the morning of a marathon or ultra, ran the race, got in my car, and drove home.
As silly, and maybe arrogant, as it is, I still have some mixed feelings about not doing this on my own.
I suppose an important thing to realize is that almost no one is really going solo. I always have the support of my friends and my family.
You see, back in 1994 Oprah Winfrey ran a marathon. I hate to pick on her, because many other celebrities have completed things like marathons and Ironman triathlons much the same way, that is with personal trainers, personal nutritionists, basically everything that can be done to make it easier, given nearly unlimited financial resources.
To me, this always put a qualifier on Oprah's marathon. She ran it, *BUT* she had help, even to the point of having her personal trainer with her every step of the way on the course.
I never had that much help. Like most marathon runners, I did it myself.
And yet, here I am training for Ironman and taking all of the help I can get. Well, I have to be honest about this. If I could have had the help Oprah had, I might have taken it. And in the end, it was Oprah who ran her marathon. No one else can do it for you.
(Unless you're that Big Loser, Dane.)
I appreciate the help I'm getting. I don't think there's much chance of anyone who knows me thinking I wouldn't do this without the help. There have been many times that I drove for hours alone to the start on the morning of a marathon or ultra, ran the race, got in my car, and drove home.
As silly, and maybe arrogant, as it is, I still have some mixed feelings about not doing this on my own.
I suppose an important thing to realize is that almost no one is really going solo. I always have the support of my friends and my family.
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8 comments:
I think the biggest difference between you and Oprah is that no one is going to be waiting for you every morning telling you to start working out. You cannot train for an Ironman by external motivation, imho.
My wife just read this and said "Jerry is kind of like Oprah... just like Oprah gives away presents and inspires people - Jerry shares his poems, his reflections and keeps his blog readers motivated." :)
Hey, why reinvent the wheel? If we can learn from those around us and draw from their experience and inspiration why not? Like Newton has said "If I have seen further it is only by standing on the shoulders of giants." So let's all pile up on each other and keep on going higher and higher.
You will still put in the same amount of work and will and strife. The only difference is that you will go farther.
Sorry, Anonymous,
If you want to repost, stating your point more succinctly, you're welcome to do it.
But you are not welcome to post an 18,000 word rant.
I could give you some extra space if you were talking about something related to the subjects central to my blog. However, in the 18K words you posted, you did not mention triathlons, marathons, running, diabetes, or anything this blog is really about.
I don't disagree with very much of what you had to say. Your opinions are not being suppressed by any conspiracy. Just make your point in fewer words.
Jerry, I think the take home here is, "you've done it....and you've done it all on your own". Next page, now you get to see what it's like to have the aid in doing it. Cool. Run with and enjoy it. You've earned it man.
All the help in the world will not get you to the finish line, without the hours of training you do, you know that. Have no guilt Jerry. No one gets you through, but yourself. You are an inspiration to all of us, and an amazing, humble athlete.
You have to rememeber, this is a big, big thing you're going to be doing - Ironman. I think because we're diabetic and spend so much time concentrating on the "bigger" things we have to manage with respect to endurance sports, we forget that what we're doing is hard, diabetes aside. It's really hard. People without endocrine disorders ask for help. There's no shame in that.
Your acheivement when you cross the finish line will be no lesser because someone helped you along the way. In fact, learning from those who have been there before is the smart thing to do - I might call you silly if you DIDN'T take the help. It's not like someone will be out there swimming, running and biking for you.
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