Athlete: Melissa Stockwell

One of my brothers and I were down in Chicago to cheer on our other brother in his first sprint triathlon. We are waiting along the course to get another glimpse of him. Oddly there was a break in the steady stream of racers exiting the swim, off to get their bikes. Around the bend I saw a runner with an odd gait, soon to realize she only had one leg.

We stopped dead in our tracks. The otherwise quiet crowd begins cheering and clapping like I hadn't heard it that entire morning! What an unbelievable experience to watch her race!! At that moment, so many thoughts, emotions, and questions fill your mind. My brother manages to snap a few photos before she speeds by. We in our cheering group talked about her for a while after she disappeared.

I got home. I couldn't let it rest. Who was the woman? What happened to her? What's her story? I check the photo. I needed to know who this woman was. She wasn't the first para-athlete I'd ever seen. Just something about that dramatic way she entered into view and inspired the crowd as she passed...with no other racers around her. With no bib number visible on her arms and knowing nothing other than what's in the above photo, I didn't have many leads to investigate. I won't bore you with the Googling details, but I eventually identify her:

1LT Melissa Stockwell, 1st Cavalry Division, United States Army.

I came to learn Melissa lost her leg when an IED exploded during a convoy in Iraq. She quickly returned to active sports, including swimming and triathlons. She was a Paralympian in the 2008 Beijing games...swimming in three events. We just so happened to see her during her first international distance triathlon right here in Chicago!! A real blessing.

Little more needs to be said about this amazing woman. Not many like her around. I'm thankful for having been able to see her today.

Link to her blog and website.

What are you WORTH?

I'm on vacation right now. And I see lots of folks with fancy cars, expensive clothes, and trendy lifestyles. And I frequently see them swimming in the ocean, or any other number of physical endeavors.

And it came to me as I saw some overweight fat cat walking along the beach.  He had on nothing more a watch (worth more than both of my cars), a Tommy Bahama swimsuit, and a 3-day tan. I asked myself exactly what this guy was worth.

Not "worth" in the sense of how much stuff he had amassed in his life. Or how much his salary was. No. I estimated his measured worth by different standards.  My sense of worth comes from how well a person can handle stresses, failures, obstacles, and hardships.....mentally, emotionally, and of course physically speaking.  

With my focus on physical fitness, I asked myself, "If a wave just broadsided this beer-bellied man, how would he handle it?" His physique said it all. He was obviously WAY out of shape. I doubt he could swim. I doubt he could run.  I chuckled at his fancy sense of fashion and jewelry and answered, "If that happened, all that stuff wouldn't matter in the least." No it wouldn't. All that would be taken into account was how well he had conditioned his body to survive. How well programmed was his anaerobic power, his swimming skills, his endurance, his mental attitude?

Then I thought the same of myself. Without the tools of my trade or anything but my own body, how would I handle the same stresses?  I encourage you to ask the same....

What are you really worth??

Swimming Update

I have completed six (6) sessions of swimming. I have gone twice per week for three (3) weeks. What a difference since Day 1. As you can see in the photo above, I am starting to grow gills! Here are summaries for my last few aqua WOs:

Day 1. 20x 50M. Each separated by 60-sec rest. Total of 1000M.

Day 2. 10x 100M. I took 5 deep breaths at the far side of the pool, and 60-sec rest between each 100M. Total of 1000M.

Day 3. 13x 100M. Rests of 30-60 secs. Total was 1300M.

Day 4. 8x 200M. Rests of 45-60 secs. Total was 1600M.

Day 5. 6x 300M. Rests of 45-60 sec. Total of 1800M.

Day 6. 4x 400M. Rests of 60 sec. Total of 1600M.

I can barely conceive how quickly my body has adapted to swimming. Other veteran swimmers at the pool are more than helpful, giving hints and tricks to us obvious newbies. I've promised myself to concentrate on only one new aspect each time. If I try to bring all the adjustments together at once, my form goes to crap and I start taking in water. I can definitely sense my form getting more efficient. However, I attribute most of my new success to breath control...as odd as that might sound. My short-term goal is to finish 1500M without breaks. I will reach it not by adding total meters, but by decreasing rest periods (in both duration and in number). This is going to be a case of trial-and-error....sink-or-swim....

Trying it out: SWIMMING

I surprised myself this week. After some workplace water cooler talk with a couple of like-minded fitness functionalists, I learned the two of them had begun a morning swimming regiment. They had recently found a 50-meter pool, and both thought about participating in their second triathlon.

So I invited myself out to one of their workouts on Tuesday morning. I went to a local swim shop and pickued up a pair of shorts and goggles. (No, they're not the briefs where you can tell a man's religion!) I went home, got online, and found a CrossFit Journal article that both scared me, and calmed me. I was ready.

At 6am, I jumped in the water and shared a lane with my partners. With them, we share similar functional fitness models of running, kettlebelling, and whatnot. Even though this was only their second session this summer in the water, they knew what to expect. I had really underestimated what 50 meters of swimming does to a man's breathing....and I went into this workout with a better-than-average fitness level. But not a better-than-average swimmer level!! Wow! I finished the morning with 20 repetitions of 50M, each separted by a short breather. I left the pool completely dumbfounded as to how my grand total of 1000M measured up. Then I reminded myself of the reasons I got into the pool for the first time: to better MYSELF, and to do it under the umbrella of committment and competition among friends. I was not there to be stacked against against seasoned triathletes or high school swimmers.

So my 1000M is what it is: just a number for now. I'll keep you posted on the progress.