Just Do It!

We are bombarded every day with people trying to sell us stuff. Some of the more savy merchants hire great advertising firms who spend hours trying to find the right words, the right look, the right jingle, all designed to make us want to give them our money for their products. Some of these advertisements are so great that they are entertaining in and of themselves. I always watch the Superbowl not so much for the football, but to see the innovative ads.

One of my absolutely favorite ads is Nike's "Just Do It!". It is short, sweet and to the point. No excuses, no drama, no procrastination: Just Do It!

My husband is a Triathlete. That means he participates in races with three events back to back. First he swims. Then he gets on his bike and rides. And finally, he runs. These races are all different distances. This past summer he did a 70.2 mile Ironman in New Hampshire. He swam 1.2 miles, biked 56 miles and then ran 13.1 miles (that is a half marathon). He did this in about 6 hours. Unbelievable! Unbelievable that people do these races - unbelievable to watch people do these races - unbelievable how much they train and prepare for these races.

While we were at his race (it was an weekend event), I bought a T-shirt. The slogan on the T-shirt got pretty close to "Just Do It".

These athletes struggle everyday with their own goals. It could be
strength, speed, endurance and even weight. The difference is that they are out there and they are doing it! For so many of these incredible athletes, although the race is important, the journey they are on is just as important. They have the "end game" in mind - there is no doubt about that - but they enjoy the training, the challenge, and the camaraderie. It is all part of the experience, the journey. This is a special group of people. They are very supportive of each other and often train together even though it is an individual sport. At the end of the day they are competing against their own best time.

So today I went back to the gym, my gym. I mounted my bike and I began to spin. I took it easy because I am middle aged (which means that I will live to the ripe old age of 92) and overweight. It wasn't easy at first, but about 20 minutes into my spin I started to feel good. Maybe it was the sweat dripping off my brow. Maybe those endorphins started kicking in. Maybe it was the music. I think it was because I was there - where I needed to be and where I wanted to be. Maybe it was because I was just doing it. I was TRI-ing!