David Freeze

By David Freeze

I can’t begin to remember the first time I met Kevin and Ester Marsh. It seems like they have always been close friends. They were also very special to a generation of running kids in Rowan County.
With an exceptionally talented running son, Kevin and Ester helped with another program when Andrew got involved. They decided in 2011 to start the YMCA Warriors, offering cross country and track competition. Kevin said, “Ester and I knew that we could partner with the Y to have a terrific running program.” The long story is that the couple invested a huge amount of time to help these kids, up to 900 hours annually.

Rowan County doesn’t have middle school cross country and track but most of the surrounding counties do. Kevin and Ester worked with over 50 kids, many as young as 9 and 10. Most continued to participate in the program until high school and often remained afterwards.
While Kevin handled most of the running, Ester was the catalyst for starting the Warriors and she handled all the team entries and memberships, plus the YMCA requirements for their programs. Ester also coached the high jump, long jump, hurdles and sprints. Kevin said, “Ester was truly a force for our team!”

Kevin continued, “The Warriors always had many kids qualify for the Junior Olympics, an accomplishment in itself, and we also had at least one All-American (top eight in age group) in every Junior Olympics we competed in for nine years.”
Both Kevin and Ester had to balance all the time invested in coaching with hectic jobs. Kevin works for the Carolina Restaurant Group as service manager and Ester is fitness director at the Hurley YMCA. Summer track season is the longest with meets lasting all day on Saturday and even Sundays at the State and Regionals levels. Kevin said, “So probably about 30 hours a week and 20 hours a week for cross country. That’s 900 hours annually included planning workouts and other training.”

Still the rewards were great. Kevin said, “My most special memories are of Andrew winning the 2000m Steeplechase and being National Champion and our 10 and under boys cross country team winning the Footlocker Regional at McAlpine Park.” Members of that boys’ team included Eli Julian, Matthew Burroughs, Connor Price, Bret Lewis and Nate Shaffer. We also had a 9-10 year old team in 2015 AAU Junior Olympic Cross Country Championship in Alabama that finished second in the country, only seven points out of first place. Julian and Price were joined by Triston Rabon, Jake Swicegood and Grayson Steedley. I am very proud of both these teams because the total team finish embodies what makes cross country such a great sport.”

Current Rowan County High School Champions, Adalie Harrison and Noah Julian, are former Warriors.
All good things come to an end. Kevin said, “Mainly we decided to step away after the 2019 season due to our jobs. I am traveling more than ever for several days a week. With the Rowan/Cabarrus YMCA merger, Ester has a much bigger time commitment with the fitness department. The other consideration was our core group of boys that started as 8-9 year olds will move into high school next school year. My commitment was to keep coaching until they reached that level.”

With their well-deserved free time, Ester and Kevin plan to do trail riding in some new places and travel more since they won’t have to use vacation time for the Junior Olympics and Cross- Country Nationals. They plan to stay close to the running scene in Rowan County. Kevin has seven marathons and Ester has completed a half marathon and multiple triathlons.
Kevin continued, “When Ester and I decided to start the Warriors, our main goal was to instill a love of running in our kids that hopefully would carry on into adulthood. That is why we mainly focused on personal bests at each meet instead of finishing place. We are most proud of how many of our athletes went on to become accomplished runners in high school and we try to get to as many of their meets as possible. We always say ‘Once a Warrior always a Warrior’. I’m sure many people at cross country meets wonder why we’re cheering for kids from so many different schools, but we will always support our former athletes. It has been truly a labor of love!”

Look for upcoming running events including the New Sarum Brewing 37th Annual Winter Flight 8K/5K and Fun Run on January 26th at www.salisburyrowanrunners.org

By David Freeze

How to make them work

    I’m writing this on Saturday morning, January 4^th. A certainty is that some resolutions have already been broken. As a fitness professional, I understand this. Resolutions can be tough to sustain. In fact, most are blown by March 1. Everybody rushes the gym just after New Year’s, then have disappeared by early spring. Why?

    Thankfully, I’ve had lots of years and some reasonable success at helping folks achieve the changes they wanted. Here are some of the ways that I think you can work on a better you for 2020.

    I have noticed this week that retailers, from Walmart to Aldi, have targeted fitness gear and healthy food choices for the first week in January. That’s great, but don’t take on too much at a time. When we are talking about a change in behavior, particularly long-term issues, positive resolutions that are too big or too complicated don’t work. Start small and keep yourself accountable.

   How do you keep yourself accountable? See support from family, friends and even a trainer. Merely walking in the front door of a gym won’t guarantee success. Talk about your achievable resolutions so that others know what you have in mind. Telling others leads to accountability. Encourage them to check in on you. Better yet, find a partner or two for the express purpose of that magic word. Accountability is, in my opinion, the most important word as you seek workable resolutions.

    I listen to the commercial for one popular gym which suggests “no commitment”. Who would expect success with long term goals with no commitment?

    Try it like this. Decide what matters most to you and start small while being realistic. The two most popular resolutions are 1. ‘Exercise more’ and 2. ‘Eat healthy’. Those statements as resolutions are way to broad and are a failure waiting to happen. Be specific. In my experience, if you want to exercise more, schedule yourself, and hopefully a friend, for four planned workouts or group classes a week. Going from zero workouts to 7 days a week isn’t likely to work. And you’ll need recovery days.

   Eating healthy for most of my clients begins with getting control of what they drink. Liquid calories, usually laden with excess sugar, are the biggest culprits for pursuing a proper diet. Sweet tea, sugared soft drinks and alcohol are laden with calories that don’t improve your wellness. I once had a client who chose to track her calories daily by use of a popular app, but she left off her liquid calories. Be realistic and truthful, especially to yourself.

     So, two easy ways to address the two biggest and most pursued resolutions quickly come to mind. Make the small and accountable step of finding a workout that you enjoy, and this may take some experimentation. Doing workouts you don’t enjoy will not last. Maybe you and a partner find group classes that you like or begin a walking or running program. Plan it, follow through and be accountable.

    On the food consumption, start with the liquid calories. Just one less soft drink a day, at about 200 calories, will net a loss of 20 pounds a year. How much simpler can that be? Same for sweet tea and alcoholic drinks.

      Here’s my revelation for you to consider. Once you start seeing success, you’ll come to a great divide. Do you keep going or does the resolution go the way of so many others that didn’t work out? Decide what is important to you and buck up to get it done.

       And my final suggestion. Get God involved! Ask for support and the energy to keep moving forward. I do this every evening during my prayers. God wants you to be the best you! For yourself and for those around you. And if all goes well, your health and your prayer experience will both leap forward!

By David Freeze

    I grew up idolizing my hero, New York Yankees baseball star, Mickey Mantle. Living on a small rural dairy farm, I really had to work to find someone to play ball with. My brother and sister didn’t care for sports much and still don’t. I couldn’t get enough of football or basketball, but baseball had that special appeal. At that time, I think baseball was truly America’s game. To me, it still is.

     Baseball on TV was rare then but sometimes I could get a game on the radio while sitting on the front porch swing during nice summer nights. We didn’t have air conditioning at home, so the cool night air was often a relief from a warm house. Just me and my small radio, searching for any game but especially grateful on the nights that the proper atmosphere allowed reception of a station carrying Yankees baseball.

     I had a cousin who often visited who loved the game as much as me. We could sometimes get my brother to play baseball games with us. I can never remember more than the three of us at home playing.

     Most fun of all was little league baseball that we played in Landis. I played on the Lions and my brother, along with our nearest neighbor, played on the Firemen. Our parents often shared the rides for the three of us to practices and games. There were only four teams in our league and we played twice a week.

     I remember my first time at the old Landis ballpark, originally used for semi-pro and high school baseball. The covered wooden stands and the field itself both seemed huge, especially to a small 11 year old boy. We had a team shirt, which I still have, and a ball cap. That shirt lasted a long time. Those games were more than 50 years ago.

      Another thing that lasted a long time were the baseballs. I remember how special we felt to ever see a new baseball. The pictures I have seen of early 1900’s major league players never included a new white baseball. All our practices were done with old balls, some of them heavy from getting wet previously. Those were also the days of the good little league teams only having three or four wooden bats. Yes, wooden bats just like the major league players used. Old balls and well-worn bats simply were baseball back then.

       Most games began with a new ball and a good used one as backup. We just needed enough balls as a team to warm up with. Should one of the game balls get lost, the home team had to put in play one of their best warmup balls. Someone was always sent to look for a lost game ball on the very big field at Landis. And they kept looking until the ball was found.

      My point here is that game balls were often used for a long time and could on occasion begin to show damage. First signs would be scuffs and occasionally the stitching began to break. Little red threads made those stitches and one break usually led to another. Still we played on unless the cover did actually begin to come loose. Each time the ball was hit hard, the cover would continue to unravel. The horsehide started to flap but only on the rare occasion could someone hit the ball so hard the cover actually came off. Usually a mammoth clout finished off the ball and another one from the warm- up bag replaced it. No one complained and we all thought losing the coverless ball was just a part of the game. But the mammoth clout wasn’t that common and took special effort.

      But how about that baseball, the one with the cover knocked off? Roy Hobbs, in the movie, The Natural, hit it so hard and well that the ball unraveled on the way to the outfield. In our life, should we always try our hardest for the things we believe in. The term, “Knock the cover off the ball”, today means going hard, giving our best and just simply making the best effort we can for the intended result. How we can go wrong when doing that?

    Do your best on your walk of faith. If God tells you to do something, work hard and do your best. God will do all the things you can’t do.

     Know ye not that they which run in a race run all, but one receiveth the prize? So run, that ye may obtain. 1 Corinthians 9:24-25.

By David Freeze

     There have been a few times over the years that I have been embarrassed enough to want to find a big hole and crawl in it. This Thanksgiving Day, I was able to watch the end of the Macy’s Thanksgiving Parade from New York City. One of the feature bands for the whole parade was the Western Carolina University Pride of the Mountains Band.

     Founded in 1938 with just 23 students, the band now has about 500 participants. They have a giant sound and amazing choreography when performing on the football field. Students have to apply for acceptance into the probably the top college band in North Carolina.

     Back in 1971, I was pushing hard for acceptance to the United States Military Academy at West Point. A lot of the early hurdles were complete, including all the academics and mental testing. Left to go in the early spring was a week’s worth of physical conditioning and medical testing. I went with two other prospective students, one from Rowan and one from Cabarrus, to Womack Army Hospital at Fort Bragg. I was diagnosed with a heart murmur on the second day and was immediately washed out of the program.

    With just a few months until high school graduation, I quickly applied to WCU and got in. Because I had played in the band at South Rowan High School and greatly enjoyed the experience, I decided to apply for the WCU band. I was accepted for that too.

    In early summer, I was notified that the band students had to report to school about 10 days early in preparation for the early football season performances. As a freshman drummer, or a part of the percussion department, I was in way over my head. I found out that the band was huge and filled with strong musicians, most of them accomplished music majors. Music majors had to practice for hours and then work in band practices too. Those band practices usually took half a day during that first ten days and at least two hours a day once school was in session.

     A lot was expected of the band members and learning the planned choreography was especially challenging. There was a new program each week to learn, usually only lasting about seven minutes when performed.

     As a meek freshman, I was committed to the program and would receive classroom credit for it. As the youngest percussion member, I was given the cymbals to play. Expected to make the perfect cymbal clangs at the right time, I worried more about screwing up my left and right, backwards and forward marching.

     The band went to East Tennessee State in Johnson City, far enough away that we would spend the night after the game. We were told the game was being televised, my first ever such experience. Still, I was excited to be a part of such a high performing band.

     Once arriving at the stadium, we did a walk through of the program and then about 200 band members went to the motel to dress for the game. Sleeping four to a room, I was fortunate to be sharing the space with one good friend and two others that I knew.

     Back at the game, everyone anticipated the halftime performance of the best band around. I was a little nervous but not overly so. With the performance finally underway, I stayed on track until……, I turned the wrong way and immediately stood out like the worst swollen sore thumb!

     Once the program finished and the band back in the stands, the band director (I will never forget his name but won’t use it here) immediately called attention to my error. He said, “Where is Mr. Freeze? Let’s hear it for Mr. Freeze turning the wrong way!” Immediately the whole band said, “Duhhh!”

     For the rest of the game, the evening at the motel and the long ride home, only the one good friend spoke to me. Those errors simply were not made in that program. It seemed as if no one forgot for the rest of the football season, at which time my experience with the WCU band was complete.

    Embarrassed tremendously, I never turned the wrong way again and the bad memory faded. When I look back on it now, I’m at least smiling inwardly. What I thought at the time was the worst possible experience, was certainly not. And probably long forgotten by everybody but me.

    I raised my head, owned my mistake, learned from the experience and moved forward. Just one of many times over the years.

By Deirdre Parker Smith

deirdre.smith@salisburypost.com

David Freeze is nothing if not determined, and persistent.

Since his first long-distance bicycle trip in 2013, he has chased his passion for seeing the 50 states from the seat of one bike or another.

His most recent trek, from Nevada to Alaska, was quite the adventure.

Read more at the Salisbury Post here

By David Freeze

   The most unusual “outrage” came last week over a stationary bicycle commercial. Outrage is one of those words that I hate to hear, especially since it is so overused amid political comments recently. Retiring the word would suit me just fine.

   Here’s what happened. I saw the commercial depicting a husband who gave his wife one of the finest stationary bikes available on the market. Peloton is the brand name and that word too made all kinds of media for the next few days. One report said that the video had over 700,000 comments within a few days and the actor playing the dad was often ridiculed. After all, did people forget that he was an actor playing a role?

     The thought of a husband giving his wife an exercise bike riled the women of The View and Jenna Bush Hager told Hoda Kotb, “My husband better not ever give me a gift like that!” Another word, sexist, was often used to denigrate the commercial.

     Why not give the gift of possibly the best home stationary bike in the world, one that can quickly connect the rider to an online spin cycling class at will? The gift of exercise, not the gift to shame a seemingly normal body size mother as suggested by so many on TV. I polled a few of my exercise clients and some other long time runners and they all agreed. Include me in joining the long list of folks who would love to receive this specific Peloton bike. I have often thought of how cool it would be to have a high quality bike like this upstairs to use whenever I wanted, just as the mom in the commercial could now do. Spin classes are often filled to capacity at local gyms, usually on bikes not as high quality and realistic as this one. One other commercial for a similar bike shows a woman pushing herself hard while watching a winter snowstorm falling outside her window.

      Why does this matter so much to me? How could that gift give back many times over to the wife, husband and the rest of his family? Well past my best efforts on the sports fields and the roads of running, I am old enough now to appreciate good health. I remember my own story from years ago of wanting to get healthier with an idea of looking ahead to a long life with my loved ones. I was successful and one of the major tools along the way was a form of cycling, both stationary and road.

      As the days of the week went by, the opinion somewhat shifted away from all the “outrage” to one of understanding and support. Here is exactly why I agree with that shift. I have said it often and will continue to say this for the rest of my life. The one single biggest gift we can give to others is the gift of our time. It doesn’t have to cost anything and can take many forms.

     As an example, I love it when my daughters come to visit, and we can just talk with no other pressures or expectations. I would rather do that than go out for the nicest meal available or some type of entertainment. And friends too, old and new, I am going to make the gift of time for them just as I hope they will.

     Now back to the guy who gave the Peloton bike for Christmas. My first thought when seeing the commercial was that the actor portrayed a young husband who gave a gift from the heart, one that his wife could use at home. Simply in hopes that his wife would enjoy herself and also be around to have lots of time with him and their family. What could be better than that?  

By David Freeze

  I read the other day that statistically there is more documented depression now than ever before. While I’m sure that comfort and the better things in life are more abundant than ever, it takes more than that to be happy with oneself. I don’t have a related degree, but I do have training and years of experience working with people who have a common thread running between them. They say, “I want to feel better about myself. How can you help me?”

    With that said, I often hear from people who spend at least 30 minutes a day exercising and then report a positive feeling that lasts all day. One of my best friends called exercise “the best mental therapy that money doesn’t have to buy” and she is absolutely right!

   While I start my day very early most mornings with a run of at least 45 minutes and five or more miles, I know that the resulting feeling is unbeatable. But my personal training clients and group class participants began to experience the same feeling when they go out and raise the heart rate for even as little as 20 minutes. While slightly more is better, just that simple beginning gets the ball rolling.

     I certainly don’t mean that you must run to have the mental benefits. Just begin by going for a walk at a comfortable distance. Not a very slow stroll, but one that makes your heart beat faster and challenges your cardiovascular and respiratory systems. Pump your arms! In other words, raising your heart rate and number of respirations is the key to starting the “good feeling”.

     As an example, that first day’s walk might be a quarter mile, or it might be just up and down the driveway a few times. Do what you can do. No matter the age, I am convinced that you can feel better by exercise. The next day, add more and keep doing it again almost daily. Find the challenging distance and pace, meaning that you aren’t overdoing the effort but pushing yourself just enough to do more than you thought possible.

    Years ago, I was gaining weight around my middle and found that I didn’t like it. I didn’t consider anything other than the fact that I needed to exercise more. I did plenty of walking at work and a good bit of lifting, but that kind of exercise was not sustained. I began to run just about every day and it didn’t take long to find that I loved the post-exercise feeling. I began to look forward to more of that post-exercise feeling as much as I did the actual exercise and other positive results.

     At that time, my runs were done in the evening. I had a young family at home and worked in Charlotte and the evening was a better time. Just 30 minutes of exercise began to leave me with a confident, yet relaxed euphoria until bedtime. My sleep came easier because my mind was relaxed and happy.

     Shortly afterwards, I craved the exercise so much that found a way to do it almost every day at lunchtime in Charlotte. I floated through the afternoons with easy problem solving because of increased mental focus and the lingering confidence.

     About six months into my exercise program, I shifted to mornings as often as possible. I wanted that confidence and top of the world feeling to begin early and last all day. My overall health continued to improve, and the excess weight disappeared.

    On the unusual day that I couldn’t at least go for a long walk, I missed something and felt off. To this day, 40 years later, nothing about that has changed. Even serious life trials are helped by the result of regular exercise.

     Bottom line, give it a shot. If you feel depressed or even just a little off, go for a walk, a run, find an exercise class that you like or just follow an aerobics program on TV. Let me know if you don’t find the same result I did. Kick that depression out the door and enjoy the health benefits!

By David Freeze

    Life has been wonderful for me the last few years. I have often heard others say things like, “You are just living a dream!” While spending long hours on a bicycle traveling for days at a time might seem like a lot of work to most people, I value the ability do so as a tremendous blessing.

    Isn’t life most rewarding when we have lots of “Wow” moments and realize that the circumstances that put us in the right place to experience those moments are blessings? One of those “Wow” moments happened for me on Sunday, October 28, at about noon. It had nothing to do with a bicycle.

    My daughter, Amber, and her husband, Jamie, had been expecting their first baby. Conceiving the pregnancy had required the invitro process and a wait to see if the harvested eggs would be acceptable. They were, but Amber’s various health problems along the way kept the pregnancy in doubt.

     Doctors and parents picked the date of October 29^th for a scheduled C-section. The pregnancy was considered a geriatric pregnancy since Amber is past 35, a term that makes her sound old. Usually she is the liveliest and most upbeat person in a room, but the pregnancy worried her. It worried the rest of the family too, but I have found that the power of prayer was so dramatic that I had to ask for God’s help on this. Each and every night, I asked for His care and peace as the time for the birth approached.

     On Saturday evening, I had just returned to the house from some farm work. Amber called and I thought upon seeing her name that this was very unusual timing and immediately wondered if everything was alright. She and Jamie had become concerned with various things during the day and the doctor asked them to come to the hospital. The surgery and birth were going to happen between 10pm and 1am that evening.

     Amber’s mother and sister, along with their husbands, were on the way to the hospital, so I elected to wait until Sunday to visit. With Amber’s blessing, I hoped to see the new family and my first grandchild after everyone else had gone home.

     After church, the short drive to Presbyterian Hospital, and a longer search for the right place to park, I finally found the correct building and floor. A short stop at security for a visitor badge didn’t take long, just ahead of getting directions at the nurses’ station.

    I walked into room 822, and within one minute was holding my new granddaughter. Her name is Monroe James Bishop and she seemed just about perfect. Time didn’t matter and all seemed just as it should be. Both parents were sleep deprived and overwhelmed but were doing great. And so was Monroe, although she slept most of the time. I did so those bright blue eyes a few times, just the same as her granddad’s.

    I’ve been blessed with the most precious gift. One of these days, I will tell her about how prayer matters and share some memories. But for now, I’ll just work to be the best example of a good dad and granddad. I truly believe that is what God wants and deserves. So today, I ask for your prayers that help me do this. Thank you, God, for this new baby and every blessing you provide!

By David Freeze

  I teach regular classes in wellness, both for groups and individuals. One thing that I enjoy doing most is a group class for those who aspire to be runners. These classes are taught several times a year and the series always lasts eight weeks. We have a classroom session one night a week and follow that with a run. The classroom sessions are enjoyable and cover topics like nutrition, stretching and strengthening, form, injury prevention and safety. The runs increase in distance each week from a half mile to 3.1 miles on the last evening. Class members run three other nights a week on their own.

   Last spring, I got an email from a lady named Robin who asked about the next class. Robin said, “I need to lose weight and get in shape!” I told her that we had one in progress with three weeks to go but wouldn’t have another until early September. I did invite Robin to come join us free of charge for the last three weeks and then retake the class in September.

    It isn’t unusual to get these calls, and about a third of those who call don’t show up. In my current class, another woman contacted me three times about the class, two of those with excuses for missing the first two meetings. She never showed up.

     Back to Robin, she did show up back during the spring and mixed in a lot of walk/running while the others who were much fitter by that time finished well ahead of her. But the truth was that Robin had stepped way out of her comfort zone to start this process. Always pleasant and encouraging to the others, Robin had only to decide whether she would come back in the fall to do it all the right way.

     With the start of the new class, we were mired in the late summer heat wave that lingered for weeks and just recently broke. Heat is the hardest thing on new runners and many of the experienced ones too. Robin had seemed sincere, but I gave her only a 50/50 chance of showing up again and sticking out the eight weeks.

      Today is October 13^th, and with a bump in the road, Robin is about to complete her seventh week in the class. Last week, she completed 2 ½ miles of running without stopping. This week, she will do it again and next week, Robin will complete her first 5K (3.1 miles). I have no doubt she will finish the class because everyone who makes it this far does.

     That speed bump threatened to end her effort. Things were fine after week one. At the start of week two, Robin took off running way too fast on her one mile run. She faded fast and struggled to finish. Week three, she wanted to quit. Robin sent me a message and said she wasn’t coming. Her therapist said running was causing her too much anxiety.

    I disagreed and told her so. She needed regular exercise for many reasons. The anxiety would go away and her confidence would build after each new distance conquered. Robin agreed to resume her effort. She came back ready to work, believing her goal of 3.1 miles was just ahead.

    Just last week, on a beautiful night in downtown Salisbury, Robin cruised through 2 ½ miles. She’ll do it again this week and then complete her first 5K on Thursday, October 24^th.

    My point is that we all have to believe in ourselves. Believe and go for what we want to achieve. Great things are done by people who believe they will!

By David Freeze

  I teach regular classes in wellness, both for groups and individuals. One thing that I enjoy doing most is a group class for those who aspire to be runners. These classes are taught several times a year and the series always lasts eight weeks. We have a classroom session one night a week and follow that with a run. The classroom sessions are enjoyable and cover topics like nutrition, stretching and strengthening, form, injury prevention and safety. The runs increase in distance each week from a half mile to 3.1 miles on the last evening. Class members run three other nights a week on their own.

   Last spring, I got an email from a lady named Robin who asked about the next class. Robin said, “I need to lose weight and get in shape!” I told her that we had one in progress with three weeks to go but wouldn’t have another until early September. I did invite Robin to come join us free of charge for the last three weeks and then retake the class in September.

    It isn’t unusual to get these calls, and about a third of those who call don’t show up. In my current class, another woman contacted me three times about the class, two of those with excuses for missing the first two meetings. She never showed up.

     Back to Robin, she did show up back during the spring and mixed in a lot of walk/running while the others who were much fitter by that time finished well ahead of her. But the truth was that Robin had stepped way out of her comfort zone to start this process. Always pleasant and encouraging to the others, Robin had only to decide whether she would come back in the fall to do it all the right way.

     With the start of the new class, we were mired in the late summer heat wave that lingered for weeks and just recently broke. Heat is the hardest thing on new runners and many of the experienced ones too. Robin had seemed sincere, but I gave her only a 50/50 chance of showing up again and sticking out the eight weeks.

      Today is October 13^th, and with a bump in the road, Robin is about to complete her seventh week in the class. Last week, she completed 2 ½ miles of running without stopping. This week, she will do it again and next week, Robin will complete her first 5K (3.1 miles). I have no doubt she will finish the class because everyone who makes it this far does.

     That speed bump threatened to end her effort. Things were fine after week one. At the start of week two, Robin took off running way too fast on her one mile run. She faded fast and struggled to finish. Week three, she wanted to quit. Robin sent me a message and said she wasn’t coming. Her therapist said running was causing her too much anxiety.

    I disagreed and told her so. She needed regular exercise for many reasons. The anxiety would go away and her confidence would build after each new distance conquered. Robin agreed to resume her effort. She came back ready to work, believing her goal of 3.1 miles was just ahead.

    Just last week, on a beautiful night in downtown Salisbury, Robin cruised through 2 ½ miles. She’ll do it again this week and then complete her first 5K on Thursday, October 24^th.

    My point is that we all have to believe in ourselves. Believe and go for what we want to achieve. Great things are done by people who believe they will!