No Excuses!

So, I realize that this blog will not seem spacey entirely, and it isn’t. But I hope it does give you some food for thought.

Some of you don’t know me that well, or perhaps really at all for that matter, so let me start off with some background for you. Obviously I suspect you have figured out that I run (since that’s generally one of the few things that I let “take over my tweeting” from time to time. For purpose of the intent of this blog, let me explain something to you… When you see me posting about a half marathon etc. you may think to yourself “Well, she’s just a natural runner and that’s easy for her” or something like that. Let me tell you, that really is NOT the case at all. When I was in high school (and younger), I was a sprinter, hurdles were my “speciality” of sorts though even then it’s not like I was really great or anything like that. (when we had to run the mile in gym class I hated it.) My point is, long distance running was NOT what I did. I didn’t start long distance running until about 8 or 9 years ago. A friend of mine had decided to take it up and I won’t go into the long story but i decided to give it a go. I’ve stuck with it because, let’s face it, I really like food and treats so this is a way to live the life I want. And I want to be healthy and fit.
But, honestly, each and every time I get out there to run, it’s a challenge. And every single half marathon is a major challenge and a heck of a gut check for me. I am not a “competitive” runner. You will never see me on the podium for an award check, that’s for sure! I just want to finish.
This weekend, at the Disneyland Half Marathon Weekend, I was struck by the words popping into my head of NO EXCUSES! To steal from Nike – Just Do It! I had several instances that brought this to my mind and wanted to share them with you because while the start of this I am going to apply to running, the later I will expand into other things.
It’s important to be fit and healthy. No excuses that you can’t do a real workout of some sort. You can do it! And moreover, you should! Life is a series of choices,make the effort to choose to work to be fit and healthy, your life will be better for it.
Background – the Dumbo Double Dare is to run the Disneyland 10k on Saturday and the half marathon on Sunday. On Saturday as the run was getting ready to start and I was thinking “good grief, why did I decide to do this? I’m tired!” The emcees were talking about the fact that they had a gal participating who is a Perfectly Dumbo Double Dare runner meaning that she has run every single one. Well… It started 3 years ago… She’s now 84 years young!!! ( This tops the fact that last year at the Nike Women’s Half Marathon in DC I met a young lady who was running her first ever half marathon at the age of 76!) I happen to be friends with someone who is ~66 who is running the Marine Corps Marathon this year as his first half marathon ever! He did his first half just earlier this year! Age is NOT an excuse. You can do this! No excuses!
During the 10k I passed a gal who was probably nearly 70 who was having to walk/jog with a cane. But she was doing it! She wasn’t making excuses, she was out there giving it her all!
During both races I saw numerous wounded warriors…. Several with one prosthetic leg and one with both legs prosthetic. They are out there with no excuses! They just do it! At the half, I was running near a gentleman who took a very nasty tumble. As I stopped to ask if he was okay and if he needed help, I realized he had one prosthetic leg and was also missing an arm. When I asked if he was okay (as he was getting up as quickly as he could and honestly didn’t need or want help doing it) he looked straight at me and said “Yep! Come on let’s get moving! There are still a lot of miles to cover! Let’s go!” I nearly cried. Talk about an inspiring and amazing attitude. He’s not making any excuses, how could I? How can you? Prior to that event I hadn’t been feeling so great but after that I literally said out loud to myself “ok, suck it up buttercup, let’s go!” Luckily no one was right next to me to hear me and think I was a little nutty!
So take this inspiration and get out there and do something really active! You CAN do it! No excuses!
But this applies to so much more in life than just exercise. The limitations to what you can or can’t do are often defined by the excuses that you make for yourself or that you allow others to make for you. As the saying goes, argue for your limitations (which is what making an excuse certainly is) and they are yours.
Not everything goes your way the first time. Maybe you don’t get the job you want straight away. Don’t give up! No excuses! Keep working at it! Do you know how many times Clay Anderson applied to be an astronaut before being accepted? More than a couple! But he didn’t give up and he didn’t make excuses! He just kept pushing and as a result he flew in space on the space shuttle and to the International Space Station.
My personal hero is Deke Slayton. Originally chosen as one of the Mercury 7, he was then found to have a medical condition that disqualified him from Spaceflight. He made no excuses! He kept working at it and working to resolve the issue. He never gave up and as such he went on to fly the Apollo-Soyuz Mission.
Hopefully this provides you a little midweek motivation to keep pushing through whatever may challenge you and really go for it! Whatever “it” is!
Happy Wednesday Everyone! 🙂

Recent Posts

Donate Today to Support Space Inspired STEM