At 6am I woke to the feeling of butterflies and anxiety in my stomach. In about an hour I would be racing with two close friends from sea level to 10,000ft. We were racing in a relay that happens once a year on the island of Maui called "Cycle To The Sun". Every year about 200 people participate in the race but not all make it to the top. This race is a grueling 37 mile event that is completely up hill the entire way...no down hill at all.
- The view from sea level looking up at Haleakala, 10,023 ft (in between the two lumps is the finish line)
I was competing with two very close friends, Torsten and his dad Jerry. The amazing thing about our team is that we had a "pituitary tumor" survivor. Jerry had almost lost his life several years ago to the illness. The pituitary is an important gland in the body. It's often referred to as the 'master gland'. The anterior pituitary gland produces the following hormones and releases them into the bloodstream: Adrenocorticotropic hormone, which stimulates the adrenal glands to secrete steroid hormones, principally cortisol. Growth hormone, which regulates growth, metabolism and body composition. To be put simply, it is a very important gland for a functioning body.
When people ask about who I raced with, I always say Tor and a complete badass named Jerry. Being 60 years old and having survived a tumor as serious as he had and now be racing in one of the toughest races in the world is that of a super human. Sometimes it takes going through a completely traumatic experience to really have the appreciation for what our bodies are capable of. For me personally, Jerry is a complete inspiration in understanding that it is never to late to pursue a body of your dreams and to flow through life in optimum health. I think that we take life for granted a bit too much in this day and age. A lot of us go through life sucked into our Instagram, Facebook and Snapchat watching people pursue the dreams..but what if you were the one pursuing your dreams? wouldn't life be that much more exciting waking up each day with the passion to change or influence the world in a positive way with setting the example like Jerry has? We never know when our days will end so take each day and make it a master piece.
Now back to the race. We broke up the race in 3 parts. Jerry started the race off at sea level and rode to 3,000ft. Torsten took the baton from 3 to 6,000 ft and then I took it from 6 to 10,000ft. Being that we were in the relay, our sections were all sprints as appose to going all the way from sea to summit in one go, which is something that people have done in 2 and a half hours..(the record). Our goal was to make it with a time under 4.
- About half way up the mountain with the summit in the distance
Jerry came in hot around the bend before passing fit to Tor who then flew through his section in about 1 hour and 15 minutes. at 6,000 I was waiting....I then saw Tor flying up the hill with an ape-like grin on his face yelling CHEEEEE HUUUUU LETS GO!!!..He was jamming to Metalica. I grabbed the baton and took of as fast as I could. At about 8,000 ft the elevation hit, It felt as if my lungs had a small fire burning in them. after going through mental battles most of the way up, I broke into the "runners high" where a myriad of blissful emotions took over. Looking out my left I realized I was above the clouds, basically floating across the ground on an island in the pacific.
Nearing the top the pain really started to kick in and I started having doubts about whether i'd make it or not but then Tor and Jerry past me in the car cheering and yelling which gave me that last extra little boost to cross the finish line. We crossed the finish with a time of 3:52!! and placing second in the relay race out of 10 teams.
The main reason I wrote this post is to provide a little inspiration for pursuing your dreams no matter the circumstance. I use Jerry as an example all of the time to reiterate that anything is possible. His story is one of the main motivators in my life. To be blessed enough to have a functioning body in this world but not feel it in its full potential is a bit of a waste in my opinion. Just know that it is never too late for any dream.
| inspire to live and live to inspire |
-codylang