… you are going to end up somewhere completely different.

My training is my life force. I have learned to exercise in a way that feels almost meditative. I don’t mean calm and soothing, but that the only thing going on in my head is the task at hand. My breath. My motion. My strength. My focus is complete, as my body moves to renew itself and to live … and sometimes just survive. This is a process that has taken a long time and has been born from my joy in physical movement, my mental focus, and repetition, repetition, repetition. One day at a time, one week at a time, from moment to moment in a never-ending flow.

When I am healthy, I follow my plan with the big picture in mind, knowing that every moment spent on the health and well-being of my body and mind is worth every drop of sweat and minute of pain. That is reality for me. I realized early, coming from a family that was prone to illness and stress, that my health was a privilege and not something to be taken for granted.

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