Coincidental Motivation

Jason has been going to the gym pretty consistently for the last couple months. I am so proud of him! He has been running and pretty much rocks at it. He far exceeds me, who, if I was put into a position where I had to run, (i.e., I was being chased by a rabid yeti) I would probably die a horrible death pretty quickly.

This past week, feeling quite flabby and such, I joined him at the gym. I'll tell you -- it's pretty awesome. It hurts and makes me sweat and it takes a whole lot of motivation to go, but I get to listen to podcasts while I do it and it really does feel good.

My main problem with working out is that my knees hurt. I mean, they have hurt consistently since I was 8 years old. It's usually triggered by the weather or sleep deprivation, but today, I stepped on the elliptical and 10 minutes into my hour and fifteen minute workout I was in pain. It was frustrating, feeling pain so quickly and knowing I had a lot of time to go. So, I stepped off and walked around a bit, turned the Olympics on the TV, and stretched a little, then got back to it. I eventually started feeling a little better after I pushed myself a little more.

About 45 minutes in I was feeling tired and like I wanted to stop. I just wanted to rest because I was feeling like I just didn't want to do it anymore. So, I start thinking that I would stop and maybe do some weights instead, but skip the hard part that I had just encountered... I then glanced at the TV to my right and I see this:
I didn't really see this because I couldn't find the exact image that was shown on TV, but this is basically it. Sam Edney was getting ready to compete in the Men's Luge at that very moment, and spectators in Vancouver were cheering him on with signs. Even though the signs (obviously) weren't meant for me, it was pretty awesome that there were signs being held up with 'Sam' on them at the exact moment I glanced over at the TV, at the gym, ready to quit because I was tired.

How crazy is that? It was so much of a coinsidence that I couldn't just ignore it, obviously. So, I kept at it. I ended up with an hour on the elliptical and some weights and 10 minutes on the bike (just waiting for Jason do cool down on the threadmill.) All in all, it was a good visit to the gym and I have Sam Edney and his fans to thank for it. :-)