10,000 days, a recap…
» March 31st, 2009
Twenty seven years, four months, and sixteen days. Doesn’t seem like anything out of the ordinary, but so far I’ve lived through 10,000 sunrises, and tonight I will see my 10,000th sunset. I’m trying to think of what the next 10,000 days will bring, wondering what I will be looking back on when I’m fifty-four years, nine months and two days old (give or take). In that time, I’m going to be expected to have endured a mid-life crisis, have hopefully paid off my student loans, and have moved into a house with a white picket fence, 2.5 dogs (or cats) and a head full of memories.
The first ten thousand weren’t bad, by any means. I’m just applying my hoof to my noggin in a scratching motion, trying to figure out how I can make the next ten that much better. I don’t know what exactly motivated me to actually keep track of the date, but I know how it started. It was back when I got my copy of Tool’s 10,000 Days album. Perhaps it was my never-ending quest for useless knowledge, but I decided to google it, and hey – there it was. I looked up my own age in days, but I was only in the 9000 range somewhere.
If you’d like to know your age in days, check out Peter Russell’s site. He’s got a little counter on there that will tell you your age in days.
The first event I have on this side of 10,000 is at day 10,004 — COMSA Short Course Championships. Not life altering, I know, but it’s the thing I keep doing, and it’s part of the reason I’m here doing this. I know these have been hinted, but never formally put down, but I do have a couple of life-changing goals to achieve within this next 10K. I thought I might share them, so that you all might poke me with a large stick when I get off track or get distracted by big, shiny objects.
- Complete an IronMan event
- Compete in an IronMan in a more exotic location. (ex. Japan or Hawaii)
- Swim the English Channel
- Become a personal trainer or a coach, even if part time
- Become a nutritionist
The first three are somewhat lofty goals, but not entirely impossible. A lot of people do their first IronMan competitions in their fifties, just so they can say they did it. Indeed, there is a certain amount of bragging rights that come with doing a competition like the IM. I’m not doing it for the adulation or the bragging rights. The best way to keep in shape is to set a goal and work toward it. IM is a tall order, but it’s what has been keeping me going since I started on this quest. Part of it is that I want to see how far I can push myself, and see what my body will let me do.
The other part of it is that I’m also doing it for my Grandma and my Sister, both of whom have been touched by the cold hand of cancer. My sister raised three kids, with a smile, while going through thyroid cancer treatments and radiation. She said that she felt like she hit a brick wall most days, but she just kept right on going. She’s currently in remission and doing great.
Grandma has non-hodgkins lymphoma. There were a few days that were touch and go, but she started chemotherapy, and she’s doing wonderfully. They are both in my heart and soul with everything I do, and they inspire me greatly. There’s nothing like cancer to make one aware of their own mortality.
Grandma and Grandpa always tell me, “we just know you’re going to do great things!” It’s a tall order to live up to, but it’s another part of my motivation factor, and another part of what keeps me going.
So, here’s to another 10,000 days — whatever they may bring! Thanks for listening to the random ramblings of a big moose.
m00se
Tags: Cancer, Coaching, Education, Grandma, IronMan, Life, Lymphoma, Nutrition, Sister, Training
