As I run today, I feel the crunch of autumn leaves under my feet.  I have 7 months to train. So I’m out there every day of the week. I’m running with a twenty pound backpack. I have filled my backpack with sandbags. I can feel the stress on my shoulders and chest. I adjust the pack to move it to my hips. I feel my breath laboring as I climb a steep hill. I feel relieved as I crest the hill. I scream Wahooo!!! as I crash through the rocky hillside going down from the top.

This training for me is not to just build my body. I have to get that done. But it is also about building an endurance of the mind. I have to be able to focus my mind. I will be blocking the pain from stealing my will to succeed. When the pain gets bad, I ask myself one question. “Can you overcome the pain to help a child realize their dream?” There is no other answer but “Yes”.  My pain is nothing like theirs. They are enduring cancer. They do their own ultra-marathon daily. I am inspired by the adversity they face. I will not let them down. These children are awesome. I endure for them whether I am careening down a trail or running hard through the rocks and sand of a desert. Run with me, help me give a smile back to a child. Go here and see why I do this:

http://enduretocure.org/team/athletes/jim-terrell/

Thank you,

Jim

As a 53 year old grandfather, I question why I do the things I do. Why do I push myself to run extreme distance?  Many men my age are starting to sit on the porch and enjoy their morning cup of coffee instead of putting on tights and lacing up running shoes.

Once upon a time, and this is no fairytale, I was that fat jolly old grandfather sitting on his porch. I didn’t even have a lap for my granddaughters to sit on. That lap was covered by 285 lbs. of excessive fat. I would sit there with a cup of coffee in one hand and a cigarette in the other waiting for my heart attack to happen.

My oldest granddaughter took me by the hand one day and we walked to the park. I was out of breath. I pushed her on the swings and felt my heart just pumping. She then took my hand and led me to a park bench. I proceeded to take out a cigarette to calm myself. I looked into her eyes and realized that I will never see her graduate or walk down the aisle at her wedding. I then got up, took her hand, and told her I loved her. I threw my cigarettes in the trash that day.  

It has been a long journey since that day. I’ve accomplished so much. But yet I have so far to go. My journey will never end. I’ve started a new path of my insane journey. It includes sand dunes, mountains, river crossings and a climb up to see Heaven’s Gate. I even have to carry my own food and sleeping bag in a backpack as I do this.  I am so pumped to be doing this. but yet I’m terrified. I will be running 250 km. in the Gobi Desert. I ask myself why.

I don’t let the fear persuade me to not achieve my goal of keeping the smiles on my grandchildren’s faces. Now I’ve set a goal to bring smiles to many other children. I do that through my involvement with Endure to Cure. Every $500 I raise will go toward fulfilling a wish of a child who is fighting cancer in a hospital.

So this fat old man is off to train to run in the desert. And who couldn’t smile at that sight. It might even get a chuckle.

“The journey of a thousand miles begins with one step.” Lao Tzu

The journey to the Gobi Desert has begun.  I’ve started by collecting the equipment that I will need to support me in the desert. I will train with each and every piece.  I’ve tested my endurance by wearing a pack on my last long run with 20lbs in it. This run was nothing like what I will experience. Over the next 10 months, I will experience blisters, exhaustion, and sore muscles.  My thought is that my pain is nothing like what these kids experience in life who suffer from cancer.  I will not let my pain deter me from giving them a chance to grow up and become the person they are meant to be.

So you are probably asking yourself, how is he going to do this? I will endure by keeping the reason of why I do this in my heart. Remember this: When you move your dream from your head to your heart you can accomplish anything. My dream will power me through the miles of dunes and mountains.  

So fill those water bottles, grab your backpack, and lace up those running shoes and join me on the journey. I’ve taken the first step. How about you?