Monday, December 17, 2007

What do I see..



This weekend was packed. 2 hr trail running with Darren. I picked up my new bike (pictures will come soon...). Went to see Scoorge the musical and tonight drove in through a blizzard to hear Ravi Zacharias (amazing Christian speaker).

Tonight's post is not about that. I want to share with you what I see when I see the picture above....

It was taken in my first Ironman earlier this year (July 22nd). This was 45 min into the run. Before this, I already swim 1 hr 30 min and biked 8 hours.

Some might comment how fit I look....(quite true, I was physically healthiest at that point in my entire life)
Some might think how much muscle I have (unknown to them, they are fat that looks like muscles :P).

When I look at this picture....I remember the moment. It was a hot day. On the bike, my legs were ready to cramp. We just ran downhill and made a left turn.

I can't believe I was smiling. I look back further and can't believe I am part of this race. There are so many things that can go wrong.

I torn my shoulder few weeks prior and I couldn't swim..
My bike's front deraileur (the little gadget that change gears) broke. I am thankfully that a repair guy was there to fix it up for me (duct tape and cardboard)....

Least not forget I had a liver transplant in '91.

I was clinging to life...I am a cancer survivor.
And you know...all these miracles, I have done nothing to earn it. Nor have I done anything to deserve it. It is all handed to me. For free (really..in Canada we have free health care).

Whenever I see this picture, it takes me back to the days when I was in the hospital. A kid who didn't know he was fighting for his life. A kid who didn't realize his dad was downsize. A kid that had a miracle.

And a kid who has a chance live life...

I am truly blessed...

5 comments:

Thomas said...

You look like a real athlete in that picture. Great photo!

Spokane Al said...

Thanks for the reminder of what this great life is all about.

ShirleyPerly said...

I hope you bought that picture and had it framed. Great photo and great thoughts.

brendaj said...

What a great reflection. You look strong but it's nice that you can see beyond that to the deeper meaning of life too.

Thomas said...

In answer to your question, Cliff: When I increased my mileage, it automatically meant more time. I have since become a good bit faster, but with the higher mileage I'm still training more hours than, say, 2 years ago.