Setbacks

Today I had a phone consultation with my doctor regarding a case of sinusitis that I have acquired. For a week now, I have been ejecting from my head all the colorful fluids that one associates with a sinus infection. His prescription of amoxicillin was welcome. My fear all week was that the junk in my head would move to my chest. Twice in the last year I have struggled with a bronchial infection: last June and then in November. With three weeks to go before the ultra, I am very concerned about the effects that this will have on the race.

Preparing this year has been a series of setbacks for me such as the sprained ankle which inhibited my early training. I thought that preparing last year with an eight month old to look after was hard; now he is twenty months old and full of energy. Chasing a toddler around does little to prepare one for running 50 miles, but it takes a lot away from one's ability to rest and recoup after the long runs. The sinusitis is just one more hurdle to cross.

This project is about rewarding and supporting kids who have shown a dogged determination to surmount obstacles being perpetually thrown in their way. As I started thinking in the fall about preparing for this run again, I cockily presumed that it would be substantially easier than last year. After all, I would have my previous experience to rely upon. Fittingly enough, I really need now that experience more than I thought I would given the state of affairs; preparation has proved to be much more challenging than I thought it would be.

Training and preparing this year has demonstrated some crucial concepts for me relative to the values that the scholarship seeks to espouse. Most notably, it has been reaffirmed that perseverance and endurance are psychological traits more than physical ones. This last week it was hard not to wallow in my own misery, worrying that the sinusitis would cause everything to be for naught; it becomes easier to accept failure than to believe in a future success. Fittingly, I am looking for a student who refuses to accept their setbacks as endpoints and who are resolute, even stubborn, in their belief in success. So as I pop my antibiotics this week and try to knock the gunk out of my head, I will take my inspiration from those students who I have seen stay unwaveringly positive despite their immediate circumstances.