Athletes are weird.
We all start off like every other person in the world but something happens in our sport experience that changes us physically, mentally, and emotionally. Our sport stresses our bodies and our minds.
For everyone who had tried to do something athletic and reached that point where something inside of us says “STOP”, then you know where athletes live. The difference is that the athlete pushes through that very sensible feeling to stop and keeps going. There are sound biological reasons for this persistence, mostly related to some really cool chemicals released into our brains during exercise.
Along the way, there are physical and mental challenges that we sometimes succeed at overcoming. There are also the challenges that we fail to overcome and I think it is from these failures that we develop and grow. We grow as an athlete but we most dramatically grow as a person. We develop perspectives on Life and living that are unique to us and are unlike the way much of society thinks.
Like I said, athletes are weird.
I recall a wonderful Math teacher I had in my undergraduate days. On the first day of class, I noticed the crutches propped up against the wall by his desk. They were placed just out of his reach, as though they were just temporary would not really be needed later.
The instructor appeared physically uncomfortable but we went about the business of starting a new class. With formalities addressed, he spoke about his injuries. He had been riding his bicycle in a rural area, on a long sweeping curve as it passed through some ranch lands. The driver who hit him from behind had been fussing with something on the floor of her car such that the police estimated that her eyes had been off of the road for at least 40 seconds.
He arrived at the hospital, it didn’t look great. A badly fractured shoulder, 13 fractured ribs, plus a concussion (mild, thanks to his helmet that was split in half upon impact). But here he was in a college classroom calmly describing the drama.
So after a few days and finally out of ICU, one of his nurses walked into his room to find him on the phone with his bike shop. He explained to the nurse that they would be able to have a new bicycle ready in time for his hospital discharge. The nurse stopped and gave him what he referred to as “The Look”. As in “why in the world would you do such a crazy thing? You were almost killed riding a bike!”
Athletes are weird.
I cherish this story because it exemplifies a certain indomitable spirit that comes with athletics. You don’t have to just escape death in order to just pick yourself up off the ground and get back to it. Sometimes it is as simple as dragging your complaining body out of bed for a workout in the dark, cold morning. We just do it.
It had been awhile but I recently received “The Look” for one of my adventures.
After a hard crash into the back of a car, whose driver decided to stop for no reason (don’t get me started on bad drivers!), I noticed that though much of the soft tissue had healed, there was still significantly tender healing deeper in my leg. So about 5 weeks after the crash, I’m visiting my friendly Chiropractor and I ask her to confirm what I think I already know – the fracture is healing.
When she asked what I have been doing for the injury, I described the physical therapy I had been doing and that I had missed only one day of riding since the crash.
If looks could kill…
I know, I know. Athletes are weird.
“Injury in general teaches you to appreciate every moment. I’ve had my share of injuries throughout my career. It’s humbling. It gives you perspective. No matter how many times I’ve been hurt, I’ve learned from that injury and come back even more humble.”
-Troy Polamalu
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