Athlete's Heart

I was given the best compliment yesterday that my cardiologist could ever give me when we were discussing my recovery and course of action for the next couple of months when he mentioned that I have an athlete's heart. Although he was referring to my cardiovascular system, it is so much more than my heart, arteries, veins and lungs working in unison to provide my muscles oxygen rich life giving blood, it is the very core and essence of who I am as a person, an athlete. My whole life has been about the body in motion. From little league first baseman to riding the bench as a varsity basketball player to an All American collegiate runner to a graying master who still loves to lace up feather-weight neon shoes, I have always been an athlete. There is something about being in motion out on a trail, the early morning road, or circling a mando surface that brings an electrifying satisfaction to my being. No doubt about it, I love to run... But my athlete's heart is not that fist sized lump of muscle in the center of my chest. My athlete's heart is my passion for what I do. The excitement I feel when I lace up my neon green Nikes as I step on Hayward Field to run a mile, that is my athlete's heart. The pride I feel when my daughter, without any prodding, wakes up, laces up, and heads out the door because she wants to hit her required time to make the traveling squad for her college cross country team, that is my athlete's heart. Waking up at 3:30am to get to a work-out early to warm up a little extra with my Visalia Runners teammates on a Thursday morning, just so I can drink a little extra coffee and enjoy great conversation, that is my athlete's heart. Jumping up and down and giving high fives to my high school athletes for hitting a new personal record on a course or event, that is my athlete's heart. Giving an "atta girl" when my high school classmate Kelly buys her first pair of running shoes and discovers the joy of being an athlete, that is my athlete's heart. An athlete's heart is that part of you that digs deep and hangs on when every muscle fiber screams to give in and quit. An athlete's heart is that part of you that drives you to victory and refocuses you when you lose. An athlete's heart is that part that pumps with excitement and joy when you run a personal record and breaks when you fail. An athlete's heart is that part of you that defies logic and reason and brings you ecstasy when you splash through mud puddles at 5:00am on a Saturday morning rather than sleeping in. An athlete's heart is that part of you at 45 that would rather be old and slow than not moving at all...because to not run at all is to die. So thanks Doc for understanding who I am as a person, an athlete and thanks for knowing that I don't want to survive, I want to live...I want to be a runner. As always, stay healthy, keep running and live out your passion from the heart.