Monday, May 7, 2012

I am an Athlete

I was always 'that kid' in the grade school hierarchical chess match known as 'picking teams'.  Small, uncoordinated, and husky, I had accepted my role as being last picked and acting as extra in the outfield of kickball in the weed choked field behind C.Ray Gates elementary.  While idealistic 6th grade boys listed 'professional basketball player' for future occupation in our flimsy end-of-the-year memory books, I filled out 'archaeologist'.  Even at that naive age of 11, I accepted my non-athletic lineage of being a Mohr.  The annals of my family's athletic feats would be as short as comics section and just as laughable.  From YMCA soccer, summer league softball, C team volleyball, and middle school football, we've been the bench warmers.  Our most exciting moments were my brother Nick's concussion and hair line fractures during football...practice and my sister Katie's sole assist in a JV soccer match.  Seemingly resigned to this 'fact' for most of high school, college, and early on in teacher, I was stagnant as pond water, thinking that walking a few miles was laborious exercise.  My health and weight, however, didn't remain so steady.  Looking back at pictures from five years ago, it's hard to remember what it felt to be in that body and how I thought it was healthy.

One August evening almost three years ago, I made a casual decision that changed my life, cliche as it sounds.  Celebrating my sister Grace's impressive showing at the Hall County 4H Dog Show, Grace, my other sister Katie, and I headed out to Ruby Tuesday's.    I don't remember what exactly sparked the decision, but as we waited for a table, I announced, "I'm going to become a vegetarian."  Giving me a look of incredulity knowing my habit for making bold statements, my sister Katie replied back, "Sure Brian, we know how long this will last."  That one salad bar and almost three years later, I haven't tasted meat once, save for a hamburger bet made with my sadistic speech team of 2011.  Ironically, my once skeptical sister has gone even farther than I have in dietary direction, becoming a vegan.  While I had made the decision to do a 180 with my palate, I scoffed at the idea of identifying myself even in the linguistic vicinity of the word 'athlete' until Facebook post made me reconsider.  A colleague of mine posted she was on Week 3 of Couch to 5K.  Interested in the name, I did a basic Google Search and explored the details of this incremental walking/running program.  I started off with running 100 meters, then 200, then 400, then 800, then 1600 a.k.a. in English measurements as the 'dreaded mile' then 5,000 and to my biggest surprise, not only because of the distance but because of the math I had to do, 20,960.   I just completed my 2nd 20,860 meters along with 6,000 other runners, all on the path winding through the shaded paths and streets of Lincoln for a myriad of reasons.  Why do I run?  I run to live healthy in the present and stay strong for the  future;  I run to unwind and think;  I run to set goals and break them; I run to support others running and not running;  I run because I can't catch or throw well;  I run in hopes it might inspire and motivate others to grab the reins of their health. 


 I learned at the Nebraska Writing Project that "I am a writer" by simply stating those words, so using that same philosophy, I claim ownership of the term 'athlete'.  I might be still be that 'guy' even today, the guy you don't want on your intramural softball team in the outfield to catch the fly ball, yet I am an athlete in every sense of the word and so are you.

5 comments:

  1. Great piece, Brian. You are an inspiration to all who have ever felt like you growing up. I am so inspired by your accomplishments. We miss you in O'Neill.

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  2. Great first blog post Brian!

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  3. Whoops - guess it was your second post.

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  4. Great story; I so felt the same way in high school. I couldn't catch a ball either! Running is a great outlet; you are so an athlete! Some people just develop later than others in that area.

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  5. You are remarkable Brian. I have admired how you have changed your health habits. Even though I never took the time to tell you that. (My bad) You are an inspiration to many.

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