"Circumstances are beyond human control, but our conduct is in our own power." -Benjamin Disraeli

The other day I asked my friend Joe, who is running the North Face Endurance Challenge 50 miler next weekend, what I could do to help him out. His (abbreviated) response was "Have you written a blog lately?"
I answered with "Is that how I can help you with your race? Is write another blog?"
He said "You can help everyone."

In all honesty, being sidelined with a running injury has left me void of inspiration to write. Until last night when the President of our Great Nation came on the 'tube' and announced with certainty that Osama Bin Laden had been killed. The man that changed the world for every breathing American on 9-11-01 and for years to come, exited this world by the hands of an American. As I began to fall asleep, I started to see pictures of the Twin Towers in my mind and the smoke and ash that billowed out of those skyscrapers is a vision that has been permanently impressed on my mind. I also thought about how so many people never made it out of those towers that day and that those that did received an involuntary and eternal scar.

My darling friend Vanessa was there that fateful day when the towers crumbled into what we know today as Ground Zero. When I say "there" I mean, she was working out at her gym which was underneath Tower #1 when the first plane hit. While she didn't hear the explosion under the tower she saw the effects when she emerged to the streets of New York. Being new to the area and not knowing what to do, she went to her place of work. A short time later she was in her office "kitty-corner" from Tower #2 when the second plane hit; guided by firefighters and co workers she left her building to find utter chaos had taken over her world. She lost and found her thoughtful co-worker who guided her to the last train out of the Financial District moments before the towers made their way to the ground.
Vanessa had been training regularly and running seven to eight miles a day before 9/11. Some time after this tragic day, her gym reopened and they were told it was safe for the members to begin working out in the facility again. Which she eagerly did. However, the air filters didn't function as they once had and Vanessa developed severe asthma. This made running extremely painful and impossible. She would stop and start again but eventually took a hiatus from running entirely. She said to me that she felt "defeated" as she wasn't a natural born runner and the added pains of asthma put a halt to running....for the time being.
I have stated in a previous blog that our decisions in our toughest moments define us. While I wasn't there to share Vanessa's life changing experience, I can tell you that knowing Vanessa now is an experience that everyone needs to have. She is currently training for a half marathon. She arrives diligently each week to put in her long miles with the Running Evolution Half Marathon Group as well as taking a "Speed Class" during her work week. When she is out of town, she still does her workouts and puts in her miles abroad. She is one of the most determined athletes I am fortunate enough work with; she is also one of the sweetest! You don't hear negative comments come from her mouth ever and she maintains a great sense of humor! You would never know that Vanessa was there on that dark, dismal day by the happiness that she exudes. She made a decision to not allow her circumstances determine her joy in life or her joy for life.

So whether running is your "thing" or not, we all face adversity or undesired changes and it is how we decide to go forward that makes us who we are. As Dr. Laura Schlessinger puts it "...circumstances around me do not make me what I am, they reveal who I am."
I have my own lesson to learn here. Just because I have my own 'circumstance' by being injured doesn't mean I should stop 'helping others or everyone.'

Thank you Vanessa for sharing your story. You are so brave on many different levels! I am inspired by you daily and so proud of you!

"Be bold...Live Life!"