Parkinson’s disease affects approximately one million people in the United States. It’s a progressive disease that causes a degenerative disorder of the central nervous system that primarily affects the motor systems. Stiff and aching muscles, tremors, difficulty with balance and simple movements most of us take for granted are just a few of the symptoms individuals with this disease must often face. Michael Westphal was diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease in 2006 and thought that his…
I checked in on some of our past inspirational athletes and wanted to pass along an update. I know that for me it’s easy to make excuses, but this group reminds me that every day is a gift and I have the choice to take advantage of that gift or waste it, the choice is mine. I want to seize every day and these guys inspire me to do that.
“Luck doesn’t get you to the Olympic games. You can’t wish your way onto the podium. You can’t buy it or hope for it. It’s not enough to dream about it. Luck didn’t get me to London. I swam there.” ~Ryan Lochte I don’t sandbag, but I do often underestimate my abilities or maybe a combination of underestimating my abilities and making excuses. I’m really good at coming up with reasons for a lackluster performance,…
“If you can’t fly then run, if you can’t run then walk, if you can’t walk then crawl, but whatever you do you have to keep moving forward.” ~Martin Luther King Jr. So many of us dread birthdays and, I have to confess, I celebrated my 29th birthday until my oldest son made it pretty much scientifically impossible. We’re all getting older, it’s a fact of life and that’s definitely better than the alternative, but I…
‘Success is the sum of small efforts, repeated day in and day out’ ~ Robert Collier Most of us find it a challenge to lose that ‘last’ 5-10 pounds, imagine losing 100 pounds. Kristin Coleman did just that, she lost one hundred pounds in 11 months. After struggling with weight pretty much her entire life, as well as health issues related to it, she decided to make some serious life changes. Her weight loss journey helped her…
‘Nobody can go back and start a new beginning, but anyone can start today and make a new ending’ ~ Maria Robinson One of my favorite things about running is the people it brings into your life. I love the Gorgeous Relay guys (Blair Hook and Kerry Loehr) and have had a blast running their relay and getting to know them. They are good guys bringing people together to run, and I recently discovered…
In 2005, I had recently moved to Tigard and was working at a very small company in Lake Oswego. I didn’t know anyone in the Portland area besides my co-workers and my mom’s cousin, and I wasn’t in a financial position to sign up for a monthly gym membership. Fortunately, I lived just about a mile from Portland Running Company, and while there one night to buy a new pair a running shoes I was invited…
‘That which does not kill us makes us stronger’ ~Friedrich Nietzsche I’ve loved the Girlfriends Half Marathon for years and am embarrassed to say I had no idea who was the woman behind this run. I’m not talking Sherri McMillan, although, she’s who makes this run happen. Joleen Skarberg wears bib #1 at the Girlfriends Run for a Cure (new name this year) because she’s the reason this run started in the first place. Joleen…
‘The miracle isn’t that I finished. The miracle is that I had the courage to start.’ ~John Bingham The last gift Elaine Lane received from her dad before he passed away was a race entry, so there was no way she was going to skip the Bridge of the Goddess Run, his final gift to her. It didn’t matter that she was still mourning, that it was a two-hour drive in each direction for her…
My wedding anniversary is September 25th. So, even though I’m on the board for ORRC and a volunteer Race Director for one of it’s events (The Hagg Mud 25k/50k), I have never been to their Best Dam Run 10k. It’s always my wedding anniversary weekend, so I’m always in Newport, Astoria, Bend, or some other equally wonderful place. However, this year, my husband and daughter were in Kansas for his grandfather’s funeral, so I got…
