Never underestimate the power of dreams and the influence of the human spirit. We are all the same in this notion: The potential for greatness lives within each of us.
~Wilma Rudolph, winner of three Olympic gold medals
It seemed about as plausible as strutting in quicksand. When my caregiver first suggested I complete a half marathon several years ago, I thought he might be a tad crazy. I am a full-time wheel-chair user, and I had not walked with canes or braces since I was a kid. But that evening we’d had a conversation about some options I might have for exercise, and we both had to admit that my options were limited, at least compared to those in the typical population.
However, I could see the imaginary light bulb switch on over his head by the look that came over his face. Several years previously, I had acquired a set of parallel bars, but had used them about as often as the sun shines in Seattle. However, on that evening in the middle of our conversation, he had an idea.
On what seemed like a whim, he got the tape measure out of my toolbox and figured out the length (down and back) of a lap on my parallel bars. Once he had that calculated, he sat down with a pencil and paper and went to work. After a few minutes, he said, “If you walked 5,050 laps on your parallel bars, you will have walked 13.1 miles, a half marathon. If you completed 50 laps a day, then you could finish the whole thing in a little more than three months. What do you think?”
I was intrigued, but also intimidated. I could think of numerous benefits. Walking those laps might reduce my spasms, improve my kidney function and decrease my back pain. In addition, changing position several times per day might make me more comfortable. On the other hand, I knew that I didn’t use my parallel bars often, and I also understood how quickly putting that much effort into this kind of exercise would wear me out.
Still, I couldn’t help but think about the days back in high school when I was part of a sports team for people with cerebral palsy. At first, I wasn’t a good athlete, and I was weary after every attempt in every event. Endurance only came with time and practice. After thinking it through, the warrior wannabe in me was convinced that I could complete this goal if I put some effort into it. I realized I wanted to conquer this parallel-bar challenge.
At first, I couldn’t walk more than five laps without getting winded. It became obvious that it was going to take a while to work up to 50 laps per day.
I would like to say that I worked at it consistently every day from the beginning, but I don’t like to lie. Life has no manners sometimes, and it interrupted my process with health problems more than once. But my body battled back, and after a while I got used to walking 50 laps per day on my parallel bars. I completed the 5,050 laps in May of that year. The process took about five months. One would think I would have been satisfied with that accomplishment, but as a long and uneventful summer lay before me, a strange thing happened. I was hooked.
I decided to double my goal and walk 26.2 miles, the distance of a full marathon, in the three months ahead. Pretty soon after I started on the second goal, it became apparent that if I were going to complete this goal by the end of the summer, I would have to seriously step up my game.
I wanted to make sure my posture was good most of the time, so I hung mirrors at each end of the parallel bars. That way, I could watch myself while I was doing my laps and focus on my form, just like real athletes do. Fifty laps per day had become my standard, but I slowly began to increase the number of laps I would complete at one time. Sixty laps. Breathe. Seventy-five laps. My endurance was getting better. Ninety laps. I wanted to believe that I could do this. 115 laps. Eventually, I started walking an average of 150 laps per day.
My caregivers and I kept track of my progress in prominent black marker on a dry-erase board in my living room. Every day, they changed the number of total laps that I did so I could see the number increasing. My excitement spilled over to them, and everyone was thrilled to see me get closer. Every morning, I put completing my laps on my to-do list. Even if I accomplished 15 other things in a day, I didn’t feel like I had done what I was supposed to do until my laps for the day were complete. Over time, I noticed that my balance was better, and my transfers were easier. I also had more stamina when I had to stand at my grab bars that are located throughout my house.
The exercise was good for my mind-set as well. Sometimes, I would listen to good music when I walked, which would quiet my mental clutter. Sometimes, the rhythm of completing my laps would help me think through a writing project when I was stuck or help me come up with the perfect phrase to articulate what I was thinking.
But in walking my laps, I also proved to myself that I could look at a huge challenge and break it down into manageable pieces. That way, I could get closer to accomplishing it by focusing on just a little bit at a time. For someone who has been known to get overwhelmed fairly frequently, that was an excellent lesson.
On August 25th, I got it done. I finished walking 10,100 laps on my parallel bars for a total of 26.2 miles.
My Facebook post about this accomplishment got 103 likes and 28 positive comments. As active as I have been on Facebook since I joined in 2008, I have never had a post get so much attention. I realized that I could not only be proud of what I had accomplished, but people who care about me were proud of me as well. Feeling that love made me as happy as an Olympic athlete when she knows she’s won the gold.
Most of the time, when people look at me, they assume that I can’t do much physically, and for the most part they would be right. But in terms of exercise, I have learned to look outside the box to accomplish the things that I want to do. I have learned to set goals and achieve them.
Now I know that attaining any goal is possible as long as I do it step by step.
— Lorraine Cannistra —