Post a Comment On: Transplant Athlete

I didn't mean to disparage Chris Camichael's Book, "The 5 Essentials For A Winning Life", but I was expecting more. The subtitle says "The Nutrition, Fitness, And Life Plan For Discovering The Champion Within." So, I was expecting something more, I'm not sure what. This book isn't really for athletes, it's for Joe Six-Pack. The guy who got married and gained a few pounds, got a desk job and gained a few pounds, woke up ten years later with a great career and wondered where his fitness went. There are a lot of people who meet this description, I for one before my transplant. In "It's Not About The Bike," Lance Armstrong had attempted a comeback after surviving Cancer and he describes it as a "disaster". He and his future wife Kristin moved to Europe, she quit her job, gave away her dog, and leased her house. He took 14th in the Ruta Del Sol, but two weeks later, he DNFed Paris-Nice on just the second day and soon was on a plane back to the US. He bummed around for awhile, drowning in beer and burritos and hitting the links. Somehow, Chris Carmichael convinced him to go to Boone, NC for a training camp. :
The ascent triggered something in me. As I rode upward, I reflected on my life, back to all points, my childhood, my early races, my illness, and how it changed me. Maybe it was the primitive act of climbing that made me confront the issues I'd been evading for weeks. It was time to quit stalling, I realized. Move, I told myself. If you can still move, you aren't sick...As I continued upward, I saw my life as a whole. I saw the pattern and the privilege of it, and the purpose of it, too. After Sebring and the crappy VO2 Max Test, I felt like I had reached that turning point. I guess I just thought maybe, Carmichael had a bit more insight to offer to help me discover the champion within. I guess I could try to convince ABL to let me go to Boone for a week.