Resonating with another Athlete’s pain

Resonating with another

Athlete’s pain

September 13, 2013

By: Gina Yoryet Roman

I was having thorough thoughts to whether or not post today for a number of reasons; First and foremost, I need to lay low and take advantage of this four day interim because I’ve been undergoing A LOT of stress and tension due to a couple of dead lines. The second reason is that I suddenly lost my train of thought and my ideas are very scarce. And last, I am coming close to another deadline and I am very behind. 

On the other hand, I couldn’t put writing aside for another day because I feel like something’s missing - I mean, it’s only been four days since I last posted but ever since I committed to writing, my need has slowly evolved every day that goes by.

All this week I thought about J. R. M., a 21k runner who reached out to me a few weeks back to inquire about my expertise. His goal is/was to improve his diet, target and train for the 42.1k, and beat his prior times. He heard about me from one of my students, therefore, on the grounds of that, I was somewhat taken aback yet flattered when he called and inquired my professional advice. 

When we met face to face, he was very marveled to the nutritional assessment and all the health and fitness tips I gave him. Many years subsequent to working with different nutritionists, not a single one of them had ever informed him in such depth as I did in only an hour. I asked a few questions, filled out all his information and emailed it back to him along with a very clean diet plan.

After that two weeks, a month went by, I didn’t hear from him. I started getting antsy to know about his physical routine and diet progress but he was still very silent.The next thing I heard was from L. C. J., (the person who put us in contact) this past Tuesday, that last month while doing his early morning run, a boy ran him over with his bike!! I immediately cringed with angst and frustration for him... I instantaneously resonated with him because I’ve been there, done that! “Oh no! I need to call him right now!” I called but he didn’t pick up, texted him, he didn’t respond. When I was about to call him again, he called me. He was fragmentized, frustrated and angry for not being able to meet his goal. Not only will he not be able to do the 42.5 but he can’t even pull off a 5k in a while because of an apparent fracture. 

The first thing he told me was, “Gina, I knew you would understand me perfectly well so that’s why I really wanted to talk to you.” 

I simply let him burst it all out and he felt better right after. 

Two days later I emailed him to know how he was doing and to tell him that I’ve been experiencing a much longer than expected hiatus and that I am only taking one day at once. It seems as if when I am about to reach physical wholeness, I hit another road block. 

For example all of last week was a real nightmare due to my extremely heavy work agenda, and on Tuesday I was hit by a motorcycle (it was a hit and run). The impact left me feeling lightheaded, sore and tense for the rest of the day so I was back to basics. 

Yesterday I became acquainted with a new and different type of pain on my upper left side, piercing my chest that really freaked me out, that's why I better take it easy. I don't even have strength to get frustrated!

When I meet him tomorrow, we’ll be each other’s mirror who will provide one another comfort to forbear this outstretched hiatus together and retaliate despite our physical limitations...

A NEVER ending hiatus

A NEVER ending hiatus

September 9, 2013

By: Gina Yoryet Roman

I keep staring at the ‘Just Do It,’ Nike slogan with all these words that I uploaded on my blog just a few days ago. “QUIT MAKING EXCUSES, PUTTING IT OFF, COMPLAINING ABOUT IT, DREAMING ABOUT IT, WHINING ABOUT IT, CRYING ABOUT IT, BELIEVING YOU CAN’T, WORRYING IF YOU CAN, WAITING UNTIL YOU’RE OLDER, SKINNIER, RICHER, BRAVER, OR ALL AROUND BETTER. SUCK IT UP, HOLD ON TIGHT, SAY A PRAYER, MAKE A PLAN & JUST DO IT!

As the high-demanding woman I tend to be, I usually require more from my body than what it can take. This past week and weekend are a perfect-fitting example of my sometimes out of control and ‘unexplained’ demands (The reason for such high demands lie very deep down within and I can only share it with very few people). I underwent A LOT of emotional, spiritual and physical strain, much more than what I could ever handle. As a result, I had an emotive outburst that led to a five minute bout of tears. I was extremely tense and my body gave in, it evaded all the attempted efforts and the "You need to be doing more," signals my worn out mind kept transmitting. 

On Saturday from the moment I made the decision to do my an earlier workout (the only session this week) after a few prior sleepless nights to meet a deadline, then go to class, come back and have a conference meeting, and then do volunteer work, I knew I should’ve put or called off most of the engagements for that day and devote some time to lie either awake or asleep...but I didn’t.

After contemplating at, and interrogating the ‘why’ I have been on a sixteen month hiatus that feels more like an eternity, I came to the realization that I NEVER give my body a break. Sometimes I take on more than what I can, I assume that I am SUPER woman and add more to my hectic schedule. Despite my body’s claims for rest, I squeeze in workouts at the crack of dawn because that is the only “ME’ time. After making a stupid mistake, I normally dwell on it too much for too long and my temple gets all the strain. 

When someone once asked me why I never slowed down to smell the coffee, I replied, “what for? I will rest when I die.” Most of the time I try to stay still and meditate at no avail. There’s always something "more important" to do other than rest. 

Although I force myself to undwind, I can never take more than two day intervals and go M. I. A. (Missing In Action) completely. If I do, my most useful work tools are my companions. I abhor long lapses, unnecessary apertures, uncalled idle time, lengthy breaches, prolonged gaps, mind corrupting and disturbing interims, unrequired discontinuity, undesirable rifts. I like being busy every minute of my day. True, when it gets too much, I can always foresee what’s coming but at the same time, work and working out are my top two sanctuaries.

I am unbeknownst as to how much longer this painful, draining and peace interrupting hiatus will last, I would rather not know. All I want now, is to take each day at once, cherish and embrace my temple amidst all the ups and downs because he is the only one who will withstand all the turmoil I put it through, and the only one who will stand by me forever. 

I’ve been praying to reach physical wellness once again and regain emotional balance and all the strength I once upon possessed...

God bless!

Living gracefully... Aging gracefully Dying gracefully

Living gracefully...

Aging gracefully

Dying gracefully

September 8, 2013

By: Gina Yoryet Roman

I just read, ‘Life Makeover for the Year 2013 Week 37 - How  you might be punishing yourself every day without even realizing it,’ by Cheryl Richardson.

Her blog among two or three others are tops on my daily/weekly readings to boost me. Her post today started like this:

“Last week I made a mistake that had me mentally kicking myself pretty much every day. I made a mistake. I felt bad about it.  But my guilt was overblown.  I hadn't considered the results before asking them to cut the brush and it was a simple error in judgment.  The problem is sometimes it's easy to get mired in guilt.  And when you do, it's usually followed by punishment.  Before you know it, you end up unconsciously doing things that make you feel bad about yourself like overeating, drinking too much, procrastinating and missing deadlines, or in my case, repeatedly looking out the window at the mess.”  

She felt guilty about cutting the bushes in her yard which not only did it make her yard look worse and the animals living there lost their peace but she was also emotionally disturbed . As I skimmed through her post, I resonated with her completely as I’ve been emotionally, spiritually but more than anything, physically drained myself and I keep beating myself about it. The main reason for this collapse is because I have not fully recovered from surgery. I get very antsy and demand more from my worn out body but it is simply NOT responding. The second reason, is because the work flow is not slowing down and it is taking a lot more time than expected. The third and most detrimental acumen, is a huge and serious mistake I made earlier this week. 

Translation/interpretation work is very demanding and mentally debilitating especially when it comes to technical topics and terms, which is what I encountered a couple days ago. On Saturday when the rain subsided, I realized that the minute I got that request, I should’ve not given in to pressure. I instead should’ve asked for time to sit down and analyze the whole scenario in order to give a fair and firm quote for my services...

But I didn’t. That was a very unintelligent and rushed decision that brought upon too much stress, anxiety, concern and pressure. I hired a “Translator,” who claimed to be a professional but she obviously didn’t understand the technicalities in a legal document nor the seriousness to begin with. She made several mistakes.

1. She didn’t use the according accents in the words (It was an English to Spanish document)
2. She didn’t respect the punctuation or grammar rules.
3. She sent me the document all out of sequence, page number 8 as page number 2, page number 7 on page number 4, (I don’t know how in the world that happened when she was given the document in the right sequence to begin with!) 
4. She sent me one part, then another part, and another in the body of the email she sent because she didn’t even know how to attach and send a document. 
5. She translated 10 additional pages than the ones assigned to her when I reiterated and assigned 17 pages.
6. She made absolutely no sense in her “translation.” 
7. I can't recall what other serious mistakes she made. 

I hate to be harsh and critical on someone but I was very angry and blew off on her  due to the sensitivity of this type of work, more so because the document had to be officially sealed. I had to hire and pay another Translator to help me fix this woman’s horrifying mistakes. It cost me a lot more time, money, energy and effort than planned. It was very hurtful and I was saddened and discouraged with this whole thing. But I am more deterred because I put my physical and emotional health at risk. My professional image and my emotional peace were at stake because it was my client, therefore I was compromised to deliver a clean, clear and concise final job. 

That’s why I cannot let go perhaps because it is too soon. Maybe it’ll take me just a couple of days, weeks to be ok once again. The thought of how people are so incompetent and uncareful with their work really makes me wonder how they call themselves ‘professionals’ when they can’t even understand the most basic things. I will have to drop this matter sooner or later and use it as another learning experience like Cheryl Richardson said. 

“It's hard enough being a spiritual being in a human body living on a planet where poverty, violence, and hardship exists so readily in the outer world.  Why make your inner world a war zone, too? If you screwed up, by all means make amends, but don't punish yourself by lingering in the pain.  Better to forgive and move on.”

All my life I’ve just wanted to live gracefully by my own rules and principles in my core, by respecting society’s rules and NOT taking advantage of others, that’s why it distresses me to encounter people and situations like this. 

Age gracefully through leading a healthy lifestyle to build a strong and transparent temple, and help others. 

And die gracefully once I’ve become my own legend who’s built an impacting legacy and leave it behind to my niece and nephews and to my children if God gives me the opportunity to reproduce and be a loving and caring mother one day.

Tomorrow will be another day and I am praying to regain physical, emotional and spiritual balance once again.

Just Do It!

Just Do It

September 7, 2013

    

--Pre Quotes

“To give anything less than your best is to sacrifice the gift.”

"Some people create with words, or with music, or with a brush and paints. I like to make something beautiful when I run. I like to make people stop and say, "I've never seen anyone run like that before." It's more then just a race, it's a style. It's doing something better then anyone else. It's being creative."

"Having a true faith is the most difficult thing in the world. Many will try to take it from you."

“Don't be afraid to give up the good to go for the great.”

“You cannot propel yourself forward by patting yourself on the back.”

“A man can fail many times, but he isn't a failure until he begins to blame somebody else.”

“Life’s battles don't always go to the strongest or fastest man,
But sooner or later the man who wins is the fellow who thinks he can.”

“Success isn't how far you got, but the distance you traveled from where you started.”

“Many of life's failures are people who did not realize how close they were to success when they gave up.”

“If you fail to prepare, prepare to fail.”

Something inside of me just said 'Hey, wait a minute, I want to beat him,' and I just took off.

You have to wonder at times what you're doing out there. Over the years, I've given myself a thousand reasons to keep running, but it always comes back to where it started. It comes down to self-satisfaction and a sense of achievement.

What kind of crazy nut would spend two or three hours a day just running?
(This is how Steve reacted in Junior High when he saw the High School Cross country team running)

"A race is a work of art that people can look at and be affected in as many ways they’re capable of understanding."

"A lot of people run a race to see who is fastest. I run to see who has the most guts, who can punish himself into exhausting pace, and then at the end, punish himself even more. Nobody is going to win a 5,000 meter race after running an easy 2 miles. Not with me. If I loose forcing the pace all the way, well, at least I can live with myself."

--Other Quotes

"Man imposes his own limitations, don't set any"

-Anthony Bailey

"Human beings are made up of flesh and blood, and a miracle fiber called courage"

-George Patton

Vision without action is a daydream.  Action without vision is a nightmare.
-Japanese Proverb

Every morning in Africa, a gazelle wakes up.
It knows it must outrun the fastest lion or it will be killed.
Every morning in Africa, a lion wakes up.
It knows that it must run faster than the slowest gazelle, or it will starve.
It doesn't matter whether you're a lion or a gazelle
when the sun comes up you'd better be running.

(But, unless you're a runner, you won't understand.)

-Anon

Real athletes run others just play games

Champions do not become champions when they win the event, but in the hours, weeks, months and years they spend preparing for it. The victorious performance itself is merely the demonstration of their championship character.
-- T. Alan Armstrong

The greatest pleasure in life, is doing the things people say we cannot do.
-- Walter Bagehot

My feeling is that any day I am too busy to run is a day that I am too busy.
--John Bryant

Cowards die many times before their deaths, the valiant never taste death but once.
--Julius Ceaser

The nine inches right here; set it straight and you can beat anybody in the world.
--Sebastian Coe
(as he said this Coe held his fingers up to his head)

The great thing about athletics is that it's like poker, sometimes you know what's in your hand and it may be a load of rubbish, but you've got to keep up the front.
--Sebastian Coe

Tomorrow is another day, and there will be another battle!
--Sebastian Coe
(a few minutes after a 2nd place finish in the 800m Olympic Games final in Moscow 1980,
he later won the 1500m , he had been favored to win the 800m)

Our greatest glory is not in never falling, but in rising every time we fall.
-- Confucius

All it takes is all you got.
--Marc Davis

Run like hell and get the agony over with.
--Clarence DeMar

The five S's of sports training are: Stamina, Speed, Strength, Skill and Spirit;
but the greatest of these is Spirit.
--Ken Doherty

The only tactics I admire are do-or-die
--Herb Elliott

Don't bother just to be better than your contemporaries or predecessors.
Try to be better than yourself.
--William Faulkner

You have a choice. You can throw in the towel, or you can use it to wipe the sweat off of your face.
--Gatorade

Ability is what you are capable of doing.
Motivation determines what you do.
Attitude determines how well you do it.
--Lou Holtz

It is true that speed kills. In distance running, it kills anyone who does not have it.
--Brooks Johnson

If you run 100 miles a week, you can eat anything you want -- Why? Because
(a) you'll burn all the calories you consume,
(b) you deserve it, and
(c) you'll be injured soon and back on a restricted diet anyway.
--Don Kardong

Other people may not have high expectations of me, but I have high expectations for myself.
-- Shannon Miller

Even if you're on the right track, you'll get run over if you just sit there.
--- Will Rogers

When you get to the end of your rope, tie a knot and hang on.
--Theodore Roosevelt

You can fight without ever winning,
but never ever, win without a fight.
--Rush (the Band)

I had as many doubts as anyone else. Standing on the starting line, we're all cowards.
-- Alberto Salazar

"The thing about Pre is that he ran as hard as he could every race, and if you were going to beat him, you were going to have to run harder than he did."

--Bob Kennedy

"When you are a up-and-coming runner in the U.S., and making some breakthroughs in distances, Pre is still the man that you are compared to. It's always based on Pre."

--Bob Kennedy

It is a rough road that leads to the heights of greatness.
--Seneca

Do a little more each day than you think you possibly can.
-Lowell Thomas

Good judgement is the result of experience, experience is the result of bad judgment.
--Mark Twain

Stadiums are for spectators.  We runners have nature and that is much better.
--Juha Vaatainen

Success is to be measured not so much by the position that one has reached in life as by the obstacles which he has overcome while trying to succeed.
--Booker T. Washington

Running is real and relatively simple…but it ain't easy.
--Mark Will-Weber

Once you're beat mentally, you might as well not even go to the starting line.
--Todd Williams

"The will to win is worthless, without the will to prepare."

"Cross Country: No half times, no time outs, no substitutions. It must be the only true sport"

"Running is a mental sport...and we're all insane!"

Learn to run when feeling the pain: then push harder.

"If you want to win a race, you have to go a little berserk."

Shoot for the moon. Even if you miss it you will land among the stars

- Les Brown

The ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in moments of comfort and convenience, but where he stands at times of challenge and controversy.

- Martin Luther King, Jr.

If you want to make God laugh, just try and make plans for the future.

- Ron Litzler

The true test of a man's character is what he does when he knows he won't get caught.

-Anonymous

Nothing gives one person so much advantage over another as to remain always cool and unruffled under all circumstances.

-Thomas Jefferson

"No one ever drowned in sweat."

"Gold medals aren't really made of gold. They're made of sweat, determination, and a hard-to-find alloy called guts."

-Dan Gable

"To win without risk is to triumph without glory."

-Pierre Cornielle

"In running, it doesn't matter whether you come in first, in the middle of the pack, or last. You can say 'I have finished.' There is a lot of satisfaction in that."

""Only think of two things - the report of the pistol and the tape. When you hear one, run like hell until you break the other."

-Sam Mussabini

"It's rude to count people as you pass them. Out loud."

-Adidas ad

"Cross Country - Finally a practical use for golf courses."

"Some people don't have the guts for distance racing. The polite term for them is sprinters."

"Cross Country philosophy...the faster you run the faster you're done."

"Pain is only temporary,
Pride is forever,
Pain passes with time and Time passes,
therefore Pain is just a strain on the Brain without Refrain,
and that's why Cross Country runners are Insane."

-t shirt

"Listen to your body. Do not be a blind and deaf tenant."

-Dr. George Sheehan

Sunshine is delicious,

Rain is refreshing,

Wind braces us up,

Snow is exhilarating,
There's really no such thing as bad weather,
Only different kinds of good weather."

All through the night

All through the night
September 6, 2013



During mass today I couldn't help reflecting about last night. When I talked to P. Z., a Canadian Translator colleague of mine, he said he had done exactly the same thing all through the night. We both spent the whole p. m. hours and most of our a. m. working due to deadlines (I like to call them DREAD-lines) we had to meet. 

Throughout the serenity I sought to soothe my stressed out mind and worn out body, I started reflecting that amidst the darkness of the prior night, I yearned for something in particular (I NEVER permit myself to long for that in order to avoid any sign of weakness). 
That quietness accentuated the empty void I experience deep down from time to time. 

I am only human and the same way some people use other instruments to conceal their distraught mind and soul, I turn to something in particular. Though I don't recur to drugs, alcohol, cigarettes, or other vices, I pray, exercise, write, do volunteer work, talk to my family, but when everyone is strange to me and they are too caught up in their own world, I conceal behind work. 

My abc's are the PERFECT combination to trash all those negative feelings...



"All Through The Night"

All through the night
I'll be awake and I'll be with you
All through the night
This precious time when time is new
Oh, all through the night today
Knowing that we feel the same without saying

We have no past we won't reach back
Keep with me forward all through the night
And once we start the meter clicks
And it goes running all through the night
Until it ends there is no end

All through the night
stray cat is crying so stray cat sings back
All through the night
They have forgotten what by day they lack
Oh under those white street lamps
There is a little chance they may see

We have no past we won't reach back
Keep with me forward all through the night
And once we start the meter clicks
And it goes running all through the night
Until it ends there is no end

Oh the sleep in your eyes is enough
Let me be there let me stay there awhile

We have no past we won't reach back
Keep with me forward all through the night
And once we start the meter clicks
And it goes running all through the night
Until it ends there is no end
Keep with me forward all through the night
And once we start the meter clicks
And it goes running all through the night
Until it ends there is no end

I have learned...

¡Qué bonito!

Aprendí, que quien no te busca, no te extraña

y quien no te extraña, no te quiere.

Que la vida decide quien entra en tu vida,

pero tú decides quien se queda.
Que la verdad duele una sola vez y la mentira duele siempre.
Por eso, valora a quien te valora

y no trates como prioridad a quien te trata como una opción...
Quien te lastima, te hace FUERTE;
quien te critica, te hace IMPORTANTE;
quien te envidia, te hace VALIOSO;
y a veces es divertido saber que….

aquellos que te desean lo peor...

tienen que soportar que… ¡¡¡

te ocurra lo MEJOR !!!

A universal havoc

A universal havoc

September 1st, 2013

By: Gina Yoryet Roman

As the health and fitness enthusiast and worry freak I am in regards to the universal havoc the world has long faced (overweight and obesity), I like to be up to date with this issue. 

I just read this article that was published on April 29, 2012, by the Guardian Weekly, 'Doctors back denial of treatment for smokers and the obese'

“A majority of doctors support measures to deny treatment to smokers and the obese, according to a survey that has sparked a row over the NHS’s growing use of "lifestyle rationing".

Some 54% of doctors who took part said the NHS should have the right to withhold non-emergency treatment from patients who do not lose weight or stop smoking. Some medics believe unhealthy behaviour can make procedures less likely to work, and that the service is not obliged to devote scarce resources to them.

However, senior doctors and patient groups have voiced alarm at what they call "blackmailing" of the sick, and denial of their human rights.”

I have mixed feelings about such controversy. Putting myself on the healthy side, I can be very critical and overlook the problems each person is dealing with which are preventing them from reaching being thin and healthy. On the other hand, I can see how they feel that their human rights are being violated. It must be demeaning to read headlines like this: “Will airlines charge Fat passengers More?” Or, "Airline charges Passengers by the pound."

News reporters must be careful with their wording, as professionals they should know that there is always a better way to address delicate controversies. When I used to work at Allstate Insurance, every time underwriting refused a life insurance policy, they sent out a letter to each client stating, “Due to excessive body mass your policy could not be authorized.” It may sound just as bad but we could’ve have gotten the company into serious problems had we said, “We cannot authorize your policy because you’re fat.”

Sometimes I try to sympathize with everyone’s hardships but once again I can’t help wondering how, why when did they let themselves go like that? There must have been a point where the vast majority who are suffering from this illness must’ve realized that  they were getting heavier. Why didn’t they do something to let it progress any further?

There are endless excuses: “It’s genetics, it runs in the family, I come from a thick-boned family, I don’t have time, I am not obsessed like you, I don’t have money to join a gym, I can’t get motivated, I don’t have anybody to workout with, my metabolism is very slow, I like having curves, you look anorexic, etc.” When we flip the coin, there are amazingly fit individuals who devote some time to their health. They’ve got discipline, focus, determination, they train their mind and body to demand a clean and healthy lifestyle. They are well aware that there’s a price to pay and they are willing to pay whatever it takes to get that reward. 

It is NOT easy to say no to cravings, we definitely don’t want people to deprive themselves from one of the greatest pleasures (food), and we beyond any doubt don’t want to form Barbies and Kens or super models but we all want a cleaner, healthier, more transparent, energized and productive world. We don’t want any more families suffering due to the impacting havoc overweight and obesity can wreak, like the misery this woman went through before her life came to an end. I was overly shocked and saddened.  “600-POund Mom: Race Against Time.”

Every day is a new and different battle, our toughest opponent is the person who is staring right back at us in the mirror but we have to have incredible SELF-CONTROL to help put an end to this phenomenon.

“Lo más difícil es renunciar a uno

mismo”

“The hardest thing is to resign yourself”