Lessons from Mandela: A Life of Love, Giving, and Triumph

Posted on December 9, 2013 by kmichaud87

On Thursday December 5th the world lost a great leader and peace activist – Nelson Mandela. Mandela was born as Rolihlahla (translates to “troublemaker” in English) on July 18, 1918 in the small village of Mvezo in South Africa. Mandela’s paternal great-grandfather was local royalty, but his family was ineligible to obtain the throne. Mandela attended a Methodist school as a child where his teacher named him “Nelson.” Mandela studied law at the University of Witwatersrand where he became involved in politics while living in Johannesburg. He became the founding member of the ANC’s Youth League. Over the years Mandela ascended to high-ranking politic roles and while working as a lawyer, he was repeatedly arrested for seditious activities.

In 1961 he cofounded the militant Umkhonto we Sizwe. In association with the South African Communist Party he help lead a sabotage campaign against the apartheid government, which led to his sentence to life in prison. Mandela served 27 years in prison. He was released in 1990. Mandela became the first black South African President in 1994. He formed the Government of National Unity in attempt to defuse racial tension in the country. During his Presidency he focused on land reform, combating poverty and expansion of healthcare services. Mandela unsuccessfully ran for a second term. He became an elder statesman and focused on charitable work to end extreme poverty and combat HIV/AIDS through his Nelson Mandela Foundation. Mandela was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1993. Mandela is often referred to as “Madiba” and as “the father of the nation.”

I don’t often talk about my real job and interests on this blog because frankly, most of you would probably be bored out of your mind. I have a Master’s degree in Public Health and currently work in healthcare technology and policy, which I absolutely love. However, my real passion and interest lies in international healthcare development. In the next few years, after getting my feet underneath me (and paying back SallieMae), I plan to go back to school to each my PhD so I can work in the field of international public health.

Nelson Mandela is one of the people that inspired me to follow my dreams and make a difference in the world. Unfortunately to many people today about the world, especially within the United States, we are extremely materialistic. We have to have the latest technology, clothes, etc. We take for granted the house over our heads, the water that comes out of our taps, and the food we put on our tables. Billions of people (including millions within the US) do not have many of the luxuries that we have been afforded by just being born within a developed country. As we go into the holiday season we spend our times fighting the crowds to get the best deals on the latest toys and technology for ourselves and our families.

Of course, I’m guilty in this too. No one is perfect. However, as I get older I realize that money can’t buy you happiness. Happiness must come from within. I find happiness in giving back to my community and making a difference in someone’s life. We, as human beings living on planet Earth, can learn many lessons from Mandela. He may be a controversial figure, but I think we can all agree that he was a great humanitarian activist giving a voice to the billions of people around the world that live on less than a dollar-a-day, lack access to basic human rights such as water, access to life saving medical care, and the ability to put clothes on their back, food on the table, and a roof over their heads.

This holiday season (and the other 365 days a year) consider doing the following in your community:

Donating or volunteering at your local food pantry or soup kitchen
Donating blood to your local Red Cross
Donating winter jackets, hats, mittens, etc. to homeless shelters and organizations collecting them
Donating money or volunteering to your local United Way
Volunteering at a Nursing Home and spending time with the elderly
Shoveling your neighbors driveway or sidewalk

Consider donating to:

A local food bank or charity
Water.org, where you can give water for life to a family without access to clean water
Provide a cow, goat, rabbits, etc. to a family to help bring them out of poverty through the Heifer International Fund
Partners in Health, an amazing organization cofounded by Paul Farmer to bring healthcare to communities in developing countries that need it the most
A favorite charity of your choice

No matter what you do this holiday season, remember the real meaning of the holidays. In the words of Albert Einstein, “I believe in one thing – that only a life lived for others is a life worth living.”

~ Happy Training!

The Top 10 Characters at the Gym

Posted on October 16, 2012 by kmichaud87

AUTHORS NOTE: This is supposed to be funny! If you are offended by this in any way, shape or form, then I am sorry that you don’t have a sense of humor.

Chances are you have been to a gym at some point in your life. I’ve been to quite a few over the years, but no matter where you go there is always the same sort of people there. The gym is much like the mall. It is great for people watching. Every gym has its characters. This is a collection of my favorites over the years. (Like I have said before though, I applaud anyone who makes an effort to exercise to stay healthy)

1. The girl who has to put make-up on and does her hair BEFORE she works out.

2. The guy who does ninja moves on top of a medicine ball (okay, they are really balancing exercises and I’m honestly quite impressed by his skills. I have yet to try in fear of breaking my nose against the wall)

3. The trainer’s posse of adoring fans

4. The annoying people who are “exercising” on the treadmill while talking on their cellphone and, of course, there are no open treadmills when you need to get your run in!

5. The creepy old dude who stares at woman’s butts while they are doing squats

6. The meatheads!

7. The guys who flex in the mirror thinking they are hott shit

8. The short little dude who walks around the gym in his sweatsuit carrying a gallon water jug and talking to all the women but never seems to workout.

9. The young girls who barely wear anything and always seem to exercise next to the cute guys and when the cute guys move they follow them…

10. The crazy chick wearing tri shorts doing chin-ups, running drills down the aisle, throwing medicine balls at the floor violently, and yelling at the gym trainer who has set his TRX wrong! (Oh, wait… that’s me 🙂 )

What Motivates YOU!?

Posted on October 10, 2012 by kmichaud87

Yesterday at the gym I was doing my dynamic warmup when a bootcamp class came over to the area I was working in to do some plyometric work. Just about everyone in the group was whining about how hard burpees and squat jumps were. Every other word out of their mouth was f-this and f-that. Wah, wah, wah! I came extremely close to asking them if they wanted a little CHEESE with their WHINE because a) I was annoyed by the lack of class they were showing with their language and b) their lack of motivation and effort. Do you think exercise is supposed to be EASY? It’s called WORKing out for a reason! If exercising and eating healthy was easy then we wouldn’t have the obesity crisis we have in this country. It never seizes to amaze me how many people will sit there half-ass a workout and whine the entire time when they would benefit more from shutting up and just doing the work. And then they wonder why they aren’t seeing any differences or making any progress?!

Thank you “People I Want to Punch in the Throat” for this one!

Back in September I read a great post from Mary Eggers entitled “Because I can.” In the post she says:

“Holding plank position in class, the woman next to me asked me “Gosh, I NEVER hear you complain in this class. Why don’t you ever complain.” I looked at her.

“Because I choose to be here.” I said.

As I walk through the gym I notice all the other people having these roaring laughing conversations with their personal trainers. In all honesty when I am working with Steve I don’t think I could have a roaring laughing conversation if I was paid to. I am totally unable to. I am working too hard. I am focused. If you have ever seen me in the gym you know I have the highest sweat rate of anyone in the damn world. Not only do I fuel as my fueling plan calls for I seriously consider adding extra sodium. Even when I am standing still.

When I am holding myself up on a pullup machine and curling a dumbbell somehow as I am suspended in mid air all I can do is stare at the tennis court where it says Player 23, and listen to him remind me to breathe, remind me to keep my elbow in, and tell me not to fall the hell off the pull up machine! Or I am shuffling side to side grabbing basketballs that he’s rolling just out of my range and throwing them back at him while he yells to throw the ball….. higher higher.

You will never hear me complain. I might roll my eyes and I might give Steve the finger behind his back (I haven’t yet but I have come close), but I am here because I choose to be here.” – Mary Eggers

This is exactly how I view my workouts. When I go to the gym or a class, I’m not there for social time. I’m there for a good ass-kicking because I know that it will make me a stronger athlete at the end. I CHOOSE to be there. You will never see or hear me complain. Sure, I might say “that hurts” or “are you trying to kill me?” but I quickly shut up and do the work.

Whining doesn’t get you anywhere. It is certainly not going to make you lose 5 pounds or get that 6-pack you so desperately want so you look good in a bikini or PR in your next 5k race. It’s a little blood, sweat, and tears that will do that! Gyms are a funny environment. I have a love/hate relationship with them. I love to see people in the gym working out, but if you look around how many of them are truly working out, there isn’t many. I can’t even count the number of times I’ve seen people walking on a treadmill talking to someone of their cell phone. However, for every person at the gym, there are probably at least a dozen sitting at home wishing they had the motivation and discipline to hit the gym. So I applaud anyone who gets up and moving.

I LOVE the quote above because it is so true. We only begin living when we are outside of our comfort zones. As far as exercise goes, our bodies are built to adapt. We quickly adapt to our current workouts that we do and that is why you need variety in your workouts. In order for me to become the best athlete I can be I need to push myself outside my comfort zone. I will be that annoying girl who throws medicine balls against the floor, skips around people doing deadlifts, and does chin-ups until I fall off the bar, but you will never hear me complain about it because I choose to do that. I choose to work my body until it screams for no more.

There are times in my life, whether in sport or life in general, when I just plain fail or get rejected. It happens. As much as it sucks, IT is what motivates me to push myself harder. People often like to say “good things happen to those who wait.” I hate that saying. Good things happen to people who work hard. No one in life is just going to hand you anything. Sure, some people are luckier than others, but for the most part, people work for what they have. I know I’m not a naturally talented athlete. I’m mediocre. Just because I’m mediocre doesn’t mean I’m not going to push my body to its limits. What sets me a part from many people is my ambition, dedication, and determination. Some people don’t like those qualities about me and hey, someday I don’t like them either. But at the end of the day it is who I am.

I do what I do because I can. I am lucky that I live in a world where I can afford expensive triathlon equipment. I am lucky that my body is healthy. I am lucky that I have healthy food that is available to me. I am lucky that if I am injured that I can seek out the best medical care that I can get. So many people can’t because they have limitations. Some people have legitimate reasons, but most people make excuses. Put those excuses out of your mind and find something that motivates you. No one said living a life worth living is going to be easy. Take chances and make changes. Put yourself out there for failure and rejection. It will only make you stronger in the end. Be ambitious. Make goals. Find your strength. And remember, stop whining and just do it.

My favorite quote!

What’s your motivation?

6 Feet Deep…

Posted on September 23, 2012 by kmichaud87

“In my grave
Lying
Lying cold in my grave
The reason –
My reason
Take my head off this terror
The fearing won’t come back
I can’t see
My mind’s all wiped clean”

~ “Rhyme & Reason,” DMB

I’m in a rut. It began a little before Rev3 and the hole has since grown and at this point I don’t know how to get out. The hole is now 6 feet deep and the dirt is slowly piling up on me. I can see the blue sky above me and hear the giggles of happy people around me. The dirt is in my nailbeds as a claw to get out, but it just keeps coming. Slowly suffocating…

Growing up as a child I was always very shy and quiet. My teachers always told my parents and I at my conferences that I needed to talk more and express my opinions. All through school I was scared to express my feelings and thoughts verbally because I was afraid of what my peers would think. I chose to write. I enjoy writing. I find I can express myself better in the written form. I think part of it stems from the fact that while in elementary school I saw a speech pathologist on a weekly basis because I had speech problems. I have always been embarrassed by that because I know they still exist even today.

Finally in college I began to find my “voice.” I began to speak out more and step on of the shy little girl shell. I realized that I could be that empowering woman who didn’t give two shits what people think. But this past year I have slowly fallen back into that shy, scared little girl who has been hiding under her “blankie” for protection.

Writing this blog has allowed me to begin to express my thoughts again. I knew when I started one that I was putting myself out there for ridicule. I write mainly for myself. Sure, I could write in a journal and keep it private, but what I love about blogging is that you can express feelings and emotions and have someone a world away tell you “hey, I’m going through the same thing” and you realize that you’re not alone in this world.

Life has a cruel sense of humor at times. I’ve had a good life so far. I have food to eat, clothes on my back, a job, a family, and a good education. Billions of people around the world don’t have many of those things. But there are a lot of things I question. Many of which are petty and selfish, like why I have to get plantar fasciitis and not be able to run…

This year has been a bit of a roller coaster for me. Running has been my savior for this as strange as that may sound. I’ve always hated running, but this year I fell head-over-heels with it. I have realized recently that the reason I love running is that it’s my escape from reality. I can just throw my shoes on and run out the door. Sure, running is still very painful for me. It use to make me stop and hate it. Now, I run through that pain. It makes me feel alive. It makes me realize that I can deal with all the pain and frustration in my life.

With my injury at the moment I can’t run and it is killing me. I have so much frustration that I need and want to vent, but I can’t. I just want to let loose and feel the pain. I want the pain. I desire the pain. I want to experience that moment when I realize that the pain is my body telling me I am alive and I am capable of anything…

This weekend the dirt began piling up on me much faster. For the past almost two years a chapter in my life was being written. It was non-fictional, but had the makings of a beautiful fictional novel. I could see the happy ending. Unfortunately, the chapter has ended tragically and I am very much upset over the ending. You can’t control non-fiction. It’s a true life story. Sometimes the story doesn’t end the way you want it even though you’ve tried over and over again to yell at the characters to knock some sense into them. I love to read. There is not much else better in the world then curling up with a good book in bed and getting lost in the story. But, I think that’s the problem I have. I got lost in my story. All night I have been tossing and turning and “re-reading” parts of the chapter to find out where the story went wrong. I honest to God believed that the story was going to potentially have many more lifelong chapters, but the pen has stopped.

I have writers block. How do I get over this and move on and write new chapters? Is the story really over or does it just need a break?

I’m lying in my self-dug hole with the pages of my chapter gripped tightly in my hands. I can feel the blood and tears flow down my hands. Slowly, the characters are throwing fistfuls of dirt on top of me. The dirt is getting heavy. I’m just waiting for a new character in my life to sweep in and extend a hand to help dig me out.

Who will it be?

Ironman?

The pen is hovering over the blank pages…

Patience

Posted on April 12, 2012 by kmichaud87

Patience has never been one of my virtues. When I want something, I want it now. My patience has been put to the test over the past month and a half in so many ways in my life. It has not been easy, but I’m working on this whole having patience thing. I read recently that “happy people are patient people.” I’m not sure that I buy that, but I’ll go with it for now.

Patience is important in training. I’ve come to realize that now. I’m not going to be able to run a 7-minute mile anytime soon. With more training and time I think that it might be in the realm of my future, in like twenty years…

I have some goals times that I would love to obtain this season at my “A” races and hell, I would love to place on the podium, but I’m not expecting it since there are so many fast women in my new age group. My training focus right now is on my upcoming half-ironmans this summer, but I have to keep reminding myself that my current training plan is really just a part of a much longer and bigger training plan that will eventually get me to where I want to be. I’m going into my third season of competing in triathlons and road races. I never did track or cross country in high school. I swam one season on the swim team in high school. My biggest regret in high school was quitting the swim team. I only started running about three years ago, but never consistently till now. Running is one of those sports that over time you build endurance and speed. It’s not going to happen overnight, although I wish it would!

My half marathon this past weekend was a good example of being patient. I’ve been running consistently for the past 4 months and my consistency and hard work finally paid off in a huge PR and confidence builder! I have faith that if I continue to work hard then I will reach my goals. I just need to remember that it takes time and work to achieve my goals.Perhaps someday I will qualify for Boston or Kona.

I also need to realize that in my personal life. I know where I want to go in life, but it’s going to take some time to get there. I’m in the homestretch for my MPH and I can see the light at the end of the tunnel. I just want to be done. I want to finish with this degree so I can go get another one. Crazy, I know. I like school. A lot.

I’ve also realized that you need to be patient with people. I have a habit (probably a bad one) of sticking my nose where it doesn’t belong and giving my opinion on the matter. I only do this with people I care about and who can handle my blunt honesty. I hate seeing people make mistakes, or people fail. But sometimes you just need to let them so they can learn from their mistakes and grow up. And, I should probably take my own advice…

And just as the quote above says, “just because something isn’t happening for you now, doesn’t mean that it will never happen.” You just need a little faith and patience…

Happy Training!