Breaking Bad Habits with Athletics

Trading one addiction for another?

I thought I would get this blog started by talking about some inspirational stories. My wife and daughters are what motivated me to get healthy, and that has entailed getting fit, but also stopping some of my self-destructive tendencies, namely, unhealthy drinking habits. There are lots of stories of athletes who have made profound changes in their lifestyles and used athletics to give direction and focus to their lives. I'd like to share the stories of two such individuals - while my own story isn't comparable to theirs, I can relate to their transformation and am inspired by what they continue to do.

Lionel Sanders is one of the fastest rising stars in long-course triathlon. 2015 has been good to him with wins at the North American Ironman 70.3 Championships in May and more recently at IM 70.3 Mont Tremblant. He's not the fastest swimmer, but he's got terrifying power on the bike, and is a beast of a runner as well. On top of this, he along with guys like Cody Beals, Taylor Reid, and Andrew Yorke, are part of a crop of young triathlon stars hailing from right here in Ontario. Lionel's already regarded with almost god-like status amongst the triathlon community based on his impressive bike and run performances, as well as posting a new record up Mt. Lemmon on Strava earlier this year. But perhaps even more astonishing is that back in 2009 he was abusing various drugs and on the verge of suicide. This article sums up his story pretty well and how he turned his life around to become a world-class triathlete. Heck, he's even been profiled by USA Today.

Ray Zahab is part of Ottawa's community of endurance athletes. He's the main force behindImpossible2Possible, which works to educate, inspire, and empower young people. He was a pack-a-day smoker with a penchant for drinking, and no direction in his life. He realized he needed a change, and quit smoking cold turkey to take up endurance running. He entered the the 160km Yukon Arctic Ultra in 2004 on a whim, and won it. He's since accomplished all kinds of ridiculous feats of running, including running 7,500 kms across the Sahara desert in 111 days. Not bad for a guy who describes himself as a kid who never played hockey and hated gym class. He's an inspirational speaker and a powerful symbol for what we can do when we put our minds to it. Here's a good profile on Ray and his philosophy on making change happen in one's life.

I look at these guys as examples of what you can do when you put your mind to it. You don't have to be Lionel Sanders deciding to sign up for Ironman Louisville or Ray Zahab deciding to run across the Yukon (in February). It doesn't have to be that monumental. But those guys are living proof that no matter where we're at, all it really takes is a commitment to making a change, and anything is possible.