A Phrase I Wish I Never Learned: "I'm Tired"

Tired? (Time I Re-Evaluate Dang it!)

"I'm tired."

I bet we've all heard or said this a few times this week, heck maybe even a few times today.  From the coffee drinker who needs a steaming hot cup of java in hand to the ER doctor who works from dawn till dusk saving lives.  And it's true, I'm sure you are/were/are going to be tired because hey, we are human and therefore need sleep to function.  But how often do we say this, not because we need sleep, but because we've decided that's how we're feeling. "I'm tired" holds us back more than we should let it and is probably one of the worst used excuses in the history of mankind.

The human body is capable of so much more than we give it credit for.  Only a few people unlock it's potential and show the rest of us what it can do.  What if the following people had said they were "too tired"?

Roger Bannister - First man to say "screw you" to the 4 minute mile
60 years ago running a sub 4-minute mile was "sports greatest goal" and something "as elusive and seemingly unattainable as Everest" but Sir Bannister (yes he is called "sir") shattered the preconceived limitations we put on the human body and broke the 4 minute mark on May 6th, 1954.  Four days before his 60th anniversary of this run he announced he had Parkinson's, and continues to be an inspiration in his fight against this difficult disease.

"Whatever barrier there had been was psychological rather than physical..." - Sir Roger Bannister

The Navy SEALS - Regarded as the most physically and mentally elite military personnel in the world
The SEALS go through likely the most mentally and physically arduous challenges of today's time.  But "tired" is redefined during the SEAL's infamous "Hell Week", where they are pushed to the limits while running on less than 4 hours of sleep for 5 and a half brutal days.

"I will never quit. I persevere and thrive on adversity. My Nation expects me to be physically harder and mentally stronger than my enemies. If knocked down, I will get back up, every time. I will draw on every remaining ounce of strength to protect my teammates and to accomplish our mission. I am never out of the fight." - from the SEAL Code

Alex Honnold - The "Michael Jordan" of free climbing
Bet you've never heard of this guy.  He is the best at what he does, and what he does most people would classify as insane.  Not only is it physically demanding, it's stupidly brave and mentally exhausting.  Climbing without a rope is like going "All In" in a high stakes game of poker, but instead of the chance of losing your money on a calculated gamble, you put your life at stake.  Some may call him crazy and reckless, some may call him bad ass, I call him inspiring.  Check him out:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=leCAy1v1fnI#t=87

Diana Nyad - Elite endurance swimmer...who is 62 years old 
In recent news, aka last fall, Diana Nyad finally conquered her life long dream of swimming from Cuba to Key West.  One sentence to summarize a hard fought, life-long struggle doesn't do her justice, because not only does she defy the odds of gender, but age as well.  An inspiration for all people, women especially, Diana swam 103 miles for 41 long hours to shame us all for thinking a 10 hour work day is long.  Hey Webster, why don't you put her name under "perseverance" in your next dictionary update?

''You can’t start to get into negative spaces…telling yourself it hurts too much, maybe another day… because even people with an iron will [can] talk themselves out of stuff and quit when things get tough.'' - Diana Nyad

So what brought all this on you may ask?  The phrase: eat, sleep, workout (repeat) may ring a bell with any athletes reading this, and there really isn't much of a truer statement for my past week in Deutschland.  I found out on Sunday that we were going to have 14 practices this week.  On the exterior I tried to be stoically professional, while on the inside I was crying a little (and if my coach reads this he now knows the truth - NOOO! haha).


Let's see here... doesn't take a genius to do this math... 7 days in the week, 2 practices a day... repeat the  next week.  My first thought, "I'm tired just thinking about this", my second thought "Shut up Alysa, what an opportunity to get better", and my third thought "thank you Wellspring for teaching me how to function without sleep/going all day, everyday".

Now that it's Friday evening and I'm 10 practices in, I can't help but want to go back and slap myself a bit for even having that first thought run through my mind.  Though sore, tired, and hurting a little now, it's all been (and will continue to be) worth it.  I'm incredibly lucky to have the push of my team and coaches to get me up and going in the direction I need to everyday, because without that I know "I'm tired" would win quite a bit of the time and I would miss so many opportunities to challenge myself and grow.


My challenge (not only to myself, but all of you), is when that feeling of "I'm tired" is creeping in..no matter what you've done that day or think you have tomorrow or later on, reevaluate, because life is too short to miss opportunities and we have too much to be grateful for (health, family, friends, etc.) to take it for granted.

The OSC (training center) front desk.

Training for (and with) basketball at the track. 

The preseason squad ready to work! (Except for Jewels who is probably wondering why I'm taking a picture instead of stretching and warming up).

The OSC gym where we practice and will play.  

Thanks for reading all, more to come soon! :)