Preparing for the Olympics

In three short months, on Friday, July 27th, the opening ceremony of the 30th Olympic Games will be held in London, England.  Athletes from 205 countries around the world will meet to compete against each other in 300 events, all dreaming of gold.  For the past four years, these 10,500 select athletes have diligently trained, survived injury, and endured hardships we can only imagine, in the hopes of making it to the Olympic Games.  Soon their dreams will become reality.  As they walk into the newly constructed Olympic Stadium, on the east side of London in 105 days, in front of over 4 billion television viewers, those years of sacrifice will feel like a price well paid.  They earned the opportunity to march alongside, and compete against the world's best.

For seventeen straight days, from the opening ceremonies on July 27th, to closing on August 12th, we will watch gifted athletes push through pain, lay it all on the line, and accomplish the unimaginable.  Records will be broken.  It never fails to inspire.

"Faster, Higher, Stronger" is the motto of the Olympic Games, adopted in 1921 by Pierre de Coubertin, founder of the modern Olympic Games.  Embrace the spirit of the Olympics and begin your journey to the 2012 games.  Chant that motto as you power up that next hill or gut out the last half mile of your workout.  You can run faster; you can run higher; you can finish stronger.  All it takes is effort.

Later this summer, as you sit each evening watching the magic unfold, know that you too are part of that world.  You may not be destined for the Olympics, but with each mile you run, you're working on being the best you can be, and that is worth gold.

The Olympic Creed reads:  The most important thing in the Olympic Games is not to win but to take part, just as the most important thing in life is not the triumph but the struggle. The essential thing is not to have conquered but to have fought well.

LACE UP and fight well my friends!