In Vol State you constantly heard about “reaching the rock”. So, what’s so special about a rock, for crying out loud?

Yes, it’s a location on top of a mountain and it signifies that we have completed the 314 mile race in time! It symbolizes success.

However, you don’t have to be in Georgia to have your own rock.

Each of us has a rock (and many have more than one). It doesn’t matter how “spectacular” that rock is, what matters is that it’s YOUR ROCK.

For example, there’s a Team Terrie member who’s recently had a knee replacement. For now, her “rock” could be just making it through the day without pain or with less pain. Then in a few weeks, it might be having increased range of motion, then walking further etc.

Your ROCK is always moving. Once you’ve reached your current rock, you create another one.

No one’s rock is harder than another’s. A rock is something hard, right? And “hard” is something that is taking lots of effort for you to achieve. What’s hard for me is easy for others and vice versa.

It doesn’t matter. it’s YOUR ROCK and you should cherish each rock in your rock garden! Once you reach your rock, pick it up, savor it for awhile, then move it to the other side of the garden – the rock altar!

Now, it’s time to aim for another rock. You decide what your next “climb” will be. Make your plans, do any training you need and then set out to “summit” this next rock!

We all are Rock Stars!

All too often we focus on the “big” things in our lives. However, if we take some time to look at these “big” things, we’ll see that they are just a collection of little things – most of which went right and maybe some of which went not so right. Why didn’t I say “wrong”? Because there really is no wrong. Those are just things you learned from. It’s taken me a long time to accept that but i finally have.

Anyway, back to the little things. I had a seemingly little thing happen to me that changed my entire race and had it not happened, i don’t think i would have finished. So, in many senses I owe this race to two people (I have written about Nancy Barber who saved my race on Day 1) and Gina Kimrev is the other person.

Everything was going pretty well and was in Manchester, TN (about mile 250) in the middle of the night. As I was last year, i was totally depleted at this point (my body reacted the same way as last year in two specific parts – it was extremely interesting but that’s another subject). I saw the police station and then i saw the pagoda out front. I lay down and was out like a light.

When I woke up, i got my phone out to see where to go as the map was on my phone. I couldn’t see squat because somehow it had gotten on zoom and i had no idea how to get it off zoom.

This was a catastrophe. I wasn’t as worried about access to the map because I had hard copies. But I couldn’t check in or even tell anyone about my dilemma.

I’m sitting there scared to death and along come Gina. I asked if she had an iPhone and she said ‘no’. I was crestfallen as I told her my problem. She sat down and we each did our thing for a bit. Then she got up and came over and tapped my phone. Magically the zoom thing disappeared and i had access to my log in screen again. She showed me on her phone where she had googled it and told me what to do next. I hadn’t even thought of that..what a dunce.

But you know what, she didn’t have to do that. She could have just laid down and taken a nap and forgotten about me. But she didn’t. That kindness, concern and generosity was something I have experienced every year and every day at these races.

Gina saved my race and I will be forever grateful.

Having the zoom function on a phone screw up your day and your race? Whoever heard of such a thing? Stranger things happen. It was such a little thing in the grand scheme of nuclear war threats, massive criminal activities, global warming, etc..

It wasn’t little to me at that time, it was everything!

I encourage you to evaluate your interactions, your accomplishments, your daily life in this manner and give thanks for these little things – the things greatness is made of!