MR340- Where I get my Never Give Up Attitude!

I want to share with you, two of the people in my life that Inspire me and give me my Never Give Up attitude! My Parents 🙂

I could write volumes on them actually but today I am going to focus on an example that is happening as I write.

Tuesday morning, my Dad, along with 229 other racers, set out on the Worlds longest water race. A 340 mile non-stop kayak/canoe race, down the Missouri River.

The race lasts three and a half days, crosses an entire state and is timed. I think there is one night that you get a few hours sleep but that is it.

My Dad is a Retired Marine and is a Marathon runner so endurance is his strength, but HOLY SMOKES 340 miles? Wow!

Although the race allows 88 hours to complete it, I’ve heard that some will finish in less than 40 (you can have 2 people in the boat I think), about 30% don’t finish at all. I cannot imagine it myself LOL

The have a boat which creeps along, called the Reaper boat and I guess you have to stay ahead of that one or you don’t qualify for the next round of the race. There are also many safety boats in the water with crews watching out for racers safety day and night.

Now, as if my Dad wasn’t Inspiring enough…next year…my Mom is going to do it!! In her own kayak! She has started training and although she wasn’t ready in time for this years race, she has her sights set for next year. She has just a few challenges. Since she uses an electric wheelchair, her upper body will need a lot of work and endurance is going to have to be created through long hours of training. She is a strong swimmer so she has that on her side but being almost completely deaf, it will be challenging for her to know that racers are coming beside her as she can’t hear things around her. She is going to have to be extremely alert to everything around her, especially paddling through the night. Maybe I need to look for some night vision glasses for you Mom!! Thankfully, they are allowing her to take her service dog with her so I imagine she will do some extra training with Panella (her dog) to alert her to racers coming close or alert sirens. How she is going to work in this training on top of working at the police department and all the volunteer fundraising she does, I have no idea!

Now you know why I never give up LOL  When people see where I’ve been physically, compared to where I am now and wonder how I did it? They need look no further than those that Inspire me to keep going, no matter what. I have just bumped up my own nutritional and exercise program aiming to be on her safety boat next year.

Who knows, maybe one day when I get where I can sit again, I can do the race along side them! 🙂

Love you Mom & Dad <3
Katherine