Every athlete needs inspiration - be it a dream, a goal, an aspiration that we seek to attain.  Sometimes, it comes in the form of an inspiring real life story.  A friend sent me one such story in an email.  It's an amazing account about a father and his son demonstrating the power of love - that anything can be done if you desire it enough.  How's that for inspiration?

Dick and Rick Hoyt are a father-and-son team from Massachusetts who compete in races together. And they don't compete just in marathons.  They compete in triathlons as well - imagine running 26.2 miles, cycling 112 miles, and swimming 2.4 miles.

Together they have climbed mountains, and once trekked 3,735 miles across America.  It's a remarkable record of exertion - all the more so when you consider that Rick can't walk or talk.

Eighty-five times Dick has pushed his disabled son, Rick, 26.2 miles in marathons. Eight times he's not only pushed him 26.2 miles in a wheelchair but also towed him 2.4 miles in a dinghy while swimming and pedaled him 112 miles in a seat on the handlebars - all in the same day.

Dick's also pulled him cross-country skiing, taken him on his back mountain climbing and once hauled him across the U.S. on a bike.  It sure makes taking your son bowling look a little lame, right?

And what has Rick done for his father? Not much - except save his life.

This love story began in Winchester, Mass., 43 years ago, when Rick was strangled by the umbilical cord during birth, leaving him brain-damaged and unable to control his limbs.

"He'll be a vegetable the rest of his life," Dick says doctors told him and his wife, Judy, when Rick was nine months old. "Put him in an institution."

But the Hoyts weren't buying it. They noticed the way Rick's eyes followed them around the room. When Rick was 11 they took him to the engineering department at Tufts University and asked if there was anything to help the boy communicate. "No way," Dick says he was told. "There's nothing going on in his brain."

"Tell him a joke," Dick countered. They did. Rick laughed. Turns out a lot was going on in his brain.

Rigged up with a computer that allowed him to control the cursor by touching a switch with the side of his head, Rick was finally able to communicate. First words? "Go Bruins!" And after a high school classmate was paralyzed in an accident and the school organized a charity run for him, Rick pecked out, "Dad, I want to do that."

Yeah, right. How was Dick, a self-described "porker" who never ran more than a mile at a time, going to push his son five miles? Still, he tried. "Then it was me who was handicapped," Dick says. "I was sore for two weeks."

That day changed Rick's life. "Dad," he typed, "when we were running, it felt like I wasn't disabled anymore!"

And that sentence changed Dick's life. He became obsessed with giving Rick that feeling as often as he could. He got into such hard-belly shape that he and Rick were ready to try the 1979 Boston Marathon.

"No way," Dick was told by a race official. The Hoyts weren't quite a single runner, and they weren't quite a wheelchair competitor. For a few years Dick and Rick just joined the massive field and ran anyway, then they found a way to get into the race officially: In 1983 they ran another marathon so fast they made the qualifying time for Boston the following year.

Then somebody said, "Hey, Dick, why not a triathlon?"

How's a guy who never learned to swim and hadn't ridden a bike since he was six going to haul his 110-pound kid through a triathlon? Still, Dick tried.

Now they've done 212 triathlons, including four grueling 15-hour Ironmans in Hawaii. It must be a buzzkill to be a 25-year-old stud getting passed by an old guy towing a grown man in a dinghy, don't you think?

Hey, Dick, why not see how you'd do on your own? "No way," he says. Dick does it purely for "the awesome feeling" he gets seeing Rick with a cantaloupe smile as they run, swim and ride together.

This year, at ages 65 and 43, Dick and Rick finished their 24th Boston Marathon, in 5,083rd place out of more than 20,000 starters. Their best time? Two hours, 40 minutes in 1992 - only 35 minutes off the world record, which, in case you don't keep track of these things, happens to be held by a guy who was not pushing another man in a wheelchair at the time.

"No question about it," Rick types. "My dad is the Father of the Century."

And Dick got something else out of all this too. Two years ago he had a mild heart attack during a race. Doctors found that one of his arteries was 95% clogged. "If you hadn't been in such great shape," one doctor told him, "you probably would've died 15 years ago."

So, in a way, Dick and Rick saved each other's life.

Rick, who has his own apartment (he gets home care) and works in Boston, and Dick, retired from the military and living in Holland, Mass., always find ways to be together. They give speeches around the country and compete in some backbreaking race every weekend, including this Father's Day.

That night, Rick will buy his dad dinner, but the thing he really wants to give him is a gift he can never buy.

"The thing I'd most like," Rick types, "is that my dad would sit in the chair and I would push him once."

Check out the video clips of the Hoyt Team...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u1PxfW43fuk
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7AcsQ-NUPJQ
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D52rJd9GX10

About a month or two back, I caught up with an acquaintance that I had met during my climbing days.  Back when I knew her, I had always thought she was like me - single and swinging and about my age.  Little did I know that she was the mother of a 24 year old man until I chanced upon a couple of conversations.

Some mutual friends had mentioned that W and her son would go climbing and that was the first I ever heard of her having a family.  It was a surprise, but not a particularly startling one.  The immediate thought that came to mind was a toddler running around the crag by her side. 

A few weeks later, another mutual friend described her experience belaying W's son and she mentioned having difficulties because he was heavier than her.  I wondered to myself, what toddler could be heavier than a grown woman?  V is not a large girl, but neither is she petite and I couldn't imagine any toddler being heavier than her unless he had a serious weight issue.

A new found admiration for W came over me that day.  I was inspired by this woman who was a mother having a wonderful relationship with her son and still enjoying the passions of her life.  I had always felt that any right I had to cultivate my passion for sports was loss the day I became pregnant and gained the title of "Mummy".  Yet here was W displaying a harmonious union between two very different lifestyles.

Perhaps there is hope for me, yet.

A long time back, I sprained my right ankle quite badly but I never rehabilitated it properly.  Now the ligaments around it are lose and I find this ankle prone to twisting.  Even though my ankle doesn't hurt, Dr Gan from Damansara Specialist told me that the weakness in my right ankle is the reason why my right knee hurts from time to time. 

The close interaction between the ankle, knee and hip joints mean that if one joint is weak, the other two will inevitably compensate for it.  This can lead to pain or problems in the other two joints.  Treatment simply involves exercises to strengthen the muscles that support each of these joints.  The best way to protect a joint is to make sure that the muscles attached to it are strong so that they provide good support the joint.

I have been a bad patient.  I did my exercises until the pain stopped although Dr Gan's advice was that I continue to do those exercises for as long as possible.  Now that I'm weighing my joints a little more (and additional ten kilos over six months), I find my right knee starting to twang again.

There is another reason why my knees are problematic and it's a common situation for most women due to our anatomy.  Our hips are wide-set while our knees are close together.  This results in more strain being applied to the distal (surface facing away from the other knee) part of our knee joint. 

For an athlete, there is another compounding factor.  Our quadriceps are four big thigh muscles that attach to the knee.  Three of those big muscles are attached to the distal surface and one to the medial (or inner) surface.  Activities such as running commonly work the outer three muscles making them a lot stronger than the inner muscle called the vastus medialis.  Vastus medialis weakness causes the knee cap to be displaced leading to knee injury - chondramalicia.

Based on my radiographs at the time, Dr Gan could see no evident damage to my knees.  He did warn me to continue with the exercises to strengthen my vastus medialis or I would eventually land in trouble.

Exercises that Dr Gan showed me to help strengthen the vastus medialis involved performing leg extensions  (without weights) with a fitball between my knees, and squats with my back against a wall, squeezing a soft ball about the size of a soccer ball between my knees.

Perhaps it's time to dust off the old fitball...  Unfortunately, I've misplaced my little soccer ball...  There's a place in Amcorp Mall that sells these balls but it was a number of years back when I bought them so I don't even know if the shop is still open.  Back when I was still climbing regularly at Summit gym, I saw another ball shop in the shopping mall there.  Again, since I haven't been there in a while, I'm not sure if it still exists.

I'm getting lazier.  Blame it on the pregnancy...  Getting up in the morning is becoming a real struggle and even though my exercise classes aren't really that early, I still feel like staying in bed and skipping class.  It is a good thing we're required to book in advance or I'd probably never make it.

I attended my second pilates class at fitfor2 today.  To my surprise, there were only five of us attending class and I'm talking about a class that is usually nearly booked out a week in advance.  I thought it in rather poor taste for those people who sign up but can't be bothered to call ahead to cancel their reservations when they can't make it. 

Two weeks before I attended my first pilates class, I had been trying unsuccessfully to sign up to no avail because the booking list was always full.  I was even on waiting list but never got called - now I know why.  It's just common courtesy - not as though it'll cost them an arm or a leg to cancel their reservations.  Perhaps that's what fitfor2 needs to do, start charging for cancellations?

Today's class was fairly cruisy - nothing too difficult except for the standing leg lifts.  It was better than the first time I did them, but I was still a little off-balanced on one leg.  I noticed that the balance on my right leg was worse than my left.  Probably attributable to a weak right ankle.

We also learned more about lateral breathing which involves engaging our ribcage.  Most of us breathe mostly through the chest, but when you're quite far into the pregnancy and the baby's compressing against your diaphragm, it can be difficult to breathe.  Lateral breathing helps you get in more air and oxygen which is necessary for baby.

After a week's break from exercise, I finally got back into the routine with a fitball class.  I arrived a little early so I could sort out my missing multiple-visit pass.  Raymond promised to have my card ready by the time I was done with the class so I went in to talk to our instructor, Debbie.

When I stepped into the class Debbie was warming up with some funky moves on the fitball - nothing a pregnant woman should attempt, she advised.  In my previous posts, I highlighted some concern about over-heating and wondered if my excessive sweating was a sign to tone down. 

According to Debbie, so long as my heart rate isn't too high and I can still talk during exercise without being out of breath, I'm fine.  My over active sweat glands are a healthy sign of my fitness levels prior to the pregnancy.  I have a very effective cooling system and there's nothing wrong with that. 

I figured that this was my license to take it up a little during the class.  I always find fitball classes quite light and entertaining although today's workout was a little harder on my thighs than I remembered.  It is my third fitball class and I feel I'm starting to get the hang of the bouncing routine.  I'm now less proned to losing my ball when we do the high bounce (I forget what the proper term for that move is called).

Pregnancy classes are a lot more relaxing than the aerobics classes I used to take but Debbie keeps reminding us that these are the only classes where we're allowed to take it easy.  After delivery, there'll be no mercy when she whips our butts back into action.

I like the way Debbie takes the class.  Her style reminds me of the instructors I used to have back in Australia.  She takes us through the moves and prompts us before each change of routine.  For a person with two left feet like me, that's essential. 

I find the local instructors too eager to show too many moves in one go, they hardly prompt and they expect you to remember the routine.  That might be well and fine for those who are regularly attending these classes, but it is extremely off putting to be constantly out of step because you can't remember what's coming next.  Even the instructors we had in the University gym were better than many of those I've encountered at any of the gyms I've been to around here.

I happily admit that I'm slow when it comes to remembering routines and moves and I need to be cued for what's coming next or I'll forget the steps.  I don't pretend to be an aerobics champion so I don't mind if the aerobics instructor repeats the moves in such a manner that even an imbecile could follow them.

After class, I bumped into S.  Although we were supposed to meet up again after our last lunch, she's also been pretty busy and hadn't been able to attend classes.  She brought her three month old little girl to the mothers and babies class after mine.  Perhaps I should try those classes with Gavin after he's born.

With my brother and Dad in town, I haven't been attending any fitness classes of late.  I'm back to my sporadic exercise of walking around shopping centers.  It probably isn't such a bad thing since I've fallen into the bad habit of sleeping late and waking early.  Even though I'd have loved an afternoon nap or two, I haven't had the occasion to indulge that fancy as often as I would like.  In this state, I look forward to an exercise class keenly as a reptile might look forward to running on a cold winter's morning. 

The staff at Fitfor2 have been very accommodating with reshuffling my bookings of classes, although I try to help them out by providing early notice of any changes.  They were also terrific when handling my case after my recent pick-pocket experience where my purse was stolen (for the details click here).  Unfortunately, my Fitfor2 multiple-visit pass was also in my purse.

I called the center and explained what had happened.  Raymond, who took my call, told me they could replace my missing card the next time I came in.  It was refreshing to be attended to so pleasantly.  Pity I can't say the same about some of the banks where I have cards.  It's bad enough to lose personal items.  It makes a big difference to be treated with understanding while you try to replace those lost items.

Devised by a man named Joseph Pilates, the exercise was first created to help rehabilitate bed-ridden patients.  It helps to strengthen the core muscles with specific breathing techniques that result in improved flexibility, strength, muscle tone, body awareness, energy and mental concentration (more details on Wikipedia).

I took my first pilates class in Australia after I suffered a back spasm at work that put me off work for a day and a half.  The doctor told me the cause of the pain was muscular and it was the result of weak back muscles.  He advised me to start strengthening those muscles with exercise.  I'd heard that pilates was great for people with back pain so I decided to try it for myself.

During my first class I remembered thinking to myself, "Stretching exercises...  How hard can this be?"  Aside from my initial difficulties with balance (yes, I had problems with it even back then), I found the class very light.  By the end of the class I felt like I had hardly worked out at all and I had some doubts lingering in my head whether this class was even helpful.  That was, until I woke up the next morning... 

I never thought my muscles ache the way they did just from stretching - or at least that's what it felt like I was doing.  Suffice to say I was a pilates convert from that day onwards. 

When I heard they were offering pilates for pregnant women at fitfor2, I decided to start again.  I was already starting to develop a little bit of back pain from carrying the extra load up front so I figured pilates would be just the exercise I needed.  Pilates is a pretty popular class among the pregnant Moms and since there's only one class a week, getting into a class requires advanced planning. 

My first class highlighted a couple of my problem areas:

• Weak core muscles - because I found myself unable to complete some of the exercises
• Poor breathing technique - nothing new here since I've always had problems with my breathing rhythm as demonstrated by the fact that I can swim back stroke but my freestyle and front crawl strokes leave a lot to be desired. 

With the emphasis on training the core muscles, I figure pilates should also be good preparation for the upcoming delivery.  I've heard it's going to be the workout of my life...

I've yet to get accustomed to the idea that I'm pregnant and that there are certain activities I am excluded from by default.  For instance, a friend asked me if I wanted to take a walk at the park in Kiara and I immediately said, "Ok." 

I figured walking would be okay - it's a light activity that wouldn't strain a pregnant woman unnecessarily.  What I had overlooked was that the time my friend had suggested was 3pm on a Saturday afternoon and what the books had advised was not to go walking during the afternoon when it can be a little too warm.  The best times are during early morning or evening when the sun isn't too strong.  Alternatively, there's always the air conditioned environment of a shopping mall...

The 9:30 class was surprisingly more crowded than my first fitball session I took.  Contrary to my former thoughts that I might not sweat as much in a fitball class versus the regular aerobics class, I found myself sweating just as profusely for this particular session. 

They say that as you approach the third trimester, heating up easily is a common problem.  Perhaps that's why I'm sweating more in my classes.  Even a mild flurry of light activity around the house is sufficient for me to break into a sweat.

I remember the first time I ever saw a fitball class was in the first gym I joined in Melbourne.  The classes were always full of pregnant women with what appeared to be the occasional non-pregnant woman or two (or perhaps they were pregnant women who weren't quite showing as yet).  It looked a little silly bouncing around on a ball, but I always did take things too seriously back then.  Now that I've tried it, it is fun - sort of like being a kid all over again.

Even though I hardly felt like I was working out during the fitball class, it does require a little more skill in terms of balance, particularly during the times when you lose contact with the ball.  I've since discovered that "balance" isn't one of my fortes.

My main reason for taking fitball classes is that I get a workout for my pelvic floor muscles without consciously working on them (Kegel exercises can get a little boring and tedious after a while).  It seems that the action of bouncing up off the ball causes the unconscious contraction of the pelvic floor muscle.

Now I finally know what to do with the fitball I have at home - other than sit on it, that is...

I may be pregnant and forced to abstain from rock climbing until I've delivered the baby, but I think my subconscious mind is manifesting  withdrawal symptoms through my dreams...

Since the start of this pregnancy, I've had one dream on hiking and three dreams about rock climbing - at least the ones I can specifically remember.  The latest dream was this morning.  I dreamt that a new rock climbing wall was going up in the park opposite my house.  In the dream before this, I was climbing in a gym that turned into a cave.  There was one particular roof sequence that was very interesting but I woke up before I had a chance to try it.  In the first dream I can remember, I was in Nyamuk climbing the "Dengue" section.

During every one of these dreams, I never want to wake up.  I try to stay in the dream state for as long as I can manage until something inevitable pulls me out of it - like a phonecall, or the need to use the bathroom (an increasingly annoying condition of pregnancy).