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March’s Note From Margo

Mar 15, 2021

Note from Margo:
March is here! With that comes more light and the promise of a new season, Spring!

January can be a tough month for all of us, the days are short, it is tough for those of us that work during the day since we tend to go to work in the dark and come home in the dark. I run in the dark basically 10 months out of the year, but January and February are much tougher I will say. It’s colder and just seems darker.  
But here I am dipping my non painted toes into March, and I can see the light shining through the tunnel and it keeps getting closer; days are getting longer. I feel a sense of lightness and joy starting to wash over me. My kids are heading back to school next week, my 50 miler in April got postponed, we hired a Nurse Practitioner (more about her later), long overdue projects are getting completed at my home, and Eric and I sat down and did 1 year, 5 year and 10-year goal setting. So many things to be thankful for.
I think it is so important though to listen to your inner voice. My inner voice last month was saying, slow down and let go of some things. Max, my soon to be 11-year-old wrote me a poem recently. Max is empathetic and honestly always has been, anyone that meets him, describes him as an old soul. I think he saw his momma needed a little extra love so he wrote me a poem inspired by Amanda Gorman. I’ll share it on Instagram this month for anyone who wants to read it, but words that rang true for me from Amanda were, “there is always light, if only we’re brave enough to see it, if only we’re brave enough to be it”.
We watched the super bowl earlier this month and for anyone that watched it, it is safe to say it was not all it was cracked up to be. In “prepping” for the Super Bowl, I did a long run (16 miles) as I was still training to run my 50 miler in Sonoma at that time, I put on a podcast about the GOAT. This GOAT was not Michael Jordon, but another GOAT, Tom Brady. Now, anyone who knows me, knows I CANNOT STAND Tom Brady or the New England Patriots, and before you slam me on social media or in my office, just keep reading. Eric and I are from Indiana, home of The Indianapolis Colts and Peyton Manning during my younger years. We were huge Colts fans, then turned into Bronco fans when Peyton left. But the rivalry between Manning and Brady was top notch. It was fascinating to watch these QBs go at it and orchestrate touchdowns for their respective teams! So, when I say I CANNOT STAND Tom Brady, now you understand. Anyway, I appreciate hard work and true grit mostly because that is how I got where I am today. So, I can appreciate Tom Brady.

Listening to this podcast, I discovered how Brady became the GOAT QB. When he was a kid, he delivered papers (not dissimilar than someone else I know…Eric) and spoke of a paper route he had for a few years. His mom would drive him in the family mini-van around the neighborhood to deliver papers, and Brady would open the sliding door, throw the papers from the van to the front door, sometimes throwing over the van across the street to get the paper to reach the front door. This he believes gave him a start with perfecting his throwing motion and to some degree his accuracy. He continued to work hard and finally as a Freshman in high school tried out for the Football team. He did not make the Varsity team, but he loved football, so he told himself he would just work harder than everyone else and make the varsity team. By the next year, he made the team and by the time he was graduating he was the starting QB. He continued his journey in college at Michigan. While he was there, he manifested his dream, to be the best QB of all time in the NFL. People laughed at him; he was a scrawny kid with some talent. In the year 2000, he was the 199th draft pick, chosen by the New England Patriots. But, he kept making changes, a little less alcohol, a few extra minutes in the gym each day, a little more sleep every night, better food, adding in some supplements, and he noticed that each small change produced better results for him in practice and games. So, he just kept going, not changing everything all at one, but small changes each day or each week until finally, Brady manifested his destiny and become the greatest quarterback of all time.

So, you ask, what did he learn from all of this and what is the most important lesson his 3 genetically gifted children can learn in life?
“When you strip away the talent, all you have left is grit” 
Grit is my middle name! I am all about some grit. I am by no mean the GOAT for anything I have ever done, but I am becoming the best version of myself and when you strip away all my talent in tennis, running, academics, surgery, all that is left is grit.