Throwback Thursday... "My one and only trophy..."

Spring 1973 - only a few months left of my Senior year. Southwest High School had been chosen as one of several schools to try out the new fitness program developed by Dr. Kenneth Cooper - "Aerobics". So in P.E. we started doing some intense endurance training on the track.

Periodically, we would test our aerobic fitness with an all-out 12-minute run. With asthma, it was often rough for me, but I liked the challenge. I was one of the slowest, but gradually worked up to being faster than everyone - except Sam. I kept pushing myself to the limit, often causing my coaches to be alarmed by my wheezing and coughing stuff up. Finally, after several weeks, I caught up to Sam and finished first - completing about 1.7 miles in 12-minutes.

Soon after that, the coaches called me into their office. Uh oh! But my main coach, who reminded me of the skipper on "Gilligan's Island", smiled... "Shelton, we don't give out awards here, but we're just so proud of how hard you worked this semester!" He then presented me with a trophy, inscribed with "Most Improved Athlete". I just couldn't have felt prouder! I'd already received my "award" - greatly improved fitness and lung function - but a trophy?! I'd never had a trophy before!

It was the only trophy I ever received, but it was oh so meaningful... For the first time, I felt that I could overcome my asthma enough to be an athlete. Those often torturous runs around the track set me on a path of making fitness a high priority...and made me realize that there was an internal strength far beyond what anyone would expect from the kid with such a gentle nature... :)