Boxing

Today I tried to get over myself and my nausea and I went boxing over lunch. I have been going to the Pan Am Boxing club for about two years now as an additional exercise to my running. It is a very intense one-hour boot camp style workout that incorporates a variety of exercises from push-ups and sit-ups to hitting heavy bags. Truthfully, I came to love the atmosphere, the workout routine and the people there.

The last time I went was last week. I told the owner, Harry, that I was grateful for the club as I am undergoing treatment for cancer at the moment and that his gym and classes have become part of my personal healing process. Today somebody else was leading the class. Harry, a workout machine of a man, was around in the background training for himself. An hour is a long time when you have to do strenuous cardio workouts. After around 40 minutes we were supposed to do different routines on the heavy bags and I stopped for a moment because I felt I couldn't keep up anymore. The chemo has definitely left me weaker overall and I thought I had reached my limit for the day. I stood there for a second and put my face into my boxing gloves. 'Come on, don't stop!' I heard Harry call from behind as he ran towards my bag. 'Let's go! Let's go! Let's go!'. He placed himself beside me and made me follow his speed. 'Don't stop! Harder! Come on!' I wanted to say: "Don't you remember that I have chemo?' But I couldn't because I was too busy punching. He stayed with me for what seemed like an eternity. In reality it was probably 10 minutes. Harry taught me two things today: a) It's not always helpful to feel sorry for someone, including one's self. b) You still have a lot left in you even if you think you are ready to give up. Thank you, Harry.