Different sports filled my days in my youth. I dreamed or a big win some day, with a big trophy (奖杯). I was skillful and fast, or so I thought. However, I soon learned my skills seemed quite weak because the bigger, stronger boys seemed to occupy every corner of the playground. Once I was in the 100-yard hurdles, the only recognition I received for my performance was two bloody knees.
In college, I took a swim competition, dreaming of the glory! It turned out I achieved nothing. As an older adult, I still maintained an active lifestyle. In 2010 I signed up for a stair-climbing challenge to raise money for fighting against lung cancer. My father had died of the same disease, so this was a meaningful cause for me. Then, in 2019,the organization offered an even more challenging climb option: the vertical (垂直的) mile. So I would have three hours to climb up and down twenty-eight floors fifteen times, plus three more.
I trained hard. When the challenge started. I felt confident. But soon my legs started feeling heavy. What was worse, I began experiencing leg cramps (抽筋). My progress slowed dramatically and I quickly fell behind. When came down after finishing lap 14, it was past the time limit, so my big win had escaped once again.
Soon after the climb, I struggled to experience the sense of self-satisfaction. And I had, after all, set a goal for myself to prove what I was made of, what I had inside me. And what I had inside me was, “Nice try, but you didn’t make it.” So, a year later, at age 62 and after numerous workouts, I was back. Like last year, I was well ahead after an hour and I again started feeling some discomfort in my legs. I heard myself cry out loud, “Oh, no not again!” I finally stopped and sat down on the stairs, feeling quite depressed and wondering if my dream was over. A few climbers stopped to offer help. I was touched, but embarrassed to accept. Except for one climber. An angel climber, really.
Jessica, who I happened to know, was a salesman’s friend when I bought new running shoes at his store. And without that connection, she might have climbed past me as I sat on those steps, my legs shaking. But all those things did happen, and Jessica stopped to help.
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When she saw I was cramping, she offered me some sports drinks containing electrolytes (电解质).
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The cramps in my legs finally started to go away.
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