Me Quit? Never!

Hello,

This year my goal was to qualify for the NFR. So I went to fifty-two rodeos, but after Pendleton, Oregon I was 19th in the standings. My partner and I decided that we were too far back, so we decided to pull up. About the end of July I wasn’t getting the results that I wanted so I decided to get serious about my diet and exercise program. I don’t know much about either one, but when the NFR is within reach it is not hard to be motivated. I have always liked to be, as my son calls it, an ‘arena rat.’ I like to practice, that is the fun part of my day. The driving is a drag and being away from home for three months at a time is tough, but roping is the fun part. So I had been practicing and riding my horses, but I wasn’t in very good shape and felt I needed more energy. So, I decided to eat better and get more exercise.

So, all through August I ate no bread, no processed food, no fast food, and no dairy. Now, so I don’t offend the dairy industry, I think that milk does a body good, but I have a thing about dairy product. When men dream, they dream of all kinds of things. When I dream, I dream of cows, Holstein cows that give lots of milk. That milk is rich in fat and it’s turned into wonderful things like butter and ice cream. Now, you can truly see my problem. Things in moderation are ok, but when it comes to dairy products I can’t be trusted.

So all through August I was pretty disciplined about my routine. September came and when the NFR was out of reach I turned my focus on the USTRC finals. As the finals approached in the end of October, I had lost thirty pounds, was running three miles every morning, and working out using free weights five times a week after my early morning run. I left a week early and went to Arizona and was practicing twice a day.

I hired a personal trainer to make sure my diet was correct and to get some help with vitamins and the correct supplements to complete my routine. The last day in Arizona I threw at twenty-six steers. I missed one that fell down and roped a leg on another, but every other loop felt great. Early that morning when I finished my run, I felt like I could run another mile. I drove to Gutherie, Oklahoma for the Open and was third high team back and missed. I was disappointed, but I was riding my second string horse and the conditions were tough and my horse was a little over matched. The open preliminary was the next day in Oklahoma City and I felt confident. I was in the lead after three steers and lost a leg on the fourth steer. We were a long six second run on our last steer, and if I hadn’t rope a leg we would have won it. No problem because the Open was the next day and that was the gem I had come for. I roped the first steer good, got a leg on the second steer, roped the third one good, and missed the fourth one. Long story short, it was not by best performance. I know a lot of people worked hard, but no one worked any harder than I did. I never had a piece of bread, no one thing that was fried, not even a cookie. I ran through neighborhood before dawn across the country with little dogs chasing me every morning before daylight and to come home with a five hundred dollar check was extremely disappointing.

I think it’s important to try to think fundamentals, not emotions. Fundamentally my horse did not score very well. I was concise about not breaking the heeling barrier and was late because of it and I believe that is my demise. The good news is that is an easy fix. The bad news is that it was a lot of work and sacrifice for very little reward. But, like it says book The Greatest Sales Man In The World, ‘It is not given to me to know how many steps that are required for me to reach my goal. Forline I may still encounter at the thousandth step and success may hide behind the next bend in the road. Never will I know unless I take another step and if that is to no avail, I take another, and yet another. In truth one step at a time is not too difficult surely I can take one more step.

As I was nearing my home in California after a thirty-one hour drive and they put a billboard up along the freeway. It’s a little girl that was surfing and she was attacked by a shark. The wounds have healed and she is standing by her surf board and there is a big bite out of it and her left arm is gone just below her shoulder. But, she has the prettiest smile on her face you have ever seen and the billboard says, ‘Me Quit? Never!’ It’s almost day light and I have to go for my morning run, so…

Until Next Month,
Thanks For Your Time
Walt Woodard