Every Second Counts

Pain is temporary , quitting lasts forever - Lance Armstrong


Associations. We all are good at making one. Cricket - Sachin Tendulkar, Formula 1- Michael Schumacher, WWE- The Rock/Undertaker, Golf - Tiger Woods, Tennis - Roger Federer, Tour de France - Lance Armstrong.

Tour de France is an annual multi-stage bicycle race primarily held in France and extends a bit to the neighboring countries. Armstrong is a former professional road racing cyclist. He held the record of winning seven consecutive Tour de France. But in 2012, Armstrong was banned from professional cycling for life and all his racing results were disqualified for using performance enhancing drugs.

Recently, I read the book, Every Second Counts - Lance Armstrong and Sally Jenkins. 
The book picks up exactly from where his first book, It's not about the bike left off. The book covers his life after he won the 2nd Tour de France in 2000. 

After reading the first book couple of years back, I was expecting the sequel to be at least as good as the first book and quite honestly, it is. The story is about winning and going on to becoming the greatest cyclist ever. The book addresses the intimidating gainsay of surviving in the backwash of his experience with the Big C, Testicular Cancer and making the most of every second of life. Armstrong frankly talks out his setaceous relationship with the French, the accusations and how he disproved all of them. The book beautifully covers how he restored a magnificent chapel in Spain, one of his beloved country.

It is an easy read and yet quite enjoyable. The book revolves around three themes - Armstrong's life, racing and survivorship. Armstrong, beautifully narrates specific events, accounts on training and building the USPS team,his personal life - parenthood, religion, fighting against allegations etc.  The most touching and intoxicating part of the book is when he starts talking about being a cancer survivor and the "responsibility of the cured". The books illustrates the reciprocal affinity between him and his extended cancer family and how he makes it clear that he needs them as much as they need him.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Between odds and the ones!

Image
It's odd how those who were complete strangers are the ones who are now the best buddies It's odd how those who never expressed their feelings while they were together are the ones who end up becoming a couple It's odd how those who show me the highest love  are the ones who expresses it the least in words It's odd how those who express the love in words  are the ones who end up hurting the most It's odd how those who botched up every damn thing are the ones who make you feel chagrined It's odd how those who plead for mercy, pardon are the ones who deserve it the least It's odd how those who are always smiling and make you smile are the ones who have overcome many griefs It's odd how those who have been through many griefs/heartbreaks are the ones who can always overcome the pain Probably, It's odd because everything can be related to time and space.. But for me, It's odd because I don't think its odd!(o
I want more »

Ramblings Again!

Consider a situation where you are signing a pact with  chariness, lack of authenticity and selfishness. You might ruin, in fact poison the relationship even before laying the foundation stone. People with whom you are dealing with will have a hard time in the face of your  incredulity, they won't be disputed to rise to your level of expectations. Over the years, I've learnt one thing. O ne should prefer concentrating on the goodwill of mortals who are doing work with you. No matter what you do, where you go, you are bound to encounter those handful of people who will try their very best to disappoint to you but eventually you'll understand that is their sole purpose of life. One thing, which I've understood during PG course is the importance of an open mind and an open heart but that just increases the vulnerability.  Maybe, one should give others a chance to live up to our trust and others should not be on a hunt to try to cultivate trust in spite of knowing
I want more »

A teardrop in the lake..

It was an unusual winter evening, she was sitting at the corner of a semi-frozen lake, looking at the patches of water with her panoptic eyes. I was on the other side of the lake, sitting on a bench under a maple tree, trying to write something but she took a majority of my attention. I could see her nose inhaling the intoxicating air from the lake. There were people in front of us, trying their luck at fishing. Without any expression - be it sadness or happiness, she was staring at the lifeless lake. I again tried to resume my writing but my eyes kept on looking at her. The sun was in its final stage of descend, the darkness had spread its arms, engulfing the complete surrounding. I could see apparitions of those walking around the lake, couples probably. There was no sunset in the corner of the lake, yet there was something in the whole environment, which made it picturesque. I collected my stuff, packed my bag and started to walk towards the other side of the lake. A few f
I want more »