Jason Pisano - Marathon Man

ProJo's profile of Jason Pisano will inspire you.

He has never allowed cerebral palsy to keep him from going the distance.
Nor has the disorder stopped him from doing anything else he put his mind to: learning to type with his toe, going to college, carrying the 1996 Olympic torch on its trip through Rhode Island, working as a freelance journalist.

Pisano was born with profound cerebral palsy, a neurological disorder that makes it nearly impossible to control the movement of his arms and legs, or to speak clearly. The damage occurred when the umbilical cord, wrapped around his neck, cut off oxygen to his brain.
While the average person may find a 5K race or even a jog around the block challenging, Pisano has finished 41 marathons. Pisano is a world-class athlete, participating in the highest level of competition for disabled athletes. He has won numerous awards and accolades, including two gold medals from the Cerebral Palsy-International Sports and Recreation World Championships.
Pisano said he is driven to compete in marathons because “I can.”

On a recent trip to Gold’s Gym in Warwick, Pisano works out in preparation for today’s race. Avi Tzadok, Pisano’s aide and friend for 10 years, pushes Pisano’s wheelchair across the shiny floor, weaving through a maze of exercise machines, bench presses and treadmills.
They stop at a corner near a weight machine. Tzadok scoops his friend up into his arms and hoists him onto the apparatus, strapping him in. To keep Pisano’s arms from flailing, Tzadok pulls them behind his back and secures his wrists.
The chiseled muscles in his arms and around his pectorals show Pisano’s dedication to bodybuilding. Pisano works specifically on his abdominals, his arms and his legs to prepare for the grueling Boston race.
Pisano grunts as he lifts about 45 pounds to start, using mainly his feet and his abdominals to elevate a padded bar that lifts the weights. Eventually, Tzadok adds more weights, about 30 pounds per round, until Pisano is lifting 120 pounds. Next Pisano reclines on the weight machine and Tzadok, using his body weight, leans on Pisano’s upper thighs. Pisano raises his upper body toward Tzadok, doing abdominal crunches –– about 250. Bicep curls come next.

That last part may shame most of us about our physical shape (I mean, my God Man!) but more than that it should remind us all that maybe we tell ourselves "I can't" about too much too often. Try living like Pisano - maybe you can run a marathon, maybe you can read all of War and Peace, save the whales, build your own computer, learn Japanese, or anything that you've always told yourself, I can't. If Pisano can accomplish so much, think of what you can do.

P.S. Pisano finished the Boston Marathon in 10 hours, 46 minutes.

Visit Jason's blog.