My work ethic has been engrained into me. People are amazed, and even seem dumbfounded, when they hear about everything I have accomplished in my life. Hmmm, let's see if I can make a quick list.

Aneurysm survivor at age 3, started physical therapy at 3 and graduated from it at age 10, played 13 years of baseball starting at age 9, began lifting in a gym starting at age 10, was told by my neurosurgeon that I no longer needed to see him when I was 18, lost over 60 pounds when I was 21, ran my first marathon at age 22, had my neurologist tell me that I am healthier than he is at 22 also, ran the Boston Marathon and finished first in my division at 23, started doing motivational speaking at 24 at Children's Hospital as a way of giving back and sparking a career in it, wrote a book at 24 and am aiming to get it published this year, currently training to defend my title at the Boston Marathon. I forgot to mention that I'm training for my brown belt in taekwondo, too.

As one reporter for the Washington Post put it, what else can Greg do? Yes, I have done a lot in my life, but while these are accomplishments, I, myself, do not view them as such. No- accomplishments are goals you achieve for yourself, but that isn't what gives me, or my life, meaning.

Everything I have achieved in my life so far, and everything I have yet to broach in the future, displays not only my success, but how far my ability has grown. No one believed I should be anywhere near where I currently am, but I am still running for further growth.

You see, it isn't what the accomplishment means to me, it's how my success impacts everyone who looks at their lives with doubt, or even regret. As plain as it is to understand that your disabilities hinder your life, I believe that they aren't hindrances, but just obstacles. Everyone overcomes obstacles in their lives. Hopefully my uncharted success and achievements have proven to everyone that unbreakable barriers are simply speed bumps we need to naviate over.

Everything I do is not for me. You have to be absolutely out of your mind to run 26.2 miles. That doesn't mean that I can't run that distance. The fact that I can run it, and do so competitively, means that I'm going to run...because I can.

3 hours and 30 minutes of pain to run a marathon is worth it to relieve others of permanent pain and burden. Don't praise me and don't call me a miracle. What happened to me is definitely miraculous, but I'm just a guy...a guy who is unearthing his potential and not letting doubt halt my growth.

That's why I have done all I have done across my life and will continue to find the next challenge. The strength is there. I'm building it today. I have been progressively building my strength each and every day. Hopefully it is enough to show everyone, disability or not, that where you end today is your benchmark for tomorrow. When tomorrow comes, nothing prohibits you from growing further and getting stronger. All that prohibits you is your own thought. Never doubt your belief and today will be the strongest you have ever known yourself to be. Tomorrow you will be even stronger, and the trend never stops.

That is what I have learned and that is what I aim to display snd share by pushing myself. It's my ultimate way of giving back. It's everything I have and all I want to do with it ia offer it to the world. Knowledge is worthless unless it is shared. This is what I have learned. All of it has made me a better person, so why not try and make the world a better place by sharing with it what has made me a better person? Hopefully the trend will continue. It may not, but the only way we will know is if I truly devote the time and energy to try.

So...my hometown is one of the last dry towns in the USA, but we have something that nowhere else can compete with: Jimmie Cone, otherwise known as the best soft serve ice cream and frozen yogurt you will find.

My trips to Jimmie Cone this year have been to get the fat-free sugar-free frozen yogurt. Trust me, it's not as disappointing as it sounds.  My first trip was for black raspberry and then they had both new york cheesecake and banana for my last trip.

They still had the same two flavors this time, so I decided to indulge myself and get my favorite dessert. For the first time in a year I got my soft serve strawberry ice cream in a cone with chocolate jimmies. Honestly, you can't do better...and it was so delicious and totally worth it.

Wanna know the best part? Any excess calories I may have eaten today, I'm going to run them off tomorrow! See, rewards are good when you are able to stick to your regimen. They are just the right amount of splurge to make everything your working towards worthwhile.

Still, no matter how tasty that strawberry cone was tonight, nothing will feel as incredible as I will feel crossing the finish line next Monday. For now, the ice cream was the perfect reward.

This week has always felt weird to me. I've been working so hard with intense and overloading workouts for months, exhausting myself with my consecutive runs and then this week hits where I finally taper off.

I'm running easy this week. It feels weird to not be exhausted when I finish a loop on my course, but at the same time not being exhausted is ultimate reassurance that I'm going to dominate this run next Monday.

It's just very foreign to me to be doing physical activity and not push myself to the max. I'm running around 9-minute miles instead of pushing myself for sub 8-minute miles. I'm lifting about 50% weight on each machine at the gym...and I'm just biking at a comfortable pace too.

In fact, I think that is the problem...how comfortable it is. I could conceivably leave the gym each day this week and not break a sweat. WTF?! Haha! I'm so used to relaxing being a reward for utterly torturing your body and pushing to physical brinks that I forget how comfortable it can be to just do things easy.

I guess it is good that I have the work ethic that I do, and that this easy week at the gym can be a reward before putting myself through the challenge of my 8-minute average mile for a marathon.

It's just weird to look around and realize that my recovery workouts can actually be more intense than how some people work out regularly. Now that I'm a trainer, though, maybe I can help everyone get to where I am. They don't have to run marathons, but no feeling is better than pushing yourself to a limit and then rewarding yourself with a hot bath or watching an hour of TV on the couch.

Rewards versus a lazy lifestyle...think about it. More to come on this later this week!

Yes, it's true. I just received the results in the mail today. I am now a certified personal trainer with NSPA. It's the beginning certification, but that is definitely a start. The certification is also a nationally recognized cert, so I can move anywhere in the US and be a trainer.

Here's the plan. I studied my butt off to pass that certification with my buddy, Suzy Garcia. She is starting up a boot camp in the area and I am going to team up with her and see where our combined knowledge can carry the two of us as trainers.

Suzy and I have our own individual ideas about being trainers. We agree on the same principles and each have our own distinct training style. Together, we are going to be a massive force. I mean, who wouldn't want to train with both a 5'1" woman who competes in bodybuilding competitions and can beat me up very easily AND a 6'2" male who, despite his disability, won his division in the Boston Marathon and just so happens to be ruggedly handsome as well, or so I keep hearing.  (By the way, if I keep hearing this, why am I single?)

Anyway, the news of the day is that I am now a certified personal trainer and I am going to be moving forward as a trainer and hopefully launch a very successful boot camp and training program with my good friend, and training buddy, Suzy. After all, if I can get myself to the point where I could eventually run a marathon, just imagine how many people the two of us will get achieving goals they never thought possible.

Life is only good if you give back. It brings meaning to your life, and meaning is what makes life worth living. Suzy and I are poised to give back. We both struggled to get to where we are, but that struggle is the best part. It's what tells you that everything you do is worthwhile. Without struggle, success is non-existant. Suzy and I have gotten ourselves to where we want to be individually. Our sense of success and accomplishment will come by making as many people as we can train feel that sensation.

Here it goes. Are you gonna be on board with us?

Send me an e-mail if you want in. We will take people from anywhere. Trust us, we not only see your vision, we see the full transformation. Our job is to help you see it. The fact that we have transformed ourselves not only lets us know what to look for, but makes us absolutely confident that your transformation is an absolute reality. Let's get that reality started today.

Quick post and then I am off to catch the bus to the metro to head to DC (wow, there were a lot of prepositions there...it's EARLY!!!) It doesn't help that I am rushed either.

Anyways, I'm heading down to DC eraly and am going to do a final 2-3 hour run just running everywhere my legs decide to go around the tidal basin and through the momnuments. I'll be in DC around 7:15 or so, then after the 2-3 hour run I am off to Arlington where I will grab a quick shower and hop over to the ABC building on North Lynn St and Wilson Blvd for a live interview on the NewsChannel 8 program Let's Talk Live!

Big things are happening...I can feel it. I'm psyched and ready for the marathon, I just haerd from FOX 5 news today and, if all goes well, this news coverage will be just enough exposure to get publisher's interested in buying my book and jumpstarting this speaking career.

*Gasp* Determination could happen. It just seems to be one step closer to happening each day.

Gotta run everyone, wish me luck and thank you so much for the support and well wishes!