{"id":136,"date":"2015-07-09T23:01:34","date_gmt":"2015-07-09T23:01:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/nocrappyexcuses.com\/?p=136"},"modified":"2015-07-09T23:01:34","modified_gmt":"2015-07-09T23:01:34","slug":"tij-blog-post-james-gilliard-the-human-web","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nocrappyexcuses.com\/index.php\/2015\/07\/09\/tij-blog-post-james-gilliard-the-human-web\/","title":{"rendered":"TIJ Blog Post – James Gilliard: The Human Web"},"content":{"rendered":"

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In past blog posts, I\u2019ve talked about the importance of getting out there. While an important first step is getting off the sidelines and taking your first athletic steps, it\u2019s certainly not the last. You also need to connect with other people. While online ones are okay, the physical, personal ones are better.<\/p>\n

Most of the time, these personal connections will come through other athletes with disabilities (AWDs), coaches and those you come in contact with as you compete. And these connections may have connections that can help you. I see this as the human web, as everyone\u2019s interconnected.<\/p>\n

As an example of what I mean, you might need access to a specific training facility. You don\u2019t directly know anyone that can help, but your coach may know someone who knows someone who does. I know it sounds like \u2018my cousin\u2019s brother\u2019s uncle\u2019s friend\u2019 that people sometimes spit out, but that\u2019s just the way the web works. You never know where these connections will come from, so be willing to be social with people. A great post on what can happen when you say yes to people is Rachel\u2019s latest one on her speaking tour [link].<\/p>\n

One thing that I\u2019ve found recently is that there are common linkages within the AWD community. For example, someone that\u2019s handling AWD needs for a race could also be involved in other AWD organizations and help to create even more connections for you. I found that to be true when I met Keri Serota at the Shamrock Shuffle. Not only was she the AWD coordinator for the race, but she\u2019s also the co-founder and executive director of Dare2Tri [www.dare2tri.org]. I will be at the ParaTriathlon camp in May because she made me aware of the organization \/ camp.<\/p>\n

I realize that it\u2019s not always easy to make these connections. But they are so well worth it, both in the short and long term. Don\u2019t be over concerned with whatever disability you have and how others may perceive it. Just be yourself, be out there, and everything else will fall into place as it should!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

In past blog posts, I\u2019ve talked about the importance of getting out there. While an important first step is getting off the sidelines and taking your first athletic steps, it\u2019s certainly not the last. You also need to connect with other people. While online ones are okay, the physical, personal ones are better. Most of … Continue reading TIJ Blog Post – James Gilliard: The Human Web<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_s2mail":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[63,7],"class_list":["post-136","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-james","tag-human-web","tag-james-gilliard"],"post_mailing_queue_ids":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/nocrappyexcuses.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/136","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/nocrappyexcuses.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/nocrappyexcuses.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nocrappyexcuses.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nocrappyexcuses.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=136"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/nocrappyexcuses.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/136\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":138,"href":"https:\/\/nocrappyexcuses.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/136\/revisions\/138"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/nocrappyexcuses.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=136"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nocrappyexcuses.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=136"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nocrappyexcuses.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=136"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}