Recovery

For the past four months I have been living on crutches due to a stress fracture that fractured through. This injury was quite untimely(as they all are) and I was unable to prepare for and compete at the Ironman World Championships in Kona. This injury has had and continues to have a huge impact on my life. When I was told that I had to be completely non-wieght bearing on my foot I never realised the impact it would have on my life. I began to get down on myself and depressed, what athlete wouldn't? I did end up going to Hawaii to support my husband Paul, who was racing and other friends who had qualified. I arrived the day before the big earthquake hit the island. I was there with two close freinds, thank god, or it would have been a even more terrifying experience. That night we decided to celebrate life over dinner with a glass of wine and good food. We continued for the rest of the holiday celebrating life, it was wonderful. During my stay I decided to attend the Sport Medicine Conference held the week before the event. The highlight of the conference was a brief talk from Jon Blaze. Jon was the young man who in his fight to battle ALS completed the race in 2005. His words were my inspiration at my ironman race in Arizona. In fact I ran by an aid station in Arizona and noticed Jon talking to someone. I proceeded to run over to him and thank him for his inspiratiion. In April 2006 Jon was standing on his own and talking with others. When he arrived to talk in Kona his parents wheeled him in, in a wheel chair. They lifted him up to support him as he stood and tried to form the words for his talk. Not an easy task when you are losing control of your ability to speak. He said that he was still pursuing his goal of trying to raise funds and awareness to battle the disease of ALS. I met him after and thanked him for his courage and efforts. What an inspiration!! Then at the carbo dinner a young military officer who had his lower leg blown off in a land mine accident while serving overseas stood up to speak. He was the first military officer to ever be sent back to front line duties with a prosthetic. At the end of his talk he said, " if on race day you are left feeling sorry for yourself you have missed the point", he paused and said "YOU ARE ALIVE". It was like he was talking directly to me. On race day I cried when they sang the anthem to start the race. I thought to myself that everyone was out there living my dream. Pretty selfish I know. After a few moments I realized that they weren't living my dream, they were living there own! For the rest of the day I stood and cheered on every athlete feeling proud of them and especially my husband. As we stood close to the finish line tears came back to me, not for myself, but for every athlete who took part and got to live their dream, reach their goal, and be amazed at their own abilities. I am now able to walk again and am trying to start my raod back to health both mentally and physically. I am glad I had the chance to watch the race and expereince the emotions I did. I am proud of myself for going and watching and being strong and I am also proud of all my friends and sponsors who supported my through one of the toughest times in my sporting career.
Thanks to my husband who felt my disappointment and took my with him, in his thoughts, on race day!