Once upon a time, I had a Dream - to one day challenge myself in the grueling trial called the Ironman. My road to the Ironman was full of hardship and tribulations with mangled bikes and terrible muscle injuries. And despite advice from Doctors telling me to wait till next year, I refused to let this Dream die because Spirit is everything in our chosen sport (and lifestyle) of Triathlon!
I have learned that Triathlons are all about thinking beyond our own personal mindsets and our own boundaries to develop our talents and create an environment for people to dream beyond measure. I have learned that triathlons are about extending our own personal awareness, how we look at things and how we behave in the midst of adversity.
Friend Dave Orlowski, one of the Founding Fathers of Ironman 1978
My experience at Ironman began with a warm-up swim with our Team in the calm waters of the Gulf Coast. Even though we all sighted a number of jelly fish and sea turtles, we felt confident that we could complete the swim on race day.
Friends Luke and Amanda
Florida was an absolutely superb time as it allowed us to catch up with good friends from Australia, Luke and Amanda, and many Team Mates that we have not seen for a long time. This is the aspect that I love most about Triathlons – the Community!
And then race day came and after waking up at 4am, I saw that the water was not as calm as it was the day prior – it was choppy and the waves were really rough.
The moment I got in the water everything hurt, maybe the lack of sleep, High Cloud’s preps for India, the adductor muscle, who knows. The only thing I did know was that I could do it so I started to follow someone’s feet but finally I found my rhythm. As I entered the water beginning the IM event, I found myself having aquatic combat with my closest neighbours and before I knew it, I was kicked in the face by a fellow swimmer and my goggles came off. I lunged for my goggles and grabbed them with my hand while I was in the roller coaster that had become my swim section. After that odyssey, I realized that the goggles were broken and that no matter what I did the goggles were filling up with salt water. The second loop of the swim introduced me to even rougher waves but I fought on and before I knew it after receiving a few stings, I was out of the water and into transition to move into the second chapter of this journey. ¨The only constant is change, embrace the changes, take action and help the changes to happen.¨ - This is what happened during my swim when my goggles came off.
Discover what you know you don’t know
The bike was a great transition from the beating of the waves, though it brought its own unique difficulties if the form of multiple technical speed bumps! At mile 70, I experienced a terrible flat in my tubular tire and I had to stop, catch my breath and immediately fix the tire. The road was quite bumpy in certain sections and I was quite apprehensive about experiencing another flat from some glass that I saw along the road. Suffice to say I was greatly looking forward to transitioning to the run even though I had a tear in my adductor muscle and had not run for the past 12 weeks. There was also some adversity to spice up the bike section with two flats on the bike and a heavy headwind!
From Sunrise to Sunset: If we cannot find the way, make one
My passion for the sport was at all times high. Although my legs were in pain, I have learned that when you have a strong mind the body stays strong despite the physical pain.
Take away: Stay confident, positive, inspired enthusiastic and happy! The winner is the one who digs deep and keep on pushing and moving forward in the midst of pain, injuries, etc!
The day ended with so many great and glorious moments, a great massage…
…a great meal, an ocean bath the next morning, and a very festive post race party at Spinnaker with friends and family helped me lived happily ever after! Can´t wait to get healed and do it again!
Thanks to all of our incredible friends and High Clouders who mentored me and joined me in this journey! Thanks for reading and stay tuned for more tales in this worldwide story…
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