The Relentless pursuit of … Physical Health
Simon Whitfield has recently said that “the relentless pursuit of excellence” is a worthy goal. I love the word relentless and it was how I felt about my pursuit to get to Kona Ironman World Championships these last 2 years, 3 Ironman, 2 half Ironman’s and two marathons later. Now towards the end of the summer of 2011 I’m relentlessly pursuing health and healing for my injured lower back. A real change of pace for me as this summer I have basically been doing nothing except strengthening exercises, a little walking and very little swimming. I can’t even water-ski!
My husband calls this time, recovery time, a part of my journey. Time to take a break, regroup and focus on other endeavors for a while. My last Ironman in Houston brought me closer and there are some positives to take from the race. My swim and particularly my bike ride went really well. My back didn’t hold out for the run. As soon as I got off the bike I knew I was cooked (yes it was hot there but that wasn’t the problem). I couldn’t move my legs properly, had a little limp happening with a weak left leg from my herniated disk pressing on a nerve. I knew I was in for a rough run but as I was somewhat expecting this and I had already planned that I would finish this race no matter what.
I decided to just try to enjoy the atmosphere of this Inaugural Texas Ironman. People were cheering, “you go girl” and “Y’all are doing so well!” Lots of high fives and fun along the way. The heat was an incredible 90 degrees with 90 percent humidity. That is crazy hot and living in Calgary it was pretty new to me.
Next scheduled Ironman is NOT Ironman Canada! I am registered for Coeur D’Alene next June but this is subject to cancellation if my back needs just a little more time. I want to do this till I’m eighty so like in the Ironman race itself pacing is everything and pacing my physical health over a lifetime is important too. A friend of mine recently wrote when I mentioned that due to my injury I wouldn’t be joining them for a bike ride on a beautiful day … “Good girl Katie, short term for long term”.
This summer I have been hanging out at our cottage in Ontario with my family and tons of visitors, driving the boat for water sports and cooking meals on the BBQ. It’s kind of nice not to have to go out for eight-hour training days! Stay tuned for the couch potato getting back into shape after summer cottage fun at Camp McLean!
“Don’t let what you cannot do interfere with what you can do.” ~John Wooden
