A Look Back on 2016 and What's Next in 2017

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A Look Back on 2016 and What's Next in 2017

2016 was another trying year. I was still in the cervical collar when I rang in the New Year.  It was a bittersweet moment, as I was happy to leave 2015 behind, but I also felt deflated as I was starting the new year of with an injury. I could not wait to be healthy, and thought that once I was free of that damn C-collar I would be good to go. What a delusion that was! It took me almost a year to feel like my old self again, and this was certainly not for a lack of effort to claw my way back to health and fitness. Much to my dismay, the road to recovery was long and lasted for the duration of my final full triathlon season before I return to medicine. Needless to say, this pursuit did not go as I had hoped it would, and after a great deal of struggle and despair I now feel at peace with what was and what will be.  Sometimes life does not feel fair, but I found it feels much better to embrace the struggle instead of fight it, and to not harbor resentment towards the unfortunate circumstances life throws at me.

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Giving Back

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Giving Back

After several years of needing to be fairly selfish with my time and energy in order to train and compete at a high level in triathlon while in medical school, I finally have time to give back and pay it forward. Participating in sports has been an integral part of my life since I was a little girl, and I would not have had many of the wonderful experiences or opportunities I have had, were it not for my participation in athletics. I have traveled across the country for races and met so many incredible people, including some of my closest friends who are teammates both past and present. Athletics has also provided me with a meaningful identity, self-confidence, and innumerable other life skills that have helped me to be successful on the track, the race course, as well in the classroom and in my clinical rotations as a medical student.

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Thankful. Happy.

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Thankful. Happy.

I love Thanksgiving, a day filled with food, family, and festivities, and a day to express gratitude for all that we have. This year I feel exceptionally grateful for all of the wonderful things in my life because I have had a shift in my attitude and mindset. In the past I focused on all that I did not have or could not do. My heart and mind were soaked in negativity. I did not choose happiness. But now I find joy in each and every day, and for that I am thankful.

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Miracle Marigolds

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Miracle Marigolds

I call these flowers my miracle marigolds, as the flowers overcame adversity and came back to life, after being on the brink of wilting away and never displaying their vibrant oranges and yellows ever again. In lieu of training while I was injured, I took up a little gardening to help fill my days; I first planted a half dozen marigolds in two long rectangular containers at the end of May. The beautiful colors brightened the deck and my day, I felt very proud of my mini garden.

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Looking Back and Moving Forward

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Looking Back and Moving Forward

This weekend is a rather significant weekend in the history of the second coming of my athletic career. After college I swore off training and racing; feeling disappointed by the short-comings of my collegiate athletic campaign and burnt out after battling through injuries my junior and senior year, I deemed exercise as a way to stay in shape and fill up my free time after work versus a means to getting into peak physical form for competition. All that changed when I started medical school in the fall of 2011. I would struggle going from class to the library without a time to decompress and recharge in between. So I did what I had done my whole life and I ran after school.

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Burying My Fears

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I am going to be honest, I am terrified. I am terrified to be making the jump to the next level having done so little training. I am nervous to be starting my season  months from now when everyone else has several races under their belts and completed loads more training than I have. I am scared that I won't get my fitness back. I panic every morning before I get out of bed not knowing what the first few steps are going to feel like and if the stiffness and soreness in my knee is going to linger and I will practically be crippled after a day of rounding in the hospital. I go to bed each night with the worry that the little training I did was too much and I will be set back 3 weeks in my recovery.

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The Bright Side of Injury

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The Bright Side of Injury

Through the depths of frustration, anguish, and the depressive state that I sometimes find myself in secondary to a deficiency of endorphins, I have found a silver lining. After spending the better part of the off-season struggling with an injury (then illness, then injury, and then yet another injury), I have resolved to not let it drag me down, instead it is an opportunity. And no, not an opportunity to spend my Saturday nights at the bars and become a slothful couch potato, but instead I have a chance to take a step back and get in touch with my body in new ways that do not involve putting it through the rigors of intense training.

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