A Story and Progress

 

Twoish years ago, I had to have emergency surgery to remove a "ruptured" but not fully "burst" appendix. Apparently, there is a difference...they sound about the same to me, but I digress. Due to Madeline, I must confess that I somehow figured having your appendix out was more common than it truly is, and thought it would happen in my childhood rather than my adulthood.

Up to that point, I had started to participate in wogging (a combo between a walk and a jog, which spell check will not correct, by the way, so it must be a real word now...), 5Ks with my sisters. This surgery and inevitable recovery took time away from that training, and I officially missed the last two 5Ks of my year. 

Fast forward to now, I am babying two bad knees after being in a job that was excessively hard on my body for a little too long, and a twinge I can't quite shake over the scars that remain from my surgery that act up every once in awhile, but I'm still looking to remain active, and my coworker invites us as her team members to participate in the month-long Lazy Ironman. Which is completing the equivalent of an Ironman in a month. For the record, it is not "lazy" work as it involves running for 26.2 miles, biking for 112 miles, and swimming 2.4 miles. I would like to start a petition to rename it to the Extended Ironman. (Let me know in the comments if I can count on you for support.) I will say the entire experiment has been a success. One of my coworkers has been biking to work, another is a retired swim coach that enjoyed the time in the pool again, and other such success stories have been shared and compared of our trial and errors. What errors, you may wonder? All of us have decided that biking will not be something we frequently seek out. Anyone who has spent any extended time on a bike seat will understand our sentiments. All of this to say, you can't let the excuses win. I have 13 miles of biking remaining that I will knock out on Monday after my shift. Our bodies are rather remarkable things if our minds will support us rather than remind us of our limits. It hasn't been easy, and this isn't the end of my journey. My knees have been in braces most of the day the last month, but I can feel them getting stronger with my efforts. Keep going, set your goals, and coach your mind to support you rather than limit you.

Yours truly,

Cordy {Samantha Elisabeth}