It's on like Donkey Kong!
So I decided it was time to come out of the black hole I've been in for a while... or rather my body decided to give me a little break from it. I would say I am on the mend, but I know that the chances of the foot holding out from the last steroid injection is rare and I may add another scar to my long list at some point; but that's beyond my control at this point so no sense worrying and stewing about it. The tarsal tunnel (TT) is keeping in check for now and I also have been trying to get the plantar fasciitis (PF), I have had in both feet since surgery, under control too. We've know about the PF since the TT flared up, and the combination of both was overwhelming to say the least, but having the TT under control has made walking almost possible again. Let me put it this way, I won't be running anytime soon (not that I want to) and I hope to have it all squared away by cx season! Hopefully, in the next few weeks it will settle down with several visits to physical therapy and lots and lots of stretching.
I just have to mention for the thousandth time how blessed I have been to have Dr David Porter with Methodist Sports Med to take care of me during all this along with the help of Tom Johnson for my PT at Kch Regional Rehab. They have been my rocks during this and have listened, brainstormed, and worked with me through this complicated foot when most would have given up on it. Heaven knows I wanted to a few times! Plus, a major thanks to all the other people in my life who truly do care, pray, and offer kind words or a shoulder to lean on during all this. These really difficult times have been made so much easier with all of you!
In the meantime I'm starting to take riding more seriously again and have started my training with my new coach Mark Fasczewski and I'm really excited about having a focused training plan in my workouts again. I've set some tentative goals for myself for the season and can't wait to reach them and I am enjoying working towards them everyday. I have had a fun last few weeks with increased miles on the bike and have now put some races on the calender next month for me after I log some sunny miles in Florida soon enough.
Aside from just the typical bike goals we all set for ourselves, I hope we all set a few goals this year that really can't be measured by anyone but ourselves. We all have "report cards" in our cycling, personal, work, school, and financial worlds; but I think we all need to occasionally remember that it's the unmeasurable goals that really make us who we are asked to be in this life. I've always been blessed with success that people can directly see in my life. I've set records, gotten scholarships, won races, did a certain number of hours at work, and so on. But the most valuable things in my life have always been hearing how I helped someone ease their fear before surgery, or by knowing I've done the right and moral thing instead of the one that would have benefited me the most, etc. I hope you all strive and find this to be true too.
So one of my main goals this year is to not get too uptight about results as long as I do my best. Even though I do race pro in cx, I line up with gals who race their bikes for their job. Their is no way I can keep up with that commitment and I don't really want to. My calling in life is anesthesia and I'm happy with know and doing that. Even for the regional races such as OVCX, most of us girls work jobs and it's impossible to say the person who beats the other on any given weekend is above the other... and does it really matter to our final outcome in life if we don't have fun or do it dirty?? There are just so many variables for all of us during the week that effect the weekend. I'm not using that as an excuse for losing; I'm just saying that the reason we all need to race is first and foremost because it is fun and we shouldn't act like jerks if we have a bad weekend.
Don't get me wrong, I plan on training to reach my fullest potential possible in my life right now. I do it because I love to train, make my body stronger, and because I love to swing my leg over the bike, but if I ever do it without class it's the day I quit because I don't want to be remembered that way, nor do you I imagine.
So I have a fun weekend on tap coming up... hopefully. I am riding out a 24 hour call shift and if all goes well (like sleep) I plan on heading down to Bloomington to log some hilly hours on the bike and take in the famous Little 500 race at IU. I wish I could watch the women's race in addition to the men's, but it won't work out that way this year. Good luck and good times to all taking part in the weekend!
And what do you benefit if you gain the whole world but lose your own soul? Is anything worth more than your soul?
-Matthew 16:26
