Anyone who knows me well knows my life is busy most of the time. Filled with soccer games, scouting adventures, interspersed with busy work demands and my individual adventures. Needless to say it can be easy to get overwhelmed and things came to a head at the end of May. We had just had my car detailed with the intention to sell it, as it had been nothing but trouble since the day we drove it off the lot. I was called to a last minute early morning meeting so my car and I rolled south to get there by 7am. I had just pulled off the freeway into downtown Des Moines and was passing through an intersection when things exploded around me with airbags and crunching metal. A woman had run a fresh red light and smashed into the driver side of my SUV. We both walked away with totaled cars but grateful that was all. I was delivered to my meeting just 15 minutes late thanks to the kindness of a Des Moines police officer (did I mention it was my birthday?). It worked out in the end as we ended up getting a big ol Chevy pickup truck from a Federal government auction. Its great driving a truck again despite it being a king cab with a full sized bed... yes I am running in to a fair number of curbs but we are working things out the two of us and it is great having a a vehicle to haul stuff and seat six humans. |
| Walking a half ironman |
The crash was three weeks before I was to race in my 3rd 1/2 Ironman triathlon (1.2 mile swim, 56 mile bike, and 13.1 mile run). Needless to say my training was derailed after the wreck but I managed to get some shorter runs and swims in but only one trainer ride in the three weeks leading up to the race. I had the green light to race but knew it wasn't going to be the race I had planned. Travel for this race was part of our family vacation to Chicago and Madison with stops to see family throughout so not going was not an option. I was realistic that this was not going to be an easy day for me and for more details you can read my race report for a day that ended up being great but not what I expected. It was part of a string of events over the summer months that had me in a battle between serendipity and the F'its.
On the F'its side my body was fighting me. I spent all summer rehabbing shoulder damage from the crash on a shoulder that already had issues from a decade old soccer injury. The going was slow and my drive wasn't great. I diligently did my exercises each week but always felt like I should have been working harder to be worthy of the time with my physical therapist. The downside is being heavier with tighter pants than I've had in years, but I know I can fight back from that again because I have done it before. The bright light from the shoulder injury is my PT is a friend and I enjoyed hanging out with her even if there was pain involved.I was racing triathlons this summer with Pearl Izumi as my sponsor and 90 plus lady racing companions around the country, so my goal at the season onset was to do four triathlons (1 1/2 Ironman,
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| My best girl |
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| Abby and Bella |
Another time suck for me in the spring and summer was many a trip out to my friends farm. Abby (our future family vet) and her friend Chloe have been raising goats to show at the county fair. It feels like a family venture since I had to drive her there each time and nearly daily in the last couple of month leading up to the fair (between soccer practices, etc.). Fortunately these are some of my favorite people. I got to spend time visiting with my friends, play with kittens, feed the chickens and pigs, snuggle baby goats, weed the gardens and help with the harvest but most of all watching our girls grow in their experiences. While it was a burden to get back and forth I think I got more from it than I gave most of the time.
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| Day one on the Island |
While all of this was going on I had a series of not great visits with my doctors. My blood work numbers were all over the place and continued to get worse through the summer along with a heaviness that ended up being depression fueled by my MS meds. The veil lifted a bit in early August when a planned break from my MS meds started. I was planning on a backpacking trip with my cousin to see the beauty and wilds of Isle Royale a National Park on an Island off the tip of Minnesota and Michigan in Lake Superior. I knew I wasn't in the physical shape I'd hoped to be in by the time it came to head north. My shoulder was stable but not healed, my pack was new and heavy, but my spirit was lighter and my need for time away in nature was huge. The planned break from my meds ended up being nearly three months off but back on track now however that is a blog for another day.
Unseasonably warm weather the first days on the trail, followed by a major ankle blow out at the end of the first day hiking made things tough. The next two days were cooler and increasingly wetter. My shoulder had me ebbing on the edge of tears at times, and I needed a big stick to keep marching forward on my unsteady ankle, but you know I wouldn't have traded any of it. It was an exercise in physical and mental toughness that had become my specialty this summer. It didn't end up being the reset I had hoped for but it rekindled my love for backpacking, tent sleeping and enjoyment of the great outdoors with interesting people. I hope to have years of great family and personal adventures hiking the trails and experiences in the parks of America.
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| My brother and I at the crash site in Clear Lake |
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| My best guys |
While my summer experiences were a balance of the F'its and serendipity, overall I am grateful for every one of them even if they were not what I expected. I am appreciative of every day where I can push myself, learn from the good and bad, and spend time contemplating on my own as well as in good company. I wrapped up the summer with the kids heading back to school, soccer and scouts... but also family camping (first time with all four of us ever!), geocaching adventures and great times with my folks, brother and kiddos. Life is good, and while it has its challenges and rarely ends up the way I expect, I am grateful for every new day. Sending my love out into the world to each of you until next we meet.
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