Endurance Journey
In my prep for an Athletics Class, I was putting together my story. That saying “we go through hard things to share our story.” It’s true, I did not grow up as an athlete or even enjoying athletics as a kid, and now here I am an endurance athlete. So join me and lets run together on my journey of why, when, and what I am doing now.
The Accident… 2006.
Doctors said I had an angel protecting me…that I should have been paralyzed. What did I do? I knew you would ask! I jumped off of an Olympic high dive (33 ft) and being scared to death in midair after jumping, I curled up in a ball and landed flat on my back. (Hitting water from that height and in that position, is basically like landing on concrete). I was knocked out and I sunk to the bottom of the pool. Right after that, I was rescued and put on a stretcher (oh, that’s fun and not embarrassing at all as dozens of stunned people watched). Let’s just say I was bruised from basically my neck down. Not able to move well at all, but because of a miracle, nothing was broken or out of place, just a lot of swelling and inflammation around my spine. This brings me to the next phase…
Physical Therapy. This brought me into relationships that could have only happened because of this accident, and for that I will be forever grateful to Michael Tillman and the therapy he put me through (torture) and friendships with his family I will forever have. I spent a year with this man and his team working on me, rehabbing my broken body to becoming stronger than ever. The pain is something I have no words for. And then he releases me to more torture…his brother, the Trainer side. Welcome to the side that created the endurance beast in me, the Beast himself, David Tillman.
I literally cried to Michael, and told him I was not ready, I was scared of what David was going to put me through. Little did I know that he would instill in me something that is now apart of who I am and my story. David took me and pushed me, he made me realize how strong I was and what my body was capable of doing. The crazy thing is, my back felt it’s strongest when I ran (still does). Strength training, small runs, a lot of stationary bike, turned into a 5K (my first on May 2007), and then he dropped the bomb on me to get ready for my first Sprint Triathlon. OK, let talk…I did not even know what that was, he told me it was in 5 weeks and I would be ready. (Did he not realize I had not been on a real bike since I was a child?). So, in June 2007 on a rented bike, I did the Danskin Sprint Triathlon, and it was one of the best things I ever did! And my story just spirals from there.
My 11 year journey continues like this…
It went from 5ks, to half marathons, full marathons, Crossfit, and every triathlon distance up to Half Ironman. The only thing that has taken me out for a small time (actually for 7 long months) was breaking my foot 4.5 years ago, and that’s when I found Young Living, and the story still continues…
Now I am stronger, fitter, and faster than I have ever been. I recover faster, I listen to my body, and I am healthy. Hello! I am thankful for this journey, but I am more thankful to be on this side of everything and with the added knowledge of wellness (and no more “goo’s”).
Check out my events tab for the link to my Online, Athletics Class tomorrow. Get exclusive insider info of what I use and why.
XOXO
The Savvy Makeup Artist