September 18th, 2010. Saturday morning. I felt like I was on top of the world. I’d never been fitter; I was going back to Kona for the Ironman World Championship, for the third time. I had a score to settle; I’d dropped out of the race after swimming 2.4 miles, cycling 112, and running 10 (out of 26), dehydrated and angry.
At 9:47 AM, with my head down, charging along on my bike @ 25 mph, I slammed my jaw full force into the tailgate of an unseen pick-up truck on the Ft Lewis military reservation. I’ve documented in painstaking dfetail what happened to me, and how I tried to recover from that, earlier in these pages, and I’m not going to revisit all of that.
From the moment I hit the pavement, it never entered my mind that I would not get back up on my bike and start riding again, swimming and running, too, and continue my life as a long-distance triathlete. Again, the story of that journey, and the miraculous race I had 14 months later in Arizona, which got me another chance of returning to Kona, is also in this blog.
This morning, when I got up and looked at myself in the mirror, and later when I got back from swimming at the Snowmass Rec Center, and even later, when I was in the middle of doing a hard 40 minute time trial on West Sopris Creek Road, I tested myself with a thought:
“Do I feel like I am now fully and officially ‘back’? Do I feel that full bore fitness, stronger than I’d ever been, which I left by the side of the road with nine teeth and about 3 pints of blood?”
The answer surprised me. Even with the new distinctions I’ve got from my multiple trauma – 7 titanium screws in a rebuilt jaw, holding in place nine artifical teeth; persistent tinglies and numbness in my index fingers; deadened muscles in my left arm and hand, scratchy voice from a crushed larynx, a distorted pharynx which makes it a bit difficult to swallow stuff sometimes – I still feel fully fit and ready to go, something I haven’t felt since exactly 2 years ago. I’m a tough critic, but I’m satisfied with where I’ve gotten to, and I’m ready to fully commit to a graceful race on Hawaii, to celebrate my life and all those who helped me get to where I am today.
I’m finished healing.
YEA! Bravo! I’m ready to stand at the sidelines in Kona, too. And maybe even catch your bike after your ride!