Monday, July 16, 2012

If Heaven Were a Place on Earth

It would have been on 44th Ave, just East of Golden, CO yesterday morning. More on that in a second.

It's remarkable to think about the sheer amount of love and support you have from friends and family. It's even more shocking when you realize you've (not purposely) taken that for granted. These things come to light when you hit a low point. And to save everyone from a long, drawn-out typical story about being an injured athlete, I'll keep it short and get to the real point.

As I've mentioned in posts below, I'm out for the season. I've never been injured, never had to miss a race because of injury, and have certainly never been laid up for an entire summer! This is new - and obviously devastating - to me. What I've come to realize is that it's devastating for everyone who cares for you, too. Mainly people are bummed because they don't like seeing you in pain, missing your favorite activity and seeing you not feel like yourself. However, after a while it becomes more of a pain for them when you mope around and constantly talk about how your world is ending in a slow and horrible death. (I'm, of course, talking bout me. Not you.)

I owe a lot of people, more than I can write in here, for keeping me going through the dark times. For starters, Rachel has gone above and beyond, and even beyond that to cheer me up and make me feel better. I cannot believe the patience this woman has. I'm not inherently a negative person by nature - nor do I believe I've been super negative, but there comes a time when you just can't conjure up the energy to be positive - and Rach has given me some slack.

My family and friends have lifted me up, carried me over some rough patches, and now it's time to start walking with them. The lesson here is that yes, we will no doubt fall, have a low point, hit rock bottom - whatever you want to call it - but no matter what, always show the people around you that you love them. I'm still trying to figure out how to do this for everyone who helped me, made me laugh, and told me their own stories about being injured.

With all that to say, let's get back to heaven on earth. I got the green light to start doing very small rides - and let me tell you, a 25min super easy ride with no left leg strength was one of the best things that I've done in the last two months! I've worked my way up to 1:20 with a ride out to Golden and back. On that stretch of road on 44th Ave just East of Golden, I remember thinking, I have a major headwind and it's about 95 degrees - and I can't imagine anything better at this moment.