In July of 2012, I was into my second year of competing in sprint triathlons and had completed the Gate River Run in March. During that time, I developed a shin splint in my left leg that would not heal, and eventually became a stress fracture. I completed a long stretch of physical therapy and thought I was good to go, but that wasn’t the case. Within two weeks of running again, the pain came back, and I was really disappointed.
As many of you can relate, so much of being an athlete, at any level, is mental. I became demoralized and felt as though all of my hard work over the previous two years had been in vain. I am sorry to say this now, but I quit. I gave up. I thought (at age 43) I was obviously too old or just not able to overcome. So, that was it! No biking, no swimming, no anything. Then, the weight began to pile on until I was over 30 pounds heavier. I carried that weight for nearly two years until, thanks to Susan Wallis with the Hammerhead Triathlon Club, I met Joy Murphy with EnJoy Fitness.
Joy showed me a way back and helped me understand that injury is not the end of the road, but a time to change the scenery a bit, regroup, focus on another aspect of training and work to manage the injury until you are healed and back to 100%. That in itself was a game changer for me. I have been injured twice since starting with Joy, but have continued to train with her by modifying my workouts (under her direction) and adding more stretching and foam rolling to help overcome my injuries and keep moving forward. Today, I’m training for my first half Ironman! Thank you, Joy Murphy.