I’m a crybaby? It’s true. My daughter, since about the age of 10 or 11, would make fun of me when we watched movies together, which was a weekly occurrence. I think when I cried during the adventure film about a giant gorilla, Mighty Joe Young, it was the icing on the cake.
Personally, I’m moved by people who are putting it out there, giving it their all and fighting their own fights. And sometimes by 15-foot gorillas. Tears welled up in my eyes on more than one occasion this weekend. I had the privilege of being the support crew for one of the athletes I train. She was competing in Ironman Chattanooga.
What many people may not realize is that a really big race is often more than just going the distance. In this case, my client had been through the ringer in the past four years. A climbing injury resulted in a broken wrist, a horrific bike accident with a car meant a hospitalization and lots of trauma (physically and emotionally), while a breast cancer diagnosis, surgery and ongoing treatment were all punches she has endured. Any of these things could knock you to your knees, but in her case, it was the ongoing accumulation of punches to the gut that shook her to her core.
So completing an Ironman was more than getting across the finish line. It was the months and months of training where you push yourself past anything you previously thought was possible so that you could get stronger and reclaim the part of you that you feared had been lost forever. Vulnerability and self-doubt zaps your vibrancy and you no longer feel in control.
As I stood at the finish line at Chattanooga, I watched the athletes coming down the final chute. They had faced the most brutal of conditions. The unseasonal weather resulted in record-breaking heat as the sun baked down on the course. The 97 degrees left a path of carnage in its wake. I was told that of the 2200+ who started the race, only about 1600 made it to point where I was standing.
In other words, almost one in three athletes who had given all they had, sadly weren’t able to get to the finish line. I had learned that my client was suffering on the course. Unable to keep any nutrition down, the heat was having a disastrous impact on her.
As I stood by the finish line, I could see the emotion on each athlete’s face. It was real and it was raw. Each was a testament to the long day and the longer journey that brought them to that moment.
I was reminded of my client’s journey as I maintained my vigilant watch. This Ironman was so much more than just a race. It was a way for her to prove to herself, after all she’s been through that she was strong enough. After feeling so vulnerable and unsure for these past few years, it was her chance to put the past behind her and face the future with renewed confidence, hope and resolve.
We often don’t get a glimpse of someone’s struggles. But we all have them. And those struggles shape us, but they don’t have to define us.
As my client crossed the finish line, she was flashing a huge smile. The expression was perfect, but the back story and what had to be faced and conquered to get to that moment is even more powerful.
