Sitting down….. one of the worst things humans can do in terms of compromising their body placement, being forced into a position by aesthetically pleasing pieces of furniture that provide not enough/no postural support……but this afternoon it feels sooo good! With a few extra spin classes to cover, for the past week I have been mostly been parking myself on a small piece of padded leather and calling it my ‘office’. So, to relax (even if it is relaxing - ‘Sarah Style’) and not worry about having to try and 'remove' a saddle from my derriere at the end of writing this blog is quite a relief!
The end of the week normally sees me going into the weekend training sessions with some fatigue in my legs and ready to unwind. In other words, on a Saturday morning when all I want to do is drink coffee and chat with my husband, eat a relaxed breakfast and play ‘mega-blocks’ with Toby, I’m hitting the tarmac for a 4 hour ride at 6am. Sunday: repeat (but complete as a bike-run brick session). So this Sunday I was trundling on the bike (yes, ‘trundling’, a word I use when I’m just trying to keep my normal pace but rather unsuccessfully). I was cursing the wisp of wind that was in my face and two excuses for legs that felt like lead. Then, on the podcast I was listening to (IM Talk), came an interview with two people who completed Ironman Cairns in Australia. No biggie eh? People complete Ironman races all.the.time. It’s a bucket list tick for many. This story struck me though.
The lady being interviewed, Sharn McNeil, up until a few years ago was a happy, healthy Nurse who participated in triathlon quite successfully. Then, in 2013, at the age of 30 she was given the life-shattering news that she was suffering from Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS). ALS, (also known as Lou Gehrig’s disease or Charcot's disease, and motor neuron disease (MND)) attacks certain cells in the brain and spinal cord needed to keep our muscles moving. When the motor neurons die, the ability of the brain to initiate and control muscle movement is lost. With voluntary muscle action progressively affected, patients in the later stages of the disease may become totally paralyzed and ultimately suffer respiratory failure. The diagnosis bought Sharn’s life to a screeching halt, and became the beginning of an incredible and inspiring journey.
She, and a team of family & friends formed Shining4Sharn, a team who decided that the fast-acting disease would not deter her from achieving her Ironman dream. Luckily, many event organizers allow assisted athletes (another subject that I’m passionate about, after helping launch the Para-triathlete movement between the three UK Armed Forces Triathlon Associations) during their races; allowing people with all limitations to compete. Sharn’s friend and race partner, Craig, wore a harness that pulled her on a kayak on the 2.4 mile swim leg; her recumbent bicycle was attached to his bike during the 112 mile ride and he assisted her with a wheelchair, when needed, on the marathon. Not content with being a passenger, Sharn’s bike, with the help of Specialized & Shimano, was also modified to allow her to actually pedal throughout the race. The pair met every race cut-off and, after 16 gruelling hours, 24 minutes and 21 seconds, Sharn was able to see all of her supporters cheering as she was assisted in walking to the finish line to hear those 4 special words: YOU. ARE. AN. IRONMAN.
The tragedy of this disease is that there is no known cause or cure. Furthermore, the patterns of weakness and rate of progression vary from person to person, making any research effort extremely challenging. Sharn’s particular type of MND is the most aggressive form and life expectancy is 2-5 years. So, not content with just completing an Ironman, Sharn has continued to fight for more attention and funding for research into the disease and inspired others to do the same.
“I accept it because somehow I must be the best person to deal with it – or else it wouldn’t be my journey. Fighting it won’t help. That will only make me weaker – and waste my energy on futile effort. My daily symptoms tell me I’ve got what I’ve got, I know that. I need to embrace it and work with it.”
Now, as my family and ever-devoted husband will attest to, when sympathy was being handed out, I kind of missed that line. I’m hard and critical on myself and extend similar to those around me However, this podcast caught me off guard and for the rest of the ride made me consider things in life which I take for granted or curse myself for not being able to do. It wasn’t a ‘the world looks brighter now’ moment but just a realization that this body is moving me from A to B (and all the way to Z most of the time), day in-day out, without much complaint or grief. Those heavy legs, instead of being mocked for not being strong on this particular ride, should perhaps be given a bit of credit for a week of heavy training. It just made me think. A LOT.
Now, I’m sure that I will continue to have moments of self-criticism of my performance during training and racing but this story has served as a take away a lesson, inspiration if you will, that even when faced with threat and uncertainty, the human body can do amazing things. The story of this inspirational woman and the cruel debilitating disease she is dealing with each day, is just one example of someone pushing themselves to show that a disease, although limiting them physically, does not define them. We all battle our own demons, but direction in the form of sport or any other challenge can expose our real mettle beneath.
You are stronger than you think.
Happy Training friends.
TF
x
If you would like to learn more about Sharn and her battle, please visit:
No comments:
Post a Comment