RESILIENCE

RESILIENCE | def: « the capacity to recover quickly from difficulties; toughness. Resilience is generally thought of as a “positive adaptation” after a stressful or adverse situation. Resilience is the integrated adaptation of physical, mental and spiritual aspects in a set of “good or bad” circumstances, a coherent sense of self that is able to maintain normative developmental tasks that occur at various stages of life. »

📸 Magaluf Half Marathon 2021.

 

I first started running because I liked it. It was the only sport I found fulfilling, focusing, centering. And endurance was also the only discipline at school I was getting full grade for. You wouldn’t have wanted me in any team ( handball, volley ball) and thank you very much but I would have declined.

I kept running because it would keep me skinny. Very skinny. Unhealthily silly skinny. Which brought the first injuries.
Stopped for a while and came back to it, 2014, with a plan, a purpose.
Ran my first marathon and joined the Athletic Club. That’s when I discovered the high of speed. The fastest that could be given to me. To this body. Then came more injuries. A second marathon and a breached shin.
Had to stop again. Which took me down. I was down physically. Mentally. Emotionally. Burnt.

I went to the swimming pool. Learnt to swim ( crawl ), sold my Vespa, bought my first bicycle, and went back to running.
Running. As the third leg of what as become my lifestyle, my guideline, my way of being, my discipline. Triathlon.
It’s been hard since 2019. I have tried to sustain. But with not much of a plan, and lots of ups and downs.
And COVID 19 hit me.

God. All speed gone. Not a trace of it. Acid in the thighs. A huge stone on the chest. Frustration. Still. There was no much that could be done but run. Session after session, through two Olympic distance triathlons, step by step. It took 4 months of consistent training to get it back. The breathing, the feeling, the strides, some speed, and faith.

 

68 days later, I was standing on the beach by Burj Al Arab in Dubai, for my third Ironman 70.3.
My mind was ready.  My body had taken on the load of training, gratefully. Strongly

I crossed the finish line in 5 hours 25 minutes 26 seconds.

I am not alone in my training and life. Someone has my back: my Coach. Thank you Emie Seban for helping me to be the best version of me.