My days have been different the past month. Not better, not worse, just different. I’m Kelly. Dom’s friend and training partner that she wrote about a few blogs before. I had major knee surgery about a month ago and my life as I know it has been different. I’ve had injuries, I have broken quite a few bones, and I have been put in “timeout.” But this time it’s been a more difficult adjustment. For as long as I can remember I have been active.  I grew up on a horse farm and I was the kid that would ride her horse BEFORE school. When no one else wanted to wake up, I was already up and riding for an hour before I had to be yanked off my horse and sent to school. I was the kid whose parents did everything to TRY to get me to chill out and watch Sesame Street. They never did succeed haha. Anyhow, since surgery I have been completely non-weight bearing. The pain really isn’t the issue, and neither is the fact that I can’t run (which is my passion and has been for the past 12 years). The issue is my loss of independence. The past 5 days I have been incredibly sick with a head and chest cold. Again…normally not a big deal but when you want to get yourself a cup of hot tea and sit on the couch and it becomes a 15 minute ordeal in which you spill hot tea on yourself, it gets a little frustrating. Today I had to ask my roommate to buy paper towel and toilet paper because I couldn’t carry it on crutches. It’s the little things that start to get to me that make this difficult and makes me miss my independence. But then I have to remember the long term goal. I have to remember how lucky I am to be in a position that I can get this surgery and take the proper time to heal. I am so humbled by my friends that have been here to help me through. And my parents too! My mom came out to stay with me for about 10 days and I couldn’t have done it without her. Maybe there are days that I have pushed a little too far and a little too hard, but that is who I am. I can’t change that and most days I don’t want to. But when I start to feel down because I’m stuck in bed sick AND I can’t walk and someone basically tells me to deal with it and quit complaining, well those are the times I wish I was a little more relaxed. In the end I know everything works out and that I will look back and reflect on what I learned during this downtime, but that doesn’t mean being in the “now” is easy. Seriously….when it’s beautiful outside and all your friends are out riding, running and swimming… who doesn’t feel a little ping of jealousy? I’m human!

Now for what I AM excited about! For one, I am super excited this blog is live and we get to share our stories (the good and the bad). I am also super excited to get our race calendar established for 2016! The big finale is IRONMAN FLORIDA in November 2016 but it’s all the races and days of training leading up to the race that I am most excited about. We still need to get Dom onboard for IM!  I am also excited to look back at this down time and really reflect on what I did learn about myself and about life. I truly believe we are a product of our experiences so we might as well make the best of the experience!

If you had any feedback or experiences to share of recovery or just getting through some of the bumps in the road that come with being a runner or a triathlete, please do share! Sharing is caring 🙂