CONTROL WHAT YOU CAN CONTROL
Last September, while living in Mexico, I received the most devastating diagnosis in my life.
After finishing the IRONMAN 70.3 World Championship in Lahti, Finland, I was diagnosed with a rare degeneration of cartilage in my right heel articulation. I was told I would never race another IRONMAN.
I spiraled pretty hard into a mild depression. Yet, I refused to accept that my endurance racing years were behind me at only age 48.
For the next few months, I worked diligently with my orthopedic doctor and physical therapist in Hermosillo, Mexico to remove inflammation and a cyst in my right heel. In October of that same year, I toed the start line of my dream race - IRONMAN World Championship in Kona, Hawaii - knowing that I would not be able to run nor cross the finish line of the most iconic global race for triathletes. Not showing up was not an option. I qualified. I belonged there. I wanted to experience it so badly even if it meant my first DNF (did not finish).
Coming off the bike in Kona, it took immense courage and strength to do the right thing. I chose my long term health over a single finish line. After racing and finishing in 5 IRONMANs, 18 half IRONMANs, and 5 stand-alone marathons - this was my first DNF. It was the hardest and the smartest thing I have ever done in a race. I was meeting my body where it needed me the most.
I was listening.
In December, my husband, cats, and I returned home to Baltimore, Maryland, after living abroad in Mexico for 1 full year. I immediately made an appointment with Dr. John Campbell at Mercy’s orthopedic hospital in Baltimore. After living with such a heavy diagnosis for the past 4 months, I started crying when my doctor said “Esther, you don’t have a degeneration of cartilage and you can start running again”.
On April 12th, 2024, I ran my first 10k, 100% pain free. On April 17th I registered for IRONMAN Maryland with only one goal in mind: qualify for Kona a second time.
In May, after racing in El Cruce 10K open water marathon swim in Cancun Mexico, I began loading for my return to IRONMAN training with four months to go before race day. By mid-June, the pain returned to my right heel sending me back to my orthopedic doctor. I was diagnosed with plantar fasciitis (PF) on my right foot.
The cyst was fully healed but the soft tissue on my foot got aggravated from subconsciously changing my run gait to protect my heel. I took two weeks off to rest and began an aggressive treatment for PF with my physical therapist Mary at True Sports in Baltimore.
The treatment plan consisted of dry needling my heel and calf, blading, scraping, icing, stretching my foot, wearing special running inserts, using special PF running socks, strengthening my ankle, correcting my run gait, and wearing a boot when sleeping.
The next three months leading into IRONMAN Maryland were beyond rocky, uncertain, and filled with mixed emotions. I was able to run all of my long runs for my training load, but unfortunately, after each run, my PF would get pretty irritated. This meant I needed longer recoveries between runs and I was only able to run 2x per week which limited me on my weekly and monthly run volume.
This past Saturday, I toed the start line of IRONMAN Maryland, knowing I did not have the proper run fitness to race a full distance IRONMAN competitively. What if my PF flared up on race day? Was I asking too much from my body? Was my goal to qualify for Kona too bold, too big?
Leading into race day, I broke down my race goals into 3 categories:
Best Race Outcome: qualify for Kona and podium.
Better Race Outcome: finish top 10 in my age group (AG).
Good Race Outcome: finish.
On Saturday, September 21st, I finished my 7th IRONMAN. I did not qualify for Kona. I didn’t podium. I was 5th out of the swim, 7th off the bike, and I crossed the finish line 10th in my AG.
Disappointed? Of course. I was unable to fight and hunt down my opponents in the run and therefore did not achieve my main goal, to qualify for Kona!
Yet, I feel immense gratitude, joy, and pride for myself! I have come a long way in 1 year battling adversity between a misdiagnosis that impacted my mental health and living abroad in extreme heat (120F) while training, traveling, and dealing with an evolving run injury.
The fact that I believed in myself, never gave up on my dreams, and controlled what I could control during training and race day is honestly my biggest personal achievement of the year.
Exactly one year ago, they told me I would never race another IRONMAN. Here I am, living the IRONMAN motto that anything is possible! Racing this weekend meant more than qualifying for Kona. It meant that I am back mother fuckers!