"All the people of Jasper, they raised a ton of money for me in order to provide with something like a sit-ski, and I wouldn’t be out here riding at Marmot if it wasn’t for that generosity of the community and that love that they’ve showed me from day one. Getting to the summit of Marmot, it’s kind of is my way to give back. It’s like ‘Hey guys, I’ve worked hard, everybody supported me and here I am, standing on the summit of our mountain again’. I feel like every step I make has been literally hundreds, it not thousands of hours of physio and it’s going to mean something.
2 Comments
“More than anything. I love being surrounded by water. Fully immersed in that relentless, translucent, beautiful element. I feel at home. I’m alive there. It gives me a sense of freedom - the freedom of not feeling disabled or limited. I used to say that swimming was my escape, but that’s not accurate. Swimming forced me to deal with the things I wanted to escape. It helped me work through a lot of feelings and frustrations, because I had hours under water just to swim laps and think. I had the freedom to be alone with myself, completely unlimited by my circumstances or my body while doing what I loved. I think that’s why I took to swimming with such ease. All my life I have had to fight to catch up with people. But not in the water. That’s the one place where everyone else is trying to keep up with me!” "The darker days were far less frequent than before. I rediscovered myself. I was more confident, more in love with myself and others, more at peace. I made some changes in my workouts and my diet, and now, six years later, I realize that the only competition I needed to be up against was with myself. But my body is beautiful just as it is, even if I don't see a lot of women looking like me in the magazines or online. I am still a badass. "I get to hang out with friends, and be outside, and it smells great by the cows!" |
Archives
October 2021
Categories
All
|