A long time ago, in a galaxy far away, I was a Mary Kay consultant. I never had a pink Cadillac, but Mary Kay was good for my soul. Being a consultant taught me a lot of business and life lessons. One of my biggest take-aways was SHORT TERM SACRIFICE FOR LONG TERM GAIN.
Sacrificing one hour to call clients on a Saturday or a few hours to hold an appointment on a weeknight meant that I had reorder clients for many months to come. Sacrificing a week away in Dallas for a business conference, meant I had a year’s worth of education, affirmation and motivation to grow my business.
This mindset obviously set me up for IRONMAN training from the beginning. Flash forward from Mary Kay to MDOT and the lesson is obvious every Saturday morning. I get up at 4:00AM, pack my bike, pick-up my friend and drive 40 minutes to ride my bike 50/60/80 miles when I really could stay home and sit on the beach. The long term gain is that I can do an IRONMAN with confidence that I will finish the bike within the cut-off time and be fit to run.
This theme has been following me throughout my injury journey. Our upcoming book club selection is THE INFINITE GAME - which is more about a business philosophy - but applies to any life choice. Will this decision benefit the long run? Does it justify the ultimate cause? The timing of that book was perfect. I even found a quote in my calendar for May: WHAT YOU DO TODAY CAN IMPROVE ALL YOUR TOMORROWS.
I think I could have done an IRONMAN even with my ACL injury. In fact, I weighed the options of doing IM TULSA and even IM St. George and THEN doing surgery. But, the truth is, I could have caused more injury to my body training and racing on a torn ACL. My ultimate goal is not the one race this year - or even getting to KONA. My ultimate goal is to continue this sport (in all size races) for many years to come. Had I continued to train, I could have ruptured the ACL or mutilated my meniscus or damaged my hip or feet.
I need this surgery to extend my triathlon adventure. I am trusting the sacrifice the lack of training now for the ultimate race in the future. I have to trust the timing and the process and the outcome.
