I do the hard thing.

There is so much going on I'm not sure where to start!

I've been sore. Not just a little bit. I ACHED.  I touched my coach's wheel on Sunday and threw myself down the road. Riding a wheel is scary. Touching a wheel is bad. I know that for a fact now! It's mostly road rash, apart from a black pinky finger - which has now returned to its normal colour. I elevated and iced, then after teaching Monday morning I sat in the steam room for a bit before using some hot/cold therapy in the shower. My neck was out and my abs hurt pretty bad, too. Battered, bruised and SO EMOTIONAL. The whingy tearfulness and inability to concentrate with all the post-trauma toxins in my body was YUCKY. Luckily, the worst of it had passed by Tuesday and Wednesday I was feeling like a scraped up and scabby version of my old self again.

Last week was EPIC! While you were all enjoying your public holiday, I was at the first EVER Youth Speaker Inc, hosted by the INCREDIBLE Sam Cawthorn. I was surrounded by 9 other amazing thought leaders and youth speakers for 8 hours in a room that absolutely BUZZED with energy. It was INSANE and just tremendously valuable.

The rest of the week? It looked like this: Train clients, train me, teach spin, early starts, focus on eating right, try to get enough sleep, be organised, forget nothing, be on time, ADD MAXIMUM VALUE, ALWAYS.

Last Thursday was a stand-out. Just one of the most incredible days I've had in, well, AGES. I went out to cover a spin class at FF North Ryde and it was amazing. The connection I shared with every single person I came into contact with that morning was pure magic. Fantastic conversations with incredible people and an incredible workout to boot. What more could you want? It doesn't end there, though. After a quick chai tea pit stop, I was off to The Northcott Centre in Parramatta to meet with David Rothwell from the Amputee Association about our pet project, his idea, but I'm taking it, growing it and running with it just as far as these little legs will carry me. It might take 2 years, but it is coming: Accessible Wellness Centres Australia will be the first "gyms" designed specifically to service the mobility impaired, building functionality, body confidence and self esteem to improve their quality of life. The focus is on integration and inclusion: the end goal is to have confident, balanced people in active lifestyles and good mental AND physical health. Whilst in it's infancy, this is SO EXCITING for me and I am extremely passionate about seeing this through. Whatever it takes.

Saturday morning I had a great metabolic strength training session with Hilly before teaching spin over at Five Dock: the SSS and a great way to power into the weekend chores and endless to do lists! I then had the pleasure of having a follow up meeting with Sam over yummy chai tea in Balmain. We discussed some great topics and I'm looking forward to sharing some of that with you in my first video blog. There's a lot for me to do before I transition full time into my company and away from PT in Fitness First, and I'm feeling quite overwhelmed trying to juggle everything.

All I can do is breathe as I ride these tumultuous waves: I know it's OK to feel overwhelmed sometimes. I know it's OK to struggle. I choose to do the hard thing. It has the greatest rewards.

Rolling with the Punches

This week's theme appears to be: expect the unexpected.

After a rampant string of cancellations Monday, I received a call asking that I cover a 5:15pm spin class. It so turned out that I had the time available to do exactly that! It was SO MUCH FUN. So I ended my Monday floating above cloud 9 and looking forward to my Tuesday, which was to involve an outdoor session, some riding with Mick, yoga with my sis Bec and catchups with Missy before I retreated to do my admin in the evening time...

As I waited for Mick to arrive in Musgrave Ave Centennial Park, I called my mum to make plans for the weekend and discussed with her at length what a beautiful day it was, especially the incredible colour of the sky. Like the Cote D'Azur. Then it was riding time. I couldn't wait! I decided to try a few new things today. Firstly, the disconnect system for my prosthesis and secondly, some changes to the route. We turned off onto one of the intersecting paths in the park and everything seemed to be going well... Until I had a bit of steering fail and bumped Mick's rear wheel, which knocked me off and nearly took him out as well. All OK though. My head hurt a bit from where my helmet connected with the road and there was some skin off my right ankle, but 5 mins later and I was back in action.

What sweet action it was! I was chatting happily and had a sudden burst of energy, a moment where something clicked and everything felt right. I started pedaling fast, working on riding confidently at higher speeds. For a few minutes, it felt amazing. Then my left foot came away from the pedal. I'm still in sneakers, not cleats. Being a N00b, I panicked and squeezed the brake too hard. I flipped over the handle bars and took a massive tumble... and then the bike landed on me. I was winded. I could neither breathe nor move for what seemed like eternity. A crowd gathered. I came to my senses and realised I was in the middle of the road, so I tried to move, muttering about not wanting to hold up traffic. I was helped to the side of the road, jelly like. I tried to sit on the post/bench, but I was dizzy, floppy, faint and my ears were ringing. I slipped down into the soft, cool leaf litter and lay there for a while. Eventually I was well enough to laugh, then sit, and then to walk the bikes back to the car with Mick. The people who helped were lovely and caring, a little bewildered by my laughter. "How could I be unhappy on a gorgeous day like this?" I had a feed at the suv, cancelled all my plans and instead went to soak in the ocean with Katie. I'd never been to the Coogee pool before. Not the worst place to be on a day like this...

I've been checked over by the doctor and my list of injuries is minor. From the most spectacular crash yet I have the following ailments (preserved here for posterity):

• Left breast wounded by Prosthesis
• Pulled muscles in front of neck and left soleus
• 2 grazed and very swollen knees, the left with a big fat egg.
• A crushed, bruised and blood blistered pinky with a gash on the finger next to that (the quick has been torn out).

I'm now pretty tired and grumpy, feeling very unproductive and BLOBBY. I'm unhappy that tomorrow has to be an unplanned rest day, I need to get all the inflammation down in time to teach cycle on Thursday and Friday. I want these classes to be HARD! I also want my fingers to stop throbbing.

Anyway, it has been a big week. The new issue of Take 5 comes out tomorrow and my moment of cheesilicious fame comes to an end. I've now taught 2 spin classes (and need to make a new setlist EEK). I've secured sponsorship for physio and massage with Elevate Performance, had further talks about my role as Ambassador with TAD NSW - who will be giving me my very own run around bike in the next few weeks, so I can give Jayme's back. I also presented my talk, The Story of Debzillah the Rubber Bum, to a lovely group of employees from a Sydney based law firm. It was well received - and recorded, hurrah! The biggest win for me, though, was the two 10km bike rides I completed with Mick and Llinos - both without incident. Despite the stacks, I'm making great progress as a rider and I'm aiming to be able to ride to the amputee morning tea at POW Hospital on March 31st. I've got to get a handle on this road riding business.

I'm totally aware that my feelings of frustration and perceptions of stagnant energy are completely irrational. If they would kindly go away, I'd be most appreciative.