What an emotional roller-coaster the last few weeks have
been. A massive high and a dreadful low.
The bad news first is that I am lining up for surgery again
tomorrow. A few weeks ago I noted a known nodule on the right side of my neck
had significantly increased in size to the point of being visually obvious.
Long story short, a biopsy of it revealed more papillary carcinoma (cancer). I
couldn’t believe that only 6 months on from my surgery in July and I was facing
another round. My surgeon said she’s only seen this happen once before. The most frustrating part of it all is the
fact that I feel fantastic. I have been training both hard and consistently and
have seen some huge improvements over the past couple of months. I have even
drafted a rough race schedule.
A notable mention here to Tanya King my dietician. I first
went to see Tanya after a couple of weeks of being really unwell. I think a combination of compromised immunity
and overdoing it was really taking its toll. She has given me some of the most invaluable
advice, guidance, support and helped me drop just over 8kg in the past 8weeks
whilst staying fit and healthy. I don’t know why I didn’t see her sooner!!!!
She was also the one who pushed me to have the nodule investigated- I owe you
Tan!
So enough bad news…… After knowing that I’d be facing
surgery I threw caution to the wind and entered Bribie Island triathlon at the
last minute. Why not? I was feeling the best I had in over two years, not to
mention the lightest in about 3! There was nothing stopping me from signing up.
I decided to aim high and race Opens in the long course; 1/30/8 even though
knowing I wasn’t anywhere near bike or run fit. My swimming had actually been
going ok!? My mum couldn’t help herself and came to be my caddy. It was so
great to have her there. She kept me relaxed and was so excited about me
competing. It’s been 3 years since I’ve raced at Bribie, but a few familiar
faces were still getting around. Bribie has always suited me with a current
assisted swim. There was about 7 women racing in the opens and I felt that a
top 3 would be a more than respectable effort given what I had been through and
was in the midst of. I had a fantastic swim coming out just behind Courtney
Dutton who is someone I usually don’t compare to in the water. Onto the bike
and I found my rhythm quickly taking the lead before the first round about. I
was rapidly putting time into the others and felt I had a lot more to give to
the race and myself. Bribie is a really technical bike course with multiple
round abouts and u-turns within the three loops. Coming out of a u-turn on the
second lap my chain came off…. I was seething as my gears had been slipping
each time I tried to get out of the saddle. I tried to keep calm and put the
chain back on (manually!!) as quickly as possible, regroup and restart. I
probably only lost about 20seconds but still maintained a minute lead. I came
off the bike over a minute in front of Courtney and was reunited with that
jelly legged feeling running into T2…. The 8km ahead looked like it may be
ugly! My mum was at the run exit all smiles and cheers. As I ran out my old
friend (and run coach) Brian ‘Chapo’ Chapman leant over the barrier and yelled
at me ‘she’s back!!!!’ ‘Not quite yet…. Still 8km to go!’ I said.
Vanessa and I at the start line
I couldn’t believe how quickly I felt my legs kick into hard
running- my Garmin was reading 3:45 pace…. I couldn’t remember the last time I
saw sub 4:15 pace! By the end of the first lap my lead was out to over 90
seconds. The second lap hurt a little more and I felt the uncomfortable pangs
of a stitch as I headed out on the final lap…. This is when I really started to
hurt. My stitch, my legs, my blisters on my feet and yet masochistically I was
loving every second of it. I knew I had it but I was still trying to push as
hard as I could to the line. It was such a personal achievement to cross that
line regardless of the time and place; another enormous win over cancer. To
make it even better, mum was there and over the moon for me. I was absolutely
spent & realised that this distance was probably my current limit in
fitness, strength and endurance but it didn’t matter. The wonderful thing is
that I realised how much I miss racing and how much I do love triathlon, the
people and what your mind can make your body go through even when it’s
screaming for you to give up.
It wasn’t a world championship, it wasn’t a 70.3 and it
wasn’t a race that bears a lot of accolade but for me to race and win three
days out for surgery to remove a malignant cancer is one of my greatest achievements
to date. In addition; the messages of support, congratulations and best wishes post-race
and in the lead up to tomorrow is the most important part of all. There are too
many names to name but everything else aside, this is what spurs me on to kick
this in the butt and come out the other side as a better person both
physically, mentally and emotionally.
My number 1 fan and best friend- Mum
So that’s the last two weeks in a nut shell. Tomorrow I will
face head on (hopefully) one of the final steps towards full recovery. I still
have my race schedule draft and a have entered a couple races already as I am
determined to recovery quickly and be back on a start line ASAP.
Rachie xo
