I started this blog almost two weeks ago and it seems that life once again interrupted my writing. I really want to write about where I am now with the virus and all but I can’t because it won’t make any sense if you don’t know what has come before. So let’s go back to January…
I returned from Namibia with a sense that this year was going to be a big one. While on holiday God gave me a specific verse from the Bible. The verse that God gave me was Isaiah 43:19,
“Behold, I am doing a new thing; now it springs forth, do you not perceive it? I will make a way in the wilderness and rivers in the desert.”
This verse gave me a lot of hope that whatever I was going to face this year, God had it under control and He was going to make a way. Only a few weeks after we returned did I remember that it was raining when Anet and I drove back from Namibia and we literally saw streams and pools of water in the desert. I now believe this was a practical demonstration of the verse.
Returning home I had six days before my first race which was the Western Cape Championships. I felt ready for the race since I had trained all holiday. The morning of the race I woke up at about 2am feeling nauseous. I went back to bed and hoped it was a passing feeling. When I woke up early that morning I still had the feeling and I wasn’t sure what to do. I didn’t want to cancel my participation in the race just to feel better in an hour or two. I knew that I had felt like this before a few other races, especially when I was up and about early in the morning so I decided to stay the course. As I hadn’t actually been sick, I thought perhaps my stomach would settle once I had eaten something.
The feeling of sickness diminished as we arrived at the race venue and I thought I had made the correct decision. But I was wrong! Once out on the road the feeling returned and I was doubting myself with every pedal stroke. Once I had reached 7.5Km I had a feeling that I shouldn’t be on the bike but I had made it halfway and the determined streak in me wasn’t going to give up unless I had to. I finished the race eventually, but needless to say my finishing time wasn’t what I had hoped for and it was a disappointing start to my ‘big year’. It took a few days to recover from the stomach bug and once I had I could review the race from a clear perspective. Yes, as it turned out I was sick and should not have raced but at the time when I had to make a decision I just didn’t have enough information. A message from a friend from Australia highlighted perhaps the biggest lesson that I could take away from this situation.
“The good thing is that you didn’t give up! We can always go past that physical 100% but if you can’t get through it mentally then you are stuffed!. . . . . ’
That message from Carol really made me think of the race as a gain and not as a loss. I had made it through the toughest race since World Championships 2017. The race had shown me my mental strength and that was a very important aspect of cycling. Suddenly what may seem as a loss time wise became something I could put in the positive column and a weapon in my armour going forward.
With three weeks to go before SA Champs, one of my biggest races of the year, I got straight back into training and started my final preparations for that. One of my goals for the year became to start working with a biokineticist in Stellenbosch (after what Johan explained to Anet and I in Namibia) but the biggest obstacle there was the financing. So when a few days later I received a biggish donation, I contacted the woman and she said I could use part of the money to pay to see a biokineticist. I was so excited as I saw this as God providing yet another aspect of my training. I then had to choose between two biokinetic practices in town and I ended up going with a friend of mine. Only while I was at the initial consultation did I find out that Gabi’s specialization was scoliosis! My scoliosis is a source of my back pain, so to land at a biokineticist who not only knows me, my love for cycling, but also who could help me with my back was amazing. To cut down on costs we agreed that I would work with an intern, Harry , under Gabi’s supervision.
When I looked at everything that was lining up, my excitement for the year was growing…
Next blog : An email can change everything
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