Another goal achieved
Yesterday marked another “first” since my TBI over two years ago. Non-brain injured people may think I should be “recovered” by now or questioning why I still think a milestone is important. A brain injury doesn’t go away; this is an injury I will keep with me the rest of my life and I have to learn to manage it while still enjoying life to the fullest doing the things I enjoy most.
Living with a brain injury also means choosing where and how I spend the limited energy I do have. Brain injuries are “invisible” so unless you’re close to a person, you just don’t know what that person experiences on a daily basis or if that survivor is lucky, occasionally.
This year I wasn’t able to get out skiing due to work commitments until January. I’ve also been battling plantar fasciitis since the summer. I am not in ski shape either as compared to other years as a result of not being able to exercise like I have done for years due to the intense pain in my left foot and leg. Just as I was healing from the plantar fasciitis, I was able to finally get out and ski. My ski legs were slow to come this season and yesterday I finally felt like they were back.
Talons Challenge: 26,226 vertical feet in a day
Next month I am attempting to complete the Talons Challenge at Beaver Creek Resort which entails skiing 14 black and double black diamond runs totaling over 26,000 vertical feet, 26,226 to be exact. Yesterday was the first day I skied a double black diamond since my injury. Beaver Creek is my favorite mountain and the season of my injury, I skied 13/15 days and had my sights set on participating in the Talons Challenge then in 2017. Obviously, with my accident occurring on January 5, 2017, my ski season came to an abrupt end while I focused on more important things like walking without falling, retraining my brain to perform more than one task at a time, finding the right words when I wanted to communicate with someone, learning how to take care of myself, drive, cook, and the list goes on and on.
So yeah, yesterday was a big deal. I skied my first double black diamond and I did it well. Achieving a goal feels great. Achieving a goal that at one point seemed unattainable is more rewarding than words can describe. Today, I’m headed back to continue to my training and explore the other runs included in the challenge.
This is one of the things I am doing to #ReclaimMyLife. What are you doing today to challenge yourself?
