Dawn called this morning to say she is dropping out of the race. She struggled with the idea much of yesterday, but today she woke after 16 hours of sleep and knew it was the right decision. There she is above in Chokoloskee waiting for Paul to pick her up.
It was far from an easy decision but after seven successful Everglades Challenges she said she knew where her breaking point was. "I worked so hard to get this far" she said. She was happy with her times, her energy and progress. But her abrasions from race made it impossible to paddle. Entering the wilderness waterway, in the thick of the everglades with no help for miles, with open wounds does not sound like a good idea. After a good night's sleep she woke in the right frame of mind and knew it was time to stop. I hope she will do a blog post about her experience and analyze what happened, why it happened.
The calls from yesterday afternoon and this morning were completely different. Yesterday she could hardly bring her self to say the words "dropping out," her voice choked up as she spoke. Today she was comfortable and confident with her decision. Not happy about it by any means, but she knew it was the right way to go.
After all, she said, look what's ahead of her - a couple days of rest and recuperation in Key Largo. And once that is done she has bike races, paddles, the NC Challenge and, no doubt, training for the 2012 Watertribe race.
steve
Good for you Dawn. I know that was a hard decision, but I am really glad you're looking after your health. I've always respected your judgement and this is just one more indication why so many others do as well.
ReplyDeleteDee
So sorry your "handle" became your Achilles heel. But this temporary setback will make you even stronger and wiser (hard to imagine, with what you've already accomplished!).
ReplyDeleteI hope you're sipping a margarita and relaxing with DWSB and SOS and the rest of the tribe.
Dave