Finding Spirit in Endurance: My Ironman 2025 Journey of Healing and Connection
Training for Ironman Wisconsin 2025 was a completely different experience than my first Ironman in 2021. A month after crossing the finish line, I’m still reflecting on how deeply this season tested me physically, emotionally, and spiritually.
When I began my fitness journey 11 years ago, I never imagined it would lead to endurance events. For me, it’s never been about racing. It’s always been about connection. Connection with self, nature, community, and spirit. Those connections have always carried me through the highs and lows of training.
When Training Becomes a Spiritual Journey
This past season was brutal. Let’s be honest, training for an Ironman is never easy. It challenges your limits and makes you question your life decisions. But for me, 2025 was a physical, emotional, and spiritual roller coaster. It was all the things!
Many workouts didn’t go as planned. At times, I wondered if the Universe was sending signs that I wasn’t meant to race. I continuously had to reframe my mind and pull-out tools from my spiritual ruck sack.
Focusing on Recovery with Reiki and Rest
Recovery has always been difficult for me. Usually, it’s active recovery, with lighter training days, and not true rest. But this season, recovery took on a new form. It became about stillness, family time, and deeper spiritual practices.
In the week leading up to the race, I was still recovering from illness, feeling emotional, and lacking my usual excitement. My father, who is battling pancreatic cancer and dementia, wouldn’t be there this time. In 2021, I recall coming out of the run chute to begin my run, and my mom pointed across the way to where my dad and his life partner were cheering for me. I remember him having tears in his eyes, and giving him the biggest hug, and at that moment I knew he knew exactly what I was trying to achieve. That moment remains one of the most meaningful of my life.
This year I ramped up my pre-race ritual to calm the inner noise and align my energy. The week going into the race, I had a Reiki session combined with massage and cupping. I also incorporated something new into my pre-race routine and had acupuncture treatment. Reiki has long helped me release stress, clear energetic blockages, and reconnect with inner peace. All of these modalities help with providing me a state of calm, and I wanted to enter race day grounded.
Listening for Signs from the Universe
Throughout the week, I prayed to God, the Universe, and my team of Light for guidance. I asked to be shown signs that I was meant to get to the start line. I’ve always believed in my core being that every experience, even the hard ones, are meant to provide growth and learning. But sometimes we all need a reminder that we’re on the right path.
The night before the race, I sat quietly by Lake Monona, offering lavender and sage in gratitude. I called on the elements and asked for the fire to burn away fears, air to carry away the ashes away, to be one with the water during the swim, and for the earth and lands to hold me steady through every mile. For all the elements and I to be in flow during the race (well, always really).
The signs came from the moment I arrived in Madison, in my dreams, and crossing the finish line.
When I arrived in Madison, I saw Mike Reilly, the beloved “Voice of Ironman.” I thought my eyes were playing tricks on me. After seeing him a few more times, I realized my eyes were not playing trickery on me and asked him if I could have a hug. He honored me with one of the best hugs ever. At that moment, he was my sign. Mike even joined my friends and I for dinner. Not only that, but he was there at the swim start and called me across the finish line just as in 2021. I was told that Mike surprisingly started calling people across the finish line, just a few athletes before me. That was a bonus for me being at the back of the pack! Talk about a sign!
Connection, Gratitude, and the Meaning of Endurance
This race was special in a way that I didn’t expect. I had my family and friends there supporting me, many of whom it was their first time participating in the endurance sport of spectating. All the support leading up to and during the race, meant the world to me and was/is better than any gift you can unwrap. Their presence meant everything.
Endurance sport is a transformative journey, providing connection, healing and meaning in ways we don’t often expect. While it wasn’t the race I’d hoped for, it was exactly the one I was meant to have, and I am filled with gratitude.