One pot hole..one sweaty hand and so ended my season...

It's hard to believe that my season is over....I have put so much energy, commitment and hard work into this year and deciding to try qualify for Hawaii.


After Steelhead I had picked friend Pedro Gomes up and we returned back to NJ where I would spend the next few days deciding what my next step in racing would be.
With being so close to qualifying for Kona all season...although I was iin the Top 30...it seemed like all the girls were going to make the push and race another IM to secure or try get the last remaining spots.
I knew if I did not race I would either be the last girl to qualify or I would just miss it.
So Coach Jesse Kropelnicki and I agreed that I would race IM Canada.
So I went back into a 30 hour training week. This was going to be one quick build and taper.
It was great having Pedro here and I got through the week and was on my last big ride. I had done a 6 hour ride the day before and decided to head up the coast for a 4 hour steady ride.
I was definitely running on empty when we hit the Atlantic Highlands Hills. We had done the hills and were almost about to head home. I turned a corner headed down a steep hill and hit a pothole...my hand slipped off the bar as it was so humid and I had not worn gloves. I was going fast and fishtailing. I tried so hard to stay up but I hit hard and blacked out! From this point I don't remember anything until I was in the ambulance.
Apparently I fell and kept rolling down the hill and landed in a nice ditch of water. My beautiful Kestrel cracked in a few places showed just how hard my body hit the ground.

I knew my shoulder/collarbone was broken ...I was in severe pain which the guys at the trauma ward never really care about because they have seen so much worse. In seconds my clothes were cut off and the morphine was flowing and my reality was setting in. I don't remember them doing a cat scan or x rays but soon they reported that I had broken my clavicle. By that point Hank and the kids were there and the position I was in was feeling way to familiar....I had been in a similar crash two years ago.

I immediately called friend and orthopedic surgeon extraordinaire Dr Goldberger from Advanced Orthopedics in Freehold who kindly came over to see me... I am so thankful to him for immediately putting me at ease. He looked at my x-rays and gave me the options. Surgery for me was going to be the best option.

We planned on surgery Mon which meant a two day wait. This gave me time to realize how the rest of my body was doing. I was very thankful to have no other breaks....
I had X-Rays done on my knee/hip and hand....not sure if they did my ankle but the whole left side of my body was a big swollen mess of abrasions.


I got to go home for a night before heading to Centra State hospital for surgery. Surgery was a blur of anasthesia and then the next week has been a blur of discomfort and pain!
It is very hard to go from athlete with 20-30 hour training weeks to being totally immobile dealing with the reality that my season is officially over. There is a deep sadness that comes when you cannot do what you love to do, but you have to remain positive and see the light at the end of the tunnel!


I am so thankful to all those who reached out to help....To Dr Goldberger who went above and beyond in his surgery, nurse and friend Liz Donahue who answered my endless questions, all the beautiful flowers, the dinner friends brought over. My husband and kids who have been at my beck and call and who have seen me through some very frustrating painful moments.

So happy to be off the Percocet and on the upswing!!


Also thanks to my Trakkers teammates for all yout good wishes and cards, and to all of you the reached out to me. Us athletes all know how devastating crashes can be....