IT’S THE LITTLE THINGS THAT MAKE THE BIG THINGS HAPPEN

Meredith Kessler  > Blog >  IT’S THE LITTLE THINGS THAT MAKE THE BIG THINGS HAPPEN
Meredith Kessler September 18, 2010 0 Comments

 

 

 
Our time in Canada was beyond fantastic.  Pentiction is truly like a combo between Lake Tahoe and Napa Valley Wine Country thus bringing together two of our favorite (and most beautiful) places near San Francisco.  I felt like I was right at home ..and the cooler weather race week sure did help as well, which I loved!  Lucky girl.
 
 

The best way I can describe my elated feelings of gratitude, genuine emotion and overall thoughts of Ironman Canada are best expressed in the awards ceremony speech presented the day after the race.

I am more than humbled by the experience we had in Canada and the intimate, most precious moments I was fortunate to experience… are the ones I will hold on to forever.

Ironman Canada Speech:  August 30, 2010 by MBK

Wow, I am beyond delighted to be up here today in front of all of you.  Thank you to the city of Penticton and all of your generous volunteers for having all of us in your fantastic town.  What a gorgeous city and friendly community that you have here and in the heart of wine country no less…that is incentive enough to prance right on out here…my husband and I love our wine….so we can’t wait to get out there for some tastings.

It is amazing that everyone in this room KNOWS..FEELS…BREATHS..SEES… what an ironman is about whether you have done one before or have been a super fan or supporter at one.

You all know the mental and physical focus/passion/desire/get up and go/the gumption to excel…the TENACITY… it takes to be involved in one whether you complete it in 8 hours or 17 hours.   This event by far is the most prolific yet most mind boggling distances out there and every single person should be proud to call themselves an ironman athlete.  I continue to be inspired by all of you.

When I woke up this morning in my standard post ironman fetal position, I genuinely thought that this experience was too good to be true. The philosophy that I stem from in this sport comes from my coach, Matt Dixon, and his empire that he calls purplepatch.  A lot of you may have heard of this purplepatch frenzy but in case you are unfamiliar, purplepatch is a period of excellent performance when everything seems to go right, work properly and is in perfect balance.  As Matt would say, Purplepatch is not a color, it’s a feeling!

The key word for me here in his mantra is BALANCE.  When I decided last November to take the sport to the next level and try it out in the professional ranks, the one thing I told Matt was that I wanted to find a way to be the best pro I could be but that in doing so, I could and would NEVER be able to forget about the little, most important, LIFE things. I didn’t want to miss a beat on anything in my day job @ Royal Bank of Canada investment bank in SF where I manage the most amazing team of ladies who are VIP’s in my life.  Nor would I miss any “life” celebrations, social activities, weekend getaways with my friends and family as those are the people who make my dreams a reality.   It is so deeply important to me to be a reciprocal and responsive person and athlete every day and stay focused on every ‘little—life– thing’ as for me, it’s the little things that make the big things happen.

Matt listened and he did make it happen.  We do quality vs. quantity training.  Every workout or recovery time has a purpose and meaning.  The goal is always to stay vibrant physically and mentally and for me, the mental aspect of the sport 110% generates from those who support me.  That said, I’m elated with the amount of love and support I have and could not be more thankful for my family and friends.  An EXTRA special thank you to my husband, Aaron, for his endless love and irreplaceable support.  He really is the best of the best.

As for yesterday’s race, I was fortunate that while it had some inevitable lows for sure, the highs outweighed the lows. Whether the sun was peaking out, the wind was profusely blowing or it was monsooning, literally…it was a priceless moment at the finish line that I will never forget.

Congratulations to all the ladies up here on this stage.

I want to give a special shout out to Heather Wurtele, your 2010 Iman St. George champion.  As we all know, not only is Heather one of the best female pro’s in the sport but she is also a nice, genuine and friendly person.  It’s a real honor to even be in same category as her and win or lose, I will ALWAYS enjoy and look forward to being in the same races that she is in.  Congratulations on your success Heather.

I also want to take a moment to thank fellow purplepatch pro and dear friend Linsey Corbin for taking me under her wing and unselfishly helping me learn the ropes of the sport on the professional level.   She is a phenomenal athlete and person and I’m so lucky to get to share the camaraderie aspect of this sport with her daily.  I thought of her spirit, energy and confidence in me (thank you LNC!), many times yesterday for genuine, overall motivation.

Thank you to my sponsors, namely TriBike Transport (if you aren’t utilizing this service, get on this train, STAT), Xterra Wetsuits and Clif Bar for putting their faith in me in my rookie season before I even competed in my first race as a pro.

Special thanks to NA Sports for executing another successful race, cheers to the beautiful city of Penticton and all of the gracious volunteers  …I do NOT take for granted your generosity and ability to give back.

Lastly, To everyone who started or continued their ironman journey yesterday. I SHARE THIS VICTORY WITH ALL OF YOU AND I HOPE EACH OF YOU FOUND YOUR PURPLEPATCH!

Love,

MBK