HOW DO YOU STAND UP WHEN YOU HAVE LOST EVERYTHING?

It was March 2018, a day like any other, training in the paradise island of Cozumel, I had it all planned with an intense bike session that would be key in my preparation. But, in a matter of seconds, everything changed, crashing into that truck broke more than just my rectus anterior quadriceps, it broke me on the inside.

The surgery was emergency, and the doctors did not paint a very encouraging picture. For someone who lives on movement, who depends on every pedal stroke, every stroke, every stride, being unable to move for months was more than a physical test. How do you face the reality that you may never be able to race again, how do you overcome the fear that you may never be the same again?

Every day bedridden I felt like I was getting further away from my dream. But if I've learned anything throughout my career as a triathlete, it's that the mind has a power that we often underestimate. That injury, that accident, became a new starting line. Because, although I didn't know it at the time, my real career didn't start at the starting line of a competition, but in that hospital room.

Rehabilitation was hard, harder than I imagined, but beyond the physical pain, the most challenging thing was to regain confidence. Day after day, with small goals like moving my leg, taking a step, walking unaided. Each breakthrough was a reminder of how far I was still from my old fitness, but also how close I could be to reinventing myself.

Months later, when I was finally able to get back to serious training, something had changed in me. I was no longer the same athlete I had been before the accident, I was stronger, not because physically I had improved, but because my mind had learned what it means to really fight.

And then, after that internal battle, came the prize, winning two consecutive Spanish long distance championships. They were not just sporting victories, they were personal victories. Every kilometer run in those competitions carried with it the weight of every tear, of every day when I thought about giving up and didn't. Sometimes, the biggest obstacles are not the biggest ones.

Sometimes, the biggest obstacles are not those we encounter on the road or on the track, but those imposed on us by our own minds. My accident in Cozumel was not the end of my story, it was the beginning of a new one. A story of resilience, of reconstruction, of finding strength where you think there is nothing left.

If you too face a challenge, whether in sport or in life, remember, it's not just a matter of getting back on your feet, it's a matter of learning to get back up stronger. Because, in the end, scars are nothing more than medals that remind us of what we are made of.