Rebuilding strength and confidence
After multiple appointments where 20–30 minutes was spent providing reassurance, Lachie and I picked up that Marie was a massive confidence player who was down on self-esteem and had little to no belief in her own abilities. The ankle and hip pain she was experiencing was severely impacting her identity as someone who walks daily, and it was clearly affecting her a lot.
It was a very tough journey for Lachie and I to help Marie out of pain. Due to various barriers and psychosocial factors, her progress was slow, meaning that every small win, such as walking an extra kilometre or lunging without pain, was celebrated.
We progressed into 1:1 sessions and then Friday night prevention classes, which began to instil a sense of internal strength for Marie. She chose the pain of discipline and adhered tightly to the walking and strength programs provided.
After a tough five-month journey, Marie was able to tick off her first DB goal: the Three Capes Track with her husband, Mark.
Marie struggled on the last day with some anterior knee pain but was otherwise stoked with how her body felt throughout the experience. More importantly, she had proved to herself that she was capable of far more than she had previously believed.
Building momentum From Three Capes to Milford
That sense of achievement and empowerment was so strong that Marie continued to look forward and onto bigger things. She had learnt that she was tougher than she thought and set the next goal of completing the Milford Track in New Zealand the following April.
She stuck to her prevention classes with myself and Erica and built up her walking fitness further over the next 12 months before conquering the next goal and adding another tick to the DB wall.
Marie would likely describe it as coercion, but after lots of encouragement from Erica and I, she decided to sign up for something that previously would not have felt possible: the 2023 Kokoda Trail.
This was a huge leap of faith for Marie, and the more research she did, the more petrified she became.
In the build-up, Marie left no stone unturned in her preparation. She attended prevention weekly, booked pain appointments proactively, joined every group walk and training session, and studied the demands of the experience rigorously.
Nonetheless, it seemed Marie had forgotten everything she had already accomplished. After an important conversation in prevention, her homework was to go and add things to her “cookie jar” as a reminder of how tough she was and how far she had come.
This prompted Marie to study mental toughness strategies and write notes in a journal that she would take with her to Kokoda.
Kokoda and what came next
Marie completed the eight-day Kokoda hike and reported to us that the experience was indescribable and massively exceeded her expectations. She crushed the walk and had no niggles thanks to her preparation. She bonded with her porter and Kaz Devin, and even put up with Lachie’s shit chat along the way.
The experience was amazing. However, upon returning to everyday life, Marie felt unsettled and increasingly dissatisfied with how superficial her workplace felt.
Marie recognised that her day-to-day life wasn’t aligned with the values she held closest to her: family, community and service. One week after returning, she quit her accounting role.
I remember the nervous excitement she had when telling me and the prevention class the news, and we were all so proud of her. She still had doubts about what was next, but knew it would align much better with her WHY.
Ultimately, Marie has had one of the most significant mindset shifts that I’ve seen in four years at PEAK. She has grown enormously, both physically and mentally, is a raving fan of PEAK, and aligns so strongly with the vision of Dreaming Big.
As a side note, she suggested a National Geographic hiking book as a present for my mum this year, which ended up inspiring our own upcoming trip to the Three Capes in Tassie this November.
Marie’s journey started with getting back to walking without pain. Somewhere along the way, it became a reminder of just how much can change when you start believing you’re capable of more.
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Hawthorne
- Phone: (07) 3399 3318
- Fax: (07) 3319 6577
Address
5/171 Riding Road,Hawthorne, QLD, 4171 Get Directions
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New Farm
- Phone: (07) 3399 4668
- Fax: (07) 3319 6577
Address
1/15 Lamington Street,New Farm, QLD, 4005 Get Directions
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6 days per week
- Monday: 7:00 am - 8:00 pm
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To make a booking outside of business hours, please use our form by clicking here.