Just two months after her life-changing Bariatric surgery, Tracey-Lee Lusty decided to sign up for the Ironman. People doubted her, questioned her, and told her to reconsider. But despite it all, she crossed the finish line of her wildest dream, reminding us all that anything is possible when you choose your dreams over others’ opinions:
Cape Town, South Africa (06 May 2024) — Tracey-Lee Lusty looks back on her life fourteen months ago as a time where her wildest dreams started to become imaginable. She had made the decision to have Bariatric Surgery and went through with it as something she now describes as life-saving. Life-changing. The beginning of a new life where dreams could become reality, even the wildest ones like completing the Ironman.
Only two months after her surgery, Tracey-Lee made a commitment to finishing the Ironman in 2024.
“I knew it would be a challenge beyond anything I had ever faced. It would test my body, my mind & my spirit but I was ready,” the attorney and body positive media personality shares.
Knowing that some people would view her dream as unattainable, she indicates that it wasn’t a dream for the sceptical.
“How do you go from being clinically obese a year ago, to finishing an Ironman70.3? I don’t know, but I knew I was going to do it,” she recalls.
Training began in June 2023 where she reconnected with physical activities she had not done in years. With help from STeve Attwell, a certified triathlon and running coach, Tracey-Lee and her new mentor got to work to make what once screamed ‘impossible’ to her, a done and dusted accomplishment.
“I put in the work, spending countless hours learning how to run, ride & swim again. I often found myself at the back of the pack, but I never let that deter me,” she says.
Tracey-Lee recalls overcoming massive setbacks, including tearing her labrum which led to 10 weeks where she could not train, as well as catching COVID late last year. But, despite the time she lost and the advice she received from many people to reconsider the triathlon, Tracey-Lee made sure she showed up in Nelson Mandela Bay on 21 April.
Against brutal conditions in the race, Tracey-Lee ended up crushing the Ironman and crossed her finished line in a time of 8:02:47—a number she’ll never forget!
“Never in my wildest dreams would I have been able to accomplish this goal if I didn’t choose myself 14 months ago,” Tracey-Lee adds.
“Your dreams are not too big or impossible. My story is living proof that it doesn’t matter where you’ve come from, who you’ve been (I was as far from an athlete as you could get), or what you’ve endured, if you can dream it, you can achieve it. It takes self belief, unwavering determination, perseverance and consistent hard work every single day. But in the end you will cross the finish line,” she concludes.
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You can keep up with Tracey-Lee and her next adventures via her social media.
Sources: Tracey-Lee Lusty
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