THREE months ago Ange Ednie was lying in a Melbourne hospital and unable to walk after being hit by a kangaroo while riding her bike.
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Now in three months time, the Thurgoona gym instructor is aiming to pedal to the top of Mount Buffalo.
It is a remarkable ambition, but something Mrs Ednie is determined to achieve with a map of the peak and monthly aims stuck on the wall of the exercise room of her house.
“Having a goal gives you something to strive for, if I didn’t have something and I was just returning to some sort of fitness I would not be as driven,” she said.
Friend and fellow triathlete Lisa Sawyer said Mrs Ednie had already improved markedly since returning to the Border in December.
“It’s amazing, she had a walking stick when I saw her a month ago and now she’s walking around the oval,” Mrs Sawyer said.
“It means a lot to her to be active and healthy; she worked hard to get where she was and she’s doing it again.”
Mrs Ednie could not hold her mobile in hospital such was the extent of injuries that included a fractured eye socket and spinal swelling.
“It was a shock to see someone you’ve run with and someone so able-bodied and outgoing and determined and she couldn’t hold the phone,” Mrs Sawyer said.
That resolve has returned with Mrs Ednie’s focus on the ascent amid the High Country Women’s Cycling Festival.
“My doctor said it’s probably a little bit too early, he would have liked it around August, but I thought I’d give it a burl,” Mrs Ednie said.
To underline how far Mrs Ednie has to go, this weekend she will have her first bike ride since the crash.
She has been using a stationary bicycle in her exercise room to prepare.
A step needed to be placed alongside it to allow her to climb on.
Mrs Ednie plans to retrace old training routes to Lake Hume and Table Top as her muscles build.
As for running, on Thursday she had her first “shuffle” since the crash.
“When I was sitting in the hospital in an electric wheelchair all I wanted to do was walk,” Mrs Ednie said.
“But I’m not just happy walking and I’m not just happy shuffling, I’ve got to run.”