2. How to break a bone

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The losing streak that Aleksandar the therapist identified had, construed a certain way, begun much earlier. When I was 24, out riding a bike by the beach in Santa Monica, I broke my left femur—the thigh bone, the strongest in the body, not one that 24-year-olds break. Six months later, always a determined exceptionalist, I broke the other one.

Until this streak began I had never broken anything, but the opportunity had been limited: These seaside bike rides were my first sustained voluntary athletic act. Sooner or later I was going to fall, and when I did a congenital weakness must reveal itself: My bones were frail almost to the point of osteoporosis. In the six years that followed, I would break at least six more.

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Here is a picture of me finishing the Malibu Triathlon last September, not 20 miles from the cradle of the losing streak. You can see that I’m flying, which in itself is evidence of an auspicious reversal. I would say that didn’t happen overnight, but actually … it kind of did.

Coming Tuesday: Getting up.

Kindly send me your thoughts, questions, and provocations: dmichaelowen@gmail.com.