Making the best of it...

Once again it has been a little while since my last post (I know, this seems to be a fairly common statement for everyone). I have been dealing with some harsh realities that I am now starting to come to terms with, so I thought I would let you all in.

What has finally spured me in to writing is a post from Lauren; I have a huge amount of respect for her and her attitude, she seems to be going through a similar thought process to me right now.

As anyone who has spent any time with be know, I had a huge expectations for myself going in to this season. I had goals in my mind and not reaching them was not an option. I got out to a great start, my training was going really well, and I was posting some fantastic winter results.

Then disaster struck, pain in my shin that I had been downplaying turned out to be a stress fracture and my running was put on an instant hold. Still the ever positive and with lots of time remaining before my first race, I was disappointed but my images of a perfect season still played in my mind.

Around two months later I got the news, you can RUN! Yaaaaaa!

Welllll, that lasted all of a week, and two twenty minute run/walks later I was back in my physio's office in more pain than ever. Now my crystal ball was beginning to shatter. New Orleans was less than a month away (no chance there) and people seemed to get really quiet when I asked how much longer I would be out for. It became clear pretty quick that I was not going to be happy with any answer I got. Now I was sitting on the fine knife point of despair over a chasm depression. I got pretty down on training for a bit and didn't even want to think about, let alone deal with the situation.

Then strange things started to happen. I started to accept that I would have to do a lot of my races as relays, and I didn't freak out. Then one night Noa started talking about my best options for Ironman, namely doing the swim/bike and dropping out for the run. Again I didn't get overly upset, or hug my pillow that night.

Don't get my wrong, I am still shattered that my season is not shaping up the way I had hoped, and I am hoping for a miracle in the coming weeks but I am also coming to a new realization. It could be worse!

I have been able to train my swimming and biking harder than I have ever trained before in my life. I have gone from being the worst swimmer in the pool to being the slowest kid in the fast lane (I'm not getting lapped every 100 anymore :), and my biking has progressed light years in no time. Plus I have been able to adress major issues with my mobility that my Noa and Linda think caused a lot of my injuries.

To finnish. While I would love to say that I am fully fit and healthy with goals intact, I am happy to say that I am at least fit and have been able to adjust my goals to something I think I can be very happy with. I am planning on finding some fast runners who want to light the Westcoast Half-iron relay circuit on fire. I will re-asses closer to, but I am excited to see what I can do over the swim and the bike at IMC. I have finished my level two tri coaching, and I am looking for athletes to help reach their goals. Most importantly though, I am stoked to be working with a fantastic group of dedicated athletes, an amazing coach, supportive sponsors (see right, they are all amazing!) and I feel like I am in a strong place for the coming years.

So thanks Lauren, for spurring me to get out my thoughts, and for being such an amazing Canadian Athlete!

I can't wait to see everyone succeed this season! (Dearbear just crushed the WC swim standard!)

Now back to studying for finals....

Might need to add this to my to do list...

Just a short one...

So not much to report but I wanted to let everyone in on what has been going on.
I completed my level two tri coaching in Vancouver last weekend, overall it was a pretty good experience with a lot of opportunity for practical work with some athletes who were kind enough to come out. I was especially happy to be able to coach some swimming, as that is my weakest area, and I don't get very much opportunity to work with athletes in the pool.
In other news, I had a bit of a set back with my stress fracture. I got two runs in before I started to have soreness in my shin again. I am trying to be smart about this (rather than just push through as I usually do), so I have backed off again, back in the pool for water running!
I was pretty depressed about this set back for a couple of days, but I have calmed down and focused back on training. I need to keep my focus on this being a development season. I have a lot of years ahead of me in this sport, and healing properly for a career is more important than one race.
So the summary is, Swim good, Bike GOOD, run In progress...
good wishes for all!

Fun times x2...

Exciting times for me this last week!

Firstly Noa asked me to help out with a bike clinic she was running for Team West Coast. The goal of the clinic was to teach basic group riding skills and bike handling, not a small task to fit in to two and half hours on a Saturday morning!

Noa and I had a plan for what we wanted to do, but I didn't really have any idea what to expect. The clinic started with a quick 20min ride just to get an idea of where everyone was and what we needed to focus on. Right from the start I was actually pleasantly surprised, everyone was comfortable on their bikes and group cohesion was better than I thought it would be.
Getting right into it we had the group ride for about 40min practicing single file and double file riding, while I was hanging out at the back keeping an eye on everyone. Hanging on to the back of a group is actually pretty tough! Trying to stay close enough to stay in the draft, but far enough away that you don't impede the rider falling back is a delicate balance that was new to me.

The group cohesion fell apart a bit when we moved in to double file riding, so Noa and I took everyone to a parking lot to practice some close quarter bike skills. It always amazes me how fast simple drills can make people comfortable with a skill. Just having everyone ride in pairs touching shoulders, or with hand on shoulder, made them realize that they were much more capable than they had realized.

From there we moved into some basic obstacle courses and bike handling drills, before taking the group out to the Observatory to see how they did with a bit of a climb! Already everyone looked so much better riding in a group, the gaps closed right up and people were filling off the front like pros! Then, despite a bit of happy complaining, they rocked up the observatory like it was a mole hill!

Moving right on from the bike clinic on Saturday, to the TC clinic on Sunday! Because I haven't been able to run, I have been leading the TC 10k walk group at Cedar Hill Rec, and I am so excited to see how everyone is coming along! I have a whole range of ability levels, from people with time goals, to one older lady recovering from a series of medical problems. No matter the reason though, everyone has been working hard and are well on their way to meeting their goals! Of particular note, however, the woman who is recovering from a stroke has more than doubled her activity levels in 8 short weeks! and I have one woman who wants to walk to 10km in under an hour and a half and I think she needs to adjust her goal, faster!!

I always forget how much I love coaching and running clinics, it is fantastic working out in the community with athletes of all ability levels. Seeing people reach their goals is highly rewarding!

Finally a short note on my training. I am happy to report that I went for my first run yesterday after two months off with a stress fracture! I am taking it really easy and knocking of every piece of wood I can find, but hopefully I will be ready to go in New Orleans!

Paralympics are super cool!

This is one of the Videos from the Canadian Paralympic Committee's new (and first) add Campaign. It features Canada's Steph Dixon, 19 time Paralympic medalist and one of the most incredible people I know.
For those of you that don't know the Vancouver paralympics are starting in a couple of days and Canada is home to an unbelievable array of Athletes. I am so excited to see Vancouver again play host to the worlds most talented athletes and make no doubt about it these athletes are amazing!
So please remember to come out and support the paralympics! Write to your local TV stations and tell them you want to see more coverage!
For those of you in Victoria this Saturday the torch relay is coming through, so come out and join in the spirit!!!!
In case the video doesn't work here is a link to facebook http://www.facebook.com/video/video.php?v=848870200731



Pictures are even better when in video form!

Thanks Kamal for putting a sweet video together, He promises version 2.0 when he gets more pics!

Tucson The end...

Just a short on to sum up the camp in Tucson.

I had a fantastic time a my first triathlon training camp. I was a wonderful experience to be surrounded by amazing people totally focused on being the best we could be in every workout. Everyone pushed their limits and were surprised by the results.

On my end, having to focus on only swimming and biking lead to the biggest week of cycling I have ever had, ridding across Canada included. I was very happy with how i handled the training, especially with how I was able to push myself during the harder efforts and big climbs! At the same time though I realize how far I have to go, as my mobility and muscle imbalances, amplified by the huge training volume, led to me finishing the week with a very sore hip that caused me to miss the last workout of the camp.

With Noa's help I am looking at all my training very positively right now. I am not exactly where I would like to be, but I am learning a lot about myself and what I need to work on. Being new to the sport and relatively new to endurance sports in general, I am amazed at how far I have come already and can't wait to continue growing!

I'd like to leave you with a beautiful new addition to the "playing for change" sound track. This program continues to amaze me with the quality and power of music from around the world!