MNTC Christmas

Last night we had our annual triathlon team Christmas party. Unfortunately it's been a really busy time of year and was a struggle to organize an event that worked for everybody. We ended up going with what worked for the majority and making it a fun time. The potluck turned out great, there was so much food! Probably the best part of that was Darian deciding that along with salads and casseroles every potluck needed breakfast, so he brought along a flower waffle maker. The gift exchange is always a good time. There was a bit of debate going into it on what the rules were for stealing but once we got going it went pretty smoothly. Lots of good gifts meant some pretty competitive stealing! Ended up going and running around on the street with one of the items, a light up ball. Good times playing jackpot in the cold and dark! Then we went inside and had some deserts and more team bonding, hanging out time. Altogether a good night, hopefully next time more people can make it.

On another note, I went swimming for this week! It was awesome to get back in the pool after 4 months! Still not fully there though, I haven't exactly been given the "good to go." I swam twice for about 20 to 30 minutes easy, just to see what happens. It went alright I guess. Shoulders were tired and sore after only that much, but nothing too painful. It will still be a bit of a ways to go.

Early Triathlete Memories

As I begin to look forward to next summer's race season, I also realize another Olympic year is coming. London 2012 will mark triathlon's fourth appearance in the Olympics, as well as Simon Whitfield's. It's crazy to think how far our sport has come in the last 12 years. Back in 2000, my parents went and watched the women's race on tv with other Triathlon Manitoba members. It was a disappointment, as none of our women did especially well. Then came the men's race. Not much was expected, as Canada only had one guy in it. Then bam, gold medal. History. Unfortunately for all those triathletes they had not picked the right race to watch as a group. But fortunately for an almost 6 year-old girl, she happened to be sitting with her parents on the basement couch watching this race. At least that's how I like to think the story goes. For some reason I don't remember physically sitting on that couch watching it, but my parents think I must have sat through it. I do however, remember acknowledging the basics of the situation. Olympics, Sydney, triathlon, gold, Canada, exciting. Good enough.

Let's backtrack one more year now. Pan Am Games in Winnipeg 1999. Again, my memory is somewhat failing me. The triathlon was held at Bird's Hill Park. I remember standing in the familiar parking lot, knowing a big race was happening. Obviously I had no clue who Simon Whitfield was at that point. Let's face it: no one really did. This was one of his first big accomplishments, and he was quite young then. So I don't remember anything about the people racing or anything. But I remember the parking lot and the bleachers set up there. For some reason I seem to have a memory of Opa standing there as a volunteer in his salmon Pan Am Games jacket. This was still the nineties, and apparently people considered salmon to be an attractive colour. I have been told that no, Opa didn't volunteer at this event, he did at a different race the year before (but come on, how would I remember 1998?) and he had no such attractive salmon jacket. Oh well, so much for that memory. I still want to check into this situation a bit more though. One positive though is that I have signed pictures from both Simon Whitfield and Sharon Donnelly from this event. They are on the wall next to the treadmill and have helped gotten me through many dull long runs when it was just too cold to run outside. I hate long runs in winter. (Sidenote: best piece of advice I ever got was written by Sharon Donnelly on this signed picture... "Follow your dreams and keep it fun." That I have been doing, thank you.)

Now time to share my first memory as a triathlete. People often ask, how long have you been doing triathlon? Forever. Oh ok, but when did you actually start? I hate this question. I do not remember life without triathlon, but people don't really understand that. So I say... Well, I've been training with MNTC for two years now, before that I trained with the Youth Team for two years, before that I trained with other small groups and before that I didn't train, I just did Kids of Steel races for fun. Oh yeah, and I did tykes and trikes before that. Which is literally what it sounds like. Back to my original answer: forever.

So first memory: I am at Bird's Hill Park. The race started with running through some ankle deep water at the beach. Then I rode my "bike" on a path. Now I am running across the parking lot from where the path ended to the other side, where I can see the finish line banner. It seems so far away. I am running as hard as I can and I am so tired. I see Desiree in front of me. I can't catch her, she will beat me. She always does. I finally cross the finish line. It's the same one Kids of Steel uses. We also get the same prizes, they even say Kids of Steel on them. I feel so proud. It's almost like I'm included with those big kids. I can't wait until I'm old enough to actually be in Kids of Steel. (Sidenote: 'back in the day' there was no 6-7 year-old category. I had to wait until I was "8-9" to do KOS which was actually age 7 for me because I had a late birthday, but still. Also they have since shortened the course, which is kind of disappointing. I survived. Kids can be tough. Oh well. It is sooo cute to watch now though. My children will definitely do this.)

English Project

Don't worry, I am not changing my whole blogging style... if I have a style that is. I am still a complete triathlete! This is just temporarily an easy place to access a video/poem thing I made for english class. It's based on the book "Three Cups of Tea." So if you're looking for a good triathlon-related read, come back soon!

Indoor 3000m

Well as much as I was looking forward to this race I was also looking forward to posting about it. Not even joking, I was hoping I could pull off something decent. I don't think anyone on the team was really expecting PB's, not at this time of year, but still I was thinking I was in good shape and could have a decent run. Well that didn't exactly happen. Two teammates backed out of the race as a result of being sick. I probably should have too becaues I was sick as well but I figured I might as well go for it anyways. Even though it's usually a good experience just to do a race, it really isn't so fun when you can't stop coughing and feel crappy. Anyways, I made up my mind I would suck it up and do it, and I actually had a good attitude about it right up until the race. That's a positive at least, good practice for when it counts. There were three of us in the race, myself, Emily, and a bison girl named Alex. I talked briefly with her before the race and realized I would be the faster one. I didn't really have anyone to worry about but myself, since Ashlyn wasn't there to share the pacing with. I started out with a 42s (?) lap. Not sure, it felt fine but was faster than I should be holding. I was aiming for 46s laps, which would be an 11:30 (my PB from track provincials in June). Slowed it down a bit after that. At the one km mark I was at a 3:55. This would be on pace for an 11:45. A bit disappointing but I was still hoping to go under 12min at this point. By two km I was completely off pace, and I just wanted it to be over. My throat was burning from being sick, the gross track air, and running. I was also coughing and trying to keep going at a respectable pace. Nope, couldn't do it. Finished around 12 and a half. Not even sure. Threw up a bit after and completely felt like crap. Didn't stop coughing basically until I got home and made some tea. Oh well, it was an experience. I was still the first out of three to finish. At least I got to know someone new from the Bisons and had someone to cool down with, which was kind of fun. And it was great to still have friends and others parents at the track to give support, as well as others checking up on me later to see how it went. Good job to the other girls, as well as the guys. Well there you go, here's hoping the next one is better!

Compression socks

If you've seen my facebook, I'm sorry, this may already be old news. However I would like to share how excited I was to get thie package in the mail from Compressport. Actually, isn't it always exciting to get mail? So I had decided that I wanted new compression socks for my birthday. Omi and Opa gave me the money for this, because I realize the average person likely doesn't know a lot about picking out the right compression socks online. I still love my Sugoi ones but I actually wear them quite a bit and I wanted something a bit more high-tech. Also I wanted ones that don't have feet. Then I can wear whatever socks with them, and when I wear sandals I won't look quite as stupid... Well depending if you're an athlete or not that may be debatable. It's ok. I rock the socks proudly.

If you are not a triathlete you may be asking, what exactly is the point of compression socks? Well first of all, they are insanely attractive. Just kidding. Mostly. They say: reduces muscle fatigue, helps recover, prevents muscle tears, reduces lactic acid and shocks, etc. Personally I don't generally wear them during workouts or races. I do find they actually help with recovery. I sometimes wear them under my uniform at work during those long shifts when I'm on my feet for 8 hours, so that my legs aren't completely trashed the next day when I have to do a track workout.  I also like to wear them while travelling. You see, while sitting in an airplane the blood pools to your feet and it may take a while to recover completely from this. Never noticed that? To be honest I haven't either. However, the idea is that wearing compression socks/calf guards prevents this and leaves your legs feeling fresh and ready to race once you arrive at the venue. Awesome. By the way I am not claiming in any way that this information is scientifically accurate, so don't quote me there, just my understanding. So there you have it. Maybe you understand a little better why I'm so excited to have gotten these. Plus I think they are just really cool. But that's just me.