End of xc/beginning of indoor training

So cross country season has unfortunately  come to the end. I really enjoyed it all, between the racing and outdoor training. It's been good. Considering how I didn't have a clue what my season would turn out like in the beginning, I'd say it went pretty well. My races were all decent and I had fun with an awesome group of runners. I ended up being one spot away from being part of the CIS team. This was bittersweet because although I hadn't gotten my hopes up of going, it was crazy to know I'd actually gotten so close. People have been really encouraging though and thanks to everyone that tells me they know I can make it next year! Just something to work towards. I still haven't heard how the team did there today but I hope it went well. Congrats to everyone on a solid season.

Now indoor track begins. I am somewhat caught between groups this year. I have been training with the cross country girls that all went to CIS but there are quite a few other girls on the team. I am also back to full triathlon training with MNTC starting next week. It's quite a different team this year and I'm feeling kind of old for once! I think I will be running track with the Bisons once a week still, which I am also excited about. It's nice to mix it up with different groups, both for a variety of training partners to push me and for the social element.

I was a bit nervous for my first practice back on the track after so long, especially because I wasn't sure where I should be within the groups of girls. But it was also really exciting to get some solid speed work in. I was able to hang onto some fast girls the whole time and even took my turns leading. It was pretty hard but I found it really fun at the same time. It does take some time getting used to the gross track air and how the pacing should feel but around this time of year I'm usually ready for all that.

So this week I finally gave in and admitted university can sometimes suck! I still like it overall and this year has been a lot of fun so far,  but the second round of midterms hit me pretty hard. I am so glad it's over for now and I can spend the weekend relaxing for a bit. It's perfect timing that we have no school on Monday! I can finally spend some time with friends and take a break form studying.

More xc season

*ok now it's been even longer since posting due to some computer problems, so i've just continued to add on more updates!

It's been a while since my last race posting, but apparently university exams keep you quite busy sometimes. Now that I've gotten through my first batch of midterms, I have about three weeks until round 2. But I figured I can spare a bit of time to catch up on my blogging. My second race with the Bisons was in Saskatoon. It was not as huge and intimidating as Griak, but still some strong competition. It was also a bit shorter; we ran 4.5 km with less hills. We were pretty lucky to hit some milder weather that allowed racing in shorts, once we drove away from Winnipeg's snow that weekend. Although the team raced better overall, I think my race was about the same. This time I placed 50th overall out of 72, which meant I placed 5th from the team. Taylor and I battled it out the whole time, but she was able to make that final pass on me. At least 3 of us from the team finished in a row after pushing each other and getting ahead of some other competitors, so the points for our team weren't affected. Congrats to all the U of M Bisons! Even though not everyone has the race they would like every time, I once again am glad to be part of an awesome group of athletes. Everyone goes through highs and lows, individually and as a team.

Overall I had a lot of fun of this trip. Although I got a bit of disapproval, another highlight of mine was catching up with some triathlon friends. Apparently university cross-country isn't as friendly among competing teams as I am used to. It probably seemed a bit strange to see a Bison athlete standing around talking to athletes from universities of Regina, Saskatchewan, Calgary, and Alberta. It kind of felt like all of our teams were looking at us at some point! Oh well, it was still great to see those friends, and I don't think anyone was really against it.

Team travel is also always a good time, between meals, hotels, and hours on the bus. At least I got a lot more studying done on this trip. It's awesome to have people from all of my courses also studying on the bus, as well as people that have been through it before that can help! And of course there were more gas station stops, movies, and story time. What a crazy team. I love it.

I declined going to the Grand Forks meet last weekend. I had too many other commitments going on, including a stats exam that was a bit of a hassle to reschedule, and other exams to study for. I try to do everything, but I guess sometimes it's better to say no to things. Good job to the team that did go though.

I finished up coaching the Jr high season on a high note, before spending a bit more time on a bus to go with the JV and Varsity teams to Spruce Woods for Provincials. It was strange to go as a coach instead of an athlete! The rain really didn't let up and it was quite a miserable day. Between warming up both girls teams, and dealing with huge amounts of soggy clothes, I really felt the pressure to be the coach to mentally get them through it. Just as the girls were pumped up from our pep talk and ready to go, the start was delayed a lot. I was also freezing and just wanted it to be over but I knew for the girls to remain positive I would have to keep them on track. Everyone from Westgate ended up having great attitudes and all of our teams left with a medal! I'm super proud of everyone and it was great to work with them this season!

This past weekend was the Provincial Championships at Kilcona that most of the Bisons raced. It was another cold and windy day out there on the hills. Personally, my race was about as good as I expected. I couldn't quite hang on to the faster girls but I worked hard to keep them in my sights, and there wasn't anyone too close behind me. I don't think it changed anything in terms of my placing on the team. Afterwards we watched the guys race, they had to run twice as far as the girls. I know it was a mixed day for various people on the team; some were still struggling with injuries or were disappointed with what they were able to put out that day, others were happy to finally have the race they have been working towards this season. But good job to everyone that put a solid effort out this weekend!

Griak xc meet

This weekend I was fortunate enough to travel with the Bisons to my first cross country meet. We left Friday morning and returned Saturday night to go to the Griak Invitational in Minneapolis. It was definitely a lot of hours on a bus but worth it! I was super excited to go and I'd heard quite a few stories about this race. It's huge! There were a few hundred people in each event and the entire course was lined with people cheering. The girls ran 6km and it was all marked out on a golf course with constant rolling hills. I was prepared for the worst, hearing that it was "uphill both ways," and although it was very challenging there was nothing too crazy. I was super pumped as I lined up with the girls, wearing my new Bison singlet. The start of the race was like no cross country event I've ever been in. It was so crowded and because of being unable to see where I was going as well as all the adrenaline, the first kilometer went by so fast. I lost sight of my team mates early on and it wasn't until a bit later I that I caught up to one of them, got passed by two that started out a bit more conservatively, and regained that invisible elastic band with another one. It was a great boost to try to hang on to some of these faster girls once I've got them in my sights. I probably started out a bit too fast because I felt myself fading pretty bad later in the race. The last two kilometers were probably the worst but I kept pushing through it and finished strong. I'm not sure what to think about how I raced or where I ended up because I don't have much to compare it to. At least I know that by the end I had left it all out there because I felt like I was going to fall over for about half an hour after the race! According to the results that I've now found I placed 282 out of 413 in the division with a time of 26:49. That put me 7th out of the girls on my team. Afterwards we watched the guys race and ran along the course to cheer them on, just like they did for us.

Whether or not everyone had the race they were hoping for, I have a huge amount of respect for every person on the team. Congrats to all! It's a great group and I feel lucky to travel with them. I love how accepting everyone is of us rookies even though there are a lot of us this year. I look forward to more opportunities to get to know these awesome athletes. It's great to hear some of the stories of the older people and get tips about the races. On Friday we leave for Saskatoon. Another long bus ride, but I'm sure we'll pass the time with weird movies, girls-only story writing, throwing a tennis ball around the bus, and more interesting adventures. I think by now I have met almost everyone on the team. As awkward as some people think it might be to ask people their name and start a conversation, it would only get worse in a few months from now when you realize you still don't know someone! Overall, this race was a good experience.

Anyways, the results can be found on the Bison site, the Minnesota site, or flotrack. For some reason none of these work on my computer right now so I'll try to post the link later.

XC, University, and Random Endeavors

I'm back! It has been a while since I've last blogged; I know I said I would keep at it but life has been quite busy lately! But busy in a good way. There have been many changes, and I'm loving every minute of it. There are so many awesome things going on right now, so I'll try to keep it fairly brief and give an update of what I've been up to.

Bison Cross Country

I have been running with the xc team and it has been great. I always love xc season and I was really excited to start running with this group. Practices have been going really well, I love killing myself out there with these fast girls. I have a lot of respect for everyone on the team and have been doing my best to make as many new friends as possible. Last week was the Bison Time Trial. This was a race with just the team to see where everyone is at and to help determine the travel team for the five away races of the season. It went quite well for me. The pace seemed to start really fast but I settled in and took about  1km of the 4km course to catch two of the other first year girls that had gotten ahead. I kept the next few people in my sights to stay motivated and although I was passed by one of the older girls near the end, I finished 7th. I was happy with this and don't think I could have done much better. My secret goal was to establish myself as the top rookie which I was excited to accomplish. There are seven other new girls that I mostly knew from high school running, so it's awesome to spend some more time with all of them. After the time trial the whole group also had an awesome potluck. I'm still not sure what will happen with the rest of my season but it's lots of fun so far!

University

In general, I am actually loving university. I hate to admit that I am actually really into school for once. My mom laughs at me when I get home and start reading textbooks all the time. It's kind of weird, but so far I like most of my classes. I don't mind that they are huge and even the one taught by video lecture isn't bad. I was told in a few weeks I would start hating it all but I'm doing pretty well at staying on top of things. We'll see if I still think that when I have 4 midterms the week of my 18th birthday. As enormous of a campus it is, I always feel like I am surrounded by friends. Somehow I have several friends in every class and I can't go anywhere without running into people I know. It's great, I've merged some random friendship circles, reconnected with old friends, and made a bunch of new ones. U of M has felt like home to me for the past few years, and I since starting classes I have never felt confused, alone, or out of place. As much as I loved Westgate, I think I was really ready for all these big changes.

Random Endeavors

So since quitting my job at Tim Hortons of over two years I have not regretted it. I think I would have been too busy and stressed. It's great to focus on other things. I have also involved myself in more volunteer activities. At orientation I took a leap I wouldn't normally consider and signed up for the Shinerama fundraiser for cystic fibrosis. It was an interesting experience of collecting donations downtown and meeting some older students.

 I am spending my non cross country practice days running with a different group. That is, I'm back at Westgate coaching mainly the grade 7 and 8 teams. It's similar to what I did last year but I'm going to more of their practices and meets. It's tons of fun. The little girls need that extra encouragement to keep running, and the little boys need to learn they don't need to win warm-up.  When I compare them to some of the university guys it's easy to see where their egos started to develop.

I have also recently become part of the Triathlon Manitoba board as an athlete rep. My dad has been on the board forever and this has been something I've been thinking about for quite a while now. I'm excited to be involved in this way. There's another volunteer project through school I'm considering, but I'll have to see how crazy life gets.

One last thing is that we have a German Exchange student living with us right now. It's lots of fun and Luisa is great to live with. She is quite easy going and seems comfortable after such a short amount of time. Before school started we spent some time showing her around Winnipeg and it was fun pretending to be a tourist in our own city. I am learning some random German words from her which can be pretty funny when my pronunciation is bad and I keep repeating the few words I do know. We took a picture on the first day of school like when we were little. It had always seemed so lame but I felt like I was missing out on something when the two girls took a picture, so I had to get in one too. Even though I didn't actually start school the same day. But I think it's pretty cute. I am already missing the warm weather!

I think that's it for now; if I do get to race any more meets I will be sure to post updates, as well as anything else exciting that happens!

Never Over

Well just because the summer race season is over doesn't mean I'm done blogging! It's never over, so keep checking back. It's great to finally be home for good. I had an amazing summer and would not trade a minute of it, but I'm ready for just a little bit of down time. The plan now is to get together with as many friends as possible and make up for all the time spent away by living like a normal person for a little while. The week after Kelowna is recovery time, before starting cross country season. I am very excited to begin training with that group. I hate to admit I'm excited to begin school again, but I am also really looking forward to university. With my triathlon season complete, I am excited for the new challenges that lay ahead. It will be a lot of changes, but hopefully good ones. I will be turning my focus to cross country training for a little while before going back to the indoor triathlon training. I am hoping it will be a lot of fun. I will have to take some time off from swimming to completely recover my shoulders, but I'm going to be doing everything possible to prepare for next summer! And of course I will be spending even more time than before at U of M, but it already feels like home. I plan to keep many friendships from Westgate, and I will even be taking classes with some people. Of course, I'm used to a small school and now there will be hundreds of other people. But that's all part of the adventure. I have also recently left my job after more than two years. I kept trying to decide if I had time to fit in working in my crazy schedule, but I think it's for the best that I just focus on school and training for now. Anyways, thanks to everyone that is with me on this crazy yet amazing adventure!

Junior Series Race #4 Kelowna

The triathlon race season is now over! This weekend we finished up the Junior Series for the summer in Kelowna. It was great to return to this race for the National Championships; it's always been one of my favourites. I'm not sure why since I've never actually had a great race here. My first year I felt really sick on the run and suffered through to the finish. Last year was when I left the course in an ambulance, covered in road rash after being run off the road by a stupid stray vehicle. I was ready for redemption in Kelowna. I love the lake we swim in, the technical multi-loop bike course and the spectator friendly run.

I felt positive and focused on race day. It felt weird having so much time in the morning to prepare, but everything was going smoothly. Even though I knew my ranking would slip significantly after this race because of the best three race's points counting towards the final ranking, I came into the start list in tenth. Making the cut-off to be announced by name at the start was a minor confidence booster, but I was willing to take anything to keep my attitude positive. I knew I would have to go all out on the swim and have the best of my season if I wanted to have a good race. While there were not as many girls entered, it was a very strong field and making a good bike pack was critical.

I had a solid start and focused on keeping my stroke rate quick and my breathing even. I started next to Nicole and wanted to stay on her feet but I was pushed out of the way and ended up surrounded by other people. There was chaos at each turn buoy, but I was aggressive and knew it meant I would at least exit the water in a group if I could stay there. With one buoy to go, I could tell the group was getting away on me. I thought, that's my pack and I'm going to stay with them. I knew that girls I wanted to be with on the bike were right there, like Nicole, Elyse, Jessie, and Elsabet. Between running as hard as I could and pulling off a super smooth transition I passed four girls and was starting the bike exactly where I wanted to be.

After having several frustrating bike packs this season due to my lack of swim speed, it was quite a change to be in a fast group. There were three girls that had broken away and were leading the race followed by the main pack, then my second chase pack of about nine. The pace was hard, but I was so happy to finally be back with these girls at this point in the race that I was so determined to not let them get away. Adeline is one of the strongest cyclists I know and as she kept trying to push the group's pace, girls would start falling off and the pack would be strung out and messy. I was often the one told to close the gap to keep the group together. This meant that as I was pulling off and hoping for a bit of a break at the back I would have to keep working really hard.

Four laps later we were done the bike portion and I was really excited to exit transition second in my pack. I tried to start up a solid pace for the run, but it was somehow not happening for me. Within a kilometer, almost all the girls I rode with had passed me. This was really frustrating after finally having the swim and bike I wanted. But as each one made their move on me I couldn't respond. My legs didn't have it, maybe because of working so hard already, and my whole head felt plugged. That didn't help my breathing settle and by a certain point I could tell I wasn't going to catch anyone ahead, and hopefully no one else would get me from behind. It turned into surviving the four laps and maintaining my position with no one in sight to motivate me. I was really glad to finally see the finish line. I was in 21st place, behind Ashlyn in 20th. Unfortunately, Maddy had asthma problems and didn't finish the race. I'm proud of both you girls in your first season though.

Congrats to all the other girls in my race. It has been tons of fun getting to race almost all of them every other weekend this summer. I have made some awesome friends! A highlight for MNTC was Tyler winning his race. Way to go on becoming National Champion Tyler! Also in the guys race were Riley U in 13th, Darian 28th, Riley M 30th, and Corey 39th. Congrats to all the guys as well. Also to Emily who raced U16 and Stevie who raced Elite.

We stuck around the next day to watch the Elite race, which is always fun. Lots of friends doing the same thing. Although it's hard to see the letters written on us in the picture, our team got together to show our support for Stevie. Thanks to Dina for this photo and for being the chaperone for the trip.

Full results can be found here for junior women and men:

http://www.raceheadquarters.com/results/2012/multi/KAT2012EliteJuniorF.html

http://www.raceheadquarters.com/results/2012/multi/KAT2012EliteJuniorM.html

Junior Series Race #3 Ottawa

Note: I wrote this on the plane and now realized how long it really is! But I'll post anyways and as always it's your choice to read the whole thing. Also if you'd like to see me keep it brief (crazy, I know!) I've also recently gotten Twitter, you can follow me @JanessaKlatt. Thanks!

I will start by saying that although I still don't see my season including any amazing races with breakthrough results,  I do think this race was one I could really be proud of. It was a little bit strange to be doing a race that was completely new for me. It was also really weird that none of the course was set up until race morning and even then I couldn't wrap my head around everything during my warm up. I had to trust that once we got going everything would be ok. The pre race meeting seemed to skip over a lot of details.  There was no discussion of the penalty box. They changed the swim start after the meeting. The locations of the mount, dismount, and lap turn around remained a surprise until I was actually in the race.  With everything so fuzzy, there was a lot of potential for distractions and frustration going into the race. But I realized how important it was to just stay calm and address one challenge at a time. When I got to the site half an hour earlier than they had said, I was surprised to see check in had already been open for a while. The normal procedures did not seem very thorough. I found my spot in transition marked with a tiny sticker on a kid-sized rack filled with bikes on both sides. There were also no equipment discard bins. It was an interesting set-up to say the least. While many people complained about things, I decided it was just better to laugh at the whole situation and move on. I may have had to use different techniques to un-rack and rack my bike, but it seemed much worse for really tall guys like Riley trying to make their bikes stay up on a rack so short!

I completed my warm up and focused on keeping loose and relaxed. Lately I have been inspired by a certain video that was popular on the internet. It featured a hurdler that danced during her warm up and someone cleverly put catchy music to it. I won't give away too much, go ahead and watch it for yourself. Anyways, I downloaded the song to play before my race. I really don't know how I looked during my warm up but I think I channeled this athlete's positive energy.

The swim start was not quite as chaotic as I can imagine it was for 70 guys since we only had about 40 Junior and Elite women combined in our race. But it was different from usual because we started treading water and holding onto a rope. Seeded positions meant nothing. I wasn't too excited about this because I have strong beach starts but my thoughts on the line were not negative, only kind of strange. I thought how the only benefit to this kind of start would be that you could literally pee on the start line. You can't say that too often. I didn't by the way. Only on my way to the line. I also thought how it was interesting to be right next to my team mate Sarah on a start line because she is usually in higher level races. I commented this to her as we treaded water.

For a while I was stuck in not a very ideal position. I could tell the faster part of the field was off to the right to be closer to the buoy, but I was uselessly swimming with two girls directly to my right, with none of us getting a draft advantage, and with no way to get where I wanted. I just kept going and at about 300m I was able to get on someone's feet and move over. I was glad to finally have a good draft in a race and I stayed there almost until the end when she got away. I could tell a bike pack would be forming with the girls ahead of me but I wasn't quite with them. I thought to myself, that's my pack and I need to catch them. The run to transition was almost half a kilometer which is much longer than usual and with a small hill. Everyone was dying after coming out of the swim but I pushed myself hard to catch up and get in that pack. My transition was not as good as usual. I actually dropped my helmet and then had to untwist the straps. But I passed two girls while running with my bike and was in a good position after the mount line. I biked hard and didn't worry about getting my feet in my shoes for a while. I was lucky enough to get on the wheel of one of the elite women and quite a few girls got on behind me. I could tell she was ready to work hard and I was excited. After she took a long turn she pulled off. Suddenly I heard wheels skidding behind me. I didn't turn around and tried to remain focused but our group was flustered to know that three riders at the back had gone down. I continued to show leadership within my pack and got the girls to pull off in a safer way to try to avoid any more mishaps. Unfortunately I was once again with some weaker and inexperienced riders and along with a couple other girls spent most of the time doing the hard work at the front. I also surged to the front during both laps in order to guarantee a safe turn around for myself. This was also an advantage when the pack accordions out around turns and the riders at the back have to do more work to catch up again. We were also caught off guard when the lap turn around was not near transition where we expected but I was glad to be second from the front and we avoided any more crashes during the bike. I took off my shoes and dismounted way too early but I was rather safe than sorry this time, especially when I couldn't see the dismount line.

My second transition also was not good. I couldn't see my spot and was at number 104 on the tiny stickers by the time I realized I needed to go back to 90. Once there I struggled to rack my bike by the front brakes in between two bikes already squished together. I took off on the run and went at a much faster pace than I knew I could hold with a girl from my pack named Taylor. My hope was that I could push myself hard and mentally break a few of my competitors by passing them early on and then hanging on for the rest of the run. I did pass a few including Nicole. But as I fell off the fast pace I could tell she was still there hanging on with an invisible bungee cord. I tried not to look back and refocused on running up to the next person, which was Hannah. She had been in the pack ahead of mine, which I really wish I could have been part of, and they had worked really well together.

I tried to keep my distance on Nicole and realized at the turn around how close I was to Ashlyn. This made me really excited because I had pretty much accepted the fact that she was faster in Junior races. In duathlons and training we have been very equal in the bike and run, but as soon as there's a swim I don't have a chance of keeping up at this point. But in triathlon anything can happen and while I was having a pretty good run to be getting myself up from a pack behind, she was obviously struggling that day. I kept gaining and with about a kilometer to go I made my move to pass. One reason I love having her as a training partner is she is one tough cookie and even though it hurt she hung on as much as she could. As I slowly broke away from her I heard Nicole coming up right behind me. Matched stride for stride, we kept increasing the pace. By this point I wanted to beat both her and Ashlyn so badly. I had worked so hard in the bike and run to get myself back where I wanted to be and I was pushing myself so hard to do it. After the first two races, Nicole and I had also been tied for points in the national ranking and this would break the tie. As I could see the finish line I kept asking myself how badly I wanted it. Although I was completely dying, the answer was clear to me. However, with the slight hill just meters from the finish she managed to find one final gear I didn't have left. She got a few strides on me as I just about fell over from exhaustion. My legs and my lungs hurt so much. I waited until crossing the line to collapse in the ground. Then I waiting to stand and get my head close to a garbage bag to throw up whatever had been in my empty stomach. Ashlyn came in shortly after. Although I was disappointed I hadn't won the sprint finish, I realized I had done everything I possibly could in the race and had to be proud of it. I ended up in 17th place.

Here is the link to the women's results: http://www.sportstats.ca/displayResults.xhtml?racecode=102748

Unfortunately the swim and run times mean nothing because they include the really long transitions but I think my run was solid. And you really can't compare times in different courses and conditions in triathlon races. Also, the elite women we raced with are separated on a different sheet of results. As for the girls that crashed, two got back up and finished, while one was covered in bandages but apparently nothing really serious. I got a chance to chat with some really great people after the race. Some old friends, some new ones. It's something I love about going to races like these. I  can't believe how quickly the season is going by, but I am ready to rock it in Kelowna in two weeks!

Also, after the race we actually got to have some fun. Our team had a great time with a BBQ and Olympic triathlon viewing party at Corey's aunt's place. Although it was too bad nothing had been organized with friends from other provinces, we made the most of our evening and headed out to downtown Ottawa. We had a nice dinner and watched some street performers before relaxing on the grass in front of Parliament to watch a light show. What a tiring day! It will be great to recharge with a  couple days at the cottage before turning the focus to getting ready for my last race.

Junior Series Race #2: Magog

Race #2 of the Junior Series was held in Magog, Quebec. It was nice to return to this beautiful town after two years, although they have significantly changed the course. I like it much better now; it is well marked and spectator friendly with loops on the bike and run. This is exciting, because it was also the test event for the Canada Games 2013. With one of the biggest start lists I've seen in a race of this level in Canada, there were over a hundred junior athletes sitting in the pre-race meeting. It was actually a weird feeling not knowing literally half of the people in that room. Many Quebec and Ontario athletes we don't usually see as well as some from the Maritimes showed up.

It was nice to just ride down the path to the race course in the morning. Check-in and warm-up procedures went smoothly and I was feeling ready to race. The only problem we saw lining up with 32 girls at the start was that we actually couldn't see. The fog was so thick that we had to just swim towards where we thought the buoys would be. Oh well. The run into the water was a bit strange. There were a lot of rocks to step on, then the water stayed shallow for quite a while. Everyone ran in and dolphin dived for much longer than usual. I had a really great start because I think I waited a bit longer to start swimming. We had practiced a lot. I found myself right by Gabi, with most of the field still behind us. This is the strategy that usually works for me; getting to the front and having lots of feet to choose from to draft off of. Unfortunately, in the chaos of this race as everyone had to swim over me, I got caught up in it and by the time I choked on enough water to have to really stick my head up, I noticed we were going way off course. The boats were directing us towards the left to get around the first right-turn buoy. Once around that one the next few buoys were close enough together to see one at a time through the fog. I got out of the water and climbed up the stairs towards transition closely behind a group of girls.

 Another solid transition and I was off. It seemed like I had gotten out ahead of most in that group but it wasn't worth waiting up for a pack. I focused on the girl ahead of me and chased her down. She wasn't strong enough to work with though. I put my shoes on and tried to get to the pack ahead. That didn't really work because I was on my own and they already had a lead. Adeline and another girl caught up to me but she is so strong on the bike I couldn't stay on her wheel very long and I heard later she rode herself way up there. As I finished the first lap I realized someone else was just ahead alone as well, and it was Hannah. I rode hard to catch up to her and we worked well together for a while. Finally a group of about six caught us and we got into that pack. Unfortunately this pack wasn't very fast once they reached us and not many seemed willing to do any work. I did most the work at the front, with the help of a couple others but it was frustrating. I made sure to be at the front for every turn to avoid any risk of crashes. A section of the course was quite technical and I didn't want to be caught behind less experienced riders. I also tried to break away a few times, trying to get one or two of the girls to come with me fast out of the corners. It was weird, I'm not usually the one attacking. Somehow I got so caught up in the technical aspects of the race and trying to push the pace and take it strong out of the turn-around right before the start of the lap that I lost the ability to count to three.

This was where the race got embarrassing. I don't know why I had it in my head we had another lap, but I was ready to go for it. However I wasn't ready to get my feet out of my shoes and dismount. I realized right away what a stupid mistake I made but it was too late. I had to quickly unclip and run my bike in still wearing my cycling shoes. I also had to waste a few seconds taking them off in transition, which was frustrating because I knew I would also have to serve a 10 second penalty for my dismount line violation. Some  girls I rode with were getting away on me. I was really thrown off mentally and didn't feel like it was time to run yet. I tried to re-focus and do what I could. I chased down two including Nicole. Although they both were able to hang onto me I was feeling good and felt like I could have out-ran them. But they were still with me as I turned into the tent to serve my penalty. It took a few extra seconds because the guy was a bit confused and by the time I could leave, their lead on me looked huge and it was very hard to close the gap a second time. A third girl had also passed by the tent as I was standing there. I lost a lot of my momentum and it was frustrating to see them so far ahead. I wasn't able to do it and finished in 22nd place. I was told later it probably would have been better to serve it at the end of the second lap instead of the first. Gabi had made that mistake once before. I really hope I don't have a penalty to deal with again. I can't believe I got a penalty that stupid in the first place. At least I will never make that mistake again!

Overall I felt good about my effort in the bike and run. My swim was kind of to be expected by this point, but I think this season will be about doing the best I can with what I have. I would love to have a race where I could proudly write a race report saying everything went great. But I have to be realistic about where my swim is at. Although I'm staying positive about it all, that breakthrough I've been waiting for may have to wait until next season. It happens to  every athlete at some point. I just have to be patient and keep working hard until I get where I'd like to be. I had a great time meeting lots of new friends at this race and I'm excited for the next one in Ottawa in two weeks!

Results:

Women: http://www.sportstats.ca/displayResults.xhtml?racecode=102659

Men: http://www.sportstats.ca/displayResults.xhtml?racecode=102660

PATCO

I guess there's always good races and bad races. Sometimes even entire good race seasons and bad ones. Every athletes struggles with injuries at some point, so I guess it was my turn to not have a very good race. It's too bad; I had been looking forward to this race all year. It had been a huge goal of mine to not only qualify for my second PATCO, but to improve on last year. I had a disappointing race, but I guess the whole experience was still good.

I was feeling more confident after the first Junior Series race in Pike Lake two weeks ago, and I was being really careful about my shoulders and the swimming I was doing leading up to the race. I showed up at the venue feeling ready for a good race. My warm up and checking in went smoother than last year and I wasn't going to let anything shake me. Lining up and getting your name and country announced as you head to the start line is always cool. I was feeling really excited to race. I had been randomly seeded dead last but I had practiced starting from everywhere so I could be ready for whatever position I ended up with.  There was one spot left in the middle which I found, and then we were off. It was actually a really sudden start, no one was really expecting it. I felt I still had a pretty decent start though. It was rough but that's to be expected. By the first buoy I had a bit more space, which wasn't really a relief because I wanted to get onto the bike in a pack. I kept seeing less people around me and by the last buoy I snuck a peak behind me and saw calm water. I really started to worry that I was the last place swimmer. I pushed myself even more to try to catch onto some other people and my shoulders hurt but I really just didn't have to speed to get anywhere. With the run into transition I refocused on  getting through as fast as possible and onto the bike. I could see a couple girls in front of me. I was hoping I was wrong on how slow my swim was but it was an awful moment getting into an almost empty transition. Apparently there were only three people still behind me.

I did a lot of work on the bike. By the first time we went up Emily Murphy hill I had made my own pack of 4 from behind. I was with fellow Canadian Nicole, as well as two South American girls. We worked alright together considering the language barrier. Before the first lap was over, I noticed Nicole was no longer with us. The second time we went up the hill the others attacked. Usually I am pretty strong on hills but somehow I couldn't stay with them. Actually the stronger of the two dropped the other girl as well. I'm pretty sure the three of us each rode the last eight or so kilometers solo. It sucked. It was so hard to stay motivated and continue pushing the pace on my own.  I just wanted the bike to be over, and was hoping I could at least pick off a few more girls in the run. Finally I got into transition, passing another random girl that had been alone on the bike. Actually, looking at the results later I tied for the fastest transition time. Small victories. I felt pretty good on the run. I chased down one of the girls that had dropped me and kept focused on catching the next runner. Considering how alone I was and how much work I'd already had to do, I guess the run was pretty good for me. Nothing went really wrong at least. My time was slow, but comparatively everyone's was; it was a long and hilly course. I finished in 44th place.

I really wish I had been able to swim faster and get out with a pack. I did better at last year's PATCO. But again, I guess it happens. I really have not done enough swimming and it showed. It was pretty discouraging, but at least the whole experience of going to this race was great. Everything was so exciting, and the people I hung out with before and after were awesome. Thanks to everyone cheering for me out on the course, even though you knew I was doing badly. The encouragement was still appreciated. I am really grateful at least that I wasn't involved in any crashes this time. Hoping for quick recoveries to those that were. Also, congrats to everyone that raced!

Photo Credit: Mackenzie Kary

Also, complete results can be found here:

http://www.triathlon.org/results/results/2012_edmonton_patco_junior_pan_american_championships/7590/

Because I Can

This has been one of my favourite sayings for several years now. I'm not sure if I came across it or if I actually came up with it, but it's become mine. Because I can. Today I went for a run as part of my race prep for PATCO. I'm here in Edmonton for the race, the Junior Pan American Championships. I was by myself and running on a sidewalk when this old man with a cane caught my eye. He was standing in a doorway and I gave him a polite smile as I passed. I was surprised when he said, "I wish I could do that" with a bit of a laugh. I guess it just reminded me of how lucky I am. I love triathlon and I really do everything because I can. Some people would do anything for the opportunities I have. While many people still think athletes like me are crazy, some really are not able to do this kind of stuff, whether it's because physically their bodies won't let them or financially they can't afford goals like mine. Even if I'm the not the best out there and I struggle with injuries, I do have the ability to swim, bike, and run. I have a gift that allows me to compete at this level. I love racing for many reasons and it isn't just the desire to be the best that keeps me training every day. It is really amazing to go to races like this one. It's the second year I've qualified to represent Canada at PATCO and I'm loving every minute of it. The race is on Sunday, but we've been in Edmonton since Wednesday preparing for it. I've had the chance to hang out with some pretty cool people from all over the place. I am really looking forward to seeing everyone at the pre-race meeting and dinner tonight. It's pretty cool to make friends from all over Canada and the United States that I get to see again from one year to the next. There are also going to be a lot of Mexicans and South Americans in this race, which is cool. Even with language barriers I find it interesting to see triathletes from other countries. Anyways, I'm grateful as always for the support from family and friends, you can expect a race report early next week!

Junior Series #1- Pike Lake

First real race report of the year! This weekend I started off the National Junior Series in Pike Lake, Saskatchewan. Returning after two years, I started in a much better seeded position that last time. I was ranked fifth at the start, which was a nice confidence booster, although I knew that would be a very difficult position to maintain. Honestly, I was very worried about the swim. I was trying to not even let myself think about coming out of the water too far back to even bike with anyone or be a competitor on the run. I haven't swam 750m hard in almost a year! I was really hoping for a wetsuit swim at least, to even myself out with the better swimmers. But the water heated up a lot in the past week and it was no wetsuits race for us Juniors.

However, I was able to focus before the race and get myself into a positive attitude.  I think my warm up went great. I lined up and waited to be announced with just the right amount of nervous energy and excitement. I think I chose a great spot on the start line, and once the gun went off  I just went for it. I couldn't really tell what was happening in the chaos but apparently it looked like I had a great start. By the time we got around the second buoy though, I was left with no feet to swim on. It was kind of discouraging and I couldn't help wondering if I was last or almost at the back. But later I snuck a peak behind me and was surprised to see I was leading a line of swimmers. The people ahead of me were too far ahead to catch, but as some of the group started to swim beside me I was able to tell I was among girls I raced close to last year. This was very motivational and I went hard for the last stretch with hopes of having a solid pack with me on the bike.

My transition happened in slow motion and I remember thinking quite a few things as I "stood there" putting on my helmet and grabbing my bike. But I was told that to the spectator it looked as quick and fluid as usual. Lately I often find myself having good transitions and even passing people, while my brain turns to auto-pilot and everything feels slow and controlled. I don't actually remember putting my goggles and cap into the box, but I did. I do remember thinking: 'I feel like I'm going to throw up,' 'my shoulders feel really heavy and painful,' and 'wow that was actually a decent swim, I need to stay with this pack!' Once riding I somehow got my shoes on before the hill while it seemed that the other girls were slowing to do the same. I actually didn't really notice the hill. Weird, it seems so steep two years ago! But at the top I found myself forming a small group with Jessie and Elsabet, who didn't manage to get their shoes on for several kilometers. I've often raced with them and we seemed to work well together. Two more girls caught up to us and our pack of five also worked well, catching Megan who was on her own. The group of six girls was probably the biggest out there today in the Junior women's race. At the turn around we got a peek at where our competition was. There were two smaller groups of about three ahead of us and I think we were starting to gain on the second group. I felt comfortable with the pace, able to take my pulls and felt smooth. However, with about 5km to go the two stronger girls attacked. The timing sucked for me and Elsabet. I had been at the front for too long because the one girl pulled to the side but kept a fast pace, not letting me pull off. They went for it when I was tired. Elsabet had just gotten to the back and it's hard to respond when you are expecting to settle into someone's wheel after your turn. It was a bit of a mess, as Jessie and Megan managed to get back onto the girls attacking, but the two of us couldn't. We worked together for the remainder of the bike, and actually kept the gap about the same once the other four settled into a pace again.

I was mentally ready for the dismount and transition, but was thrown off a bit when there was a bike in my spot on the rack. The official seemed to have been trying to move something but jumped out of the way when I headed for it. I quickly got mine on too, making sure it was allowed by the official. It would suck to get a penalty for something so dumb. I'm still not sure what happened; I heard the officials were moving the bins around while we were gone, and that may have confused people and shifted where people racked their bikes or something. Anyways, I started the run and Gary told me all five girls were within a minute. I caught one of them pretty soon, I'm guessing she was a much stronger cyclist than runner. I did not catch anyone else though, and was caught by two girls. Adeline was in the pack behind me and was able to pass me, as well as one other girl that had been farther back alone on the bike and was a fast runner but was still a lap behind. I was glad that I didn't really lose any placings. Although I didn't feel like anything was particularly bad about my run, there was also nothing particularly good either. I felt kind of heavy and didn't have a lot of spring in my stride. I did not feel like I could power up the hills like I normally do. I also wasn't close enough to anyone to have that extra bit of motivation. I was kind of disappointed when I saw my run split was about 22 minutes, worse than I thought. But from where I came off the bike compared to others I don't think I could have pulled off a higher placing unless I had a really amazing run. I finished in 10th place with a time of 1:09:21.

Great job to everyone that raced, hope you all managed to have some fun out there. Congrats to Amelie, Gabrielle, and Hillary for the podium finishes in my race. Also to my Manitoba friends who started their first season as Juniors. Ashlyn did amazing, placing 7th, and Hannah and Maddy had a great start to Junior racing with 13th and 15th. On the guys side it was a great day for Manitoba. They had an ideal situation coming off the bike with the three guys together in the lead. Congrats on the win Tyler, and also Riley M for coming 3rd and Riley U for coming 5th. Also in the guys race were Patrick and Corey in 16th and 19th. Good job to all the guys, hope it was also a great experience. I also always love seeing my friends from other provinces. Canada has some great athletes that I've had the pleasure of getting to know quite well over the past couple years! There are always lots of friendly faces to catch up with.

Overall, I think this race was a decently solid start to the season for myself. I feel better that not all hope is lost for my swim. I am still able to nail the start and those transitions. For the bike I did what I could with the situation and the run wasn't great, but it happens. I'm happy to have completed the first series race and I'm confident I will improve from here. I really look forward to PATCO in two weeks in Edmonton. I am so lucky to have  the chance to mix it up with the best Junior Elites from many countries and I'm excited to do some damage on one of my best courses. But for now I have tried really hard to scrub those sharpie numbers off my body and hope to get some rest before Grad! My focus has only been on the race but now I can finally enjoy myself and celebrate with my friends!

Results can be found here:

http://www.triathlonsaskatchewan.org/LinkClick.aspx?fileticket=plofuAgHPeI%3d&tabid=156

Last Provincials!

Well before I talk about my 3000m, I gotta brag a little bit about the 4x400m relay. I know, it's crazy that I'm even in that event but it turned out to be great. My team consisted of Allison, Emma, and Mariette. Our goal was to get a new Westgate record. It's been 25 years since the relay team of two of our current teachers was put up on the board, but they will now be taken down. We are so excited. The time to beat was 4:40 and in our zone meet we went 4:56. Even though we knew we could go faster than that, 16 seconds still seemed like a pretty big ambition. I'm pretty sure most people didn't think we could do it. We weren't even sure. But we were pumped up and ready to give it our best. We were so happy to hear that our finish time was 4:36, a full 20 second improvement! This was such a cool record to break. We also got 4th place, which was better than anyone had hoped! Ok and one more little bragging fact... including relays I now have 10 Westgate records from the past three years! Although I know they will slowly be taken down (hopefully it takes a while, a lot I got were from the 80's!), I am so excited to be leaving my mark on the school in this way!

Alright, now for the 3000m. I was the most excited about this event, but also kind of nervous. I know there is pressure from myself and others to do well in it. My goal was to get a medal. Last year I got bronze. Going in based in zone times I was ranked 3rd. Of course I analyzed everything before the race again and knew exactly where I wanted to be. Rebekah, the girl that was 3rd in the 1500m, I knew would be out in front. Then two other girls were close to what I thought I would run. The plan was to stick with them and then see what I could do. I was kind of worried leading up to the race though. I haven't felt my best, limping around for the past week and a half and having such an awkward stride in all my workouts. As I mentioned before, it's a weird pain in my lower back, hip, butt, and hamstring. I've been doing all I can with ice, stretching, and my foam roller. It's may also have been aggravated by all the racing I've been doing I think.

Anyways, I was able to get through warm-up and was still pumped up on the start line. As usual, I kept loose while chatting to everyone. I love making random friends at events. You always end up running into people again more than expected. The two girls I planned on sticking with didn't have the confidence I was counting on, so I abandonned that plan and wanted to go out in second from the start. Once the gun went off the adrenaline kicked in and I was mostly able to focus without pain. Rebekah and I got boxed in by a few random girls starting out fast, which can be frustrating. I hate starting out crazy fast when people have no clue how to pace. But I thought screw it, and passed on the corner so that within 200m I was in front. Rebekah got setttled in front of me and everyone else dropped off pretty fast. I wasn't able to stick with her very long and it was soon clear that as long as nothing went wrong I was holding my second position. It was hard to keep motivating myself to push the pace when I was all alone, without letting myself look back. I was happy to cross the line in second place, with a decent lead on the next two girls, Janine and Mariette. Those two ran great though. Congrats on 3rd and 4th, it was a close one! Rebekah had a huge lead on everyone by the end, a full minute ahead of me. It's crazy that even at provincials we can be lapping people. We stuck around the finish to congratulate everyone, then went looking for results. I was disappointed with my time, 11:49, but I guess it was a medal I was after so I shouldn't complain.

We stuck around to watch some more events before the awards ceremony. I guess we were really lucky with the weather because the wind and rain really picked up. Everyone was soaked and frozen. It was pretty cool to finally be on the other side of the podium. I'm not complaining or anything, but I have a decent collection of bronze medals at home. Last year's 3000m, xc provincials, team xc provincials, and the Games. It's nice to mix it up with some silver. I love this picture of us marching into battle against the weather with our umbrellas, to collect our medals and podium photos!

Congrats to everyone from Westgate, what a solid way to end the season! Also for us grade 12's to end high school! Also good job to my triathlon friends, track friends, and random friends I've met along the way. Everyone should be really proud of this provincials!

Again, the full meet results can be found here, but I've also made it really easy by posting my events right here:

http://mhsaa.e-crew.ca/time-results/results/

Thanks for the love and support!

1500m Provincials

Ok so I thought I would wait to do one post after provincials were done, but I'm giving in and posting about my first event already. I like to reflect on races anyways by writing about it, so I might as well share it. Since I always over-analyze things, I went through the entries online and figured out who my competition would be. I know, such a geek when it comes to this stuff! Based on knowing people by now and the qualifying times, I was going into provincials seeded fifth. My goal was to hold onto that placing. It can be hard to tell because sometimes people don't need to go as fast to qualify and it can be a surprise at provincials. But anyways, my goal was top 5. I knew the top three would be way ahead and there would be no point killing myself at the start to stay with them. But the fourth place girl would be within reach, so the plan was to stick with her for as long as possible and see what I could do from there.

When I showed up at the track in Selkirk, it was probably hotter outside than any meet I've done and there wasn't much shade. I'm so grateful Westgate decided to buy a tent this year! There also wasn't a lot of space to warm up, and with the heat my warm-up routine had to be changed a bit. But I told myself I love racing in heat, and everyone would be suffering through it just as much if not more than me. Besides, I love heat, it's like Arizona. Or so I kept telling myself. And getting all the excuses out yesterday actually helped! Mariette and I prepared together, and ran into a few other friends along the way. We were both placed in the third and fastest heat. There were 31 girls total in the race.

I really wanted to just get it over with and was happy when the gun went off. I started out exactly where I wanted to be. Within half a lap there was no one close behind me, and the front girls started to take off on us. I struggled to hold onto the fourth place girl, but about halfway through the race she started to fade. I took the opportunity and caught up again, passed, and made up ground on her. I just needed to finish the race holding my position, which I did. Everyone was so dead at the end because it was so hot! But I'm really happy with my 4th place finish. I think I ran the best race possible for me. Fourth always sounds disappointing because you think the person is so close to getting a medal but I know that really wasn't realistic. It was crazy how spread out every person was, the race really isn't that long. I was also very happy to get another Westgate record to go up on the gym wall (that makes 9 now!). Because of it being so hot I wasn't sure if I could do it, not a great day for PB's, but I did it. By only two seconds. My finishing time was 5:22. I think that's exactly what I ran last year at provincials actually. Anyways, that's all for now.

Oh I almsot forgot, here's the results for all the events:
http://mhsaa.e-crew.ca/time-results/results/

Last Duathlon, onto the next week!

I guess it's been a while since the 5th duathlon but I still felt like posting about it.  I had a better attitude going into it this week, I was ready to go for it one last time. I stuck with Ashlyn through the first run and had a solid bike. I don't think any of the splits that day were the fastest, I think it was kind of windy. Then I had another good run, my split was exactly the same as my first. I finished top in my category as well as women overall. I wasn't able to attend the bbq but my dad was able to collect my award for finishing first in my category for the series based on points, which was kind of cool. He got his category too. Being so busy lately, I don't actually remember much else from the race, so compared to my usual posts I guess that's a pretty brief race report. The whole series is kind of mushed together in my brain by now. Even though I don't always feel like racing on Tuesday nights, I do think it was important. I had practice with deciding my attitude, I am feeling good about my fast transitions, and I remember how it feels to push through the pain of running fast off the bike.

I also had a great time because of all the people that show up to race. Ashlyn, you are an awesome training partner, I'm glad we can push each other on a daily basis and still be best friends. Chrystalle, I'm so proud of your first race. Your enthusiasm for trying a new sport is amazing and I hope you continue to have so much fun with it, I think you have lots of potential as a triathlete. Your run splits are already there and I can't believe you did so well riding a new bike for the very first time in a race! Julian, you have come a long way since you started the program with us at the Y, I'm glad you've found a place on the Youth Team and I can see you love hammering it out there with the other guys. I know Dave will be a great coach for both you two! I also loved hanging around before and after the races with my friends from the MNTC, Youth Team, and other people I met along the way. And Dad, it was lots of fun heading out to every race together and sharing stories afterwards. The first Junior Elite race is coming up so fast now, I'll be in Saskatchewan in less the three weeks!

Here's the 5th duathlon results:
http://www.triathlon.mb.ca/admin/images/Seasons/RaceResults/rr_2012_BirdsHillDu5.pdf

Also the final standings:
http://birdshillduathlon.com/pdf/BHD_2012_points.pdf

Next up for this week though is track provincials. This afternoon will be my first event, the 1500m. Then tomorrow I'm in the 4x400m relay with Allison, Mariette, and Emma. We'll need to go after that school record and take down the teachers from the 80's. Then Saturday morning is my main event, the 3000m.

For my 1500m today I'm not sure what to expect. In zones I didn't have a lot of confidence but everyone else that believed in me made up for that I guess. I could still give a whole list of excuses why I'm uncertain about it. Actually, you know what? I will. Then I'll have gotten it all out of my system. I could say that 1500m isn't my event, it's too short and fast. There are so many other girls that are better at it than me. I'll be feeling the need to save some energy for my 3000m because that's the one that counts and this is just for fun. I am not tapered for this, the past few days at practice I've been exhausted. I've been having weird pain and tightness in my lower back and hamstring, and have been limping around for a week. Um, ok I guess that's it. Time to shoot down all those excuses now because they are rediculous and lame. Who can really say in high school that 1500m is their event? Come on now. I know how to put it all out there and then do it again in a few days, no problem. I'm in good shape for my running right now. Who cares about tapering, it's just a 1500. I've stretched and iced and massaged, I should be fine. I'll get in the zone and go for it anyways. Ok. I feel better now. If you actually read through all those useless thoughts, you are awesome.

Expect some more blogging in a few days!

Week of racing

This was another busy week. I had zone track meets that I needed to qualify for provincials in. But since I didn't really know the schedule ahead of time I was signed up for all the duathlons. Gary told me I could still race this Tuesday, but not kill myself. Basically it was up to me how much effort I wanted to put in, knowing I had to save a bit for my 3000m the next day. It was kind of hard for me to back off the pace when people I normally race are taking off. I really wanted to chase some people down! But I've gotten pretty good at knowing what my body needs, so I controlled the run pace and focused on having a strong transition. On the bike I let myself do a bit more chasing and it was kind of fun. There were still more people beating me than I was used to. I also didn't use my drops at all because it didn't seem worth tightening up my shoulders so much for the sake of being a bit more aerodynamic this time. So I fought through the wind and came down the final stretch of the bike mentally prepared to practice another good transition. I'm happy with where my transitions are at, I should be fine in the junior series. So I came out of T2 fast, as if I was still racing hard. Once I got to the aid station I cooled the jets and settled into a more comfortable run pace. Again it was tempting to chase people down and not let anyone else pass me, but that would not be the best plan. Once finished, I made sure I did a really good cool down, because that's probably the most important thing in recovering to be prepared to race again. Here's the results again, if you feel like checking out splits or seeing how the others did:

http://www.triathlon.mb.ca/admin/images/Seasons/RaceResults/rr_2012_BirdsHillDu4.pdf

So Wednesday afternoon was my 3000m qualifyer. I didn't know who would be there, but since it's expected of me to go to provincials, I knew I would just have to put out whatever effort was needed to get me there. Last year I showed up and only two of us were there; I went pretty easy because top three qualify. I'll admit I was kind of hoping that would happen again. Nope, there was probably about 8 of us, plus the junior varsity joined us as well because there were even less of them. When the gun went off I took my spot at the front and picked a pace I hoped most of the girls couldn't keep. Sure enough, I think within about half a lap only Mariette from my school was still on me. I'm not exactly sure because I was trying not to look back. She has improved a lot lately and had a great race, staying on me for quite a while before going her own pace. Suddenly I felt someone catching up to me and I thought maybe she was back. I was surprised to see it was someone else, who I had never raced against before. She stayed on me, and actually tried to pass a few times. She would get beside me but wasn't able to get in front. I could tell she was working very hard, and I was not there yet. Since it was really windy I decided to let her get ahead so I could draft for a little while. Nope, she didn't have it and wouldn't get in front. So after a few attempts I think she was done, and I got out in front for good. My finish time was 11:41. Mariette had a strong finish and finished third in 12:12. We're both off to provincials!

Friday was the main day of the zone track meet. The weather sucked, it was freezing. My events were 1500m (honestly wasn't sure I would win or even qualify), highjump (long story, I was going after a non-existant record so I only had to make starting height, which I did), 4x100 (seriously? I didn't even know I was signed up, so not my event!) and 4x400 (wow that's hard to do actually). So with all that going on I guess my focus for the day would be the 1500m, even though none of those events were really my strength.
So I warmed up for it and people were asking me if I was ready to win it and stuff. I was loose and ready on the start line but wasn't sure about my competition. But once the gun went off I got my way to the front and started out hard. Maybe almost too fast. Soon I was all on my own and I think I had a pretty decent lead. Mariette ended up beating the girl that had come second in the last race, but both of them had good races. I'll be glad to see them both at provincials. Ok so apparently everyone except me knew I would win. Alright then, good thing I lived up to people's expectations I guess. At least I had some fun doing it. I was also proud of the effort the rest of the team put in for the relays. It was hard to judge how we did but us girls will go to provincials for one of them.

Well that's almost it for high school track meets. Just my three events in provincials left. I like these meets though because so many people I know come out to them. Way to go to all the Westgate athletes. And all the random friends I've met along the way, which I tend to do a lot. There were also some Uof M athletes I'm friends with that were working the meet, so it was great to have some extra support and people to chat with between events. So anyways provincials will be in Selkirk in two weeks. Let's just hope for some sunshine. Please!