Good Vibes

Things are looking up! I appreciated so much when my body is able to get over an injury, and it makes every advancement that much sweeter when you are in a positive frame of mind. It’s been an adventure to say the least over the past year, but I’ve arrived in a beautiful place. The hamstring and knee are letting me swim, bike, and run (within reason) pain free. And I’m going to McMaster next year to study environmental science as a masters student! I couldn’t be more excited to be able to spend my time on forests, water and climate change.

Yesterday was close to 30 degrees - Celsius!  And I hit some hills on the bike for the first time on my comeback trail, wow did I miss that. With the knowledge about myself and my body I’ve gained over the past year, there’s no doubt that health is going to be supported and sustained. Now onwards to a great summer (featuring a world championship in Ottawa!), immediately following my last undergraduate exam this evening.

Early season plan, interrupted

The year had been off to a great start – swimming improved thanks to an awesome camp over the break with the mustangs (huge thanks to Coach Ken Fitzpatrick), I had myself set up for an early end to winter in Tucson before going right to Clermont Florida to race the Pan American cup there in early March.

The good news – swimming is still on the up! Andrew Cole has been working with the HP team, doing some video sessions over the past few months, and its so helpful to see the little (or big) things to change that can make a big impact in your stroke efficiency and power. And I’ve made some strides towards my post-undergrad future in Environmental Science/Marine Conservation, not too shabby.

The less than ideal news – a hamstring injury I’ve been having on and off since February last year (happy one year anniversary?) was looked at with fresh, inquisitive eyes and rediagnosed as a possible stress fracture/reaction. The bone scan results just came in, and while there isn’t a major fracture (awesome!), “it” still demands rest + precaution to properly heal, which = no racing in Clermont.

Finally having an accurate take on the injury will lead to successful recovery this time around, although I’ll have to focus on beginning my triathlon season a little later than planned this year. But there’s still the lovely heat, sun, and training partners waiting for me in Tucson, less than two weeks away. So grateful for all the work that Barrie and C3 put in to give us the best training environment possible. I might come back with a bathing suit tan more than a bike short one, but that’s life as an athlete sometimes. Wouldn’t trade it for anything else.

Last year, about to head off on a ride in Tucson. Extra water always advised!

Our pool, with an unbeatable view.

I’ve enjoyed some insightful posts from two trail runners recently, Lizzie Hawker (http://lizzyhawker.wordpress.com/2013/01/24/perception/) and Megan Hicks http://www.meghanmhicks.com/2013/01/17/health-forever-or-at-least-2013/) . A great quote that Lizzie includes, quite applicable to less than ideal surprises:

“The question is not what you look at, but what you see.”
— Henry David Thoreau

A finely tuned machine

As a fiercely competitive minded athlete, my mind is set on constantly doing all that I can to be the best athlete I can be. To perform to my best ability in races. And thus, consistent quality training is what I am dead set on being able to do, day in day out. It’s what I’m focused on. What I know I need to be doing to get where I want to be.

And yet, you can’t simply will your body to be able to follow what your mind desires. It has to be ready, 100% prepared to take on what you’re throwing at it. Otherwise instead of getting stronger, it will respond with illness or injury.

And when you find yourself with one of the two I’s, as I have now learned, you cannot simply throw yourself back on the high volume training train as soon as you think you’re ‘good enough’. No. The machine is still too delicate and in repair mode, and you can set yourself back again. We are only human. As athletes our goals may be different, but our genomes strikingly similar to everyone else around us.

Yes, it’s frustrating not to be putting in what you know your competitors are. But you cannot get there on a mostly-working immune system or a mostly not painful injury. Work with your body and it will work for you. A few extra days or weeks seem long in the present, but are nothing compared to drawing out frustration and not being able to execute because you didn’t have the discipline to properly heal.

Getting out of the water or not going for a swim can be more challenging than the most disbelief-inspiring VO2 max set. Restraint is a hard skill to attain, but one that sets you up for long term success and satisfaction. Thanks to everyone that’s helped me learn such a valuable lesson.

Soaking it all in

I’ve been training in Hamilton for a few weeks now, and been so impressed from day one. I feel so lucky to be able to swim with Andrew Cole and his group of athletes here at Mac – it’s a pretty big team for the summer and every workout is such a good learning experience.

As for biking and running, I could rave forever about the trails and the quiet, tree-lined roads. And more hills than you could ask for, it’s really just perfect. Quality training opportunities all around, and fantastic team mates that have so much to offer. I’m so thankful to be surrounded by all this knowledge and experience, taking in everything I can and putting it towards those little improvements every day.

I’ve been working to get through a running injury lately, and the sports med support here has been really helpful to do what they can. So lots of runs on grass these days, including a magical foray onto the rained out golf course this morning. It’s amazing how everything transforms in a downpour and you have the place all to yourself!

All the best and good luck to everyone racing this weekend from Dallas to Milton – in memory of the late and great Steve Prefontaine, “to give anything less than your best is to sacrifice the gift”

 

Onwards

It’s been a while! The journey has been going along well – really pleased with my progress on the swim and bike lately – and with exams ending in two days it can only get better. I’ll be flying out to Tucson the day after I finish for another great training camp with the C3 group. I feel very lucky to have recently become a member of their high performance team under Barrie Shepley and Sean Bechtel; they’re a talented crew of hard working athletes and I’m feeling super positive about the future.

I’ll be heading off to Hamilton upon my return for a solid summer of training, although my London training buddies will be missed. It’s been a pleasure sharing the pool, the trails, the roads, and the pulls with you guys. The trails are fresh and the hills are non-stop, so drop by anytime for a visit and a trot!

On another note, my first adventure with bike boxes began with me luckily tracking one down at Gears today. From the looks of it, my trusty steed is in a very safe place. Sweet store by the way too, one of the mechanics explained taking apart my bike for packing and made it sound like a piece of cake. We shall see!

Best of luck with spring training,

Rachel

EDAW

Tags

sports nutrition

I was inspired by my girl Cheryl to do a little post on eating disorder awareness week (Feb 5-12).

You see, the thing about athletes and weight is that it is generally accepted that lighter = faster. Running and cycling are classic examples; simple physics tell us that it takes less energy to move a lighter load over a given distance than a heavier one.

Not to mention, there are sports such as rowing in which there are weight classes; for example, an average ‘heavyweight’ rower can – in theory – be an exceptional ‘lightweight’ rower if they can shed enough kilograms and sustain that speed.

And so, eating for peak performance without developing actual disordered eating patterns may become a bit of a balancing act for a driven athlete. This becomes quite the grey area, one where you may have seen people and wanted to help them out of. And it’s tricky, because if someone has seen faster times with a lower number on the scale they may not want to change – but it is completely possible to be at that ideal racing weight and still follow a balanced, full diet; your body needs this to function at it’s highest capacity now and into the future.

There is a huge need for athletes to be educated about sports nutrition and how important properly nourishing your body is for success and growth. I think that coaches of sports teams at all levels 100% need to provide these lessons about developing a healthy relationship with food. Bring in a nutrition professional and make sure you are providing adequate resources including someone that someone affected by an eating disorder can talk to.

Great guide for sports nutrition + you: http://www.iaaf.org/mm/document/imported/42817.pdf

Prevention and awareness go hand in hand; be kind to your body and it will reward you in return.

Also, stealing this from Cheryl as well – Kara Goucher’s wisdom:

http://www.flotrack.org/video/1970-eat-a-dorito 

 

Functional February

Tags

physiotherapy, veggie sandwich, warm sunny weather

As much as it’s a lesson learned in the past, I find myself realizing yet again how important it is to invest in your body’s well-being.

It took me a good deal of work to be able to train and race worry-free, and it’s something I keep working on every day. Every minute is time very well spent, and every clamshell is more hay in the barn. Huge thanks to Jen and her team at Reactive Physiotherapy, who I’m seeing right now and getting fantastic results.

There’s a great quote that I believe lululemon tweeted – ‘Listen to your body when it whispers so you don’t have to hear it scream’ – from a very wise yogi I’m sure.

Also, if you’re ever looking for an absolutely perfect, welcoming, friendly, speedy, tasty, affordable, hit-the-spot kind of meal in London, I have good news for you.

The Bag Lady is unreal. Butternut ginger soup with a (I think?) ciabatta grilled veggie sandwich - I don’t usually eat sandwiches, but I was just blown away to heaven. And there’s free parking. Downtown.

Hope everyone’s training is going well!

P.S. 13 days until warm sunny weather and mountains – can’t believe how lucky I am!

 

And the countdown begins!

Across the pond in the other London, it’s 6 months until the Summer Olympics – good luck and I can’t wait to watch and be inspired!

Earlier this week in the pool I did a time trial to see where my 800 m time was at. With some hard work and stellar coaching I improved my personal best at the distance to 12 minutes. This was followed by a 400 m in 5:58, another pb for me. After doing my last 800 m time trial around 12:40 in December, I really felt proud of these.

There was a lactate test on the bike yesterday as well, which measured my FTP (a metric for cycling training/performance). It came out to 217 watts, about 17 higher than my last FTP test in late December.

Something I’m really excited about next month is being able to head down to Tucson (Arizona) for a training camp. Organized by Barrie Shepley, I know it’s going to be a great way to get in some hard fun work during reading week.

 

When two is better than one

I’d like to take a second to extol the virtues of training partners. Those people that you end up sharing a session with for whatever reason, and end up synergizing with to tangibly raise the level of performance (mental and/or physical).

Not everyone is a perfect match, and perhaps the effect is only felt by one of the two.

Simply put, thank you to all of those that have shared their energy with me (too many of you to name) and taken me to places previously unexplored; I only hope that I have been able to do the same for someone else.

Rachel

Breakfast

It’s nice to have something scrumptious to look forward to at 5am. With minimal preparation time. So here’s a little glimpse of something I’ve been enjoying lately before I hit the pool (and how to recreate it, should you be so inclined).

Disclaimer: I by no means am intending to be a food blogger (I’ll leave that to the experts) – I’m just fairly passionate about this meal

Also, some fun facts concerning buckwheat

Blueberry buckwheat groats

1/3 cup raw buckwheat groats (find them at bulk barn) + 1 cup water

1/2 cup frozen blueberries

1/2 banana (or a whole one if you want more sweetness)

1/2 cup almond milk (or any kind of milk) OR 1/4 cup almond milk+ 1/4 cup egg whites (protein!)

1 tbs chia/flax seeds (optional – they add thickness)

1/2 tsp vanilla extract, sprinkle of cinnamon

TOPPINGS: almond butter, peanut butter, greek yogurt, honey, more banana… let your culinary imagination run wild

1. The day before, soak the buckwheat groats in the water in the fridge for a few hours or have them going from the day before. Drain and rinse.

2. With a blender/food processor, combine 1/4 cup of the buckwheat, blueberries, almond milk, banana, chia seeds, vanilla, and cinnamon. Pour into your breakfast bowl of choice and store this in the fridge overnight.

3. In the morning, sprinkle with the rest of the buckwheat for some extra nuttiness and crunch. I always go for nut butter and some greek yogurt.

4. Go french press some coffee, get yourself to a pool, and dive into another beautiful day.

Another great idea (and many others actually if you’re into super healthy and tasty vegan food) – OVERNIGHT OATS! I’ve got a pumpkin pie inspired batch waiting for me right now. Can 5 come any sooner?