Start From Scratch

Time to jump back on the blog train.

I had a great summer back in Calgary. I really enjoyed spending time with my old friends from high school, and stepping away from being completely surrounded by running, and runners.

Biggest news; I left my old training group in Arizona and have moved to Toronto to train with Athletics Toronto under the guidance of Dave Reid.

At different points during my season last year, I had thoughts about possibly leaving the training group in Arizona. There were many reasons that played into these thoughts. One of the biggest factors, as with any decision an up and coming athlete in Canada, was money. My parents have been overly generous over the last two years, sacrificing a little on there end and funding me while I was down there. Each month they gave me $1000, and that is what I lived on. Most of it went to rent, and then rest went to groceries. I definitely wasn't living a luxurious lifestyle; but I was making it by, somewhat, comfortably.

The second biggest reason; overall well-being and happiness. There seemed to be a lot of negativity within the training group, and a lot of it was directed at me. Unlike most groups I've been in where warm-ups and cool-downs are light-hearted and fun, it seemed the ones in Arizona became a 3-mile complain session. If someone wasn't there for whatever reason, the topic of discussion quickly turned to talking behind that persons back.

One thing I've continually said when people have asked me about my move is, "When one of your training partners threatens to 'effing knock you out', after a race, it's probably time to look into a new group."

Please remember, this is just my experience with this group. I believe the coaching, training, therapy, and all those things are really amazing. I wish everyone still involved nothing but the best.

On a brighter note, Toronto has been amazing! I really lucked out with a great apartment and awesome roommate. I have a pretty spectacular view of Lake Ontario and downtown. I face east, so every morning I get to watch a beautiful sunrise over the famous skyline of downtown Toronto.

So far while being here I have met Ty Domi, Adam Growe (the host of Cash Cab), and watched The Tragically Hip play at a very small, intimate venue, for free. I also returned to the desert and saw a Red Hot Chili Peppers concert in Phoenix, a lifelong dream that definitely lived up to expectation.

On the running side of things, it has been great. Definitely a more old-school, mileage based approach then what I have been used to in the past, which has been awesome. I had a few hiccups when I first arrived in Toronto with being a bit sick. I think moving into a high-rise, and working downtown definitely played a factor in that. Most recently I went to Kingston to run in the Athletics Ontario Cross Country Championship; my first race since moving out here. It went really well. I won the 10km race in 31:15.44. I sat with the back for roughly 7km, when I threw down a pretty decisive move. I broke the field and never looked back. From what I hear Hussein Hashi made a great effort to pull be back. I have to give him a lot of credit, it was a pretty windy day out there, and he was in the lead for a lot of the race.

I'm now 2 weeks out from the Canadian Cross Country Championships and very much looking forward to it. I'll be heading out to Vancouver on the 20th, and staying for a week. The race is November 24th, and Jericho Beach in Vancouver. Anyone who is in Vancouver at that time should definitely come out to watch. It's always a great event, and the races are very exciting.

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