Canadian National Championships

The Canadian track and field national championships were this weekend in Edmonton, and first and foremost I want to thank everyone who reached out and supported me. I received lots of texts, emails, etc, as well as words of encouragement from many people in person at the meet. No matter the medium, it means a lot to hear from all of you.

The 2 weeks leading into nationals had been pretty tough. My Dad went in to hospital in Campbell River, and was then ambulanced down to Victoria and ended up having to have a quintuple by-pass open heart surgery. Needless to say it was a fairly stressful time for me and my Mom.

He had his surgery on Monday, June 9th, and I left for Edmonton the next evening. I was able to see him on Monday, but he was still knocked out from the drugs. Luckily my flight to Edmonton wasn't until 6pm Tuesday evening, so I got to see him for most of Tuesday afternoon.

Despite his horrible cardiovascular system, the surgery went really well. He was sent home after only 5 days, and he's now back in Campbell River relaxing and recovering at home.

All of that to say, my head wasn't totally in the game in Edmonton and I walked away with a less than desirable finishing place. I knew I'd have to fight hard for it, but I knew I had a shot at the bronze medal. When it came down to it, the fight just wasn't in me on the day and 5 other runners were able to dig deeper.

I flew from Edmonton to Toronto, where I am now and will be until the 8th. I'm then flying over to Belgium to get in a few races in Europe before calling it a season.

I'm really looking forward to getting over there, having some fun, and running fast!

Road Trips, Running, and Really Good Hydration

Well, it sure has been awhile since I paid any attention to the old blog. Truth be told, I kind of went on a social media hiatus.  As some of you would have seen on Facebook, I was actually planning on deleting my profiles. However, no matter how loud my inner-hippy talks, I can't deny that it is a great way to stay in touch with friends and keep everyone up to date.

Speaking of which, a lot has happened since my last post. Reader's Digest version is: I switched back to Wynn Gmitroski as my coach. I made the decision in late August, I made a trip out to Victoria in October, and then at the end of November, I packed up the car and drove from Toronto to Victoria.

It was a long, but really great road trip! I did the trip alone, but did a good job of planning my stops to be with friends. In Chicago I stayed with a family friend's of Kate's parents', plus I connected with an old friend, Wynand Nel, whom I hadn't seen in WAY too many years. The next stop was Bismarck, North Dakota, which was the only hotel I stayed in.  In Missoula, Montana, I stayed with the wonderful Dianne Cummins. I happened to roll into town on American Thanksgiving and arrived right around dinner time, so I was greeted with a wondering meal and great company after my long drive. I stopped in Vancouver for a few days to watch the National Cross-Country Championships before finally arriving in Victoria.

After spending half of December in Victoria, and the other half up in Campbell River with my parents, I drove down to Scottsdale, Arizona for some warm weather training. Kate flew to Vancouver Island to spend a few days with me and my parents just after Christmas and joined me on the drive to Arizona.

I spent January in Scottsdale, then back to Victoria for February, before heading back to Scottsdale for March. At the beginning of April I went up to Flagstaff for some high altitude training. I currently still in Flag, and will be here until May 12th. It's been great being back out west training in British Columbia and Arizona. Definitely a lot easier to get in high quality, injury free training in the warm weather, and soft surfaces to run on. The coldest I've had to deal with this winter was probably somewhere around 5 degrees celsius (40F). Which is a heck of a lot nicer then the freezing temps and ice-storms of the winter in Toronto. No more 10mi (16km) runs on an indoor 200m track!

While training in the heat and altitude of the desert, hydration is key. That is where my new partner comes in. Ultima has been taking care of me and keeping me well hydrated. I've been starting every day with a glass of Ultima, just to jumpstart hydration. I also end every day with a cup to make sure I don't get too dehydrated while I sleep. I'll often throw in another serving somewhere in the day, especially after a hard workout or long run.

I'm a big fan of their product as it's all natural. They're soy-free, gluten-free, MSG-free, stimulant and sugar-free, plus they stay away from any GMO's. Outside of their mineral content, which is the widest range on the market, their ingredient list is about 7 items long. Added bonus, they're all words you can pronounce!

I ran a couple races so far; in March, I ran a 3000m at the Baldy Castillo invite at Arizona State in Tempe, Arizona, and a 5000m at the start of April at the Stanford Invite in Palo Alto, California.

The 3000m was very much a rust-buster. There were only about 4 or 5 guys in the race and it was not very fast. The 5000 at Stanford was a much better race, and I ended up running a few tenths of a second off of my personal best.

I'll be heading back to Stanford to race at the Payton Jordan Invitational on May 2. Training has been going really well, nothing mind-blowing, but consistent, solid work. Payton is known for it's high quality distance events, so I'm excited to get there and see what I can do!

I'll be attempting to keep this a little more up-to-date. If nothing else, I'll try to make sure the schedule/results page is updated. So make sure to check back and follow me on my various medias for updates!