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!
