A Look Back at 2012

I had no idea what to expect my first year of U23. 

Last year I was sad to graduate from the junior ranks and was a bit apprehensive...not quite knowing how I would handle the new longer distance or the different level of racing or the unknown competition. 

But this year has been a great adventure and I owe a lot to everyone who has been a part of it. 

January.

Camp in Maui. Absolutely amazing. 

I got to hang out with the Canadian Dev team girls, as well as super triathletes Paula Findlay and Samantha McGlone. I did a ton of riding and took in the island. 

I have to thank coach Patrick Kelly for the amazing support on this trip. He accepted the solo mission to coach eight girls for a month and I really enjoyed working with him and getting to know him. I came back from the camp refreshed and tanned, happy to continue training in the snow and cold in Guelph. 

Pictures stolen from PK and Alex Coates.

Biking biking biking biking.

February.

Not much happened in February...I returned home to Guelph and there was snow. I had a great week of training over reading week with my RTC mates and was starting to get glimpses of good technique in the pool. It was also the month where I had a most wonderful slip on the ice whilst carrying my bike home and it cost me two weeks of training and a race.

Reunited with the varsity girls after two months away

March.

In early March I left for Clermont, Florida to race my first sprint Continental Cup. Unfortunately I wasn't in top form and my knee was swollen and bruised from my fall in February. I had a poor showing in the race but it fuelled my motivation to train and I came back swinging after giving my knee some time to heal. 

The University of Guelph athletic banquet was later in the month and gave me an opportunity to dress up and see the whole team.

April.

In April I felt like things were starting to come together and I ran a fun 5km in Jordan Station to get my Triathlon Canada World Cup standard. Teammate Jason Wilson had a fast run, confidently breaking 15min and then going out to do another workout afterwards! 

Later in April I travelled with some of the RTC crew to Mazatlan, Mexico for our first Olympic distance triathlon of the season. The race was hot and the swim was confusing but in the end I ended up with a podium finish. 

May.

Altitude! The RTC packed up and shipped off to Arizona for a month to train in Flagstaff and Sedona. The training was difficult in the beginning and I struggled with my swimming the entire time. We had some great quality runs and I loved the dry hot heat. It was a lot of fun to hang out with the whole RTC gang as well as a couple of pretty cool people from across Canada. I was lucky to share a room with the gorgeous French girls - killer Amélie Kretz, magnificent Manon Letourneau, and sassy Sarah-Anne Brault. 

June.

June started off right with the birth of A-P and Thida's baby girl Arielle, the youngest member of the RTC. Arielle has already been out to watch some time trials and she will be hitting the pool in no time. This kid is going to run before she can walk.

The camp in May was capped off with a race in Dallas, Texas. We flew over to Dallas and did a bit of training before tapering off for the race. I still remember my very first swim in Dallas. We swam in a long course pool that was covered by a dome. When we started our swim it was lightly raining outside but it soon turned in to thunder and lightening and we were forced to get out of the pool halfway through our warm-up.  I was so disappointed because when I jumped in and started my first 50m I felt like I did not have to breathe the entire time. I was a fish. Flip turns were a breeze and I didn’t come up gasping for air. I was swimming again!

Just before the race, Tristan Woodfine crashed on his bike and fractured his elbow. It was a low speed crash so the rest of him was ok, but he was unable to race and the fracture cost him pretty much his whole season. It was so hard for all of us to see him hurt as he had been incredibly strong in training and we were all ready for him to rip it up.

The race ended up being a bit warm. There were a fair number of people that weren’t able to finish and my feet were completely destroyed after the 10km run on the hot blacktop. 

Manon soaking me with sparkling apple cider.

July.

After Dallas I returned home for one of my best training blocks all year. I put in a ton of work and had a blast training with the boys as the other RTC girls, Domi and Dorelle, were representing Canada in the World University Championships in Chinese Taipei.

It seemed like the World Cup in Edmonton came so soon and even before the race I was feeling like my legs were not quite where they needed to be. I had really pushed to do a lot of training in the weeks before the race and it left me flat for Edmonton. I had a mediocre swim, a good bike, and then a very bad run. I spent the evening after the race sick but recovered quickly and wanting to put in some more hard work. The absolute best part of Edmonton was seeing Big Alexander Hinton crush the field and cruise through into second on the run with an impressive performance. I was so proud.

Even though I was chomping at the bit after the race, Craig was smart and held me back, which lead to a great performance at U23 Nationals in Magog. I was glad that I was tapered and rested because Ellen Pennock was flying.

August.

After some mid-season down time I came back to a pretty rough week of training where I just felt "off" and it took me a while to start feeling like myself again. Jason and I drove down to Windsor to race a non-drafting triathlon. I threw the TT bars on my bike and jumped into my race suit for a fun and well organized event. We were very fortunate to get a home stay from the Rivelis family and I have to thank them once again for letting us use their wonderful home.

Alexander and I travelled to Stockholm for the World Sprint Championships and it was a fast event that I can’t say I was really happy with but I learned a ton and got a taste of the fast-paced WCS racing. The best part was getting to race with Alexander, Andrew Yorke, and Lauren Campbell in the team relay event.

September.

September is a blur. It went by so fast. I started school early in the month (yay…) and was slowly working away at my courses. Slowly being the important word, as I had zero motivation to do school work and just wanted to concentrate on the World Champs. The one thing that makes September stand out was getting to run a couple workouts a week with the varsity cross-country team. I can’t even imagine getting through those hard runs without them and it made me really look forward to running hard and pushing the limits.

Derek Quick and I left on a rainy day in Guelph to drive over to Buffalo, NY for the last Continental Cup of the season. I’m sure that anyone in the car with us would have gone crazy with our constant chatter but having Derek with me made the drive enjoyable.

Buffalo was a get-in-get out type of race and we didn’t really taper going into it and it took me longer than I expected to recover afterwards. I was intelligent enough to push Craig to let me race a cross-country event in London the next weekend, and I found out after about 500m into the race that my legs were still a little fried. I didn’t race my best but I got to hang out with the team and throw on my spikes.

In September we were joined by Amélie who came to train with us and took over my basement for a few weeks. It was a good change and kept me on my toes. She is a speedy little thing.

In September we also got to watch Tyler Bredschnider gut it out solo on a windy day at a local track and improve his 5km PB by over 30 seconds. Watch out for this guy.

October.

I know October was quite the eventful month. My parents, sister, and aunt came to see me during Thanksgiving and I was feeling charged up and ready to go. We left early for Auckland and stayed in a most beautiful bed and breakfast in Clevedon. Then I raced Worlds and made the trek back to Canada.

When I flew home from Auckland everything kind of came crashing down on me. I had two midterms within the first week, two tests, and a bunch of assignments. I felt a bit overwhelmed. Luckily I got everything completed and was ready to throw on my spikes for the OUA Cross Country Championships.

OUA’s was a great experience and I can’t emphasize how much I love running with the varsity cross-country team. I spent the first few days back in Guelph adjusting to the time change and slept through the entire night for the first time the night before the race. The meet was a short bus ride away and the course was slightly hilly. All of the girls and guys raced well and the Gryphon teams placed first overall for the 8^th and 9^th consecutive years in a row.

November.

Perhaps one of my biggest highlights from the year was getting to race the CIS cross-country championships in London, Ontario. Triathlon Worlds was like the main meal of the year…we worked hard to prepare for it and it took a long time to get it just right. After racing and seeing the hard work pay off I was pretty much satisfied. But CIS was like dessert. It seems like a guilty indulgence because you have already completed one season but then your Mom tells you that, yes, you can have a couple cookies after dinner and you start bouncing in your seat because its not every day that you get to eat dessert.

The race was fast and over before I knew it. Gryphon women went 1, 2, 4, 6, 8, 9 for a decent score and we kind of won the team overall championships for the 8^th year in a row. The men did almost as well as us girls and won the team championships for the 7^th consecutive year.

The last few weeks of November were spent doing what I do worst. Down time.

I also had my wisdom teeth removed which was quite a painful experience and I didn't particularly enjoy it although I can't say that I remember much from the day.

The photo I sent to my parents...it wasn't quite that bad. 

I begged Craig to let me train again and I think I annoyed him enough that he let me back in the pool.

December.

I got through exams ok at the beginning of the month and then drove back home only to fly off the next day to Florida. I am now enjoying a small training block with Amélie and am looking forward to settling back in to the routine of train, eat, sleep...with maybe a little bit of school.

Excited for 2013.

Thank you to everyone who was a part of this great year and as always...

Thanks for reading!