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Glimpses

March 26, 2012, 1:35 am
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I've had many setbacks in my relatively young career thus far but never yet have I considered "throwing in the towel" so to speak. The thing that keeps me going and keeps me motivated are those glimpses of success, glimpses of fulfilling my potential. Returning to form and standing on the podium after a setback is the greatest feeling. It's what keeps me hungry during the rough times.








Unfortunately I'm currently in another one of those times. I have been diagnosed with a calcaneal stress fracture, a stress reaction in my navicular and a heel spur. Ironically the calcaneal fracture is the identical injury that took me out of the Beijing Olympics. Just had to even it out on the other side ;)

The positive part of having so many setbacks is that dealing with them gets slightly easier. You focus on what you can change and don't stress about what you can't. The more energy wasted the slower the recovery seems to be.

I did everything right this year between an extremely gradual build into training, the lightest load I've had in years, great nutrition (minus my candy habit), calcium and vitamin D supplements, good recovery etc. I don't know what else I could have done. This makes it easy to not have regrets and not be too hard on myself. It's devastating news and came at a devastating time but sometimes that's the way things go. My body seems to have impeccable timing. Everything comes together at nearly the perfect time and then everything falls apart at the worst possible time. I'm thinking this pattern needs to change.

So now what? I'm flying back home tomorrow for more scans to see the severity of my situation. I'm pretty sure we caught it very early. I guess I'll have to take it one day at a time. Hopefully this heals quick and I can get riding soon. I can swim and water run but adding the biking would be nice.

The first step is getting better though. I'd like to really get to the bottom of what is causing all these problems this time instead of getting the current injury sorted and getting straight back into training. There has got to be a bigger picture here and I'm determined to get to the bottom of it! (For the 10 millionth person who will ask this, yes i have had tests and no, my bone density is not low ;)

New opportunities to come for this season I suppose! I was very happy to see Erin Densham's amazing performance in Mooloolaba this weekend. She is and always has been my inspiration for comebacks! I spoke to her "other half" recently who told me he used to remind her "Talent doesn't come off in the wash" …I like that one!

With that in mind, I'm ready to put my head down and weather through this one. Hopefully we'll get another glimpse of top form in a few months :)
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Ready to Start

May 11, 2012, 1:13 pm
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I stole the title from one of my favourite Canadian bands, Arcade Fire. We definitely aren't talking about starting the same thing but never-mind that, I'm ready to start too!

 I suppose I should rewind to how I got to this point. Last I wrote, I was coming home with more stress fractures. This particular incident was a turning point for me. This wasn't just an overuse injury, it was something more. It had to be. I didn't over use anything this time around! The fact that I got such severe injuries after hardly running and even riding a lot less than I have in the past had me searching for answers.

 In previous injury periods I just took the necessary healing time and continued on. Last year I got right into the foot strengthening but that didn't seem to have an effect given the fact that I wound up right back where I started a few months later. I talked to my managers at Red Bull and they sent me down to Santa Monica to work with Dr. Wang, a foot and ankle specialist at D.I.S.C sport medicine clinic. He explained to me that my bone density and training had nothing to do with my problems. It was the fact that I am so hyper mobile genetically. My foot is extremely unstable, beyond the point of fixing it with muscle exercises. So in order to stabilize my foot, my calves and deep flexors were taking the brunt of the load. Hence my chronic insanely tight calves and shin splints! This tension coming from my calves which are much much stronger than my feet was pulling on my achilles and plantar fascia and actually shifting my bones slightly causing the stress from impact to reverberate up through my bones in the wrong way and wrong places causing stress fractures!

All of this makes sense right!? So then why was this only happening on my right side then? That is where local Chiropractor and Physio Jamie Grimes comes in. He discovered a significant leg length discrepancy, confirmed by a CT scan. This is what cause my right foot to be so much more mobile than the left. It is shorter and actually reaching for the ground more in a sense. It explains my constant twisted pelvis, tight right hip/glut, larger right quad and larger left glut and back muscles. It also explains virtually every injury I have every had! My right knee and IT problems, my left sacral fracture, right QL injury, plantar fasciitis, you name it! So although this is inconvenient, it's good to know! Now we can work with my body instead of unknowingly fighting it all the time.
 
Here is a photo of my heels after having my hips adjusted and even. "One of these things is not like the other!"


 I now have a plan for moving forward. I am slowly introducing a lift into my shoe by a few mm at a time. I have orthotics for the first time in my life to stabilize my feet and give my calves a break. I am getting prolo injections in my ligaments and a few joints in my foot to tighten everything up. Prolo is basically just sugar injections which causes and inflammatory response to promote collagen in the area. I have had 2 already and the last one is next week. I heal and strengthen recent and older injuries with shockwave on my stress fracture areas and my plantar fascia attachment which is pretty much the worst pain I have felt in my life. Sound waves the speed of a jet taking off or being struck by lighting shooting straight into a bone fracture is amazing. It's a great core exercise though because I tense up every muscle in my body for a good 5 or 10 minutes straight. Also great hypoxic training. ;)

 I'm still in the process of all of this but having put a few weeks behind me my body is already coming around and feeling good. I no longer have pain.(!!!) I can walk/run and swim and bike like normal. I am balancing out and working out all of kinks that come with adjusting a leg length discrepancy. It feels pretty nice to run down Lochside trail without any pain. Just weird chunks of plastic in my shoes!

 I have to thanks Red Bull, D.I.S.C and Jamie Grimes at Synergy for all of their help. I am really looking forward to my future in the sport now that I am free of this vicious cycle! It's been a long, hard and sometimes frustrating 5 years. I am proud to say I have wonderful friends, family, sponsors and supporters out there who have stuck by me through it all. Every one of those companies listed on the side bar have supported me without question though all the ups and downs and let's be honest, there were a lot more downs than ups! Thank you to my followers who still believe in me too. I really appreciate it all.

 Now the hard part, slowly getting back into it. Luckily I have coach Joel to help me with that and refrain from getting too excited. I have a few races planned for he end of the season so I'm looking forward to getting back out there, same engine with a brand new auto-body!
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1 Step Back 2 Steps Forward

June 6, 2012, 9:45 pm
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Just about a week ago now I had a restless sleep and out of nowhere I took a look at my life and my career with more of an outside perspective. I took a step back and looked at the big picture, my future in the sport and my seemingly never ending cycle of injury. I've been injured for 5 straight season's now and I'm still only 23. With plantar fasciitis slowly creeping back into the picture I woke up with a gut feeling "It's June and I can't run. Should I really be trying to race this year?"

This thought came very suddenly. One day I'm time trialling the Waddling Dog loop at my best effort and loving it, the next I'm considering time off. That day I had planned to ride 4hrs with a local established athlete. We got talking and really being honest about the past, the future and what I'm doing now. The more we talked the more it became clear. I mulled over the idea of resting for a few days weighing out pro's and con's and trying to get a sense for where this was coming from and how I really felt without taking into account outside pressures or opinions. My gut feeling was right. In every way! So why was facing the idea so hard? It's because I love what I do. I've been a triathlete for 18 years now but training full time for about 12 of those. I don't know anything else. This thought was a bit daunting but I knew if I wanted to have a long career I needed to give my body a chance to fully recover from years of battery and coming back from injury as quick as possible.


So now we are working on Kirsten 2.0. The new and improved, refreshed and revamped model! I told Jamie, my chiropractor about the doctor who told me I was a "Ferrari engine in a Volkswagen Bug body" to which he quickly replied with "Well Volkswagen went on to create Porsche." And that is our goal. To turn this little old Beetle into a race car. I've been getting lots of treatment and carefully scanning back through all my old aches and pains and previous injuries and breaking up the scar tissue and adhesions, releasing things chronically tight muscles and also tightening things like my super mobile knee caps, SI joint and ankles with Prolo therapy. All things that take the back burner while I'm training. Right now I'm severely bruised and soon to be swollen but all for a good cause!

"So what do you do with your days then?" you might ask. Well, besides near daily appointments I still keep active. I do core work everyday and either bike ride and/or go to the gym. I'm working on my shoulder which I injured when I had my back crashes last year but never really fixed so I haven't been swimming much. I've been mountain biking lots and absolutely loving it.  The goal of this break is to be better when I return so I'm not letting myself go to mush, nor do I feel like it! I want to stay strong to prevent injury in the future. Plus, I love being fit and active so that will never change. What has changed though is the hours of sleep I get. At least 10! Also, my appetite which is fading without the crazy training. And my ability to volunteer, help people out and bake cookies! I have done all of the above this week and it feels great! There are positives to being a "normal person" haha Not being completely self absorbed and goal oriented! That's the part about being an athlete that I struggle most with. I'll have to get back there but for now being helpful feels good! I've also just moved into a lovely new suite which I am quite enjoying decorating and organizing. The catchups with friends are nice too!

I was worried about feeling guilty about taking rest considering this is the first time I have ever voluntarily taken a break but it's not an issue because I know I'm doing this so that I can be better. So in a sense it's like training to me. I think this is showing signs of athletic maturity on my part! It's about time!

Even though this is a break with an outcome goal in mind, I'm still going to enjoy it and savour it. Little things like staying in bed and reading in the morning. Going camping, hiking and spending more time with my family, friends and boyfriend. Basically just relaxing and adventuring! I have a list of things I want to do. Trips, hikes (the Chief in Squamish!!) bike trails, races even! I consider bike racing to be ok as it's not as hard on my body and I can still have a competitive outlet :P

Anyway, that's my story. Just in case anyone was wondering where I disappeared to. Luckily my ever-so-supportive sponsors are behind me which is a huge relief. As are my coach, doctors and family. I have 100% support from my entire professional and social networks which is a great feeling! Thanks everyone for the support over the years. I will be back, healthy and strong... Kirsten 2.0! :D

Until then!
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Head Scratcher

September 1, 2012, 10:56 am
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It's been over 3 months off training now. That's the longest I've ever taken off since probably the year 2000! Yes I was 12 and it was Kids of Steel but still, I didn't ever take 3 months off!

These 3 months haven't been completely off. Most of my days I did something whether it was a road ride, a cross country ride or elliptical or sometimes both. Throughout all of this time off I figured my foot and all other aches and pains would diminish because I was keeping moderately active and keeping up with my chiro and rehab plan. But the pain in my foot lingered.

Last week Red Bull sent me down to Santa Monica to see the foot specialist at D.I.S.C and get an MRI to see what's going on. It showed a tear in my plantar fascia and a stress reaction in the bone where the PF attaches. This after time off?! I'm pretty sure my last MRI did not have a tear in the PF. So how could this happen? Still trying to figure that one out! I call this injury a head scratcher because in order to heal a stress reaction you must take complete rest. But immobilized rest builds up scar tissue and makes my PF tighter. And a tight PF is what causes the stress responses or fractures in the first place!! Vicious cycle it seems.

So when I came home and talked to my team back here at Synergy they helped me come up with a plan. They think this has become a beast of it's own. The initial cause is no longer the cause but this has taken on a life of it's own! They suggested complete rest from sports, but walking as I normally would to keep the PF moving.  We are continuing with the shockwave therapy but the next step is to try the PRP therapy. It's where they take a bit of your blood and spin it to separate everything from the platelet rich plasma and inject it back into the site of the injury I know a few people who have had it and from what I've heard it seems to be effective. It's definitely worth a try!

So now I'm just returning to the pool with my new and improved shoulder. I haven't used the proper muscles in about a year and a half so they get tired after less than 1km and I usually swim about 1500m haha. I'm truly starting from square one. Only up from here that's for sure!

I'm sounding like a disaster here which I will admit I kind of am/was but we are sorting it out step by step. I'm so lucky to have Red Bull's full support and hands on approach to my rehab. I'm also so grateful to have Jamie Grimes and Todd Levins from Synergy helping me out so much. It feels good to have people believe in me when so many others have lost faith. It helps me keep my head high and looking toward the next step.

On another note, I can't believe it's September! I've had a great summer. I experienced things I never could while training full time. I relaxed, socialized, went camping, surfing, downhill mountain biking, hiking, toured LA, it was a pretty fun packed summer for me! Now as we head into fall I'm hoping to focus a bit more while maintaining a bit of balance as I still likely won't be training full time. I'd like to work my swim back up to where it used to be and get strong in the gym! Baby steps!

Here are a few snaps from my summer :)



                                                  Hiking the Chief in Squamish
                                                         LA poolside with Red Bull
                                                      Fun bike day at the Sunshine Coast
                                                 First attempt at camping in Tofino #fail
                                                             Solo Chief Hike

                                                          Tofino camping take 2 #success
                                                                        Surf!

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And we're back!

October 30, 2012, 11:32 am
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 Back to spandex, back to wet hair and goggle marks, back to track pants and Red Bull tees, back to early bedtimes and extra meals...back to TRAINING!! Before I get too excited, I have to add that it's only 10-15 hours a week but I'm in the training frame of mind and I'm living everything stated above so that counts! :)

Since I last posted, my foot has made great progress. I had a low dose cortisone injection as well as PRP (platelet rich plasma therapy, where they inject your own platelets back into the injury site) about 2 months later, as well as previous shock wave treatments. All this combined with my lift and orthotics have seemingly created.. SUCCESS! It's early days yet but so far my foot feels like a normal foot for the first time in 3 years! I can walk/run now as well as swim and bike in small amounts. My super chiro Jamie Grimes has also sorted out some nerve damage and scar tissue on my nerves that come through my scalenes in my neck. It's likely from my crashes in 2011 where I smacked my noggin pretty hard. This was actually great news because I couldn't figure out why I was swimming so terribly for a whole year and was getting a little worried to be honest. Turns out I damaged 3 nerve pathways, 2 to my shoulder and 1 to my diaphragm. Anyway, that's all fixed now and my shoulder is a million times stronger (neural activation really helps strength...who would have thought!? :P) and my lung capacity has improved 10 fold. The body is really a complex thing! Good thing I have a good team to help me sort it out. Here I was thinking I was just insanely unfit! Well I am but that's beside the point. ;)

So now my job is to keep moving forward slow and steady. I have lots of strength and activation exercises to stay on top of which is easy when training is so light. That has also left me lots of time to spend time with my friends and family and hang out in the kitchen! Cupcakes seem to be my latest obsession. Here are a few pictures from the past few weeks:

This one covers 2 categories from my intro, spandex and wet hair! Beautiful Victoria weather.
          Bacon cupcakes for ProCity bike shop staff. Trade mancakes for mechanics :)
                        At home gym!
                         Yep, just an owl cupcake NBD
                       Girls all dressed up
                             In the process of getting dressed up
                      A flamingo, a german girl and a pirate make a great trio
                            Tiny festive cupcakes. 56 of them to be precise
       Ellen and her handsome man sans nose. Kyla the artist showed us all up with her boat!
                          
                                 Got Milk? or Lucky... Milk seems to be the overwhelming choice

Oh and on a side note, I went to Europe for a quick trip and the end of September! I went to Amsterdam, Barcelona, Ibiza, Munich and Frankfurt. All in 2 weeks! It was great to see my school friends. Some are traveling, some on exchange. Here are a few highlights:

Dutch apple pie... ps they are not ranked in order of highlight-ness! But this was pretty tasty.

 
Amsterdam classic apartments on the canal
                                                              Marie and I
                                           Cruisin the bike path on the beach in Zandvoort (Amsterdam)
                                                          Oktoberfest!
                                                                Paella in Barcelona
                                                         Santa Familia Church in Barcelona
                                                                Overlooking the city
                                                                    Selfie in Ibiza
                                                 Ibiza is so pretty. There's caves under there!
                                        Scooted around the whole island...for almost 9 hours.

Alright I think that's enough photos! I hope everyone is enjoying fall as much as I am! Time to go for a run :) I just like saying that! Just gonna go running now! hehe I haven't said that in SO long!! :D

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A New Year, a New Quadrennial, a Fresh Start!

January 2, 2013, 5:26 pm
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I always remember my parents saying how time flies as you age. I must be getting old because it's amazing how fast time is passing!  I remember grade 5 feeling like an eternity and now it seems a year has come and gone in a flash.

I'm hoping 2013 will be a fresh start for me.  I'm not expecting to "burst back onto the scene" but I am expecting a year of consistent training with a few races thrown in. I'm focused on performing my best a few years from now so I'm not overly concerned with results for the next little while, just plug along consistently. That's the goal.

I wouldn't say my foot is %100 healed but it's definitely getting there. I can run an hour and swimming is coming along too. I have to respect the amount of time off I had (7 months) and not be too concerned about how slow I am or how tired I get from what I would normally consider minimal training. One foot in front of the other!

Less training volume means I had time to enjoy the holidays with my family and boyfriend.  Lots of quality time with immediate and extended family, good laughs and good food. I even got to go downhill skiing for the first time in ages! (My mom says I was 10 last time.)  I was in the company of some pretty exceptional skiers so I was under some pressure!  I am happy to say I didn't fall and I didn't get injured in any way.  I'll try again in 4 years time :)

January really marks the beginning of my season, at least in my mind. The fall was for easing into some structure and exercise and more just like fluff training (I think I made up a new term!) but now I feel more serious. I've started training with the NTC again and utilizing what's being set up for us from TriCan and our new super HPD Libby Burrell. Anyway, I'm feeling good about the set up and plan back to action!

I hope everyone enjoyed their holidays and I wish you all the best for 2013!
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Yes, This Blog Still Exists!

April 26, 2013, 9:19 pm
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There's a common theory among athlete bloggers and blog readers that when an athlete's blog is neglected, they are likely injured or not going well. I've been asked this a number of times over the past few months since I last blogged. The answer is, yes, I've had ups and downs (which I will speak more on later!) but I am healthy and racing in the next WTS event in 2 weeks time! Point being, I wasn't neglecting my blog on purpose. I am ticking along and enjoying life! So I guess we have a lot to catch up on! Lucky for you, I will spare you the details and eye strain.

First off,  I cannot believe it's nearly May! I started training "properly" in January with my "new-old" coach. That makes sense to me at least ;). I  have basically done base training from then until now. We lucked out in Victoria with some better weather than most winters and I haven't been soaked and freezing too often this year! #canadian #I'mhashtagginginablog #newlow #annnyways

I was fortunate enough to be named to the National Development team by our new high performance director, Libby Burrell. I participated in a national camp in Florida and was based there for the month of February. Having been out of the scene for so long I met a ton of new faces and witnessed a heap of new talent! All in all it was a really great time and I learned a lot. Especially from run specialist Bobby McGee. I hope to work with him more in the future. I trained all 3 sports with no real setbacks during the camp which was an achievement in itself given I was only just back to running any sort of volume. The problem was, in Clermont the only real trails are sandy. Sand is not the friend of a person recovering from plantar fasciitis, let me tell you! My foot was getting tight throughout the camp and we went home at the right time. With lots of treatment and fine tuning of orthotics, along with 2 weeks off running I managed to put out the fire and continue on.

Actually, I take back what I said about having no setbacks at camp. It wasn't a conventional setback but a setback nonetheless. I had a gallbladder attack! Yup, 24 year old 110lb me had a gallbladder attack! I have been struggling with issues since camp but have recently got it under control. I had many doctor and hospital visits in March and into April. Apparently my gallbladder releases bile 10% of the time. Great. There goes my multiple daily fridge stops for a mouthful of whipping cream. I had to say goodbye to bacon too. But, I now have things under control and avoided surgery thus far.

Apart from that odd report, things are great! I'm training at full volume and looking forward to racing! I'm still a ways away from speed work but that will come in due time. I'm just excited to mix it up again! No expectations of "storming back on the scene." Just getting in there and giving a good effort and wherever that takes me, I'm happy with for now! That attitude will change somewhat eventually but for reentering the series long term I don't think there's any other way to approach it. It's spring and I'm healthy! Haven't said that for probably 5 years!!

Thanks to my coach,  Red Bull, Synergy Health Center, D.I.S.C Sports and Spine, Body Works Health and Fitness, and Libby Burrell I am writing a happy post!

Here are a few photos from the past few months:

 Cali sunset
 In the process of healing my foot. That's one bruised calf!
 My sister and I tried to recreate an old favorite photo for my dad's 50th birthday

 
 Swam 6k like this with no Janet Jackson moment!


 
Onesie cooking with Ellen!

 Running with some of those talented youngins I was talking about!

Lovin FL training
More onesie activities. Relaxing (ie trying not to laugh) at our at-home-spa.
 
Me with my cousins, sister and Brandon

Family :)
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Strange Places and Familiar Races

May 20, 2013, 10:44 am
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I started writing this blog, explaining some background of my sob story of the past few years leading into my race in Yokohama to reiterate how happy I was to have made it back to a start line of a WTS. Going over all  my injuries and time off seems redundant, you guys already know all that! No need to dwell on it!! 

So, needless to say I took great pride in toeing the line in Yokohama last week. Even though it's been 2 years away, my years of experience served as an autopilot for setting up/warming up and everything about racing. 

I was ranked last but with a small (albeit, strong!) field, I wasn't too concerned. The gun went off very quickly so i had very little time to think. I got pulled under and pushed back literally within the first 10 strokes. I didn't give it much thought given i had zero expectations for the race. I moved myself to the outside and just put my head down and swam. I decided i should look up to see where i was, dreading looking up to see a sea of arms infront of me. To my surprise, i only saw about 4 people! I looked around the buoy thinking, "this can't be the front" but there was only open water ahead. Feeling smug and comfortable i let a girl up beside me. Then another one came of my other side and i began to get squished in the middle. All this drag and smacking arms landed us a few seconds back from the top 3 girls but i wasn't super concerned. My transitions were rusty but I hopped on my bike in good position and rode straight up to the leaders. 

The bike was super cruisy but i wanted to keep up the pace to keep the second pack from reeling us in. I haven't had a ton of run training and i knew that would be my weakness so a small front group was going to be my ticket. We eventually did get organized and had up to a minute lead at one point. Unfortunately, the skies opened up and a downpour began. Our group was cautious on the corners, which i am thankful for, but unfortunately this caused us to be caught on the last lap. 

My T2 was bad to the point of humor but i was planning to head out on a imaginary solo 10km TT so it didn't reeaaallly matter. Will have to clean that up for next time though! I was nervous of bonking so i took it out comfortably. Looking back, i may have run a little too comfortably but i figured better safe than sorry in my first attempt back. I was already super satisfied with my swim/bike. 

I ran with a smile nearly the entire time. This is what I had worked so hard in rehab for.  I finished in 17th place. I was probably the happiest 17th place finisher in the history of WTS racing! 

Now I'm on the plane home from one of the coolest experiences of my career! The Red Bull Endurance Project.  6 athletes from cycling, running, triathlon and motocross were looked after by 7 of the greatest sport physiology minds as well as a handful of other experts in physio, massage, hydration, mechanics, and nutrition gathered in Mammoth Lakes California.

 We studied our heart, lungs, muscles, brains, blood, urine...literally everything possible. This camp was cutting edge, testing things that have never been tested on athletes like oxygen saturation in the brain and cardiology testing for things like how much force your heart produces with each  pump. We also tested the volume of blood the heart can pump, 24 hour blood sugar monitoring using a device inserted in our backs, the voltage coming from our muscles, the oxygen saturation in our muscles, our heart rate variability through the night showing how much recovery went on...the list goes on and on. My finger got pricked literally 100 times during the 4 day stint of testing, but it was well worth it!  

Besides all this data, we made great new friends, soaked up a lot of info from some great minds (think Tour De France physiology, nutrition and coaching, people who develop their own testing devices and software) we also worked really hard, had a lot of laughs and gave each other a real hard time! Note to self, do not wear toe warmers in California in front of cyclists ;) 

I'm heading home with a lot more knowledge, confidence, friends and clothing ;) I need to thank Red Bull for putting on this amazing camp! I saw first hand what went into it during the camp and can only imagine what went in to this overall. It was cool to see the staff so passionate and having such a great time putting in 20 hour days, cleaning our sweat and drool... they really had the hardest job!  I never could have imagined this would  be the camp i signed up for last winter. It was so much more than anyone could have imagined! 

Now for a little rest, and back to the grind...implementing what I've learned of course!! :)
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Racing!

July 13, 2013, 4:54 am
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Being a "pro triathlete" (not fond of that term but lacking another suitable one!) you'd think racing during race season would be a given. But for me it's a novelty! I'm in the thick of it now and loving every second of it!


 3 weeks ago I raced the Edmonton world cup. I was a little uncertain how it would go, having struggled with an intestinal infection a few weeks prior and was still struggling through the time of the race. I wound up timing it right and having a good day on race day! I got to be part of a special day too. Canadian women took spots 1 through 4!


 I had a hard time recovering from Edmonton bc of my health issues but finished my medication and came around right before Kitzbuhel. I was so looking forward to this event. I love climbing and this definitely delivered some of the best climbing in the world! I rode the course a few days prior to race day and honestly, it was more than I was expecting. I was sure people would be walking their bikes! But come race day it flew by! My plan with my coach was to let the others go and hold my own pace and hopefully they'd come back to me. That's exactly what happened and it couldn't have been timed any better! I caught up about 500m from the dismount line! There was so much hype about the bike course but honestly, it flew by. I blinked and it was 2k to go! The toughest part of the day was the run course! Not to mention transition on a 19% grade hill! I felt like a newbie running to my bike in my bike shoes! It was so hard to get going uphill straight out of transition. I think we all felt (minus Jodie maybe!) like 200lbs on that run! At some of the steeper sections I thought it might actually be faster to speed walk/lunge up the hill like in some xc races at home. I tried but it proved to be a bit slower and I ended up finishing scared with Katie Hewison charging from behind. Sprinting is about the last thing I felt like doing at that point but I'm glad I did!

Kitz is a beautiful part of the world! Wish I had time to take more photos!

 


The course! (Ya it's just that mountain in the middle ;)

I finished in 6th spot, my 2nd best ever WTS result! It was enough for me to make the B standard for the Commonwealth Games next year too! In the next 3 races I'll see if that ends up being enough for qualification. Basically, as long as 3 other Canadian girls don't get a podium in a WTS then I'm in! This way exceeds my expectations for this year!!


I'm just having so much fun racing! It's been since 2007 that I've been able to use all my training for multiple races. The reward is so much sweeter now! I'm just loving the process, everything about it. And with no real expectations for myself, other than trying my best it's really just a party out there! I'm getting back into the groove now. Packed for this weekend's world cup in Palamos, Spain in 30 minutes! (at 10pm before a morning flight, not ideal but keeps you on task!)


 It's pre-race day here now and I'm just relaxing, watching Pretty Little Liars (so addicting) and blogging. Internet-ing has been kept to a minimum on my busy schedule the past few days. I made some memories running intervals in the bus line up at Barcelona airport yesterday! Nothing like a 10 hour travel day within Spain! Hopefully the Kitzbuheler Horn will be gone from my legs tmrw and I can have another good crack! Last week was a bike race, this week I'm predicting a running race. It will be fun to see how I fare against the runners here! Palamos has already brought the heat for us so will be an interesting race!


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Media Release-Hamburg WTS 2013

July 21, 2013, 3:50 am
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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
July 20, 2013

Sarah-Anne Brault Sprints to Career Best Performance in Eleventh at World Triathlon Series
—Kirsten Sweetland cracks top-15, Andrew Yorke leads Canadian men in 20th—

HAMBURG, Ger.—Canada’s Sarah-Anne Brault ran to a career-best performance in World Triathlon Series racing after finishing 11th on Saturday in Hamburg, Germany.

Suiting up in her first WTS race of the year, the 23-year-old Brault clocked a time of 58 minutes 20 seconds.

"Today's race definitely exceeded my expectations by a huge margin,” said Brault, whose previous best on the elite series was an 18th last year in San Diego.  “The level of WTS racing is quite a massive jump from World Cup or Continental cup and I wasn't sure I was quite ready for it.

“I got the swim I needed, and surprised myself in the process, and then jumped on Kirsten’s (Sweetland) wheel because I knew it would be a fast ride to the front! I was thrilled to finally be in the lead pack in a big race. The crowds were amazing on the run, and I just tried to chase down the girls in front, even though I didn’t quite have it in the sprint finish."

One of the rising stars in a talented group of Canadian women poised to make their mark on the elite international stage, Brault is quickly finding her top stride after a late start to the season. The Winnipeger won the silver medal at a Pan American Cup race two weeks ago in Brazil.

“I'm on the right track with training this year. I know the olympic distance is a different beast, and I'm looking forward to having some solid weeks of training before Stockholm."

Another young Canuck, Victoria’s Kirsten Sweetland, also had another impressive result while grabbing the final spot in the top-15 with a time of 58:33.

The pint-sized 24 year old continues to demonstrate her fitness and resiliency after battling injuries that has kept her on the sidelines for a big chunk of the last five years. The comeback kid is slowly climbing back up the international rankings following a bronze-medal finish at the Edmonton World Cup and a stellar sixth-place result on the toughest triathlon course in the world earlier this month in Kitzbuhel, Austria.

Germany’s Anne Haug brought the hometown crowd to its after pulling away from the field in the last 800 metres of the run to win the women’s race with a time of 57:21. Haug pulled ahead of two British athletes, who jumped onto the silver and bronze-medal steps of the podium. Non Stanford was second at 57:35, while Jodie Stimpson snagged third spot at 57:36.

Calgary’s Ellen Pennock was the only other Canadian in the women’s field, and finished 31st (59:13).

Canada’s Andrew York was just shy of chalking up a career-best result of his own in the men’s World Triathlon Series sprint race in Hamburg. After coming out of the water in the middle of the pack in the field of 58 athletes, Yorke, of Caledon, Ont., powered his way through to the chase pack on the bike, and hung on for 20h place at 52:43.

The top-three triathletes on the planet battled shoulder-to-shoulder in an electrifying pace in Germany. Taking turns at the front of the pack after exiting the water, Jonathan and Alistair Brownlee pulled away from the field with Spain’s Javier Gomez for the five-kilometre run. Running stride-for-stride, the Brownlee’s dropped Gomez in the push to the finish where the two brothers emptied the tank and lunged for the finish.

When the dust finally settled, it was the younger brother, Jonathan, who came out on top at 51:05. Alistair Brownlee was on his heels in second, also at 51:05; while Gomez settled for the bronze medal with a time of 51:14.

Two other Canadians also completed the sixth stop of the eight-race World Triathlon Series. Kyle Jones, of Oakville, Ont., was solid in 25th (53:03), while Victoria’s Andrew McCartney placed 42d (53:38).

Triathlon Canada is the governing body for triathlon in the country. Recognized as an Olympic medal sport since 2000 and Paralympic medal sport as of 2016, Triathlon Canada’s mandate is to promote, foster, organize and develop the sport of triathlon, and its related disciplines, in Canada. For more information on Triathlon Canada, please visit us at www.triathloncanada.com on the Internet.

Complete Results (750 metre swim, 20 kilometre bike, 5 kilometre run): www.triathlon.org
Top-Five Women and Canadian Results:
1. Anne Haug, GER, 57:21; 2. Non Stanford, GBR, 57:35; 3. Jodie Stimpson, GBR, 57:36; 4. Andrea Hewitt, NZL, 57:40; 5. Ashleigh Gentle, AUS, 57:41
Other Canadian Results:
11. Sarah-Anne Brault, Winnipeg, 58:20; 15. Kirsten Sweetland, Victoria, 58:33; 31. Ellen Pennock, Calgary, 59:13.

Top-Five Men and Canadian Results:
1. Jonathon Brownlee, GBR, 51:05; 2. Alistair Brownlee, GBR, 51:05; 3. Javier Gomez, ESP, 51:14; 4. Richard Murray, RSA, 51:42; 5. Mario Mola, ESP, 51:46
Other Canadian Results:
20. Andrew Yorke, Caledon, Ont., 52:43; 25. Kyle Jones, Oakville, Ont., 53:03; 42. Andrew McCartney, Victoria, 53:38.
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Mission Race Block Completed! (for the first time....like ever)

July 30, 2013, 11:06 am
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I think I've done more races in the past 5 weeks than I have in 3 years! I'm happy to have had 4 consistent performances, well above what I expected. I had a ton of fun, no nerves, no disappointment, no (bad) pain...just an all round good time!! It's amazing how much fun our sport is when politics are removed and when nothing hurts! :)

Everyone knows athletes post on social media more often at training camp because we have nothing to do outside of training. I'm no exception. It's not that I do a ton at home but for some reason I always have way more free time at camp. Although I am sorely missing family time and coffee dates with non athlete friends!

This year Triathlon Canada has set up summer camp in Vitoria, Spain. When we arrived I was expecting a small village type town and our accom to be a Spanish style villa. I was way off. We are in a super modern hotel next to a massive shopping mall in a fairly big city! The best part is, if you bike for 10 minutes you are out in the countryside among the small towns and villas I had imagined. We get the best of both worlds! I spent a few days checking out old town and the shops but now I'm back to training.

After Kitzbuhel I came here quickly, dropped my bags and left again for a Palamos world cup. I wasn't sure how I'd feel soon after the beast that was Kitzbuhel but I actually felt good! I had some unfortunate events in the swim and was trying desperately to stay in somewhat close contact with the breakaway group so I could ride up but a penalty in T1 for a false start (which is being reviewed now) forced me to chase the main pack instead of the breakaway. I worked hard, almost completely on my own to bridge the gap to the group out front with no luck. We were a large group with me and 1 other girl working against a small organized group out front..not exactly a recipe for success! I had a better run than I expected though and we ended up chasing down most of the breakaway on the run for 5th place.

After Palamos I arrived in Bilbao airport to a nice surprise. My boyfriend, Brandon was waiting there for me!  He stayed for a few days but then we were off again for Hamburg WTS. This would be my 4th race in 5 weeks. Sprint distance is not in my favor and neither is the flat, technical course so I was going in with really no expectation of doing well, just learning and having a good time. I exceeded my expectations though which seems to be the theme for this year (not that the expectations were high!!) I had a great start but got majorly caught up at the first buoy. If anyone watched the video, I'm the one hanging on to the kayak ;)  I survived the bike and ran alright considering the circumstances! The crowd in Hamburg is incredible. This was the 4th time I'd raced there and the 1st time I felt somewhat good but no matter how I feel, the crowd always seems to give me an extra boost! 300,000 triathlon fans will do that! I placed 15th in a tight women's race. There was less than a minute between the podium and 15th place. The depth of women's racing is certainly at an all time high!

The next day was the team event. This was my first team race experience and it was so much fun! I started us off then tagged off the Kyle. He had us right in the mix but suffered a small crash on a sketchy corner where a lot of people seemed to be crashing at the tail end of the ride. Sarah-Anne went 3rd and Andrew Yorke brought us home in 9th place. Libby, our high performance director's goal for us was top 10 so we just  squeaked in there!

When I got back to our home base in Vitoria I was pretty tired. I felt good through this whole 5 week racing block but it finally caught up with me when it was all finished.  I took a week off/easy and now I'm ready to get going again for my final block of training for the ITU season! I'm excited to get a bit of running in before Stockholm and London.

Here are a few photo's of the past few weeks!



My attempt to show how steep transition was in Kitzbuhel...doesn't do it justice! :)




My friend took of photo of the TV watching live. Nice background...didn't notice in the race!


 Post race ride scenery in Kitz

 Old town in Vitoria
 Indoor go karting with Brandon. I nearly died from the exhaust! #notexaggerating #much

 Hamburg! That's where we swam

H
 2 awesome girls who just so happen to be my team mates! #best

 Palamos start line screen shot. Me in my favorite spot, the edge!


Start of the team relay in Hamburg. I'm in there somewhere!

 Super physio Mairlyn lovin the Spanish way of life :)

 As seen on most rides here in Vitoria


 More downtown Vitoria


 My ride for everything that's not training. Note the dropped top tube... perfect for riding in dresses :)

 There is tons of street art and graffiti in Vitoria

 

A girl's gotta know how to unwind! :) 

That's all for now! I've got 3 solid weeks of training before Stockholm. I'm sure this blog won't go untouched before then! 

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Making it Through the Break (Pardon the pun)

September 4, 2013, 12:05 pm
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Whilst cruising the Basque country roads today I started thinking about my career as a whole. The struggles and personal triumphs. It's likely because I'm currently battling yet another force opposing me in my athletic endeavors. The return of the intestinal infection. I won't go into detail but I have been forced to take a step back, not brought to halt but far from what would be ideal circumstances. I was thinking about all this as I rode along.

This is just another wave in the break. I started imagining my career as waves crashing to shore. In order to get out into the open, or even better, surf your way in, first you must duck through a series a waves coming hard at you. Some you manage to duck under, others crash into you and push you back to shore, tumbling almost all the way in leaving you a little bruised and battered. So you start again, and again. Eventually, if you get far enough the waves become easier to pass and you are free to swim in the calm waters. The ride back in, rocketing to shore on top of the wave is the reward for your efforts. Those few seconds of elation make it all worth it. This is sport.

Every fracture, torn ligament, concussion etc I've ever had is just a wave that knocked me. I feel like am reaching the last few waves and although this one has knocked me back, it wasn't all the way. I'm almost in the calm waters.

When I think of the setting of my personal metaphorical career, I picture Jaws! As much as I would like it to be a lagoon or the beaches near my house with tiny ripples hitting the pebbled beaches...it's definitely Jaws. Or at least some famous surfing location like in Indonesia. Hopefully, if/when I make it to the surf part, I'll have as good of a time as this guy!





Anyway, just my thought for the day! I've ridden many solo hours this year. It's good time to let thoughts wander.
In case anyone is worried about the infection; I'm doing everything can I from here to control it and I'm actually coming around. I'll get looked after at home in 11 days!! #countdownison And yes, I will definitely be racing London and giving my best effort! I raced Edmonton with this infection so hope of having a good day is not lost! I'll just be extra tapered ;)
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I Guess This is in Order...

September 11, 2013, 2:35 pm
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Well, all I can say is it's September and I'm fit and uninjured...

I have to be happy about that, but it's hard to appreciate when the Grand Final is this weekend and I'm sitting in Vancouver airport.

Since I last posted, my stomach problems got to the point where I couldn't finish my 10min easy run off the bike. Some more symptoms came up that made me question racing.  After lots of discussions, I decided to withdraw from the event. In the words of my wise coach, "We go to world championships to race, not hope we can finish."
 I refuse to make a spectacle of myself as I have in the past. I'm not well enough to race so I'm not going to try and over ride my body this time around! The things you learn with age! :)

So, with that I regret to inform everyone of my absence on the starting line. I have a doctor's appointment set up for tomorrow and will now start the process of getting better quickly. We have a strong idea (based on scans from the spring) and I honestly hope that is the case! Just get that little angry gallbladder out of me!

Anyway, I do have to remember the positives of this year. We passed my expectations by a mile and had a ton of fun in the process! I have to give a massive thanks to my coach Shaun. He started with a very broken, long untrained athlete this January. I could have never imagined to post the races I did this year, let alone races at all! Of course another big thanks to Red Bull for sticking by me at all costs, they are really the best back up I could ever ask for. Jim at BWHF and Jamie and Synergy for keeping me in one piece this year. Thank you to my family, boyfriend and friends for keeping me sane! As well as all the TriCan staff in Europe with us through the summer. And of course my amazing teammates for making everything that much more fun! I'm sad I'm not in London to watch you all kick butt!

I'll post an update once we figure some more things out. For now, I'm going to hop on this little puddle jumper to Victoria and give my mom a big birthday hug!!! First things first :)

To all those racing in London, all the best!!
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Problem Solving

November 16, 2013, 4:16 pm
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A bit of time has passed since my last post. Between hospitals, doctor offices, airports and vacations the time has FLOWN by. I start back training formally this monday. I thought an update was in order as I mark the start of my 2014 season.

By October I'd had every test out there, flown to the states and paid big $$ (thanks Red Bull :) I'd been poked and prodded and scoped all with no real answers. It was beginning to get frustrating.  I almost didn't even care what it was as long as we had definitive results. I did find out that my intestines had been bleeding and that I had a twist in them but that was it.

After all that all it took to get my answer was a $200 blood test right here in Victoria.  I'm glad I ruled everything else out though, so no regrets. Turns out I am extremely sensitive to dairy and eggs! That's it! Well when I say that's it, it's pretty severe as far as food sensitivities go. My antibody response was through the roof. If the unit response is about 500-600 you are advised to avoid the food. Mine was 2700! After only a few days of cutting out dairy and eggs I was back to normal! No more fatigue, hot flashes, rashes or tummy aches. It all just disappeared. I mean as soon as I stopped training my health improved a bit obviously but this was complete! Fiiinally!

So with that, I have a remodeled diet (a boring one) and I should be fine! I've just got one more gallbladder test next week to just rule out one last component.

All those tortillas (spanish egg dish), cafe con leches and delicious spanish cheese's didn't do me any favors this summer. I never noticed because eggs and dairy are in like every meal unless you are purposely avoiding them.

I did manage to figure it all out in time to go on vacation! Maui with my aunt straight on to Fiji with Brandon. I love the beach so much. This was good for the soul! haha Here are a few photos from the past 2 months:

 off season trail riding with the girls :)

 Before Dad's marathon
 Oh ya, I climbed Haleakala crater while in Hawaii. 1 bad wrong turn and 7 hours later I arrived here

 XTerra worlds is DEFINITELY on my agenda for next year. Come on body hold it together next time!!
 Maui sunset
 Paia beach my fave

 Surfing some small waves in Maui

 Endless pool at our hotel in Fiji

 Kava from some locals

 Resort at sunset


Hikin some moutains with Brandon in Fiji

 The views weren't bad

 Will never be ungrateful for our sports centre!!

 Rode jet skis to this sand bar off the coast. This picture doesn't do it justice!

 Not a bad place for a buffet :)

 Sailing out to some islands


 like this

 Island life is so hard



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California Dreamin! #sterotypicaltitle #usedironically

January 29, 2014, 1:28 pm
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 It has come to this. Hashtags in my title. #yup

Anyway!

I meant to write a blog at New Years and then a month went by somehow?! So maybe by now everyone has gotten over their New Years blog overdose and is ready for some more ramblings from triathletes? Maybe.

So if you have regained your appetite for training updates and pictures of sunny destinations…here we are; California Dreamin! ;)

I went to California for some warm(er) training in early December. It was my first time going there for training and it did not disappoint! US team member and J-Squad comedian, Tommy Zaferes was kind enough to show me around his hometown of Aptos. I stayed for 2 weeks and loved every minute of it! The running trails there make me so happy! As well as the endless quiet roads and mountains.  I won't talk it up too much or else the locals will hate me for blowing their secret spot!! ;)

I went home for Christmas and had a nice holiday season with my family. It was nice to miss all the commotion leading up and come home right before the celebrations! I did pick up the flu while at home which was unfortunate but only a speed bump!

I headed back to Aptos after Christmas and now I'm on the plane on my way back home. This latest trip was mainly alone, which was a first for me. I think it's a sign you really love what you do when you have a great time doing all your training at camp alone! That or you are crazy….either one. :) I really enjoyed myself and got lots of good sessions logged.  I'm going to miss the running trails at Nisene park dearly. We had some great times together, Nisene and I!

I did have a little bike crash down there. First one since the infamous Sydney WTS in 2011. I'm going to blame the drunk pavers in the Santa Cruz county. Never mind the fact that I was looking at my bad parking job and not where I was going as I passed my house. I hit a large bump (I told Bevan Docherty who also lives in Santa Cruz the story and he was like "I know that bump!"…just so to validate my excuse ;) I flew straight over the bars into a median curb and completely cracked my helmet and shredded my handlebar. Not just the tape, a lot the carbon too! I somehow came out relatively unscathed. No head injury which is surprising based on the state of my helmet. I left pretty much all the skin from my knee on Seascape Blvd. That's been a bit annoying as well as some bruised ribs but otherwise, I'm fine! Even finished the session and the run off the bike after I got my bike fixed. The crash didn't end up costing me anything! Except for a lot of Neosporin :)

The weather was insanely nice for this time of year with temperatures between 20 and 30C the entire time and sun every single day. It certainly makes training a lot easier and I'm definitely more motivated to get out the door in that kind of weather!

What next? Well, I'm home for 10 days in order to get myself organized and grounded, catching up with family and friends and taking a little rest. Then I'm off to Australia. I'm so excited! Australia and I get on quite well! I will be heading to Noosa for some training leading into the World Cup in Mooloolaba and then New Plymouth and the first World Series event in Auckland. Boy this season is already flying! Doesn't seem like that long ago I was sipping cocktails in Hawaii and Fiji!

I'm going to miss Santa Cruz in all it's hippie glory but so looking forward to what's next too! I hope everyone had a great holiday season and for those of you in the polar vortex, staying warm!!! My family in Newfoundland has had a rough go! We aren't kidding when we say "West coast, best coast!" ;)

Until next time,  here are a few snaps!

 First ride in Sunny SC!
 The sunsets here are noteworthy!



 As is the Mexican food!


 Notorious B-U-M-P (the photo does NOT do it justice!!)


Views on the ride

Dance party at the Docherty household

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It's about time!

March 25, 2014, 12:36 am
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I may have written about this before but my dad always used to tell me "You get out of it what you put into it." But after 5 years straight of doing all the training and never making it to the races I started to doubt this saying!
Lately, whilst warming up, setting up transition and just being in the atmosphere of racing, I can't help but smile to myself thinking "Finally! This is what I've been missing all these years!" Finally, I'm lining up on start lines with no ailments, no injuries, just a body that's ready to do what it's told! This results in a very good state of being on the start line. A mixture of calmness and joy, as cheesy as that sounds. And really, that's about it!  I don't feel so happy anywhere else as I do at a race. Which means it's been a pretty good 2 weeks for me then!
                          Game face intimidation factor: Zero

Last weekend was the first bigger race of the year, the ever famous Mooloolaba World Cup. It's known for being a gritty course, hard from start to finish. Between the surf swim, the wind, the 16 hills on the bike and 8 hills on the run, it's sure to put you in your place early in the season. This year was a little different though. It was for one, a sprint distance and they also changed the swim to the calm (shark infested!!) canal and took the hill out of the run. So it was definitely a less daunting first race but it was hard not to feel like it was missing it's essence!

I had a good start to the season overall. I had a great swim, exiting the water in 3rd. As much as I tried, a break away on the bike just wasn't in the cards and so, it came down to the run. I felt alright and was able to hold strong for 7th place. A result I was pleased with given the depth of field and the time of year. Also, big performance from the friendliest of friends, Ellen Pennock who ran her way to 4th spot! Ya, she's 21..watch out!

After the race I drove down to the Gold Coast to stay with good friend and Aussie team member, Ashleigh Gentle. I had such a nice time with her and her family and was spoilt rotten!

It was a quick turnaround and off to NZL just a few short days later. I arrived in the friendliest town I've yet to come across, New Plymouth. This is my 3rd trip here and certainly won't be my last! I have the most lovely homestay I could ask for and am feeling right at home!

The World Cup here last weekend was another fabulous day. The weather was perfect, there was a very strong list of girls which felt more like a Championship Series than a World Cup! Once again, I had a surprisingly good swim and exited the water 2nd. The bike course was hilly and technical and a group of 13 of us (i believe) were able to stay away from the rest of the field. I had a pretty shocking T2 and started the run last of my pack. I really wanted a chance to run with "the big girls" so to speak so I made my way up to them and hung on for as long as I could. This was for about half of the 5km run. I ended up crossing the line in 5th spot behind some girls that I'm very pleased to be in the company of! So that was a great day for both me and for our Canadian team. Both Paula Findlay and I finished inside the top 10 in the women's event and Kyle Jones finished 8th in the men's. 3 top 10's ain't too shabby! :)

Our youngest team member, 19 year old Tyler Mislawchuk, in his 2nd ever World Cup was doing a fantastic job when his day was cut short by a crash in front of him at the tail end of the bike ride. He fared  the worst and ended up in hospital with a broken jaw, teeth and stiches in his chin. The good news is, he is out of surgery and healing up nicely. What a trooper! He's going to be a name to watch out for in the near future, that's for sure!

Otherwise, things here are great! Just another 9 days here in New Plymouth with Cheryl and Allen and then off to Auckland for round 1 of the World Championship Series. :) Happy days!

Here are some photos of my Oceania trip thus far:
 On the run in good company in NP last weekend :)
 Beach start in NP
 I had lots of local support and team mates taking photos at this race!

 Trying to escape the big group in Mooloolaba ;)
 Mt. Taranaki here in NP. Hopefully I'll get to ride it while I'm here!
Finish in NP. So close but so far! ;)

 Not a bad spot for swim training :)
 More NP race shots
 My initial feelings about driving on the left!

 My "home base" training center in Noosa. Life is so tough ;)

 Little QLD series race to kick of the season. Podium with Ashleigh Gentle and Emma Jackson

 Best part :)

 Mooloolaba race day was a hot one!
 Screen shot on the phone for this one! Ellen and I reppin the red and white

 Coastal adventures with Ash



Lot's more adventures to come! Back to Noosa next week then Cape Town, Noosa once more and then Tokyo and home! 


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Grateful for a New Hand

April 30, 2014, 3:30 am
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I know how that sounds. My physical hands are just fine thank you. I'm talking poker here. 

"Don't show your cards"

How many times have I heard this one throughout my career. I've never been the best at following this advice as I'm a pretty transparent person by nature but that's beside the point.

Today I thought of a new poker reference pertaining to sport. If you fold, you are soon dealt a new hand. Another chance to turn the game around. Particularly this year, we are dealt a new hand every 3 weeks it seems! In Auckland, I was dealt a poor hand, but 3 weeks later, another chance arose. This time was a little better!

I'm sure there were lots of you wondering what was going on in Auckland when I was dropped from not one but TWO bike packs on a course that was seemingly designed for my strengths. At the time, I was also wondering the same thing! Right from the get go, it was just not my body. I had absolutely nothing to give and my quads were cramping deep inside. Helen Jenkins told me she actually heard me let out a tiny whimper on one of the hills haha! Involuntary whimpering during a race generally does not point in the direction of success.
After the initial flicker of "where can i get off this course?" I kept my thoughts positive though:

"Maybe my legs are just taking a while to warm up" - They didn't warm up.

"Maybe the packs will come together"- They did, after I was dropped from the 2nd one.

"Maybe I will feel good on the run"- I didn't.

I narrowly avoided full body spasm and crossed the line. Then the full body spasm began. Not my favorite moment in life.

Turns out I had contracted some sort of virus and was unaware until I really pushed my body. There were a number of people I knew with the same thing, which as terrible as it sounds was comforting (it's not cancer!). The following 2 weeks were rough. I tried some easy training and couldn't cope. For a while I couldn't get out of bed.
Just when I was beginning to get concerned and reconsidered making a 30 hour trip to South Africa, the strangest thing happened. I showed up to pilates class and before we even started, I broke into a crazy cold sweat. Like pouring.. how embarrassing! After that, things were starting to move on a more favorable trajectory. Good enough to keep my plans of boarding the 747 alive. Barely.

Once the seemingly never ending journey to Cape Town was complete, I was greeted by the super smiley Vicky Van Der Merwe. She would be my gracious host for a few days in Stellenbosch. What a stunning little town! In all of it's yuppie/hipster/Boulder-esque glory it's a really fantastic place to train, not to mention eat. I could go on forever. I will be back!

Cape Town was equally stunning. We all stayed in a large flat together, team Canada united! This was the first time since Beijing '08 house I believe. It was really nice, we've got a good team these days!

The lead up to the race was fairly smooth. The only drama was the water temperature. The rules state that the swim will be cancelled in anything under 12C. The water temperature on race morning was 11.1C. Uh oh. Luckily, after input from medical staff and coaches we were granted 1 lap of the swim. But once I felt the water, even that felt too long! haha

I was happy and relaxed pre race. Being ranked next to Vix Holland is always a good time. The start was delayed about 20 minutes and they were playing some serious Euro dance tunes. There were some moves busted whilst waiting to walk onto the pontoon. Aileen Reid has got some gangster moves. And after watching Anna Maria Mazzetti groovin, I've decided I want to party with her in Edmonton.

But back to the racing. Apologies, it was a long delay lined up out there!

I had pretty much the worst start imaginable. Me and cold water have never amounted to anything remotely close to fast, ever, so I should not be surprised.
The good thing about being essentially last while everyone is still swimming in one big horizontal line is that you can move around! I moved to the outside, then noticed that the pack wasn't aiming tight for the first buoy. So I moved back across to the inside. I got the inside line and didn't get touched! This never happens. But it did, again and again until we were on the straight away back into transition. I exited and realized I was in the front pack!

We got on our bikes and pushed the pace immediately to string things out. And this time, it worked! 11 of us had a 25' gap which grew to 2:13 by the end of the bike. Everyone in our group was working hard. It was ideal!
I still had numb feet from the water and executed probably the most rookie T2 of the day. It is a 27 seconds I would like to forget. That didn't set me up well for a good position on the run, especially because it was super windy and I had no one to run behind!  I felt heavy and slow but pushed on. I was running in 5th for most of the race until Gwen blew past me and eventually Anne Haug got me right in the finishing chute! I was disappointed with my run and had a difficult time accepting all the congratulatory messages wholeheartedly because though it's my best result of the year, I didn't feel I expressed what I'm capable of right now. But that being said, if you told me 2 weeks ago that I would place 7th in a WTS I would have just laughed at you from the fort in my bed.

So, a blog of mixed events and emotions but happy to have come out the other side after a rough few weeks! I'm back in Noosa training for 2 weeks now leading into Yokohama. JR ,the swim coach here is way too excited to put the hurt on me in the pool.... going to be a good 2 weeks of much needed training!

 Oh and also, it seems people have been misled from the commentary during the race. The Commonwealth Games team has not been officially announced yet. I also got a top 8 last year so this one wasn't anything of significance regardless! But it is nice to make the standard in a more typical ITU format as compared to Kitzbuhel!


Here are some photos from South Africa:



                                             Riding hard into the wind
                                           African sunrises never disappoint
                                                     Stellenbosch :)

Cape Town

                                            In good company :)
                                          Finish chutes are the best 

                                                       Like this proverb!
                                            Captured Sarah capturing the view!


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It's Worth It

July 16, 2014, 5:31 am
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Almost a year I wrote a post called Making It Through The Break

"I started imagining my career as waves crashing to shore. In order to get out into the open, or even better, surf your way in, first you must duck through a series a waves coming hard at you. Some you manage to duck under, others crash into you and push you back to shore, tumbling almost all the way in leaving you a little bruised and battered. So you start again, and again. Eventually, if you get far enough the waves become easier to pass and you are free to swim in the calm waters. The ride back in, rocketing to shore on top of the wave is the reward for your efforts. Those few seconds of elation make it all worth it. This is sport. Every fracture, torn ligament, concussion etc I've ever had is just a wave that knocked me."

I finally caught a wave! It took a few years (and they call surfers patient! ;)
But let me tell you, it's worth every tear, minute, dollar, appointment, scan...everything I put into the last 5 years. It's SO worth it!  It was only one performance, I realize this but that feeling of expressing your potential, even just once is just the greatest one there is! Especially when you thought you may never get the opportunity again!

I returned home from Yokohama this spring a little broken down from too much travel and a nasty virus. I took a holiday when I got home and ironically, went surfing! haha

After that little refresher I was good and ready for a good block of training. And a good block is what I got! I swam with Coach Carolyn at the national centre in Victoria and ran with local speedster Marilyn Arsenault and her coach and sports centre physiologist Trent Stellingwerff. The support I have at home is amazing! I was at the sport centre frequently making good use of the lab, nutritionist, doctors, massage and everything they have to offer!

I gained a lot at home. Fitness, time with friends and family, a little surfing trip, and a little relaxing time in Whistler. It was a really great month!

From Victoria I left for Europe with a stop over at round 5 of the World Series in Chicago. I was feeling fit and excited and ready to race. It turned out the be quite hot and humid on race day which didn't really play into my favor this time around. I can be hit or miss in the heat but the humidity really got to me that weekend. I had a really rough swim, right from the get go. I think I was like 50th after the first lap of the swim! I don't remember how or when really but I put my head down and managed to get into the breakaway group at the front on the bike. We came off the bike with a 1:00 gap I believe. I started the run with Helen and Juri Ide at the front and was feeling great. After about 3km I started to get really hot though. Cold shivers were running down my back and they were only handing out hot water at the aid stations! I had flashbacks of Des Moines World Cup in 2007, the Olympic qualifier where I fainted 400m from the line due to heat. I decided to respect the conditions and backed off. I started to fade quite a bit on the last lap and ended up in a sprint finish with friend and training partner, Emma Moffatt. We ended up in a photo finish for 6th and 7th haha. I got 7th of course!

After Chicago we headed over to our new European base in Girona, Spain. Emma, Ashleigh Gentle and I arrived to join Jan and Emma Frodeno. We have a great little setup with our massage therapist Roger Leeson and his wife who is a physio does our Pilates classes. We are more than set over here! We are all loving Spanish summer and training here.
 
One day we'll ride down these ;)
                                        I've swam in some pretty spectacular pools this year!
 
Muchas cafe con leches (soy ;)
 
Rooftop Pilates
 
                                                         Spain is okay I guess...


Next up was round 6 of the World Series in Hamburg, Germany. A sprint distance race with something like 47 of the top 50 world ranked girls. 10 days out of the Commonwealth Games it was a perfect little test of the legs!

I was feeling really good in training and in the days leading into the race but I wasn't thinking too much about it. I never get nervous for races and this was no exception. I just love soaking up the atmosphere!

I had a good start and got a little hung up at the buoys but didn't lose a ton of ground and exited the swim 10 seconds back of the leaders. The bike went by really quick. I did a fair portion of the work but preferred to stay at the front through all the corners, especially with such a big group! T2 went smoothly and I was out onto the run in the top few. I felt so good running. Well, more like I felt nothing running! I knew my legs were turning but I couldn't really feel it. It was the best! I've only had that feeling in a race once or twice before. It makes racing quite enjoyable! :) Emma Jackson and I ended up in a battle to the finish, changing positions back and forth a few times before she eventually nabbed me about 10m before the line. I finished elated! My cheeks were cramping from smiling so much! I've always wanted to be on the podium in Hamburg so I could pour the beer!

What an experience! Congratulations to Gwen and Emma for 1st and 2nd, class athletes they are!

 I have to thank Red Bull for supporting me without question over the past 3 years. All the trips to specialists in the US for my feet and stomach, setting me up with my coach, spoiling me when I needed it most. These guys really saved my career! Libby Burrell and Triathlon Canada for welcoming me back in after a rough few years both physically and politically, Roger and Kristi Leeson,  my chiropractor Jamie Grimes at Synergy Clinic, Oakley, Aquaman, and Funkita for outfitting me and of course my friends and family for their unwavering support and adding so much to my life outside of triathlon!

Up next is my first major games! The triathlon at Commonwealth Games in Glasgow is 8 days away! Can't wait! Thanks everyone for all the kind messages this week. I've read and appreciated every single one and apologies if I haven't yet responded!

                                                         Ruthless ;) Sorry Emma!





                         300,000 spectators out watching the race. Hamburg is a race like none other!





                                                                  Deafening cheers!










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Spanish Summer Part Dos

September 6, 2014, 5:18 pm
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So a little bit has happened since my last post! This season has flown by. Each one seems to go quicker and quicker!

In July I had my first games experience in Glasgow! It was a bit of a whirlwind and almost feels like it didn’t happen! We stayed in the athletes village which was a really cool experience and though a bit tiring, I wouldn't trade it this time around!


As for the race, well most people that follow this blog already would know the end result! That was a really tough race and I’m really happy with my performance. That podium ceremony is something I will never forget. Its been so long since the race I’m not sure I could give a good race report honestly! Basically I got a bit caught up in the swim, had to chase pretty hard on the bike and then tried to relax and recover later in the ride. Then it was all down to the run! I didn’t feel amazing all day so it was a real mental game. I stuck in as long as I could and wound up willing myself down the blue carpet in 2nd place! I’d say it’s one of the races I’m most proud of in my whole career because it was on a day when I wasn’t feeling great but wanted it so badly it happened :) What an experience it was! 



After Glasgow I headed back to my base in Girona, Spain for a few more weeks of training before the final 2 races. I have to thank Emma Moffatt for continuing to be my training buddy despite calling her ITU season after Glasgow. I really appreciated that and also Emma Snowsill who joined me on many sessions and was always there for moral support, good chats, advice, wisdom and feeding me the best raw cakes and coffee! Those few weeks flew by and before I knew it, it was almost time to pack up and leave Girona for the year!

I was lucky enough to have a visit from my crazy busy coach, Shaun Stephens on his way from Monaco to the south of Spain for the Vuelta. It was really great to catch up in person after almost 5 years!! Crazy to think the person I talk to almost daily over the computer is someone I hadn’t seen in 5 years!

Unfortunately just before leaving I caught a cold and was not feeling so hot. I spent the 4 or 5 days leading into Stockholm desperately trying every homeopathic remedy in the book to regain strength and health in a very short amount of time! I was literally eating raw ginger like it was a carrot stick!

On race day I figured I had no reason not to try and just see what happens! The goal was always Edmonton so I wasn’t going to do anything silly but if I felt alright of course I would give it a shot! The weather conditions weren’t ideal for racing whilst sick though! Sub 14 degree water (i know they said 15 but none of us believed that! ;) air temps in the teens as well and then rain and wind thrown in there too! I chose not to do the swim familiarization the day before the race and I didn’t do a swim warm up so when I dove in it was the first time I’d experienced the water! I didn’t seem to matter though because I had a great start! I came out of the water in 9th place I believe but with numb hands I struggled to get my helmet on. I made the front group though and noticed quite early on the we had a small-ish lead group with a bit of a gap to the rest of the field. Luckily a few of us were motivated and we got organized pretty quickly. We continued to stretch our lead out to about a minute I believe over the 20km cobbled, hilly, wet and technical bike course. I was still totally numb when we got off our bikes and have no idea how I got my shoes on! Transition was on a big hill so that was a shock to the system when we started running. Only a few strides in we were barreling down a steep, wet cobbled hill and with numb legs I was unable to get to the very front with the 2 US girls Sarah and Lindsay. I think Andrea and I were in the same boat and just found our legs and pace a little later on. I made it around the 2 lap run course feeling fairly relaxed and controlled but when it was time to sprint up that big hill deciding 2nd, 3rd and 4th positions, I had nothing to respond with a settled for 4th. It was really a surprise to me based on the condition with which I was going into the race so although my initial goal was a podium, I was very happy to walk away with a solid 4th place and a boost in the rankings of the World Series. All in all Stockholm was a success!

Or so I thought!! Upon landing in Calgary from a very smooth trip I started to feel a little funny. I thought it was likely the travel and perhaps hunger. So after the drive to Edmonton I got myself a burrito and blueberry juice. BAD idea knowing now what was to come. I felt really nauseous and went to sleep early from the jet lag. Next thing I knew I was running to the bathroom. Every hour on the hour I was getting rid of that burrito and what seemed like everything I'd ever eaten in my entire life! hahaha Worst night ever! I spent the next day in the fetal position with a fever and wicked head and body aches. Guess it’s wasn’t food poisoning!  The next 24hrs were about waiting it out. Fortunately I slept from noon until 7:30am the next day! Then the worst was over. After not eating for 40hrs I was pretty weak. I spent the next few days trying to fuel up and recover while still staying a little bit sharp for the race. At this point I still had that head cold from Stockholm so conditions were less than ideal but I was confident I could still have a performance similar to Stockholm.

Boy was I wrong! I had an upset stomach the night before the race and woke up in a sweat, both out of the ordinary for me but I brushed it off and got ready to race!

 I had probably the best swim start of my life with just Carol, Lucy and myself out front. After getting the outside around the buoys I lost a few positions and finished the first lap in 4th. Though I was in great position, it felt horrible. The 2nd lap got worse. My stroke rate was slow, my whole body felt flushed with lactic. It was not how I normally feel in the swim. I exited the swim in 9th I believe and lost more positions in the run to T1.  I got on my bike and made it into the small-ish front group. This was ideal, but the fact that I couldn’t move from the back of the pack was not. I was just so weak and rushing with lactic. My stomach was really upset and I was beginning to heave involuntarily. I got dropped from the first pack after the hill. Whilst riding solo I threw up off the side of my bike. I sat up and rode along, not really thinking about anything as far as I can remember. Just heaving hahaha. I was caught by the 2nd pack and unable to help out whatsoever so I assumed position at the back. When we went through transition and everyone got out of the saddle I could feel I was getting dropped again and asked myself the question “Do you really want to go out for another 11km?” The answer was a clear no. It was not happening for me today. I pulled off the road beside our mechanic and leaned over to be sick again but that part was over thankfully. I continued dry heaving for the next hour or so and sat in the support of my family and team staff.

A few U23 boys got sick the night before and during the race as well so it seems I may have picked up ANOTHER flu. That says something about the state of my immune system after a season packed full of global travel and racing! It was so upsetting to me that this year, I had done everything right. I was fit, healthy and in the mental and physical shape for a really good performance. Having that taken away by something out of my control like a flu bug was just hard to accept. I really thought I could still race decently. And seeing the way the race played out made it even harder. But I was quickly reminded of all the positives this year so I didn’t stay upset for long! I swallowed that pill and accepted my ranking of 9th overall in the series. I was going into Edmonton hoping for a podium but when I remember back to last year, making my goal top 10 in the series which I thought would be really hard and best case scenario, I have to be happy with the fact that I achieved that without the grand final! One of these days I will finish a grand final!!!

After that I stuck around a few days and went to the ITU Hall of Fame gala where I got to see people like Mark Allen, Simon Lessing, Greg Welch, Emma Carney, Karen Smyers and Les McDonald get inducted into the ITU’s hall of fame. These were my idols growing up and getting to meet them and chat with them was a really great experience. I also got to cheer on the rest of the races and even organized a girls brunch with a bunch of the elite women so they could experience a Canadian breakfast! All in all, even though the week didn’t start so well it ended alright! 
 
That's Mark Allen! 

  
Girls and the lucky guy at the gala ;)

 
Post race brunch with some ITU fwiends! 


It got even better when my bud Ellen and I went on a little road trip to Banff! It was my first time experiencing the rockies that I have memory and it did not disappoint! Our country is a beautiful place and it’s so great to have time to explore my own back yard!

Now I’m back in Victoria for a few days before going to Vegas for the GP Super Sprint! I’m hoping to be feeling better by then and have some fun and a good crack! Right now I STILL have that head cold but my flu is fully over and done with so things are looking up!

Full season wrap up to come…But this is a pretty decent sized post, if you’ve made it this far I’m amazed!!

Thanks everyone for the support this year! It’s been really amazing to hear from so many people, old friends, new friends, family, coaches, and strangers alike! This has been an awesome year and I am so grateful to be back on the circuit!




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Another Year, Another Hurdle

July 5, 2015, 6:45 pm
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It's been a while since I've written a blog post! With all these forms of social media at our disposal I feel like it's too easy to neglect the most time consuming one. But a big meaty blog post really can't be replaced with a filtered photo, 15 second video or 140 characters. Especially when the year has been as strange as mine!

Where to begin? Ironically, the most relevant time is pretty much right where I left off 10 months ago. The decision to race Stockholm last year was a pivotal moment for me, though I didn't know it at the time.

A few days before the race I caught a cold and ended up racing whilst under the weather. Because of this and the cold temperature of the water in the harbour I didn't do the course recce, or even warm up before the race. The only time I hit the water was the 750m in the race. My cold didn't seem to affect me too much and I ended up in a 3 way sprint for 2nd, 3rd and 4th. I ended up fourth with a complete flop of a sprint. I needed a good result in Stockholm to boost my chances of making it onto the World Series overall podium. Mission accomplished! Or so I thought. Unbeknownst to me, the grand final in my home country and nearly the entire next season had just been compromised.

 Edmonton was a disaster. I was throwing up in the days before the race and during the race itself.  In the coming weeks I felt stomach sick,  emotional and just off. I raced a little race in Las Vegas and felt so awful that even though I qualified, I almost didn't come back for finals! I felt toxic and it was as if I was trying to race with a foreign body.  I've never felt more pain in a race in my life but I couldn't really describe it.

After a few more weeks of not feeling right, good friend and mentor, Emma Snowsill suggested I get tested for parasites. Sure enough, I indeed had a parasite! I thought this explained everything and once I took the medication I felt great. For a little while. Then slowly my symptoms returned. But not bad enough to really panic and my retests were coming back negative. So I soldiered on.

I flew to Australia to begin training for the 2015 season feeling pretty out of shape! I felt puffy and tired and had a really hard time with any effort in the pool. My legs would go almost numb with lactic. I just chalked it up to being out of shape. A few weeks later I got really stomach sick and my belly looked like I was pregnant! I thought for sure the parasite had returned but test results said it hadn't. The doctor over there thought we had enough reason to go on antibiotics anyway. After that I felt good for a few more weeks.

It's funny what you adapt to. Looking back I was dealing with things that were definitely not normal but I was just brushing them off.  It wasn't until it was time to race that it became more obvious that something was really wrong. Whenever I went really hard for an extended period (which i don't often do in my training protocol) I had this feeling like my blood was "toxic sludge."  I got teased a lot for this term but that's exactly what it felt like! I'd had this painful toxic feeling in my limbs, my legs would go numb and then about 10 minutes later I'd have system shut down. When it happened in Abu Dhabi I thought I was just because I had accidentally consumed eggs that were scrambled in my noodles the night before the race. I'm allergic to eggs so this made sense to me. I came home and was feeling fit and ready for Auckland. When it happened again in Auckland I knew something bigger had to be going on.
Sometimes you gotta embrace the rainstorm!

I came home and packed my bags for a "couple days" in LA at Red Bull North American HQ where they were going to facilitate some doctors appointments to really get to the bottom of it. 9 weeks later after seeing an infectious disease specialist, a gastroenterologist, an internist, a biochemist and physiologists we got a diagnosis!

During my time there my symptoms were worsening. At maximal efforts my hands and feet would go bright white from constriction. There was so little blood in my extremities that they could hardly even get a drop of blood out of my finger for a lactate test! My oxygen saturation in my muscles would dip low and I would sweat so much that it looked like I was under a shower, even just spinning at 100 watts or jogging 6 minute km's.  It got to the point where my hands and feet would be completely numb for the entire session. Even 3-4 hour rides or just laying in bed at night.  Despite all this,  my tests kept coming back negative for everything we tested for.

Until we tested for the waste products left behind by bacteria. The doctors were pretty sure it was bacterial but they just couldn't catch it in my gut. Some bacteria are super sensitive to O2 and die instantly when exposed to the air. From my scope they could tell something was going on by the inflammation and something irregular in the lining of my gut that looked like a bacterial infection called Whipple's disease. It turns out it wasn't Whipple's but another bacterial infection. I had levels of waste products left behind by this bacteria that were 8x higher than the 95th percentile! So that explained a lot! In all likelihood I contracted both the parasite and the bacterial infection in Stockholm where before the race it poured rain and all the city runoff went straight into our swim course. Quite a few of us became really ill the day after the race. Both the parasite and bacteria I had are commonly contracted by sewage. Lovely. 

It turns out this infection was affecting my peripheral nervous system which is why my symptoms were all over the map. This one is also known for leaving behind a lot of waste/toxins.  So "Toxic sludge" in my blood was actually semi accurate!! I went on a heavy/extended course of antibiotics and was feeling amazing! I never realized how bad a I felt until I felt good again. Unfortunately we are still figuring out the proper dosage and I've taken a step back from where I was and I'm back on antibiotics. But it's still a relief to know what it is that is going on!

Lab rat!
I have to thank Red Bull for taking me in once again and saving the day! And the staff members who let me stay in their houses! Per and Dan, the physiologists at Red Bull who put so much work into getting this sorted and facilitating everything.  Dr. Lang and Dr. Tally who put theirs heads together to solve this. My coach Shaun Stephens for the hours of phone calls and support from Europe.

 I had so much fun in California and met so many great people and new friends. Not only that, but I realized the training there is really great and will be back for more at some point soon!

Very excited to get back to my forest!
I'm really happy to be home now though and enjoying summer here and training on familiar grounds. Next up is Hamburg WTS next weekend! I'm not carrying many expectations but it will be great to get back into racing!!

Thanks everyone for all the support and apologies for such poor communication! I wanted to make sure I had a diagnosis before I formally updated everyone. Who knew it would take 10 months before I figured out what was wrong!

I recently heard from the ITU that they have changed the swim venue in Stockholm to protect our athletes which is great news!

I hope everyone is having a wonderful summer and getting outside! Here's a few photo's from my time in Cali :) 

Ride or Die! My girlfriends Jill and Courtney came down to visit me! This is what they gave us for a rental car..



Cali Sunsets :)

Loved the canyon running in Malibu and Santa Monica


I got to meet many amazing athletes in the Red Bull HQ training centre

The only way to get around in LA ;)


So many beauties at this company. So much love!!
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