Day 18 - R&R

I'm not typically one to boast about training...but swim camp is DONE!!

Just over 28k in 4 days, and while I expected that I would be saying I don't want to see water ever again, I actually finished the camp with a new outlook and confidence in the pool. I'm proud of myself and Amanda (who actually did one more double swim than I did!!) for sucking up a lot of physical and mental fatigue and redefining our limits...and we both finished the weekend with the best swims of our lives. Thanks to Coach Gabbi for putting this mini camp together, and to Amanda for the motivation and the company :)

Swimming has always been my struggle physically but also mentally; I have never had a positive attitude towards swim training, and the hardest part of many of my training days is just jumping in the water. It has always been "why am I such a bad swimmer", "why is it so easy for everyone else", "when can I get on my bike!". But after four days of tough back to back workouts, and getting over the mental hurdle of getting back in the pool a few hours after a hard set, I am excited to continue putting in the work and seeing the invesment pay off. It's not hopeless after all!!

So now I am sitting in beautiful Bala again enjoying a couple well deserved days of trading running shoes for snow shoes, and pull paddles for -12 sleeping bags. Most athletes are finding warmer weather this time of year, but I'm embracing the cold for a mid-winter mental recharge.

When I get back to reality it will be back to business as usual moving forward to St. Croix. I haven't been this excited to start a race season for far too long. I am also very excited to be working more closely with John Salt and the Multisport Canada Triathlon series this season (more details to come!), who are making the local race season a ton of fun racing for series points and prize money!! I can't give John and the crew enough credit for taking some serious initiative to moving the sport forward in Ontario and developing the local and provincial race scene.

I'm also excited to hear more details about this new event http://www.torontotriathlonfestival.com/ scheduled for mid July. It was originally rumored to be a 5150 race, and now has something to do with Simon (I have no idea who is actually running the event but apparently will be 2013 Nationals) but it would be really cool to race through downtown Toronto so I may end up adding this event.