Jenn Turner, athlete and chiro to the athletes

ok! Enough already! MY JAN 2012 RESOLUTION!

2012-01-23T23:53:00.000-08:00

So, this week was a bit of an awakening for me in respect to BLOGGING! I find myself, thinking of lots of interesting this to blog about when I am training, and I have started probably 20+ blog posts that I have never really gotten around to finishing! My inspiration to blog initially was inspired by Gretchen Rubin and "The Happiness Project" and I was really intrigued to start blogging more to record my thoughts and experiences!

I had a few experiences this week as well, that opened my eyes to the blogging experience... in conversation with patient and friend Mat Curry, he was speaking about blogging and how "nobody reads my blog anyways!" Wait I read your blog Mat, and think it is super interesting!! I had another New Patient this weekend, a recreational cyclist, who decided he was going to come and see me, vs another chiropractor because he found my blog on google, and really liked it...

So, here it is, I am proclaiming publicly on my blog that this is going to be a regular occurrence, PROMISE.

2011-12-06T13:43:00.001-08:00

So today was a pretty long day at the track! 10 hours on my feet, treating, carrying bikes, some waiting around. Didn't get much fitter today on my quest for fitness, although carrying bikes and supplies, being on my feet and I am tired like I did a workout or two myself!

Michelle and I got to go on an adventure to the Chipachapee mall, a 10 min cab ride to a big outdoor shopping centre where we grabbed a delicious cuppicino (I don't typically drink coffee but this was delicious!) Walk around a bit, it was nice just to be somewhere different than locked up in the hotel or the track.

On the subject of groceries, grocery shopping in colombia is quite different than in Canada. There are very few recognizable brands. Foods are very different
Bread is not a common staple in colombia, and is gross, the yogurt is runny and all in liquid form, there was no cottage cheese, beans, lentils or tofu, to be found, and very few sources of protein available.

We have been eating from the buffet the athletes are served from. Unfortunately, we can't eat everything that is put out for chance of being ill. We have had this issue in the past where it's gone through the whole team. For starters, we can't drink the water. Therefore we have to be careful with what we eat- no lettuce: it's been washed with water, no watermelon- as sometimes they are injected with water to keep it fresh, none of the delicious looking fresh fruit juices they have, and careful with the rice, as it is re-warmed a number of times to serve it is mass quantities, even anything on ice. Some athletes have even used bottled water to brush their teeth. It would be awful to come all this way for a competition, and be unable to race your best, or race at all due to an unfortunate gastrointestinal situation. Better safe than sorry!

It is amazing to think of the variety and the quality of food we have in Canada, and made me grateful that I have so many choices for healthy eating.

(Oh ya- athlete update: zach started the omnium today and I'd sitting at the end of the day in 2nd place with another day tomorrow, our men's team sprint had another great race, continually improving from their previous performance and one of our new female endurance riders gained some international experience in the women's points race!)

2011-12-03T05:54:00.001-08:00

Today was the day the racing started- so I usually have way less time- preparation treatments, recovery treatments and looooong days at the track doing part deux of my job with the National Team. Part deux entails taking care of the athletes, doing any last minute tweaks that are necessary, but also making sure they are always comfortable, water, food, ice, etc. Going up to the start line and standing by during the race- it's really quite the exciting experience!

That left a small window of time for me to fit in a workout of the day! I opted for the circuit type again, on my own this time, in my very spacious room- 2 circuits, 3 times through, 30 seconds each exercise, 10 seconds between each- trying to push myself without my workout partners, who were attending to their track jobs!

Circuit 1

-pushups

-side planks

-squat jumps

-ham bridge

-lunge stretch

Circuit 2

-plank lifts

-burpees,

-crunch obliques

-cross over lunge

-squat jumps

It was enough to get my heart rate high, get a goood sweat on and actually get my legs to shake a little bit!!

Then at the track later on- our women's team pursuit hit the qualifying rounds and finished in their top 8 showing consistency at the World Cup Level. The first 2 kilos they were on pace for breaking the world record! I am excited to see the progress these girls make before the Olympics!

Not sure what tomorrow brings as we have a fairly long day at the track, and Michelle and I are being sent on a grocery shopping adventure and then a few events on the track in the afternoon- should be exciting: men's omnium, mens team sprint and women's scratch race!

Cali, Colombia Fitness Quest-Day 3

2011-11-30T07:10:00.000-08:00

Today, with aching abs, triceps and biceps from the previous 2 days total shock to my runner's motor patterning system, my partners in fitness and I embarked on a 20 minute journey back to Windsor Pilates land...

With Buns and Thighs being the target of today's fitness blast, we again, grunted and groaned with Dagney (not Doris!), and Mari Windsor as she made us 'scissor kick' and 'fetal thigh' our way to sculpted buns and thighs!

Having flashbacks to my mom's 80's aerobic exercise days, Tanya, Michelle and I sometimes quite awkwardly accomplished some killer exercises that I am going to teach my patients and kinesiologists!

I had a few extra mins after that video was done. So I got to try out the pilates version of "sculpted Abs" as well, which was also an adventure of some next to impossible moves and some "chiropractic nightmare moves" (that I did anyways, very carefully- I didn't want to omit any move that's gettin me a 6 pack of scuplted abs!).

Racing for the athletes start tomorrow, and I would like to do another circuit training type workout- stay tuned to see what we can fit in when it gets more tricky to continue our Cali fitness quest!

Fitness Quest- Cali, Colombia!

2011-11-29T07:00:00.000-08:00

Today's fitness was a Windsor pilates DVD courtsey of Michelle. As Tanya and I "warmed up" for the 20 minute session, I think we both had the same thoughts in our head... 20 mins, pilates.. No biggie.
Well 5 minutes later, there was some grunting and groaning happening and my abs were screaming at me (mostly from the water jug "kettlebells" yesterday!). A few more moves "using my powerhouse" and I was certain this workout was good for me.

Highlights of this workout video included the various green jumpsuits the team were sporting, and of course Doris/Dankie?!?, doing the modified version (which Tanya and I REFUSED to give into no matter how much we were struggling to kick our leg over our heads at times!) We concluded that this 20 minute workout, that guaranteed to "sculpt us" indeed did have its noticable benefits and I for one, am looking forward to trying the 57 minute workout in the next few days!

Fitness Quest in Cali Colombia

2011-11-27T19:47:00.000-08:00

So, it was the first day at the track today, and we are starting to see lots of the athletes arriving and training. Not all of our athletes have arrived yet, so It meant a bit of extra time to fit a workout in.

It was a nice sunny day- and I was dying to go for a run, wanting to counterbalance the rain I have been running in at home! Then my Aussie-living-in-Denmark-mechanic friend told me the german staff were robbed while they were running the previous day. YIKES!! So today's workout was a circut training bonanza with crossfit genius Michelle and CCA coach Tanya Dubnicoff:

Circuit 1: 30 seconds each

3 times through- skipping, burpees and glider hamstring curls.

Circuit 2: 30 seconds each

3 times through- stairs, water jug kettlebells and pushups!

All three of us were sweating like crazy, and I certainly had a "shake" going- was shaky to treat the next two athletes!
Great to be able to have the motivation of these two awesome athletes, and also to have time in the day to challenge our own bodies and fitness. One of the athletes commented on how they will have the fittest staff ever! We try!

Quest to Stay Fit During a World Cup.... in Cali Colombia

2011-11-27T19:25:00.000-08:00

For the 3rd year in a row, I am in Cali, Colombia for a World Cup Event with the Canadian Track Cycling Team. A little blown-out on Cali, it's not very safe, there usually ends up that SOMEONE gets sick and I hate the bugs that eat you alive at the track! But I consider myself lucky to be able to travel with the National Cycling Team and "live the dream!"

The other downer is that I can't really "get out" and train at all due to the potential danger that lurks in the city. Two years ago, the team from Russia was riding their bikes to the track, when they were held up at knife point and had their bikes all stolen! Lucky they were all safe, but it's not a good situation! There is no gym in the hotel we are at, no pool and no fancy fitness facilities...leaves us a little stuck for any training.

This year I am going to approach this trip with a fresh outlook! Along on this trip is performance analyst Michelle Wyngarden who is big into cross fit and is completely fit herself. Olympian turned coach, Tanya Dubnicoff is always up for some exercise. I thought it would be fun to blog about the "fitness" aspect of Cali. Depending on the training/racing/treatment schedule, I find I HAVE to squeeze in some exercise myself. C'mon, I am surrounded by some of the fittest people in the world- imagine the guilt! So follow me over the next few days to see what We can dream up for staying fit during this tenure in Colombia!

New York Marathon in Numbers

2011-11-13T19:37:00.000-08:00

3:49.26- my time for my first "official" marathon

10,815- My placing in the New York Marathon overall

2:05.06- the winner's time

1:44.20- the amount of time after the winner that I finished! (I think I did that math right)

47,438- The total amount of participants in the 2011 New York Marathon

22.7- the percentage in which I finished the race

141 -the amount of wheelchair and handcycle athletes who finished the NYM '11

112- the number of bands along the marathon route

2- the number of seconds that Shelley and I finished apart

9 -the amount of people who finished between Shelley and I in that 2 second margin

34,000,000- dollars raised for different charities.

112-number of bands along the marathon route

3- number of blisters I ended up with- inside of each big toe and my right mutant little toe!

1- number of black toenails I ended up with (darn morton's toe!)

4- the number of gels I consumed along the route

3- the number of bottles of water/gatorade I consumed along the route

2,000,000- the number of spectators along the route of the race!

0- the amount of people I saw that I personally knew on the sidelines.

15- celebrities that competed in the New York Marathon

2- amount of feet I was away from Mark Messier at the finish line!

1- number of weddings that occurred during the marathon, while doing the marathon.

RUN THE NORTH SHORE HALF MARATHON

2011-10-13T11:41:00.000-07:00

In training mode with North shore Athletics for the New York Marathon, while I am home, which is very infrequently these days, the plan was to run the North Shore Half Ironman.

As I felt I was falling behind in my training, I ran with my amazing running buddy Shelley the day before, just to get some kilometers in my legs-23 of em!! I was doubtful that race morning would be a "race" but my clinic was treating at the finish line, so I had no excuses to bail!

Morning of race: Jenn does NOT want to get out of her warm cozy bed, it is POURING rain, annnnd legs are a TOUCH tired from the long run the day before. But I managed to get myself to the finish line to set up all the Moveo tent and gear only to find that I have missed the last shuttle to the start.. Dammit, I knew I should have stayed in bed! Then some girl "my angel of the day" comes running up to me, super stressed as she is not from around here, and got lost and missed the shuttle, doesn't know where the race start is..... So we decide to hop in my car and hope that we can catch the start. We make it to parkgate village and the race start, in time to quickly get my race number, wait 5 minutes in the porta-potty line, say hello and catch up with about 100 people at the start. (Note: I did NOT have time to appropriately eat a complete breakfast OR remember to put a gel in my pocket.....uh oh!)

And as the next downpour started, we were off! I quickly realized that I wanted to run faster than I seeded myself and was trying to get past up to some clear road! Feeling pretty good, the race course took us along Seymour parkway and quickly turned and started climbing..... What? I thought this course was FLAT and Negative elevation??? The guy running beside me breathed heavily as we climbed the not steep, but lengthy climb "changed the course from last year.. Is more difficult!". Haha! Lucky for me!
But the course was Super-cool! After the climb we went up into a trail, which helped recover a bit as it was really slippery due to the rain so it forced you to slow down so you didn't bail! Coming out of the climb we ran through a great neighbourhood with the river running along one side and some really nice homes along the other, I had NO idea where we were most of the time and I run on the north shore quite a bit!
I was feeling awesome, for most of the race and wasn't really sure of my pacing, or even what I was really capable of running but tried to focus on keeping good posture, keeping my legs moving quickly and catching people in front of me one by one. I struggled along the last 2 or 3 k, but had a girl close behind me who had managed to stay close after I passed her just after the halfway point, so I credit her for keeping me running scared!

Coming in at 1:42, I was pretty happy as I figured my fitness alone would have me around 1:45, let alone having run pretty far the day before. My body does well is super-overload situations and this was a great reminder of that! The finish line was great, I haven't raced in so long, I felt a bit "out of the loop" it was great to catch up with people and enjoy the post race atmosphere (and 2-bite brownies!! That's why I race ha!). Always great to race a NSA race as well, and great to see people sticking around chatting, getting treatments at the MOVEO tent (yes, of course I treated after I finished racing!!!) and chatting about the next challenge that awaits.

That's about it, but I was inspired to write a quick report after realizing how much I LOVE TO RACE!!!

Run with a World Champion!!!

2011-09-21T01:53:00.000-07:00

One bonus perk to travelling around the world (there are many!) Is that I get to run in different countries and explore places that I would likely not visit as a tourist. Copenhagen is no exception, miles of great countryside, mixed with a city of great history and architecture.

This morning I was fortunate enough to hook up for a run with a coach from the Great Britian team, whom I had met at track World Championships in Holland in the spring.

As the sun was coming up (thankfully as usually it's pretty dull and grey here) Chris Newton, kicked my ass for 4.7 miles of greatness! Having run together before we were able to catch up on everything that had happened in between: knee knacker, london marathon, our race experiences and up and coming races, his family and little girl, the cycling world etc. Great to catch up and build a friendship!

Now what I didn't know before Sandy, the Canada mechanic hooked us up for a run, was who exactly Chris Newton was.. I mean he's a coach for GB, and coaches a lot of successful cyclists, but I had no idea that Chris himself was was an Olympic athlete, winning a bronze medal in the Points Race in Beijing, a silver medal in Athens. He's been a World Champion and is decorated with more World Cup medals than I can count!

Not only that but only a few months after retiring he decided to take up running and finished the London Marathon in 2 hours and 58 minutes. Not to shabby for someone who rarely exposes their body to eccentric/pounding exercise like running! This guy is super inspiring!! (and dedicated, and talented, and hard working, and and and so many more super qualities!)

What it comes down to is that I truly believe in that saying about surrounding yourself with people that possess qualities that you yourself would like to possess.

I am so lucky to be here, and to have the opportunities that I have and to meet great people. Truly that's what it is all about.

ps. I think the only way I could beat this guy, is if I made him wear every single medal he's ever won then challenged him to a running race...

Fill the cup back up!

2011-08-28T22:52:00.001-07:00

I learned a very important less from a patient this week, a fav of mine, J-Dub, whom I always enjoy conversing with as I fix his latest injury. I always tell him about my latest adventures, opportunities, and accomplishments. Always supportive and excited, I told J-Dub about some really positive encouragement that I had received that day from one of my Olympic athletes. J- Dub then proceeded to tell me a story about a similar situation that happened to him when he used to be involved with one of my favourite companies, Starbucks. Basically the gist was "well Jenn, you spend so much time each day giving a little bit of you to your patients and everyone you meet. Eventually, that drains the cup, and you need someone to come and fill that cup back up every once in awhile. What that athlete did was just fill the cup back up." Well that is EXACTLY what I felt just happened! It felt good to know that other people sometimes need that reassurance that they are doing a good job and also reminded me that I can also be that person that "tops someone up" just by simple appreciation of them!

Grouse Grind Kinda Wednesday (my first attempt at a non-perfect post!)

2011-08-13T21:00:00.000-07:00

Cloudy, cool, foggy, not optimal Grouse Grind conditions, which is exactly why I chose to use that as my workout! I figured that the massive crowds I have seen going up the grind during my BCMC runs would die down on this day and I could get a decent workout in myself.

I was right, but there were still quite a few bodies on the trail. As I was making my way up I had a big realization- that these people were all HARD CORE! I have a list that I call HARD CORE of people that are inspirational and motivating to me- Gary Robbins, Simon Whitfield, Clara Hughes, John Wragg, to name a few ;). This day though, I realized that HARD CORE comes in various different forms, and it doesn't have to be a 100K running race, doing 120 Ironmans, or biking across the country, it can be as simple as trying something new and hard on a day that would shy most people away.

Tourists, fitness freaks, and first timers, there were some of each group! I even saw a little guy about 10 or 11 years old that was kicking my a$$ most of the way up. I was full of admiration and respect for these grouse grinders! Instead of being annoyed at the fact that there were so many people in the way, I applauded each and every being I saw that Wednesday morning climbing the Grouse Grind!

BLOGGING

2011-08-13T19:15:00.001-07:00

Some of you may have noticed my serious lack of blogging... (tom craik..) and I have two explanations for this:

1. Many of the blogs that I read and most enjoy are very well thought out and well written, I feel like I also need to have the "perfect post" every time. So a partially written blog sits in my edit box, until I have a few minutes to re-read and re-edit numerous times and it NEVER gets posted... (ie. knee knacker race report)

2. Most of my day is spent out in the clinic or out training vs. being able to sit still on a computer. I find it very tough to prioritize when I do have an hour or 2 of computer time. Between completing that presentation for the Cycling BC camp, writing my regular article for Triathlon Canada Magazine, developing sport programs for our teams at Optimum or social media for Moveo... blogging usually feels like it's the reward for getting all this other work done (which is never done!)

But From here on in- I am going to promise myself to be on it more. I really enjoy blogging, and reading others blogs and feel that I can read and enrich my life through this wonderful world!

Hope you enjoy reading mine!!

KNEE KNACKER 2011

2011-07-16T18:24:00.001-07:00

KNEE KNACKER 2011

According to my friend Tom Craik, this post is LOOONG overdue, I agree. Sorry! Anyways, here is my account of my VERY FIRST ULTRAMARATHON- the KNEE KNACKER.

So, I must admit, that I was guilty for not using all of the great advice that was given to me by coach GR and was regretting it the few days/weeks leading up to the big day! I attempted though to justify things with the fact that I am a "crammer", and usually can feel relatively unprepared for any race or exam or whatever and pull a magical performance out of nowhere. I was hoping this would be the case for this situation as well.

I was most nervous because of the early start time (6am!) which meant I had to catch the bus from Deep Cove at 4:55- yikes.. I am not an early riser really, since my swimming days back in University, and seriously it was causing me more stress than the fact I was going to be running for 7-8 hours!!!

All went well though, after a relatively sleepless night, I was on that shuttle and off to the start line, taking in the scenery, and going over some visualization in my head. I knew that pacing was an important key to the race, and I could hear people talking about how they were going to approach the race. As we stood at the start line, it looked like it was going to be a nice day, but was chilly to start. I didn't really have a "possy" was totally on my own, and was super nervous to boot! I feel that the nervousness at the start is a necessary part of my preparation to get the competitive juices flowing as I size myself up with other competitors, purely based on how fast people "look" .

As soon as the race started I was totally in my element and it was "GAME ON". I had only ran this first section once in training, and it was pouring rain during that time, so already this was much better. I was told by many experienced knee knackers to keep it under control during the first quarter. I was a little confused at how you know you are not "going too hard" when you are climbing a mountain like Black Mountain that is 1200m high and about 10K long... I felt that I should always be pushing myself, but not feeling like I was dying was the right amount of push. The climb was nice and pretty much a steady stream of people all the way up. I figured that I wouldn't worry too much, as there were many kms left to regain some ground if I needed too.

Hitting the top of Black Mountain, I had to turn around and check out the views! Spectacular, again, the single other time I had done that climb was a rainy day, so there was no view. The KK photographers managed a spectacular photo as we crested:

Hitting the first aid station was sweet, just to know that we were making some headway, and although I didn't grab anything at this point, it was a good reminder to maybe take in a gel and some water to partially recover from the effort of the climb and to prepare for what was to come! There was snow on Cypress, which was a pain in the butt for the vetran Knee Knackers, but for us rookies, it was GLORIOUS compared to the massive piles of snow we had to deal with 3 weeks previous, during the KK training runs. It made the downhills fun as there was some sliding action happening. As we hit the cypress lodge I heard someone cheering for my new friend, physiotherapist Cathy Jensen, which was great to know that I was around her pace as we finished close together a few weeks prior at the Comfortably Numb trail race so my pacing was right on, assuming that Cathy was on too!

As we made our way across the cross country ski trails, which I had done numerous times this winter with my husband, I caught one of the ladies that I admired during the Wednesday night training runs. This was also Christine's first KK, although she seemed much more prepared than I was. I knew that Christine could run fast downhill, so I latched on to her for the next portion and we chatted and pushed each other on. The run down the Hollyburn Chute was faster than I had ever let myself go before, trying to not let the slender Christine out of my sight. We ran right past John, which was completely ironic, my first frustrating wednesday night training run was when I met John, the longtime North Shore Resident who ran trails just cause he loved it, twice my age, and wearing hiking shoes older than me, but was kicking my ass. Fitting, that I should see him on this race day! He latched on to us and I stuck with them through the trails through the British Properties, right into the half way checkpoint at Cleveland Dam. Maybe I used them a little toooo much at this point (see me tucked in right behind John as we come into the aid station!)

Next up: Nancy Greene Way. I felt better than predicted at this point, but made myself walk/run up this part as to not blow myself up. Maybe I could have ran the whole way up.. maybe that wouldn't have been the smartest idea. Hitting the Baden Powell at the base of Grouse made me glad I approached NG way like I did, cause this was my first sufferfest at this point. I knew I would, I hated this section in training and I was feeling the same way now. Christine had some words of encouragement for me at that point, she told me that if I could stay with her, I would go well under 7 hours.. well of course I lost her, and just felt sorry for myself at this point. Trying to keep my cool, I was cat and mousing with a dude named "Sean" at this point, who had done Ironman, according to some of the Ironman paraphernalia he was sporting. In chatting, he told me he had just done the "Vancouver 100", which is running the KK forward AND then turning around and running back to the start. Figuring he was a good person to follow during this tricky section, he promptly got us lost... awesome. Luckily, we weren't too far off, nor were we the first to go off track at this point, and we hit another aid station, where I crammed a handful of M&M's in my mouth and continued running. Side note- any sport where M&M's is considered nutrition is a FANTASTIC sport! As I made my way through one of the prettiest sections of trail I found myself running solo, and with an upset stomach=too many m&m's :(. It was quite peaceful and I began playing games- not really creative games, more like, see if I can catch someone in front of me, and don't get caught by someone behind me!

This portion went by extremely fast and I realized that I hadn't seen any of my friends and supporters who were supposed to be on course, when lo and behold, as I got through Lynn Valley, and I saw Keith from NSA, ran a little further, and saw some friends at the aid station. My friend Liz ran with me for a few hundred metres, just making sure I was ok, I said to her incrediously "Liz, I have pretty much run the whole way!!" and she said- "well Jenn, it IS a running race" which is a testament to how well she knows me!! Then she send me on my way!

Catching up to a man that I consider a legend, Mark Grist, who has done the knee knacker a ridiculous amount of times, I was feeling good to have someone to keep me moving! And that he did, all the way to Seymour Grind, he made me go faster than I wanted to go on some parts, he made me keep chatting to him to keep my brain working, and he made me keep fueling, despite me thinking that I was ok. I followed him until the Seymour Grind got the best of me, Sufferfest #2. A week ago, I had done this part, and said to my friend Shelley "It's not THAT bad!" Well I was retracting that statement at that point. I kept breathing, and tried to positive thoughts in my head, and just kept moving up and forward. Upon reaching the top, I was cursing and grateful for the unsteady gravel that somewhat resembled a path, and the downhill. This would be the last time I would feel absolutely shitty during this race! From here, it just got better and better. I have NO idea what hit me, but I started passing people (female and male) through the next sections and when I saw another MOVEO shirt up ahead, it was Kristie Elliot, a massage therapist I have the extreme pleasure of working with at the clinic and she gave me a great pick-me-up as the best cheerleader ever, telling me that Mark the Legend, was only a minute or two ahead and that I could catch him.

SO, I continued on my feel good blast repeating in my head "feelin good, feelin good" with a mix of "keep it goin, keep it going" and "don't fall, don't fall". I knew that once I hit quarry rock that I was close, but not THAT close, and with that in mind I just kept running, I felt fast and strong, and felt that if I broke my focus, I would be done. Passing The Legend shortly before the finish line, he cheered me on, and left me with some gracious praise!

As I came to the end of the Baden Powell and out onto the road, I knew I would only have less than a minute to break 7 hours, so I broke into a "faster" run, being a roadie, the pavement felt AMAZING! After stopping to hug and high five coach Gary Robbins on his crutches just before the finish line, I cashed in at 6:59.57 WHEW... could I cut it ANY closer... well I guess a few seconds. I was pretty darn estatic with that time and result. I was amazed at how fantastic I felt after that. I was so mentally prepared for the ups and downs from Ironman and I think I did JUST the right amount of training on the course to be confident with my direction but not too much to be bored with the course. I am certainly in love with this distance, and want to try another one to make sure that it wasn't a fluke. I also would love to attempt something a little farther! This race amazingly opened the doors to so many opportunities and races, and I am quite excited... do I miss triathlon? Not yet- bring on the trails!!!

Check out this cool video of some of the trails we were racing on!

http://youtu.be/zkDsPs_veq4

INTRODUCING TEAM SKY at Tour of California

2011-05-20T21:05:00.000-07:00

I am super excited to be working with this star-studded line up of Team Sky. These athletes have all been hand picked to be on this team for a good reason and each brings specific qualities and specialties to the table.

Greg Henderson (centre)- a sprinter from New Zealand, who has competed in 4 Olympic Games in Track Cycling! Has won the world track cycling championships in the Scratch Race and has been a Gold Medallist in the Commonwealth Games in the Points Race! A Tell-It-Like-It-Is kinda guy, Hendy and I got along well!

Ben Swift (to the right) - a young rider from GB, Ben has had a successful career as a U-23 rider. Winning various stages of tours over in Europe and even has a gold medal in the Men's Team Pursuit at Euro track championships! He's also gotten an Olympics under his belt and is a rider that is going to be a household name in a short time!

Matt Hayman- Aussie, and brand new dad, Matt is an experienced rider that has experienced some bad luck, breaking his elbow during the Tour de France one year. He does well in all the classics, and has been with Rabobank for over 10 years!

Kurt-Asle Arvesen- Kurt is one of the world's most experienced professionals, and one of the best too. He belongs to an exclusive club of riders who have won stages in the three Grand Tours- claiming two in the Giro d'Italia, (2003 & 2007). one in the team time trial stage of the Vuelta a Espana (2006) and finally, and most famously a road stage of the 2008 Tour de France.

Jeremy (Jez) Hunt- A pro rider for over 15 years, Jez has been involved with some amazing teams, riders and racers. His first Tour de France last year was a great experience for Jez and this guy has some great stories to go with his cycling career. Keep an eye out, as Kurt and I are trying to talk this man into writing a book about his life!

Chris Froome (to the left)-A kenyan turned Brit, Froomie has been doing really well in his climb to the top. Having worked with Chris in the past, I am beginning to know his strengths. He's done well in Mountain races is an excellent climber and teammate, and also has been to Commonwealth Games for the time trial. He's gunning for some wins this year and will be great to see how he does.

Alex Douwsett- Another young British Rider, Alex is an amazing time trial rider. He won the U-23 world championship time trial last year, and rode for Lance's Livestrong U-23 team just last season. Coming from a track background as well, he has had success on the track and is gearing towards the London Olympics for the track in 2012. (sometimes he likes to be called Peter!)

Ian Stannard- another "trackie", Ian has won a european track championship in Men's Team Pursuit. He's super young, but a talented guy and works really hard for his teammates. He's an excellent time trialer and was 3rd overall in the Tour of Britian last year! Look out for this guy! He's on the up and up!

Tour of Alaska... errr.. California

2011-05-17T11:44:00.001-07:00

The beautiful sunny weather that we have been super lucky to have- disappeared and was replaced by SNOW- lots of it!! In MAY!! In CALIFORNIA!!! There are so many things wrong with that scenerio! They were predicting it, but when my sun lines got even more prominent I figured there was no way that could happen. But they delayed the start of the race for 4 hours, then ended up cancelling stage 1! How disappointing for all the organization and travel to not get the opportunities they planned for!

My other job today consisted of driving one of the vans from South Lake Tahoe to Squaw Valley, the next hotel where the riders and staff would be staying the next night. I was super nervous for a few reasons; it was snowing hard and the roads were being reported as bad , I had no idea where I was going and I had little idea of what to do when I got there!

So with Matty from Spidertech backin me up, we made it to Squaw Valley where it was WORSE than before. Then I had the job to unload all the rider and staff luggage and to organize the rooms. The sounds like an easy task, but it was snowing and blowing and that's a LOT of luggage. I also was to create room lists for the team and find out logistical information for the evening! I had specific instructions set by my bosses Maarten and Klaus and I didn't want to let them down! I always have an appreciation for the "behind the scenes" people, as I certainly am one of them usually but it was this specific job, that made realize how important the staff are in a project like this. This job took me all day and a lot of stress but in the end we were rewarded with a beautiful room in the Village at Squaw Valley home of the 1960 Olympics. Lots of snow and ice up here keeps us skeptical that Stage 2 will go as planned, but we shall see what the organizers come up with to get the tour officially started!

Day 3- IT's ALMOST RACE DAY!!

2011-05-15T15:29:00.001-07:00

The day started off early as I was meeting my shuttle friend Natalie at 5:40am at the front of the hotel. I was surprised to head down to the lobby of the hotel and it was absolutely rocking! Music playing, people drinking and drunk! Reno never sleeps!

The run was AMAZING! A little intimidated as I was told that it was a straight up climb, but the trail started out gradual and was winding through rocks and creeks and a fire regeneration forest that made for quite the scenery! As we climbed I could feel the altitude but I was keeping up with Mel, one of the creator of "Moxy Fitness" the group of training ladies I was training with! At the top we were rewarded with views of Fallen Leaf Lake and Lake Tahoe. The run back down was super fun, as I thought it would be; see the video below, it's a little shaky, (and sideways) but such a fun trail ! I was so grateful to have the opportunity to be able to get out and go for a solid run with some solid runners!

After breakfast with the team we prepped and sent them out for their last training ride before the race! A quick stop at the Adadias outlet (as a sponsor, the mechanics and athletes like to visit

the outlet at least once a day! Ha!) then I used my last bit of free time to wander into Heavenly Village. My plan was to go up the gondola as it would overlook the entire lake, but it was closed due to lightening. So I walked back to meet the riders after their ride and help the mechanics wash bikes. Regular treatment all afternoon as per usual, last day to work out any kinks then race tomorrow! Everyone is feeling good and getting antsy to get out of the hotel and get on their bikes!

My friends/patients from the Canadian team Spidertech showed up today! The vancouver "usuals" Zach Bell, Svein Tuft, Will Routley and Ryan Anderson to name a few! Andrew Pinfold who is riding for United Healthcare also got into town! Will be fun to have so many people to watch!

DAY 2 PREP FOR TOUR OF CALIFORNIA

2011-05-15T15:15:00.000-07:00

This morning's day started with an early breakfast with the staff and then prep for the rider's training on the beautiful course. The two official "soigneurs" are Maarten and Klaus, and they are quite a pair, I have had the pleasure of working with them before and I quite enjoy them. They are super efficient and also quite funny, they work really well together and have worked together so much that they have a pretty good system going on! Klaus is German and Maarten is Dutch, but I think they have created their own language. Then I step into the picture and create a bit of chaos, and throw off their balance! Dubbed 'jenny from the block' I am asking lots of questions, stemming from my desire to learn as much as I can from each interaction and activity. Sometimes I think I create more work for them trying to find me jobs! The language barrier is also a challenge for me. Even though everyone is (mostly) speaking english, there are a wide variety of accents, and sometimes after a conversation, I need to get further clarification of the actual plan!

There are still 3 days to race and I always forget to enjoy and take it all in on these pre-race days and get over feeling guilty about how cause once racing starts it gets ridiculously busy (which I love of course!). So I got in a 2 hour run this morning in the sunshine to explore and enjoy the sights of this famous lake and the Ski town! I even got a bit of a sunburn. Even though it's not super hot here, we are sitting at about 600 ft above sea level, I think, and so Altitude comes into effect!

I worked again with athletes in the afternoon while some others went on a little trip to Reno, we met up for dinner, this time as part of the regular event dinner buffet where most of the teams are altogether. Rubbing elbows with the likes of some pretty famous cyclists: George Hincapie, and Christian Vandevelde to name a few, in addition to the stars that ride for SKY!

<--Checking out my sunburn in the mirror.

DAY 1 TOUR OF CALIFORNIA

2011-05-13T14:33:00.001-07:00

This isn’t day 1 of the race, but day 1 of my first experiences! I am very lucky to have the experience to work with team SKY, a professional cycling team based out of Great Britain. (http://www.teamsky.com ) I have worked with them once before for the Grand Prix Races in Montreal and Quebec City. This event will be my biggest TOUR event ever! (I have only worked at one other tour- Tour Of Missouri with Symmetrics!) My connection to this team was through Michael Barry, a friend of mine, whom I have had the great pleasure of working with in the past, who is not racing here in California, but rides with this team.

-Awesome thing of the day #1- the flight and drive into Reno/Tahoe was AMAZING! The scenery is a mix between some Okanagan desert and Manning Park Green and Lakes. From the air I could SEE the trails that I am dying to run (when did I turn into such a trail runner?) and the drive to the hotel around Lake Tahoe was so beautiful. The riders are in for a treat on Sunday on such a great course!

-Awesome thing of the day #2- the volunteer who picked me up from the airport (finally) is a super cool mom-of-twins-who-has-done-ironman-adventure-racing-and-super-cool-bike-trip. We got chatting about trail running and she invited me to run with her trail running group in some trails overlooking Lake Tahoe on Saturday morning at 6 am! What are the chances that we would have so much in common and that I would get some running buddies for the first part of the trip!

-Awesome thing of the day #3- upon starting to work on the athletes, I was a bit nervous as my “style” is a little bit different than the treatment they usually get, and I end up adding a bit of ART and actual treatment to any issues that I can feel. The feedback was GREAT and the comments that I got were all positive (and confidence building!)

Awesome thing #4- THE PACKAGE that I got from head office made it feel like Christmas today. A new sponsor for the team, Adidas means that there were new clothing items for all staff! Golf shirts, a great fleece hoodie and a shell rain jacket! My fav though are the Steve Smith shoes! So cool! Ahh the perks!

-Awesome thing #5- Fancy dinner at a fancy restaurant. The hotel is the Montbleu. It’s a casino, with restaurants, and shops and slot machines. The team had a team dinner, complete with fancy bread, fancy wine, fancy food and fancy chocolate covered strawberries in a fancy swirl of smoke comprised of dry ice... (wish I had a camera at that point). It was pretty FANCY!

After all the awesome things that happened today, I am excited to see what the next ten days of my adventures bring!

MY FIRST LACROSSE GAME EVER!!

2011-05-01T23:22:00.000-07:00

Sunday May 2 2011, 7:30 pm, Queen's Park Arena.

New Westminster Women's Salmonbellies VS Coquitlam Adanacs

SHOWTIME!!

With all of Kev's family members being very "into" lacrosse, they all have been enquiring into when the first game is, and Kev replies with: "she likes practices, she just wants to keep practicing".

Well, I changed my mind tonight.. I LOVE the game too! Of course, I didn't play a whole lot, and there are certainly MANY things that I need to improve on, but the game was a way to learn a whole NEW set of EVERYTHING!!! At one point I said to Coach Keith... "sooo, the best way to learn is to just get in there???" and he responded with a resounding : "YES... yes it is, you are absolutely right" So I took a few deep breaths, and got in there.

, I definitely wasn't the superstar player of the game, as to be expected, but I did feel that I wasn't horrible either! I really tried to apply what I had learned at practices and help out the vets. I got rocked more than once, and was glad I had a helmet, but as one of my "fans" noticed, I also laid it out there a few times. HITTING, is something that goes on my list of things that need to be improved this week, as feedback a few times was "don't be afraid to hit" and I think I was being a bit passive. I feel that I did alright though, and Kev said I was better than he expected (hmmmm... compliment or not??) I feel that I had a few skills to practice and then build on from there, I feel that by taking these "steps" I am capable of handing and applying them and then learn in the situation what I need to improve on and make those steps even better!

Our "stand in" goalie HEATHER deserved to be the first star of the game, as she was unbelievable in net.. man I would give her 5 stars for volunteering for that job in the first place.. NO THANKS! But she was good! REALLY good for not even being a goalie as her "day job!". Krista Lee aka "super-mom" scored our only goal and I am not even kidding, she was dual duties as she did have an eye on her kid-lets to ensure they were behaving in the stands!!

Shout out to the girls on the PP (that's powerplay, in case you didn't know) who were on the move all game after some intense hits from the Coquitlam side!

DID WE WIN?- Nope... but it was close, we lost 3-1. I wasn't even focused on the score though.. for me the goal of the game was not to mess up, to not get injured, and to wrap my head around things... which I feel I did accomplish! NEXT UP: Practice (hitting) on Tuesday and then Game 2 vs. Maple Ridge on Thursday night at 7 pm, Queen's Park Arena in New Westminster. Tickets are FREE!

QUOTES FROM THE GAME:

Nadine-or-Katrina when someone told her she had blood on her leg: "That's Lacrosse!"

Coach Keith "Jenn... what's the first rule for defence?"- Jenn: "Find a check and get on her"

KNEE KNACKER 2011

2011-04-30T00:00:00.000-07:00

Aside from the brand spankin new sport of Box Lacrosse that is on my agenda for the summer, I also am doing the KNEE KNACKER trail race. This race is 50 K through the wicked trails of the North Shore, that follows the Baden Powell from Horseshoe Bay to Deep Cove. I was lucky enough to "win the lottery" which gains me entry into this famous race!

I enlisted the help of a very good patient and uber-talented trail running athlete Gary Robbins to get me started. Here's one of our first conversations when discussing the plan for training for this knee knacker:

JT: OK, so I gotta ask you about this potential health "thing" I have going on when I am running in the trails?

GR: well Dr. Jenn, I would say that you are typically the expert when it comes to this type of thing.. but shoot...

JT: ok.. when I start to go up a hill, my heart rate just skyrockets, I get waaay outta breath and my legs SERIOUSLY feel like they are gonna fall off.. like SERIOUS!

GR: ummm... Jenn, you are running up a mountain.... and you are a bit outta shape...

JT: NO WAY.. we run LOTS of hills in IRONMAN.. it can't POSSIBLY be that...

GR: hmmmmmm....

And when I compare some of the elevations of Ironman... (piddly) to some of these monster hills... that GR calls "mountains", I have to admit... GR is right... (and THAT is why I have chosen HIM to coach me!)

So I have a program and all is looking really good! I am running numerous days in a row compared to ironman training, and I LOVE it! Here are a brief list of my goals for this EXPERIENCE of KNEE KNACKERing....

1. Get out and train with the Knee Knacker Group- new people, new perspectives, new knowledge, these trail runners are a whole different BREED of people and I kinda like them so far!!

2. Put my body and brain (yet again) outside of my comfort zone and learn new skills and challenge my limits.

3. Take advantage of the AMAZING backyard we are given here on the North Shore! I am truly flabbergasted at the amount of trails that we have here on the north shore and have a brand new appreciation for trail maintenance and upkeep, as I can't believe the network of trails there are!

4. Do something that I haven't done before, something EPIC, that will lead to something else epic!

5. NEW GEAR!! haha, triathletes top the list for having the most gear, but some of the trail running gear is WAY cooler!

Stay tuned for my adventure with the KNEE KNACKER running group, as it is quite amazing that I am still not trying to find my way out of the bush after being quite humbled on my first experience on the knee knacker trails!

LIGHTBULB!!

2011-04-17T15:42:00.000-07:00

So maybe it was the sunny day out there for today's practice, or maybe it was simply that it was time "I GET IT". But I have been struggling, even perhaps a bit worried about my ability to be able to actually do this sport. As my previous posts have described, the physical demand was not an issue, skills are not horrible, but definitely needs improvement, but my "aggressiveness" in one-on-one game skills and setting up/ comprehending "plays" was HORRIBLE!

I was having trouble improving on this aspect as well. I could practice fitness as i train for the knee knacker, I could even practice skills with my pro-husband.. (who doesn't really benefit in any way from helping me but does anyways) but for setting up plays... you can't practice without the whole team there, knowing when I was making mistakes, and me asking a number of questions trying to understand each role in a play and how I was to execute them. This was even more complicated by still having to have the skill aspect relatively proficient, or else the drill/play just falls apart anyways!! SO MUCH FOR THE BRAIN TO THINK ABOUT!

SO today.. at Grimston Park in the sunny weather we had another practice. I was pumped to be there. We'd had a week of no practices and I was eager to get back into it.

We started with some finally familiar drills which I could see myself improving now over the past few weeks and then we moved on to some more difficult (for me) offence/defence drills. Particularily this new drill where the coaches instructed us to work in pairs on the one side of the floor.

This required a fair bit of freedom vs them telling us where to go and what to do. So, paired up and making "plans" , and these plans included phases that were still foreign to me, I was going in blind.... But as I was in the moment- I GOT IT! So much made sense of that minute! It was like a giant lightbulb went off in my brain and I
completely understood what to do with ALL these drills and plays we were doing!!!!

Now, the major concept was understood, but there are still some details to be improved:

1. ANTICIPATE THE NEXT MOVE OR PLAY! I passed the ball, and then just stood there to see what happened instead of anticipating the next move (Kev says I do this all the time, in tennis, 21, etc),

2. WHEN THE BALL IS CAUGHT, AUTOMATICALLY PROTECT IT OR IT WILL GET KNOCKED OUT OF THE STICK. Kev makes fun of me if I carry the stick and ball like an egg on a spoon... it doesn't just look dumb.. you will get the ball knocked out of your stick.. trust me!

3.NO HITTING FROM BEHIND.... whoops.. if the girl turns and takes the hit in the back it a. hurts more (note to self.. take hits in the shoulder) and b. it's her own fault and i WON'T get a penalty for that...

4. LOOK AROUND BEFORE MAKING THE NEXT MOVE IF YOU CAN. When I get the ball I wildly pass it or shoot as if I am terrified of having the ball and getting rid of it! This usually makes for a crappy pass and a crappy shot. I am not sure why I have started doing this!

But overall there was a giant clearing of the fog and (I think) I actually understand! The rest of the practice went well too! I think I could focus on other things now that the big picture made more sense. I am beginning to feel like maybe I look good in this sport! HA!

I decided though, that I like practices so much I just want to keep doing that. I am not ready for any games yet! Especially ones that are in super sunny weather like below!

NEW WESTMINSTER WOMEN'S SALMONBELLIES

2011-03-21T01:47:00.000-07:00

So after a wet weekend of tryouts at Grimwood Park Box, the coaches have made their decisions...

Jenn (Lunnie) Turner is a New Westminster Women's Salmonbellie!!!

The tryouts were great! I was pretty intimidated again, to have all the equipment on and to see all these girls who all looked like they knew what they were doing. It wasn't long though before I felt like I was somewhat fitting in. The drills we learned at the shoot around were very similar, I was really comfortable in the rain thanks to the hundreds of running and bike workouts I had done in the rain, and Kev's last session when I was all geared up gave me a bit of confidence as well.

We started the tryouts on day 1 with the basic passing from a stand, from running, did a dynamic warm-up and then started working on some of the drills from last day- the star drill, running and passing, setting a pick, shooting, quick sticks, wall ball, some sprints (carefully on the wet mossy cement!) and other really cool fun brain stimulating activities (well for my brain) . The tryout ended early as the rain was really starting to soak in and get dangerous for quick stops and starts. I think day one was a success! I really LIKED what we were doing out there, and the time went by super quickly!

Day 2 started out with a run cause it was raining again and the box gets super slippery. This I was ok with, even though I had already done 1h45 earlier in the morning to get my train on for the knee knacker! Running is a strong point of mine, so I got-er done and used the needed extra time to put on all my equipment all by myself! ;) Then we started out with the same drills and started talking and practicing the one major rule change for this upcoming season- FULL CONTACT. So here is where EVERYONE is on a clean slate... none of the girls had ever practiced full contact before, and it does change the game significantly. I however, don't know the difference, and the only lacrosse I have ever watched (Kev's games) are all full contact.. so rules are the same.. +1 for Jenn!!!

CHALLENGES that I need to work through/on:

1. scooping up the ball when it is rolling on the ground away from me

2. making a mistake in front of other people (ie. a bad pass, missing the net on a shot :))

3. not be intimidated (this happens to me at triathlons all the time) and doubt myself that I should actually even be there.

4. my spinal flexibility, so that I can turn my upper body to pass but still keep my feet running forward!

5. learn everyone's names so that I am not just yelling "HEY" to everyone when I pass!

6. learn how to run and get hit, but don't let the ball fall out of my stick.

This is me--> day 2 after I had gained a bit of experience... hahahaha.

A little history of the New Wesminster Women's Salmonbellies........

2009 was a big season for the New Westminster Women's Salmonbellies. With a massive roster of 25 the team's development really showed during the year League Tournament where the team placed 2nd.

The 2008 season marked the beginning of a hopeful legacy for the New Westminster Women’s Salmonbellies. After a year in wait, the team is proud to wear the red, white and blue logo representative of the old royal city. Word of mouth brought a very full roster to the young team, and 16 new players got their first experience on the lacrosse floor together. The team increased their win count to 2 for the season, with quite a few ties and 1 goal beats. It was a very exciting season with promising results for 2009.

In 2007 the team competed under the name New Westminster Women’s Lacrosse club. Although they finished their first season without a win, the season founded a great base for the future with a focus on fun, friendships and skill development.

To check out more details go to: http://www.womensbellies.com/

Lesson 3- All Geared UP

2011-03-12T17:00:00.001-08:00

Super fast lesson 3 occurred Thursday morning at the box over the span of about 45 minutes (excluding the time it took me to "gear up". Here's my top 10 "take homes" from this session:

1. Don't ask your coach to do your helmet up for you.. that's not cool.

2. Follow the ball with your eyes right into your stick- works like a charm every time!

3. Always keep your stick moving after you catch the ball so it doesn't bounce out. They aren't twirling those sticks around for looks, there really is a purpose.

4. There is NO offside in lacrosse.

5. Kevin is an AMAZING teacher.. he definitely will make one hell of a lacrosse coach one day!

6. Setting a pick is for a specific reason, not just to look cool doing the drills.

7. Defense and offense have particular things they are TRYING to do, these plans are very specific and a specific result is anticiptated it's not just a bunch of running around chaos out there.

8. I can't hurt Kev if he is not wearing equipment and I cross check him. If I think that I can, I will get the "are you kidding me look". An example of this look is in the photo below.

9. Kev CAN hurt me, if he is not wearing equipment and I am, and he cross checks me.

10. It's waaaaay harder to do any of the previous mentioned lacrosse skills or drills wearing a helmet... all I see are bars in front of my face that are quite distracting!

OFFICIAL TRYOUTS THIS WEEKEND!! Look out ladies salmonbellies... here comes the toughest triathlete you ever met!!!!

Foam Rolling…When, What, Who?

2011-03-06T22:35:00.000-08:00

Check it! A FANTASTIC post on foam rolling!

Foam Rolling…When, What, Who?

This is going to be harder than I thought... Lesson 2

2011-03-02T07:59:00.001-08:00

SO.. since official lesson #2 with Kev was cancelled due to the overwhelming amount of snow that had accumulated at the outdoor box over the weekend, lesson 2 became me catapulted into a "shoot around" at the Arenex in Queens Park. Talk about a whole lot of intimidating situations, (although I did feel really tough running to practice with my gloves and stick c'mon, who's going to mess with a chick running with a lacrosse stick!). I walked into the arena and the intimidation started. There was only 1 face out of 13 that I knew, I recognized 2 more, and every single girl looked tougher than me! We practiced the stuff that Kev and I had practiced for about 30 seconds before the dudes running the practice decided we should do some "game drills" woah.. I haven't had this lesson yet! Here it was!!!

Cutting, picks, passing drills, shooting on the run, go left, go right, star pattern, roll. YIKES. I was ALL over the place! I was trying to think about technique, and get my passing and catching on, using a foam lacrosse ball, which is by the way, less painful to get hit with but WAY harder to catch. But then I didn't know where to run, follow the pass or wait for a pass? shoot when? as hard as I can or just toss it in? AND it seemed that as soon as I caught on to what I was supposed to be doing, it was switched up! I was standing in the middle, balls flying over my head every which way, girls running left and right and yup, I was confused as heck! That's what I call a wake up for the ol' nervous system. Something I have definitely been lacking!

So the "practice" ended with a scrimmage. TOTALLY not ready for this yet! I really should have had lesson 2. Again, I had many questions: where shall I run to? how "rough" should I be during this? what's the etiquette? Do I play a man on man or zone? Shall I try to impress the coaches or not be the cocky new girl? Do I want to start a fight right there to "earn" my spot on the team like those NHL'ers? (HA!)

SO, the first tryout is next weekend, so I have some time to go over game tape, learn all the positions and get my skillz on track! I did have a really awesome time, LOVED the workout and the challenge, and you bet your a$$ that I want even more to make this team! Maybe the competitive FIRE is coming back already!

My NEW Sport- Lesson 1

2011-02-20T19:15:00.000-08:00

Sooo, I have been a little unmotivated, and indecisive when it comes to racing triathlon this year. I do love the sport and I am not finished with it yet, but I am just not excited about choosing a coach, a goal, any races. Then this opportunity happened to just show up in my inbox WOMEN'S BOX LACROSSE!!! Well, the idea intrigued me; talk about an opportunity to GROW and LEARN! It would put me in a whole lotta uncomfortable situations at once: team sport, using fast twitch muscle fibres, hard rubber balls flying at my head and body, hand eye coordination and other fine motor SKILLS! Sign me up!

STEP 1: GEAR

The typical lacrosse gear is MUCH different than the mounds of triathlon gear that I already own. Luckily, my husband and his extensive lacrosse career has LOTS of extra stinky smelly gear around our condo. Soon enough I was equipped with gloves, a stick, shoulder pads, helmet and facemask, slash guards (NOT to be called elbow pads.... ).

STILL NEEDED:

kidney pads, appropriate footwear, mouthguard and a "jill" (figure this one out!)

Tryouts consist a few specific skill requirements:

1. Timed Sprints/Runs

2. Catching and passing from a stand still

3. Catching and passing on a FULL RUN

4. Wall Ball - throw the ball at the wall, let it bounce on the ground and catch it.

5. Quadrants- 4 boxes drawn on the wall and you have 10 shots to hit all 4.

6. 10 shots on an empty net from the top of the dotted line- you must hit the net or a post EVERY TIME.

My husband, with 30 years experience playing lacrosse, and a current Senior Men's Salmonbellies player, took me out to the outdoor box today to check out my lax skillz. Here's his recap of the session: "You improved very quickly within the session and as long as the ball doesn't come within a 3 foot radius of your head, you will be fine." -Kevin Lunnie, #47.

I agree that I DID improve immensely over the hour, as I got more comfortable. I was suprised that with a little coaching from Kev I was pretty good at the accuracy stuff, but I must also agree that my major weakness was the ball coming near my head. I welled up at one point, but it was because the ball hit me right in the tear duct :) I figure I will be a lot better wearing a helmet and hopefully I will feel invincible in all that equipment.

My challenges this first lesson were passing while running- especially when the stick was behind me.. I will need to practice that one more, and I am not very good at "scooping" the to pick it up from the ground. But again with Kev's brilliant cues, I was able to get the way it was supposed to be done.

One of the many outdoor boxes in New West. Site of lesson #1.

Stay Tuned for details from Lesson #2, where I am expected to be challenged in FULL GEAR, and Kev states that he's not going to take it so easy one me!

Beijing World Cup 2011

2011-02-02T22:39:00.000-08:00

Check this video put together by Steve Sleep the AMAZING, National Track Cycling Team Videographer. Past world champion and current National Team Coach Tanya Dubnicoff is the narrator and yours truly does make an appearance in the video, watch carefully as I am being bossy as usual while supervising the women's team pursuit as they do some of their pre-race activation drills.

HALLWAY OF LIFE

2010-12-25T20:42:00.000-08:00

Hallway of Life

Picture a long hallway . Your goal or your destination is the end of the hallway and there are many rooms in the hallway. Each room has something in it- a new friends, a new experience, a new way of doing something, a road block potentially. You don’t know what is in any of the rooms as you start your way down the hallway, walking towards your goal or destination.

This was an analagy that I came up with in a conversation with one of my Olympic Athlete patients, Zach Bell. We were comparing our “styles” of life. Zach is obviously very goal oriented and does not get distracted easily. He has a very direct focus and he pretty much heads straight down the hall, going in only a few rooms.

On the other hand, I will stop to look and see what is in EVERY ROOM.. sometimes I find something in the room that helps me get to the end of the hall faster, and sometimes I find something that will take me longer to reach the end. I WILL get to the end of the hall, and I am definitely goal driven- but I don’t wanna miss out on any of the rooms.

My husband Kevin will relate this attribute of mine to our “Christmas Lights Run” . Around this time of year, sometimes we will tend to run in the evenings (cause it gets dark so early!!) I ooooh and ahhh at every house that has christmas decorations or lights, even if they are not the most spectacular house on the block. But can appreciate that I am out for a run, accomplishing the goal of that training session, or that building block to the big goal of the race, but I can enjoy each journey along the way.

HOW WILL YOU GO DOWN THE HALLWAY??

CALI COLOMBIA -WORLD CUP

2010-12-11T21:14:00.000-08:00

So, after last year being a challenging time in Colombia, I wasn't really sure what to expect this year, much of the same, or could I make it different. It wasn't a horrible time last year, but is discouraging when you can't go out for a run, get sick from drinking the water, and are always "watching your back" as encouraged by the hotel staff as the locals think canadians are all rich!

So this year, the neighbourhood is much nicer, still not 100% safe to go out alone, but my roomate Tanya Dubnicoff is always up for a mini-adventure and I know I will get her out exploring in the few minutes we have free!

The big perk about this hotel as well is the GYM and POOL: Last year I think a big part of the letdown was the fact that I couldn't train or exercise myself. Being around a bunch of inspiring professional athletes all day, then not being able to train myself was really tough! I don't usually have a lot of spare time throughout the days here, but as you know, I am pretty efficient with my time, and will get a lot of things done in a short period, so I manage to squeeze in some "Jenn fit time" into the schedule.

I have been fortunate enough to acquire a position working with Cycling Canada and their National Team programs, specifically I work mostly with the Track Program and their build to the Olympics in 2012. We have just returned from a successful World Cup race in Cali, Colombia.

From a team chiropractor perspective, Cali was a great learning experience, which is something I am always up for. The role that I have with the team at this point is multi-faceted and I get to use much of a lot of the training that I have as a Sports Chiropractor to be useful and help this team and Cycling Canada go forward.
To this point I have been working

with the team for about 2 years. This year thanks to the support of a company called B2Ten, I have been able to see the athletes on a consistent basis. I have been to travelling quite frequently to Los Angeles, where the athletes live and train as well as seeing many athletes at Moveo here in Vancouver. This is much different than the work I have done in the past with athletic teams as the frequency I see the cyclists, the better able I am to monitor athletes progress and build with subsequent treatments. This allows me to make a bigger difference I feel as I can focus on both injury prevention, and performance enhancement as well as injury management of any current issues.

As a chiropractor, I am doing a residency in Chiropractic Sports Sciences. This has allowed me to broaden my spectrum from typical "chiropractic" duties. I predominantly do a technique called Active Release Technique, which is a soft tissue technique that helps break up adhesions and scar tissue that forms in the muscles, tendons, ligaments and fascia due to trauma or overuse. I also use Graston technique, modalities and exercise prescription as a huge part of my treatment plans.

Cali was the second World Cup race of the 2010/11 season, and after a great start to the season in Melbourne, the athletes were hungry for more success. We had a bigger team than ever attend and came away with a new Canadian Record in the Men's Team Sprint, bronze and silver medals in the men's and women's omnium. We also had an impressive number of top 5 placings, which shows great potential for future development.

Next up is Beijing World Cup, which takes place on the same stage as the 2008 Summer Olympics. I am looking forward to a few more sessions in LA with B210 early Jan, then to experience Beijing Track Style!

SEAL BEACH, CALIFORNIA

2010-11-05T19:14:00.000-07:00

I have the very good fortune to work as a chiropractor with the Canadian Track Cycling Team. I have the even greater fortune to look after them, and treat them at their home base and training camps in Seal Beach, California. It is beautiful there, and I always gain so much (besides some vitamin D) whenever I go there.

This trip was unique in that CCA has put together an IST- integrative services team, we are all flown down to introduce us all to each other and to the 2010 World Cup Team.

The athletes are usually the individuals that inspire me, but this trip I met three wonderful ladies, Kristen Barnes- Sport Psychologist, Susan Bogeman- Sport Nutritionist and Andrea Wooles- Exercise Physiologist. These women all have exceptional knowledge and experience in their respective fields. Each has worked with different world class teams and athletes and has been an integral part of their successes. I have gained invaluable knowledge from these three wonderful people in the short time we correlated together in LA. Not only did a learn a ton from these professionals in their fields but I also learned how ESSENTIAL and beneficial it is for us to work together and make each other even stronger at what we each do.

The sports medicine world is all about TEAMWORK, working together with the athlete's best interest and performance as a common goal. This is the way support teams HAVE to work in order to be successful. Egos have to be set aside, extra time for meetings with the other members of the IST to "piece the athlete's puzzle together" is a priority. Everyone has to work together and trust each other in order to create a positive environment and an optimal performance environment for the athletes.

The CCA has grown leaps and bounds since I have started working with them a few years ago. This type of environment and support for these athletes is a set up for success, and it will be an amazing journey this season to see the results that are obtained as we lead up to the London Olympics in 2012.

I am super honoured to be an integral part of this program and to be able to contribute!

"It's amazing what you can accomplish if you do not care who gets the credit."

- Harry S. Truman

HAPPY CANADA DAY!!

2010-07-03T08:23:00.000-07:00

OK, OK, so Canada Day is technically over, but because some people (not me of course, I love to work!) were taking it as an extra LOOOONG weekend, the title of this post still applies!

This blog post is actually a copy of this weeks Editorial in the local New Westminster newspaper, the Newsleader:

"O Canada Day eve, and we've got lots of complain about:

The weather.

The new line item that will appear on the bottom of our Wendy's receipt starting tomorrow and will render our pockets a few cents lighter.

The billion dollars it cost us to keep a bunch of world leaders safe as they posed for "grip and grin" photos and solved nothing at the G8/G20 summit in Toronto.

The absence of a Canadian Team at the World Cup.

But tomorrow we get to put those complaints aside and just be who we are: Canadians.

Canada Day is the one day of the year we can get away with wearing red and white, have

our cheeks decaled with the red maple leaf, or sing O Canada with pride.

There's a lot to celebrate about being Canadian:

The weather: Really four seasons of sunshine and warmth would be boring

Hockey: A soccer player in the World Cup gets brushed ever-so-lightly and crumples to the

turf like he's been shot; a hockey player loses seven teeth to a frozen puck, gathers his

shattered chicklets from the ice and is back for his next shift.

Our banking system: sure, all those annoying fees for ATM withdrawls and money

transfers add up to multi-billion dollar profits, but at least the banks don't come crawling back to the government for bailout money so their executives can continue adding their Maserati collections with bonuses they earned from floating questionable loans to customers who could ill afford them.

Our health care system. Flawed as it is, with long waits for surgeries, and crowded emergency wards, somehow people do get better without having to worry about being driven from their hospital bed into the poor house. So get out this Canada Day and celebrate our country. Don't be shy. "

HOW TRUE this is! There are SO many great things about this Country that we live in that we neglect to appreciate. I travel to many different countries with cycling, and we are so fortunate to have the systems set up here that we do. So quit complaining for one day and ENJOY OUR COUNTRY!

LEVEL 6 PERFORMER

2010-06-24T00:00:00.000-07:00

I am really lucky to get to work with some professional athletes of different sports. One thing that I have found these athletes have in common is their attitudes! This article is one of my favourites, written with triathletes in mind, but can definitely be applied to any sport: are you a level 6 performer??

Are You a Level 6 Performer?
Achieve more by developing a winning mindset
Matt Fitzgerald, Triathlete Magazine, June 2008

Dr. Stephen Long believes that those athletes who most fully realise their performance potential exhibit certain core mental traits and behavioural patters. Likewise, athletes who fallshort of their potential tend to share a different set of common characteristics. A sports psychologist based in Colorado Springs, CO, Long has devoted his career to studying the character qualities of high-reaching athletes and helping all athletes develop them so they may achieve what he calls level-six performance.

It’s a different sort of sports psychology that the tool-based sort that is practised by the majority of Long’s peers, who concentrate on showing clients how to practice methods such as positive self-talk and mental rehearsal. While these methods are not absent from Long’s system, he is grounded on a different philosophical foundation. Whereas traditional sports psychology takes a problem-solving approach to the mental side of performance (for example, relaxation exercises are used to solve the problem of pre-race anxiety), Long takes a developmental approach. He believes that level-six performers are typically more highly-developed in terms of particular performance-relevant character qualities and that the surest way to become a higher achiever is to develop these same qualities. It makes sense. So, if you feel you have untapped triathlon potential within you that training and nutrition changes alone cannot bring out, then you might want to try Stephen Long’s level-six performance system.

WHAT MAKES THEM TICK
Long began his career as a football coach at the University of Delaware and the University of Virginia. In those roles he witnessed a consistent phenomenon that tickled his curiosity. “I noticed our most productive player was never our most talented player”, he says. Long was so ken to find out why some athletes are able to realise their full potential and others are not that he went back to school to do so, receiving a doctoral degree in education from the University of Kansas in 1990.

His thesis used the theoretical framework of renowned humanist psychologist Abraham Maslow - a hierarchy of needs that culminates in self-actualisation, or becoming oneself through the pursuit of a calling - to tackle the mystery of what makes high-achieving athletes tick. “I came up with a psychology inventory that measures the need for self-actualisation,” he explains. “In the first phase of my research I went to Division I track and field coaches and asked them to select the two athletes who had made the most out of their potential and the two athletes who had made the least out of their potential, and I interviewed them. Interestingly, performance was not an indicator. For example, a certain athlete might be an All-American, but he really should be competing in Europe. Another athlete might just give the team two points at the conference meet, but that’s the very best he could do.”

Long found significant differences between these two groups of athletes - the high achievers and the underachievers - in terms of their beliefs and attitudes. When he went to work as a performance-enhancement specialist for the Air Force Academy, Long continued to collect data. He discovered he could rank athletes in six-level hierarchy of self-actualisation potential in sports. A graph of their distribution along this hierarchy formed a classic bell curve. “Only the top two percent of athletes knew how to actualise their potential,” says Long.”Their beliefs and attitudes are very different from those in levels three and four, where seven out of 10 athletes fall.”

Another eye-opening experience awaited Long at the United States Olympic Training Centre in Colorado Springs, where he went to collect data from a higher calibre of athlete than he had ever studied. “I discovered that the norm for Olympic athletes was much higher than it was for college athletes,” Long says. There were significantly more level-six performers at the world-class level. “What that told me is that if you want to compete on a higher level, you’re going to have to change the way you think,” Long states.

WHAT’S YOUR LEVEL?
To know exactly where you fall on Long’s bell curve you would have to complete the test he devised. But he can characterise the six levels of the winning mindset continuum in general terms. “People at levels one and two develop ways of thinking that severely restrict them, he explains. “These attitudes and beliefs can range from fear of failure or fear of success to lack of discipline or laziness. People at levels three and four still have some attitudes and beliefs that limit their performance somewhat. People at level five have learned how to eliminate the psychological barrier to performance. At this level, emotion does not dictate decisions, whereas at levels three and four, many times emotion dictates decisions. Athletes at level six have learned how to use their thoughts, beliefs, and emotions as tools to enhance performance.”

Long insists the mental habits and behaviours of level-six performers are not inborn personality traits but instead are learned skills. Most athletes who have them come by them naturally over time as a result of continuously manifesting a great passion for their chosen sport. However, Long says he has had great success in helping athletes mindfully cultivate the level-six qualities in the athletes who lack them to some degree.

11 PRINCIPLES
According to Long, level six performers demonstrate a commitment to 11 positive principles. By learning these principles and making your own commitment to each of them, he says, you can develop your character in ways that will raise your level of performance as a triathlete. These principles are as follows:

Learning over ignorance: The athletes who improve most consistently are those who learn most steadily, and those who learn most steadily are those who have conditioned themselves to look for lessons in every new experience. “If you haven’t learned how to learn, you’re not going to maximize your performance,” says Long. There are many different ways to learn. The surest means to increase your learning rate is to broaden your approach to learning. For example, some athletes tend to think and then act, and learn by comparing expected results with actual results. Others tend to act and then think, and learn by encountering surprises. Neither approach is inherently better than the others, says Long, but the athlete who makes a conscious effort to use both will learn and thus improve faster.

Simplicity over complexity: Level-six performers tend to focus their minds on a few important things instead of cluttering their minds with distracting minutia that draw energy away from larger matters that have a far greater impact on performance. One way to choose simplicity over complexity is to set goals selectively. “Keep goals to a minimum,” says Long. “Trying to manage seven, 10, or 13 goals is just impossible. And the main goal in triathlon is pretty much the same as for everyone: go faster.”

Proficiency over incompetence: Level-six performers choose proficiency over incompetence. But does anybody really choose incompetence? Yes, they do, according to Long. To truly choose proficiency you must choose to never be content with any level of improvement as an athlete, he says. “Excellence begins with a level of dissatisfaction with your performance and productivity - fulfilment is overrated,” Long writes in his book, Level Six Performance: A Gold Medal Formula for Achieving Personal and Professional Success. The majority of athletes do not choose proficiency in this way. Instead, they limit themselves by feeling satisfied with a degree of improvement that, for one reason or another, they believe is all they’re really entitled to. Level-six performers cross the finish line and kick themselves for not beating the person in front of them. Others cross the finish line and pat themselves on the back for beating the person behind them. You’ll improve faster if you keep your eyes trained on that person ahead of you.

Excellence over mediocrity: Excellence is, by definition, not normal. Only those who achieve a level of performance that is exceptional or extraordinary qualify as excellent. From this definition it follows that those who wish to achieve excellence must not be afraid to stand apart, cultivate their individuality and find their own way of doing things. “We spend most of our developmental lives trying to fit in, to conform to acceptable standards of behaviour,” Long writes in Level Six Performance. “During the process, we can easily lose ourselves.” While it’s important to take advantage of the accumulated wisdom on how to train and prepare for triathlon competition, copying the methods that have worked for others will only take you so far. At some point you must become independent and secure enough to go your own way. That’s choosing excellence. A good example of choosing excellence - and also of the consequences of conforming - is miler great Steve Prefontaine. In his all-too-brief career, Pre insisted on running from the front in every race. His coach, Bill Bowerman, tried to coach him out of the habit because it wasn’t normal, and he felt it was wasteful. But Pre kept on running from the font anyway, and kept winning - until he finally too Bowerman’s advice in the 1973 Olympic 5000 metres and ran conservatively, and finished fourth.

Process over results: Every athlete who has the ability to win loves to do so, but level six performers spend less time thinking about winning and more time thinking about what it takes to win than equally gifted but less mature athletes do. In other words, they focus their attention on execution instead of hoped-for outcomes. Maximizing your performance requires that you stay in the moment so that you can maintain optimal intensity, technique, responsiveness, and so forth. If you go through the race thinking “I hope I win, I hope I win” or even “I hope I finish, I hope I finish”, your mental focus will slip into the future and you will execute poorly. “Level six performers never finish the race,” Long says. What he means by this statement is that, for these individuals, the feeling of performing well and of improving is more rewarding than the feeling of crossing the finish line or receiving a trophy. This process orientation ultimately helps them reach the finish line faster, and it could do the same for you.

Progress over deterioration: To make a commitment to progress is to make a commitment to preparation. There are many noteworthy examples of great athletes who outperformed their rivals in competition because they out-prepared them in training. Lance Armstrong spent more time scouting and training on the Tour de France stage routes than anyone. Tiger Woods participates in fewer tournaments that most other top golfers, but nobody works harder to perfect his game, condition his body and refine his equipment selection. Long believes that the will to prepare that characterises level-six performers has a source most others would not assume it does. “Perhaps the most important thing [about the level six performers] is that they have tremendous passion for their sport,” he says. “They just love doing it. Only through passion can you be disciplined.” Presumably, a love of swimming, cycling, and running is what hooked you on triathlon in the beginning. But as you became more serious or competitive, you might have lost some of that pure enjoyment and as a result you’re now just going through the motions of training. If so, get back in touch with the kid in you. Start swimming, cycling and running as play once more and your passion for preparation will return - and pay dividends.

Decisiveness over vacillation: Level six performers separate themselves by making effective and productive decisions by clarifying vague distinctions,” writes Stephen Long in his book. Clarity of vision allows them to choose the best course of action when a choice between competing options must be made. How is such clarity of vision achieved? According to Long, it is achieved largely through a commitment to the other 10 principles of level-six performance, Internalizing these values gives you a framework through which to evaluate choices and distinguish the better from the worse. In fact, says Long, committing to the level-six performance principles vastly reduces the number of decisions you need to make; it sets you on a steady course of development that you need not ever stray from.

Balance over extremism: Many triathletes assume that their commitment to the sport necessarily comes at the expense of other life areas, but according to Stephen Long, level-six performers don’t. “There’s your family life, your financial life, your spiritual life, your social life, your professional life, and your health and leisure life, which includes your sport,” he says. “The key is to create a system where each life area is supporting the other life areas.” If you simply jettison the assumption that your pursuit of sport cannot benefit your family life and other life areas, and vice versa, you begin to find creative new ways to enhance their synergy.

Efficiency over wastefulness: On a physiological level, improving as a triathlete is all about gaining efficiency. For example, through proper training you might lop off 10 minutes off your best 40km cycling time trial without making improvement in your maximum power-output capability, die to improved mechanical and metabolic efficiency, which enables you to get more out of the power you have. Efficiency is also a hallmark quality of effective preparation and level six performers are typically very efficient in their training. To become a more efficient athlete, constantly question the way you’re doing things and keep an eye out for opportunities to get better results from equal effort. For example, ask yourself “Am I really benefiting from my one-size-fits-all masters swim workouts as much as I would from solo sessions formatted for my specific needs and goals?” Or ask, “Am I deriving as mich race endurance from the super-long, slow rides I’ve been doing as I would get from slightly shorter, more aggressive rides?”

Confidence over self-doubt: Every athlete gains confidence from success. What separates level six performers from other athletes is they don’t lose confidence from failures. “Level six performers know how to build confidence even from failure,” says Long. “They know how to take full credit for success and explain their failures in a constructive way.” For example, after a disappointing race such an athlete might say, “Well, I had hoped to do better, but considering how little run training I was able to do because of that hip injury, I actually did surprisingly well.”

Humility over arrogance: Pride comes before the fall, as the saying goes. The problem with becoming too full of yourself as an athlete is that it causes you to lose your intensity, and when you lose your intensity, you lose your edge. “Most people lose their intensity when their lead appears to be safe,” Long writes. Level six performers often talk about racing as if they are behind, even when they have the lead. This racing-from-behind attitude will serve you well in both training and competition. Never lose sight of the fact that there are other athletes out there who have a little more talent that you have, but whom you can defeat anyway with a level six mindset.--

I LOVE TRAINING CAMP

2010-05-24T19:25:00.001-07:00

4 days, 350 kms of biking, 28 kms of running, 2kms of swimming, 11 athletes treatments

1. The training- obviously training camp is an opportunity to get a big training overload. My body LOVES this overload and responds really well to it, if I do it properly, and back it off the week after. Training camp is a great time to push the limits, test your physical and mental capacities. There is lots of support and lots of down time to allow for all this great training too!

2. The people- there are some GREAT people at training camps, and there is something to be learned from everyone! From multiple ironman athletes, to first timers, everyone has a story, and a reason for doing what they are doing. Friends are made and I always learn something from everyone at camp.

3. Triathlon, triathlon and more triathlon- When else is it completely acceptable to talk about triathlon ALL THE TIME?
From gear to clothing to nutrition and race strategies, there is are many different aspects of triathlon that don't go un-discussed. It's a great opportunity to get foc

used, learn about all new things triathlon,

4. The scenery- The okanagan is a great place to train because of all the terrain, the scenery and the hills. After a 15 km climb, you know that the reward is waiting and the view is sure to be absolutely amazing! The ANARCHIST climb won the first star for amazing scenery this trip! Check it out!

5. The Destination- usually training camps are held away from your regular place of residence, it adds to the whole experience to have a destination training camp. I have been lucky enough to travel to training camps in Florida, California and now the Okanagan. All amazing places to get a "train-on".

6. The treatments- I do my part as a chiro to the athletes at these camps too! I only feel complete doing so. I am pretty lucky cause I am with my "camp mates" a lot, so I can see the immediate benefits of what I can do, and have great follow ups and asses biomechanics as well. It feels so good to see people improve after only a little bit of work and also helps educate people about Active Release Techniques (ART) and how freaking amazing this technique is!

7. INSPiRATION- This is a bit of a combo of ALL the categories above- the people, the coaches, the motivation, the scenery, the TRIATHLONING! I always am inspired and motivated, and full of new knowledge after attending a camp.

8. The food- aside from the numerous gels, gatorade, clif bars and other training foods, training camp is usually a giant smorgasboard of great food! There's Leslie and her homemade protein bars and cookies, fantastic BBQs, Joanne's lasagna, and usually a trip to Dairy Queen after a looooong training day! With all the training we are doing, our bodies deserve this nutrition to recover!

This is just a small list of why I LOVE LOVE training camp and why I will likely never give up this awesome sport. Thanks Pacific Rim Multisport for putting on such a phenomenal camp!

WHY AM I BLOGGING

2010-05-02T16:52:00.000-07:00

There are a few reasons that I have decided to start blogging, not because I have some extra time to kill, or cause I dont' talk to enough people during a day, but I have decided to start blogging for these reasons:

-I am inspired. There are some really great blogs out there and I have only skimmed the surface, Steph Corker-Irwin, Nicola Guildersleeve, Kelly Lyons, all people that I admire and respect. I enjoy reading blogs of these people and I hope that someone will enjoy reading mine too.

-It allows my family and friends to follow my adventures and experiences as both an athlete and a chiropractor to the athletes if they so choose! I am so lucky! I have a great job that exposes me to new learning opportunities every day. I want to share them!

- I want to have a record of my experiences, and how I am feeling about those experiences and what I feel I have learned from them.

-I am a "writer-downer", I need to write things down to make sense of them in my own head (which has been referred to as a 3-ring circus). But also just to commit things and experiences to memory, and make things a habit, thus blogging makes perfect sense for this.

I look forward to "getting into" blogging more and discovering other blogs and waiting to see what kind of doors open for me in this new venture!

Disclaimer: this blog is NOT a professional blog it is entirely personal, what makes me the professional that I am, the athlete that I am and the professional and athletic experiences that I have.