New start, new goals, new perspective on life!

It's been a couple of years since I've posted anything on here and a lot of things have changed since then.  There have been many highs but also some lows but this blog will take a new focus as I am on a different journey in life than I was a couple years back. 
There have been highs of raising my son who will be 3 years old this August and watching him grow into a young boy as he is already riding a 2 wheel bike, did his first triathlon last summer, loves to sing and play with his puppy and brings a smile to my face everyday.

I am the head coach of the Northern Ontario Triathlon Squad and coach about 20 youth and young adults daily and watching their success is always inspirational.  Some have been racing all over North America , competing on the Jr. National circuit and there is a couple who will be competing at this years World Championships in London, England and one who has qualified for the U23 Elite World Duathlon Championships.  I have a real passion for working with these guys and seeing them achieve their goals gives me great satisfaction.  I will continue to update often about how they are doing and what's up next for these guys and girls.

I took a big step back from any training and racing these past couple years and both physically and mentally I think I suffered from it.  Physically I went from 155lbs when I was racing to 220lbs if not a bit more at my heaviest.  I never really thought this was possible for me but it happened.  I stopped all forms of training that I was doing and really wasn't getting much physical activity at all but continued to eat as if I was training full time.  Around Christmas time this year I decided it was time to do something about it and slowly I started getting back into training yet this time with a different approach.  I wasn't going to sacrifice any time with my son or anything else.  If I was going to train it was going to be on my time and it wasn't going to affect anyone else.  Same sort of idea went with the weight.  I was going to go on any kind of diet first because I don't believe in diets and second because I love my food and wasn't going to make those around me change what they are eating just for me.  So I still eat white pasta or bread and if Hudson wants to go to McDonalds then we go to McDonalds.  Since Christmas I've lost 30lbs but more on the way!
Mentally the break in training and racing really gave my mind a chance to think about other things and feelings and emotions I had pushed aside while I was training came started to come back.  I had some pretty dark days and finally went to talk to someone was diagnosed with some pretty serious depression and had to fight off thoughts I ultimately would of regret and would no have been fair to my family and friends.  Today though I like to think I am in a different place mentally and even though it will always be a struggle I have learnt ways to deal with it and appreciate the good things I have in my life.

With that being said I will be getting back to some racing this summer and I really excited about it.  This time its going to be fun no matter the place I finish and the time I get.  I'm looking forward to updating this blog on a fairly regular basis as I know some friends and family used to appreciate it and liked to follow along so I will make a honest effort in trying to do that with all kinds of updates not just how my training and racing is going like what used to be the focus in the past.

New Website

For everyone who supports me and takes the time to read my blog please from now on go to my new website. http://buddygreen.ca/ There's still lots of stuff that has to be added to it but for now there's a few things and you can continue to follow me on my new blog.

Lasalle Hall of Fame

New Pace Clock? Happy Anniversary!

I think I better start this one off by saying Happy 1 year Anniversary to Lea! I can't believe that it's already been a year since we got married. This year has seemed to just fly by with everything that has happened.
So for the past 3 years and a bit I've been doing all of my swimming out of the YMCA pool where I work. It's just been the easiest since I'm already there and I don't have to pay anything. The only thing is though that the pool is only a 20m pool and there's been no pace clock. So to do a 100m's I have to do 5 lengths instead of 4 or 200m's I have to do 10 instead of 8. That hasn't been the end of the world even though I am training long distance and the shorten lengths aren't ideal. Then the no pace clock has meant that I have to judge how fast I'm going just by feel. Lucky for me the years of swimming have given me a good idea but doing sets on a pace time has been almost impossible other than the few times I've managed to get Lea away from her work for a few minutes while I'm swimming to use a stop watch and tell me when to go each time. So I'm happy to say that last week after over 3 years of asking I finally have a pace clock that I can use!! It was like x-mas in May! So with this I must say that I'm pretty happy that I've been able to stay one of the best swimmers in the sport when most people have either a 25m or 50m pool, training partners, pace clocks, coaches writing practices...etc.

Lasalle Secondary honours former student-athletes

Ten former Lasalle Secondary students are being honoured for their athletic achievements at the first-ever Lancer Sport Hall of Fame ceremony.At 7 p.m. on May 26, former Lasalle Secondary School student-athletes, who have played for the national program or have been all-Canadian or all-American in their respective sports, will be honoured.The athletes being honoured at this ceremony include:
Brady Bolan (basketball)
Tessa Bonhomme (hockey)
Paul Boyce (basketball)
Rob Esmie (track and field)
Buddy Green (triathlon- swimming/running)
Brad Hann (basketball)
Norm Hann (basketball)
Lisa Labrecque (Oullet) (cross country/track and field)
Kristine Lalondde (basketball)
Al Lekun (football

Happy Birthday Molly!

A BIG Happy Birthday to my little sister Molly!! It was nice to have her over for supper last night to celebrate her birthday. We had a really nice supper thanks to our good friend Sig who brought over steak and shrimp for the BBQ!
The swim meet on the weekend went really good...my kids swam great! It's kind of funny to see a 10 year old swimming as fast as some of the "elite" triathletes. They have another swim meet this week here in Sudbury again. This is a big one for them with about 500 swimmers coming!
I got some good news yesterday when I found out that the Y were I do most of my swimming will be getting a pace clock. I've had to make due without one for a long time now. Thank god for all my years of swimming and being able to 30x50's at pace all within .5 of a second. It's helped because I can pretty much tell how fast I'm swimming just by feel. Sometimes I have someone on deck timing me but regardless I'm pretty excited about the pace clock!

Old Man Winter

We've seemed to have got one more blast of winter. Just as everything was starting to turn green and the flowers were coming out in the gardens we get dumped on with two full days of ice and snow. Last week I was wearing shorts, biking in nothing but my bike shorts and jersey for 3-4 days and yesterday and today I'm wearing my winter coat into work. It looks like starting tomorrow the temperatures are going back up and it should melt pretty quick which is a good thing.
I was asked my friends of ours this week if I will take their son to the Hedley concert here in Sudbury on Monday. I can't say I'm a huge fan but I'm sure it will still be fun.
Today was pretty much a day off for with just an easy 30min spin indoors on the bike and a 1500m easy swim right after. The pool was already pretty busier than usual when I got in but I was able to swim without any floaters bothering me. I don't know why but people just kept coming in and really don't understand why someone who already has a hard time swimming would want to get in right beside me when they would they could go in another lane with other people who are doing a form of side stroke. Then you get the ones who try and keep their hair out out of the water so that they don't have to redo it afterwards. Today was just one of those days in the pool and all I wanted to do was swim for less than 20minutes and get out!
On a different note I'm having a beard growing contest with one of my students at school. We let it grow for a week so that it was long enough and then everyday we have to do something different to it and then the person who comes to school without changing it to what we agreed on the previous day is the loser. Today was only day two of changing it so we'll see how long it goes for. I have a feeling though he's going to win because I'm already getting tired of it but it does make for a few laughs every morning.
Tomorrows plan is a 75min swim followed by an easy run after I get out of the pool and then weights. Then Sunday is a big 4.5 hour brick before the swim meet.

Damn Cold

Last week I was having a great week of training until about Thursday when I started to cough. It wasn't too bad at first and I decided that I would still do a workout Friday morning before leaving for North Bay to visit my aunt and uncle for Easter who just returned from Florida. By the time I got to North Bay my cough was much worse and I had a hard time sleeping that night. I ended up taking all of Saturday and Sunday off because I knew my body needed it and training would of only made things worse. I'm feeling much better now and yesterday was a double run with a swim in between. My visit in North Bay was really nice like always! I always enjoy getting to see them whenever we have a chance.
I'd like to say congrates to my best friend Jesse who decided to call me while I was sleeping last week to tell me that he's been accepted into teachers college. Now he has to decide which school he's going to go to by the 15th. Not much time to decide I think!
Through work we are planning a weekend triathlon camp in June. It's sounding like its going to be a lot of fun staying at the camp, training and helping others learn the ropes of the triathlon world.
My sister's birthday is in about week and she's going to be 21! I can't believe how old she's getting...it seems like just yesterday we were kids playing in a tree fort or swimming in the lake. I need to think of something for her b-day quick cause I'm running out of time!
This early spring has been great for getting outside for biking earlier than we are used to. This week looks like rain for most of the week but after that right back to run and temperatures in the low teens which is great for training. I find it funny though to see some cyclist dressed like it's still winter out. I passed a group of them last week and the only thing extra I had on were some arm warmers and all 8 or so of them had jackets, pants, booties over their shoes...I had a good little chuckle as I rode past them.
This week will just be getting back to 100% healthy again and getting my training back up. This weekend there's a Top Fish swim meet for the little kids in town that will be a lot of fun. It's always really cute to watch the 4 year olds compete for the first time doing their 25 Fr and 25 kick.