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.
No comments:
Post a Comment