I am writing this blog post so that athletes can read and understand that life brings challenges for all of us, nothing is easy all the time for anyone, and it’s okay to not feel amazing all the time!

A lot of changes have taken place in my life since Ironman Texas! Overall some very good changes, but with them brought some training challenges. Life is made up of many different things which all interact with each other and sometimes the balance between one and another changes temporarily and the best we can do is try and manage it!

The biggest change has taken place on the career front. For the past seven years I have owned and operated Absolute Endurance Training and Therapy in Toronto and given it my full focus as far as work and business are concerned. Like any small business it brought with it many challenges and many experiences for personal growth and learning. In the past couple of months some other opportunities have arisen and things have changed quickly – I am now practising as a Chiropractor and doing some one-on-one training at Bayview Chiropractic Health Centre in midtown Toronto – while continuing to coach athletes at Absolute Endurance for triathlon, running and cycling.

The details of the new clinic for those that wish to contact me there are:

Bayview Chiropractic Health Centre
1555 Bayview Avenue
Toronto, ON
Phone: (416) 481-7901

Some thoughts:

– Life is short and time goes by quickly. Always do something that makes you happy, makes you feel fulfilled, and allows you to have a balance in life that works for you. Put time into thinking about what this is.

– Life balance is different for everyone. Figure out what is best for YOU.

– Do what makes YOU happy. Have good friends and always look out for them, but don’t let others hold you back or keep you somewhere that isn’t comfortable for you in the long run.

– Change can be frightening. But it can also be great. Sometimes change is hard at first but hang in there and good things will happen.

– It’s all about perspective. Two people can see the same thing in opposite ways. A positive perspective will often result in a positive outcome. Stay focussed and good things will happen.

Through these changes, one might imagine there was a little bit of emotional stress and with that came some sleep problems, extra physical and mental stress and associated training and recovery issues. I feel like I took it in stride pretty well though, and did my best to keep everything in control as much as possible – and reminding myself not to stress over what wasn’t in my control. Knowing the reasons for not feeling great in training helped keep things in perspective and helped to get through it the best I could. Having Coach Tara “in the know” and working with me to make sure I didn’t dig myself into a huge hole really helped as well. I feel like the last couple of weeks I have finally gotten back on track and am excited to move forward in the next couple of months with some very positive forward strides in physical and mental fitness and some great races!!

So here I am on a plane to Calgary to race a half ironman. Am I ready?? I am ready to get out there and give it the best shot I can in present circumstances! I am excited to be in a race again – there were times in the past couple of months that it was hard to realize 100% what I was doing and why – when fatigue hits, emotional stress hits, and life just changes, it can be tough to stay focussed. So I plan to get out there and re-find the focus I had moving through this past winter/spring and get back on track to some great success’s in sport in the next couple of months and the next couple of years! Send positive energy on Sunday.. and I will be in touch post-race to give my thoughts!