Sweating it Out

I hope your spring, or summer as of today, is going well. As we all know too well, time is flying by! With the Olympics a mere 236 days away, everyone is getting down to task.

Although the last month has been filled with a lot of media, charity events, and work, the real focus has been in the gym. This is a great time of year to put in the hours required with sponsors, community events, charity events, and of course working with the media. This is all a part of the job as an athlete, and even more important heading into an Olympic year. Still, no matter how much is going on externally, at the end of the day my job is to be an athlete.

Training:

The time in the gym and on the bike has been extensive the last 5 weeks. With two fitness camps in Calgary so far, we still have one block of group fitness in Whistler. The time together in the gym helps us all stay in touch, push each other, and bank even more hours of training. During a training week with the team we’ll add a few workouts that keep things fun. Last week we tried rock climbing as a group. Some of us had a bit of experience but for the most part we were true beginners. We’ll, it didn’t take us long to push our limits climbing some pretty tough climbs. I worked with Shona Rubens as my partner and we really got into it. Shona’s been doing some climbing outside recently so she was great to work with since she had more experience than I.

Although the climbing was a fun diversion from our regular training, most of our hours are gruelling and sweaty. In the gym we’re working through a high volume few weeks here with some pretty painful sets. I can see my body’s experience falling into a trained rhythm of eat, workout, sleep; eat, workout, sleep. It feels good to work this hard…although at week’s end I’m always pretty run down. But, 1 or 2 days off is enough to feel ready to go again on Monday morning…or so I try to convince myself.

This last training camp in Calgary had the added challenge of a 9 hour drive to and from my home. It is nice to save a bit of money on flights but that money saved goes down the drain if you get a speeding ticket. Luckily….when I was pulled over going 114km/h (in the park where the speed limit is 90km/h - this isn’t great) the cops were big fans of the Olympics. I can’t believe it, but they let me off! Ahhhh, a rare but much appreciated bonus to being an athlete. Although I have no plans on pushing my luck on that front…so I did slow down.

Media/Charity:

I have had a few cool opportunities come my way the last few weeks. One was Chilliwack honouring me as their Hometown Hero which I thought was amazing. CTV was out in the ‘Wack’ shooting my Olympic profile, and interviews (radio, print, TV) have been piling up faster than I ever thought possible. Luckily last week I was able to take a break and join some of Canada’s greatest athletes in Canmore to support one of my charity organizations, Right to Play. The golf tournament was a huge success and I’m glad I could be a part of it. Emily Brydon and myself joined an outstanding roster of athletes that included: Beckie Scott, Jennifer Heil, Patrick Chan, Kristina Groves, Thomas Grandi etc. etc. After the dinner portion of the event was over Clara Hughes gave a speech. Her speech, reflecting on her Olympic Gold medal and her work with Right to Play, was nothing short of inspirational. I left with renewed spirit and excitement for sport and in the positive impact we can have on the world at large.

Up Next:

Training, training, and more training. 2010, here I come.


Till next time,

Kelly