A fresh new start

So I thought I'd get back into the swing of things and start blogging again, even though I never use to do it that much in the first place. No time like the present to start. Things have been going well in the new home at STAW, let me rephrase that, better than ever after a long winter and spring of illness. I never wouldn't of expected what has been happening lately, quite frankly if you asked me in May what I was going to been doing later this year, I might of told you that I would probably never race my bike again. Funny how things can turn around for the better.

It seemed very long from October to July for me, but some how I got threw it. While other people were getting ready for their cycling tours/races this past spring, I was doing the tour of the ER's in eastern Ontario. It's now all in a distant memory, thanks to my support crew of family and one of the best doctors I've ever seen. If anyone has any GI problems, let me know, as I know just the guy to see. I remember I had this analogy that I wanted to explain to my doctor about what not cycling meant to me to get him to really care about treating me. Funny enough this doc came to me saying it this, he took the words right out of my mouth. He said "imagine one day I had to stop practicing medicine and how that would effect me, it was what defined me and how would I go on in life."

This was all referring to how I was feeling when ill and I couldn't ride my bike. He also wasn't scared to tell me I wasn't sick anymore in July and things were going to be okay. I still had some issues (post infectious IBS) and it would take time/months to clear up but I was going to be okay. Another great point he made was that doctors are so scarred when they have had a patient sick for months to tell that they are better and the patient has a hard time adapting to life when they are well again as they don't remember what it means to be well. Ever since my last appointment in July and hearing all the things he had to say and letting one last cry out.......everything has been better than okay again.

I was not the only one in the Ottawa cycling community to be struck by bad luck this past year. My heart goes out to Jen and Allison. I think about them all the time in training and hope that they are just as successful as I am in getting better. They also motivate me to give it everything I have in my racing this fall, because at some points in your life you might be with out it. I don't take any training day for granted and know that it is a blessing to be able to do this sport again, but at the same time realize that it is not everything and other things are needed in life to balance it out.

Training is great, I've been able to think clearly again and when I'm out there training I have a ton of ideas of blog posts, etc. It's like old times again and my mind isn't filled with the thoughts of what is wrong, why am I sick and how can I get better the fastest. Now its all about how can I get faster on my bike, stronger, and take the lines better on my own personal cyclo cross course to be even faster. I'm being my own coach for now, mainly because I didn't want anyone else to train me until I was absolutely positive I could follow the program. I think things have been working out fine, I starting riding July 1st, got an OCA licence the week of the catsills race and then almost won the QOM jersey while at it, just one point off.

The race was fun and I couldn't wipe the smiles off of my face while suffering. My tactics were complete opposite both road stages. The first day I left everything too late when going for QOM points and never really sprinted as my timing was way too late. Second day I was way too early for all my attacks, if had tried the in between I think the end result would of been different. But it truly didn't matter as I really was just so ecstatic to be able to race my bike again.

I feel like a kid again, just starting into sports, the sky is the limit. Each day I feel stronger and somehow I get a little faster. While I wasn't riding for a few months, I started a little bit of jogging, but not too much to make me feel sicker. When I was feeling better but didn't want to commit to bike racing yet in June I started running, got up to 60-70 km a week. As I integrated the riding into my training in July I have kept a lot of running there. In the past, I would have never ran this much for cross, but it is keeping the training interesting and fun. Some of my workouts might seem a little insane to most, but from a former distance runner who went to University on scholarship for it, I don't think its that bad. And we might see a whole lot more running and dismounts on the cross courses this year with the new rules. I do remember someone last year (I think her name was Lynne Bessette or something) doing very well on a course that was very muddy and had lots of running. I think she was training a half marathon around this same time and not really riding her bike that much at all.

Stayed tuned for some more posts later this week of my to run or not to run and some of my insane workouts. Also I'll have some details on clinic that I'm going to doing before the cross racing begins. I'll post a race schedule shortly as well, pretty cool stuff on that front as I am being offering start money to race some races in North America. It's not a whole lot of money or anything, but it is pretty cool to have organizers emailing you begging you to come do their race.

I'm trying to get our blog viewer ship back up, so spread the word and give me any ideas of anything you want to hear Derrick or I rant or discuss about.

For now I must go train. Wait a sec, let me rephrase that, I'm going to go train not because I must, but because I would love to.

NCE