Ain't No Rest for the Wicked

That's what my strength coach, Cam said to me yesterday...is that ever true! I've been crazy lately! Juggling training and rehab is a full time job! The strength has been awesome though. Very good decision. Although it's a painful one too! Bending down is just not an option as of late! haha Everything else is coming along nicely. Including a bit of running! By bit I really mean bit...6x1 min! But it's a big step in the right direction!

Speaking of a step in the right direction...Canada is putting it's mark in ITU racing again!! Des Moines was an exciting weekend of racing with Simon winning, Lauren on the podium and 2 teams in the top 5 at team World Champs! (3rd and 5th if you didnt already check the results! :) I was just buzzing on Saturday with the results of our team and my aussie friends and my success with running...it was a great day!

As for my back...things are steadily progressing...well not really...it's simple...it just never hurts! :) whats progressing is the volume of my training :) a little slower than i had hoped but nothing wrong with safe i guess!

Not much else to update, I'm sorry they've been a bit few and far between but I DO have an excuse...I've spent every free moment readin the twilight books! hahaha I never said it was a good excuse!! ut now that I have finished the series I'm sure the updates will resume! :)

I guess it's about time for an update! Things have been going excellent! I told my coach like night "I'm healed!!" and he quickly brought me back to earth (iii say he burst my bubble :) and came back with "no you are a-sympotmatic, NOT healed" hahaha ok so I am "a-symptomatic" but it still feels great! I am getting in a bit more training and the best part is my daily strength program! Everyday I swim 3k with the NTC then quickly head over to PISE for 1hr of strength with Cam and then off to chiro or massage at 11 and then a 30min water run and a 1hr bike! So things are progressing nicely! I'm at 5 weeks now so we are almost there!

Tonight is my little sisters graduation! I am so proud and very excited to see her walk across the stage! She is all glammed up and looking beautiful!

I'm going to be late for swimming now!

Once in a Blue Moon...

...I actually listen to my gut feeling...and I am proud to say I have!
I guess I'll save the french-english dictionary for another time. Coach and I have went with the gut feeling to stay home after all! I am set up here with my doc, chiro, massage therapist, strength coach, nutritionist, sports psych, NTC coaches and of course friends and family (although mom isn't too happy about the ridiculously high grocery and water bills for another month! ;) athletes need extra food and showers!) It really makes sense to take advantage of all of these extremely important people while I am recovering. France would have been really neat but I have to do the smartest thing not the coolest thing! :) Patrick and Phil have been great with helping me out at daily sessions and Chris and I really felt it was important to stick to this strength program for a solid couple weeks. So I will be staying in Canada until the end of July and then I will fly to the Gold Coast to meet up with Chris for a good block of training!! :)

My back is feeling excellent. We are really erring on the side of caution and taking it slow...much to my dismay at some points! It's a lot harder than i thought to be patient while everyone else is out racing!!! But even though it's a struggle I am managing alright. I think I get to ride outdoors tomorrow which with be nice. I have been on the rollers which have been good fun except for today when I was riding while watching the women in Washington...the camera shots were really not very steady and i was getting dizzy and not paying proper attention and rode right off the side! hahaaha too bad i landed on my bad hip..oops! I was just so excited for Moffy! She took her first win today! Also congrats to Lauren and Brent for their performances today, 10th and 12th! The others had a bit of a rough go I heard but there is plenty of racing to come! Also, congrats to Pat's NTC group in Quebec for another strong showing! Kyla won her third national series out of as many races yesterday! And Paula Findlay! She only just started running like this week I believe after being off since febuary and she ran away from everyone and won the elite race! Lots of good Canadian performances to keep me inspired!

Today was Fathers Day and I started the day bright and early watching the mens race while making Dad banana pancakes. Dad was a lucky man and landed himself a Garmin for fathers day! I'm not much into these kinda things but he loves it! He spent the whole day learning all the features...i think i've created a monster!! :)



So! Progressing well, taking it easy....suffering now when i try to get some effort in the pool but it's getting easier by the day! (that being said, i didnt think i was going to make it into shore at Thetis lake the other day, i swear i was swimming on the spot!) Anyways, enough chit chat...its Twillight time for me ;)

Save the French-

Muscle Milk

mmm looks appetizing!



Yep better start chugging the stuff...strength and conditioning starts today! i.e The new and improved injury-free me starts today! :) Can't wait! 6 weeks of nothin but iron! I'm not sure the twiggs can handle it!

PS Thanks to Papa for the remodeling of the blog!

Worlds Yummiest Sponsor, Tuscan International!

The Fedex truck pulled up today and I knew it could only be one of 2 things, Chocolate or Nike...neither bad options! When I realized (out loud) that the gigantic box carried by the fedex man was chocolate, he quickly turned around and attempted an escape! haha but i got my hands on my prized box from Tuscan International. They are a company from Toronto that imports italian goods and have been kind enough to keep me fueled! As you can see there is more than enough here...they have a wide range of high quality goods and insisted I try them all...no objection in this household! I'm feeling a tad ill at the moment from all my sampling.

That was definitely the highlight of the day! The other highlight is that I have put in 1:30 worth of training 3 days in a row now...steppin it up! 30 min water run, 30 min swim and 30 min bike today. Workouts interspersed between reading time. I am fully addicted to the Twillight series...I have about 2,000 pages to read in 2 weeks before I leave!

Yep, I'm leaving 2 weeks from today for France! I realized that I haven't really introduced my new coach. His name is Chris Lang and he is a coach I met back in Australia. He is based on the Gold Coast but I will be joining him for training camp in Aix les Bains before heading back to Australia. I can't believe how the time at home has flown! Luckily I still get to see my sister graduate next friday so that will be nice!

Yesterday I volunteered at the Victoria Youth Triathlon with the other NTC members. It was so weird because I have done that race for as long as I can remember! It was neat to see all the little ones making there way to the finish line. :)

I will start with a strength program this week which I am VERY excited about. I need to get me some rhomboids! :) among others... :P Lots more mini swims and bikes to come this week too! Coach Chris is staying strong in his 10% increase rule..I'm being good and following instructions as hard as it can be sometimes! :)

itu

http://www.triathlon.org/?call=TVRBMg==&nwsid=2481

little something...little embarrassed to put it up here but working on my "business side!" haha


"In Profile: Kirsten Sweetland, CAN (June 12, 2009 )
The rising star of Canadian triathlon has had her fair share of ups and downs over a relatively short professional career. A young Kirsten Sweetland entered her first triathlon aged ten and remarkably won under the watchful gaze of famed ITU commentator and Canadian triathlon coach Barrie Shepley.

As a teenager Sweetland dominated national competitions and made her mark on the international stage in 2006 with victory in the junior world championship race in Lausanne, Switzerland. The following year she won her first ITU World Cup in Richard’s Bay, South Africa, aged a mere 18 years old. A month later the impetuous youngster was within sight of taking the top prize of $200,000 and an Olympic spot at the Des Moines World Cup before collapsing from heat exhaustion in the final kilometre. A gutsy Sweetland reasoned that “if you slow down, you don't win... it's not a very complicated equation! I know, if you pass out, you don't win either, but at least I gave myself the chance!”



With much of 2008 wiped out with injury Sweetland started 2009 in electric form, convincingly outrunning Olympic bronze medallist Emma Moffatt to win the Mooloolaba World Cup before a fifth place finish at the opening Dextro Energy Triathlon – ITU World Championship race in Tongyeong, Korea. However a back injury has since put her season on hold as we caught up with Kirsten at the Triathlon Canada team launch.

Name: Kirsten Sweetland
Nationality: Canadian
Age: 21
Website: http://kirstensweetland.blogspot.com
Debut year: 2005
World Series wins: 2
World Series podiums: 3

Well for starters, I suppose we have to ask, how is the back?
Yeah, good. It’s getting there and I’m pain free already. I can’t run or bike yet, so it will probably be another month before I’m back to normal, but I’m hoping to hop back on the turbo trainer in a couple of days, and I’m already back in the pool.

So was the injury something you picked up in Tongyeong?
I’m not really sure; apparently it must have been there before Tongyeong. My back was a bit tight and I felt a bit off, but I didn’t think about anything until I came home and it was really sore and getting worse. I had x-rays, bone scans, CT scans and an MRI.



How frustrating is it to suffer with recurring injuries, and how do you cope mentally with preparing yourself to get fit again?
It’s tough because I felt like I did everything right this year with my training and my nutrition and my rest. I’m not really sure why or how it happened, but you know, that’s the way it is and now I’ve got to refocus on the next race. I need to make sure I really take my recovery seriously and get fit again. My fitness comes around pretty quickly so I’m not too worried; I need a couple of weeks.

You had a cracking race to start the year in Mooloolaba in the world cup, was that down to the winter training you had been doing in Australia?
It helped a lot. Both my coach and I were surprised by that race because I hadn’t really done a lot of speed work or anything in the build up that would lead to that kind of performance. Being in Australia really helped with the motivation, and compared to here [British Columbia, Canada] with its cold days, it’s easier to get outside and train.

Is the plan then to go back to Australia again for the winter at the end of the year?
Yes, this time I will be on the Gold Coast instead of Brisbane, so that’s the plan.

So when do you think you’ll be back racing?
It’s pretty hard with these things; you don’t know how they’re going to react and whether they’re going to take two weeks or twenty weeks. The plan is to come back for Hamburg and London, then Yokohama and cram them in ahead of the Grand Final on the Gold Coast.

Trying to get enough points for the Dextro Energy Triathlon – ITU World Championship Series?
Exactly! It will only be a couple of weeks before Hamburg that I’ll be back running, so I’m not expecting big things, but we’ll go in there and hopefully pick up a few points.

You’ve been announced as one of the three women in Canada’s Team Teck looking forward to 2012. How does the spotlight change, whereas for Beijing you were the young one with an outside chance of making the team, and now you’re tipped as someone with the potential to do well in London?
I like it the way it is. As one of those targeted athletes you get treated accordingly. We’re going to have a lot of support in the next three years thanks to Teck, and then Simon’s [Whitfield] medal has helped us with extra support and funding. I think it’s a positive.



There’s obviously a lot of focus on you, as there is on the likes of Alistair Brownlee, ahead of the Games. What are your ambitions for London?
Who doesn’t want a gold medal at the Olympics? Who knows if it will be London or 2016, but that’s my aim. I’ve got a long career ahead of me but somewhere in there I want Olympic gold!

Is it nice to be going to London this summer as part of the World Championship series? Have you raced in Britain before?
I raced the Salford World Cup before, but it will be great to get in to London and get familiar with the area. I hope the new series works out well for me. I know it’s been said that it’s hard for younger athletes to peak more than once in a season, but if I can keep a consistent ‘sub-peak’, then I should do well. My goal is always to keep consistent, and obviously that hasn’t worked out for me this year, but it’s a good chance to practice and that’s what makes a great athlete – someone who’s great every time they go out.

The Canadian women had a great start to the year with you winning in Mooloolaba, Kathy Tremblay picking up silver in Ishigaki and then Lauren Groves joining you both in the top ten in Tongyeong. Do you think this is a new era for the women’s side of the sport in Canada, because so much has been focussed on Simon before?
I think the women’s team are really coming into their own. Triathlon in Canada has always been dominated by Simon and his results, but I think we’re coming into a new era where we’re going to get some results on the women‘s side at the same time as the men."



Glorious day here today...out readin in the sun! Time for a bike riide!! :) ok..trainer...close enough!!

Weekend Travels

Last saturday I visited the beautiful town of Elkford BC. It is in the Rockies...absolutely gorgeous! I got in Saturday evening and was up to help out at the triathlon the next morning. The people were so friendly! Speaking of which, I came across more than a few fellow newfies! I didn't know there were so many in the Kootenays! Shared some good laughs over sayings, bottled moose and accent impressions...and of course a few newfie jokes. Good times in Elkford! The race was entirely organized by 2 lovely women who did an amazing job! It was neat to see so much of the community getting active and having some fun! Thanks to Mike Harrington for looking after me for the weekend! Unfortunately my camera battery died upon arrival so i will have to steal some pictures off the organizers! After the race and a little meet n greet session they took me on a tour of the mines! It was really cool to see what goes on behind the scenes at Teck. Here are a few pictures of Fernie (a town nearby) and a mining truck that I stole off the internet as I don't have any pictures of my own!





Sunday night I flew back to Vancouver where I stayed the night and had a TriCan press conference in the morning. I got put up in the Fairmont Waterfront hotel...not too shabby! Joined Lauren and Simon for a quick coffee and then met up with the rest of the team for the conference. Chris (our media guy) did an great job and there was an excellent turn out! The buffet wasn't too bad either ;) Then it was back to victoria on the float plane. Easy peasy.

When i got home i attempted the swim machine at the pool. NOT for me. It involves an inclined sliding bench with paddles attached to ropes at the top. You pull yourself up and then slide down and catch yourself and do it again....and again...and 9 minutes later i cannot do even 1 more. My arms were shaking and full of lactic acid...my shoulder was hurting..bad idea. SO after speaking with Chris last night the plan changed to real swimming starting today!! I swam 2k with pull buoy, band, snorkel and paddles! haha can you say trigeek??? haha all i needed was a swimP3! haha That went really well so I am excited to start progressing with that! Although i'm going to have to untie my feet soon or my arms are going to fall off! Now I'm off to meet up with Pat and Brook for a little trainer ride. So excited to be starting up again..even if its only small!

Boredom!!

Only one more day until I'm free!! Well sort of...I can exercise a bit starting friday and I can't wait! I have been dying of boredom lately. I never was very good at sitting still and guess what? I haven't gotten any better with age! Luckily another training mate, Brook broke his hand the same time I got my fracture (ok maybe not fortunate but it's nice to have another cripple around to hang out with! :) so we basically hang out and watch the others train and then go out for coffee with everyone after...like i said...extreme boredom! This is the most exciting part of my day! haha I also have baked goods requests daily. I take my duties very seriously! haha when the requests became daily i started sneaking healthy things in my baked goods without them knowing! (PS boys those cupcakes you ate yesterday were mostly made of beans! haha) Anyway...I'm keeping myself busy with Biology textbooks, and girlie reads, right now it's the Undomestic Goddess, I'm also working on a painting, cooking diners for the fam and sunbathing! Rough life eh? Only the funny thing is that it IS rough! I'm dying! haha

Today we went to a pretty dodgey breakfast place and the camera was out and in action! Here's what i found on my camera.....









sharpie buttering his bacon...?



the pancake sandwich



coffee news "spot the differences" is very intense!


oooh....

why doesn't anyone believe it was staged!??

hahaha it really was! well ok here's the real story...there was about 1/2 shot left in that bottle from Christmas so i filled the rest of the bottle with sparkling water (i would definitely recommend this! mmm) so we were laughing at how funny it looked to be drinking a full bottle of sambuca! haha so TECHNICALLY it's staged!! :)