Demons

Really there isn’t a better word to describe 2013. Everyone has his or her own demons and mine were present most of 2013. In 2013 my grandfather passed away, I wasn’t as successful as I wanted to be in my races, I dislocated my shoulder and I had been sick with a tonsil infection for three months. Those were my demons. I know it’s a weird theme to dwell on but just to describe how much the term “demons” really meant to me, I have now played Demons by Imagine Dragons on my iPhone 435 times. Yes, it’s beyond crazy but there really isn’t very much sanity in my life.

In 2013 I also had a lot of success. I got to miss most of the last semester of high school because of how supportive my teachers and school where about chasing my dreams. I went to Arizona to train with my teammates in February and May, and had the best experience of my life. I got a serious girlfriend that was there for me throughout most of this wild journey and I can’t say how grateful I am for it. I met some of the most amazing people in my life, my roommates, before I came home to get my tonsils out. At 18 years old I traveled around the country and even into South America to race this summer. I really did have an amazing year in a lot of ways.

I put a lot into my triathlon life, training and racing. Triathlon really is my life. So when I had a few bumps this year in my races it was pretty hard on me. I was content to have finished the season ranked 11^th in the country but I was ready to train hard again and get to where I want to be in 2014. Unfortunately on September 8^th I fell off my bike and things changed drastically. I went from training 20 hours a week to not being able to train. I was constantly in pain, and school really wasn’t going well because I got really sick. I could barely breath some weeks because my tonsils were so inflamed. My parents and I decided it was best to go home and get my tonsils out there and recover. It was the right move, although I was far from pleased with the decision initially. Before the surgery I started training again because I was well enough to do some easy training, but it still wasn’t the same. Now post surgery I am getting back into the groove of things and heading back to Hamilton in January for round two of first year. I know that it’s still going to be tough because university isn’t easy but now that my shoulder is better and my tonsils can no longer cause me trouble I will be able to handle it.

I really hope that 2014 is a better year for me in all aspects of my life and that I have finally left my demons behind but I know it’s still going to be tough. I know that every day is going to be a challenge until I can train at the same caliber I used to be able to but I am almost there and I know I’ll be there soon. Hopefully this little bump is over with and I can finally focus on the 2014 goals I set for myself. Here’s to getting there again and accomplishing everything I want to in 2014!!

Everyday I look at my watch and I remind myself of the journey; where I’ve been and where I’d like to be again. Here is my bracelet from Brazil that helps me get through the rough days.    

In The Name

Well this post is going to be really short and it's not super important. I just changed the name of my blog because I'm not sure the old name "tripainnb" was right. I named it that because I find triathlon's to be a painful sport but I'm not sure if people might have gotten the wrong impression. Now I am calling it Reid's path because Reid's journey was taken and because it is my journey to success. And as I've recently realized a very hard path or journey. I'm currently recuperating but will be back sooner than you think. Over and out.

Reid

Welcome to Hell.

Hi Guys!

This is going to be really short but I might as well get this done and out of the way well I can. I was finally okayed to get back to training on Monday. I was obviously excited but I didn't do any training other than physio on Monday.
Then I woke up yesterday with a sore throat. I had strep throat, or the doctor thought I did the first week of my shoulder injury because I wasn't sleeping. I thought the strep throat was back so I went to see a doctor and got in today. I found out that I most likely had a peritonsillar abscess (basically a swollen collection of pus beside my tonsil), so off to the ear nose and throat specialist I went.
When I finally got to see the specialist they did some analyzing and decided to drain the puss. Which is probably one of the most uncomfortable procedures I've ever undergone. I am now on antibiotics and tylenol three to hopefully help me get through this. So here I am with yet another thing going wrong. If you can take 30 seconds to tell me that your thinking of me then please do so because I'm about to go crazy and I'm really not in the right place.

Reid

Update

Hi everyone,

I haven't really updated anyone on how my life and training have been since my season finished. I took a little well needed break once the season ended to refocus and recover from a gruelling summer of racing. The break was exactly what I needed. Unfortunately once I started running again I fell off my bike while biking to a friend's house. I got some pretty nasty road rash on one side and I dislocated my shoulder on my left side. To tell you the truth I wasn't even sure that I had dislocated my shoulder. It was a subluxation, meaning it popped back in right away.
The crash happened on a Sunday night. My road rash hurt a lot on Sunday so I was mostly focused on caring for that and was unaware I had dislocated my shoulder. I woke up Monday morning and went for a run. My shoulder hurt a bit but I didn't think much of it, I thought I was just stiff from the crash. After my run I went to school and it wasn't until the end of the day, shoulder aching that I had realized I needed to get it checked out. I went to the pool to talk to Andrew, my new swim coach, and told him about the crash and how bad my shoulder was hurting. Finally with his suggestion I went to the doctor on Tuesday. They told me 6 weeks out of the water and 2 weeks at least in the sling/no running. I'm going onto week three on Sunday but trying to stay optimistic.
I'm doing everything I can to recover fast with a lot of physiotherapy and exercises. I'm still in the sling everyday now but I do have full range of motion again. I hope to be in the pool in another 3 or 4 weeks with a strong shoulder that won't pop out again. Thank you to the people that already know that have been keeping my mind in the right place and for talking me through my first major injury. I really appreciate all of the support I am getting from my family, friends, teammates, coaches, the physiotherapist and doctor at Mac.

Reid

Here I am trying to be optimistic. 

Season Recap And Canada Games

First of all I want to thank everyone that has helped me in some way with words of encouragement when I was bummed after a bad race to constant support throughout the pursuit. I had a relatively mediocre season with more downs than ups. However I did learn a lot, more than I have learned in a lifetime.

Sherbrooke was a really cool experience. The set up is very similar to the Olympics with a high security athlete's village and the volunteers where amazing. In the individual race I had a bad start which lead to missing lead pack even after I swam as hard as I could. After a good T1 I rode as hard a I could to catch lead pack but it just wasn't enough. I ended up in a small chase pack, I tried to get us going with constant attacks but I just couldn't make up such a large gap alone or with a small pack. I ended up running ok but after pushing so hard on the bike it became difficult!

Later in the week we had a team event. This consisted of a 250m swim, 6.6km bike and a mile run and then tagging the next team member to go. Essentially it was a sprint done by three people. I went first and fortunately (or maybe not so much) all the other fastest guys on their teams went first. It meant the short swim was messy. It was compared to a boxing match by Tyler and everyone thought it was violent! But it was very fun. I actually had a good swim and just narrowly missed lead pack. I ending up riding away from Rob and Russell just because I knew they'd out run me by a lot! At the end of the team event I was in a lot of pain but I had more fun than I've ever had.

The mixed relay was similar in distance but with two guys and two girls. I went fourth. I swam hard and tried for the fastest bike split. I didn't quite get it but I rode my heart out, which is what I wanted to do. The run wasn't that fast but the price had to be payed for after that bike ride! And we ended up being the first atlantic province!

I took another look at my season goals the other day. I didn't reach any of the outcome goals that I wanted to but I did learn more this season about my body, racing and just how tough you really have to be to race at the level I'm racing at. I know that next year I can do a lot more to achieve my goals that I set for myself because I've been through a lot this year. This season is over. My rest is over. Now it's time to run, and to run fast. Here's to next year!

Pushing big watts in the individual race

Just a Kid With a Dream

One week from today I will be on the start line knowing that anything and everything is possible. I am extremely excited to be representing New Brunswick at the 2013 Canada Games in Sherbrooke, Quebec. I have been dreaming about going to Canada Games for such a long time. I feel as though I have done everything I could have done to prepare for this moment over the past few years of being solely dedicated to the sport of triathlon. I have been living the dream; meeting more people than I thought I could have met in a lifetime. The experiences I have already had and will continue to have because of the sport are endless. I am excited to proudly put on my New Brunswick uniform and put everything on the line. To dig deeper than I have ever dug before. I have had such an amazing experience traveling the continent (+ Brazil) to race and train. I will continue to make my dream a reality in every way I possibly can. This sport is my life, and I don't ever want to give it up. I cannot wait to represent my province, town and club at such a prestigious event. Good luck to everyone that has the unique opportunity to represent their province at the 2013 Canada Games.  

Toronto: The Best Race Yet

I'm extremely bummed right now. I'm not going to hide it. Nothing went right for me yesterday. I had the shittiest race to date and I'm sure it's obvious just looking at the results. But here is what the results haven't told you:

The swim was shit. The first buoy was 50ish meters away from the start and with 57 guys that gets messy. Way too messy. But it wasn't the first buoy when my day started going wrong; it was about 500 meters in where my day went from an okay swim to a crappy race. I got kicked in the stomach. Imagine one of the strongest swimmers you know kicking you as hard as they can right in the stomach. I got the wind knocked out of me, my first thought was "Where the **** is the kayak?" But I kept going anyways, with the wind knocked out of me. I got out of the water trailing lead pack, which has happened in the past and I can normally make up those 10 seconds. After a good T1 I really thought I could turn my race around. But boy was I ever wrong.

The moment I mounted my bike I started throwing up from the forceful kick in my stomach. After throwing up for the first 30 seconds of the race, I lost a lot of energy and my goal went from a top 10 finish to finishing the race. Nothing was going my way but wait... it gets worse. I flatted about 15km into the bike. With only 5k to go and knowing that it was a slow leak I rode it out.

By the time the run came I just wanted to finish the race because I really didn't want a DNF beside my name. That's not me. I don't ever want to give up, and I still don't. So what I'm going to try and take away from this race is this: I had nothing going for me, everything that could go wrong went wrong but I still pushed through it and finished the race. In my opinion it was the best race I've ever done. It's going to take me a few days to realize it and it's going to be hard to recover from this race mentally but it's the only way I can leave this race behind. Onwards and upwards.

St. Andrew's, NB Junior race

Imagine that. A national series race right here in NB. There wasn't a better place to host it. St. Andrew's is one of the most breathtaking towns in the Maritimes, but it's not exactly easy to be enjoying the view at 39km/h on a bike. I was so happy to be able to represent New Brunswick in New Brunswick for the first time at the National level. Although this is only my second season racing the National Junior Series, I still thoroughly enjoyed racing at home. I loved seeing everyone in their New Brunswick uniforms, representing our province proudly and I can't wait to wear my uniform at Canada Games. With three suits to wear, I wish I could represent C3, New Brunswick and Canada all at the same time!

I was obviously a little tired going into this race considering it was my third race in a row but I tried to let the home crowd fuel me; and that's exactly what it did. Thanks to all my family and friends that were out on the course cheering me on and getting me through the race!

My race prep went really well, I wouldn't say I was feeling fresh but I still went in feeling as good as you can feel after three weeks of racing and traveling! I did my typical race prep but I actually had time to do a long swim warmup this time!

I wasn't nearly as nervous as I thought I might have been considering I was racing at home wearing number 3. I've never worn such a high number, and I loved the feeling. I lined up right beside number 2: Robert Bigsby. I stayed with Robert in Brazil and he's a really cool guy  and has been doing the sport a little longer than I have so I thought I'd have a clear path to the first buoy. With a long held start, and surprisingly no false starts I started swimming. I didn't feel nearly as good as I normally do which was a little disheartening but I kept racing hard and knew I could make my race come together. Myles crushed the swim and gapped the whole field.

Transition consisted of a 400m hill out of the water. I'm not going to lie. It sucked. It was painful and I know everyone hated it just as much as I did! But I ran up it, with a lot of guys that ended up in the chase pack and did a fast T1. Stuck chasing I rode hard. I had to ride extremely hard in Brazil because I was chasing so this was nothing new to me. I rode hard enough to catch the leaders 3/4 of the way into the first lap of four. I wasn't feeling the greatest but it's an hour race, you're not supposed to feel good. I rode hard the whole time, but once Myles was caught the pace slowed down. Maybe a little too much, but you can't control 20 guys so I just rode slow too. Coming into T2 I was towards the front.

T2 went really well. I came out in 5th which normally doesn't happen, but I just didn't have the run legs I needed to run with those guys. It's something I still have to figure out but I know I'll figure it out soon.  Props to Myles and Robert for getting onto the podium after all of the traveling and racing! You guys are amazing! I can't wait to race nationals!

PATCO in Vila Velha, Brazil

Well Brazil was a completely different environment than I am used to. I do not speak portuguese and it's way hotter. It was always a surprise when I ordered food because no one spoke english. The food was always good, some things were weird but always tasted good. I never ordered the same thing twice, mostly because I wasn't sure what I ordered the first time! The grocery stores were interesting but had a few items that looked normal to me, and some interesting things I bought anyway. We weren't supposed to eat anything that could have touched the tap water which made ordering food even harder.

We stayed at a small hotel along the beach about 200m from the start line. The water was beautiful and a perfect 22 degrees. It was extremely wavy but fun to swim through the big waves. I can't wait to race in the ocean again! I learned so much more about open water. There are ponds, rivers and lakes but they are nothing compared to the power of the ocean. 

The riding was difficult to do in such a busy city so I only got out once, not including doing my race prep. The race course went along side the sea with a 180 turn on every side. There were no hills and no wind. Although we didn't get out on the course much I still felt ready. The run course was alongside the bike course; flat, fast and hot.

Race morning was great, I didn't have any nerve issues. It was great feeling being a part of a team with all of the guys I normally race. It felt like I was racing with them rather than against them. I did a bike warmup with all of the guys then my run solo. Like every race I've been to this year, my swim warmup had to be cut a little short but I was feeling good. 

The swim start was fast and difficult with the big waves. I had a good starting spot (29), and went in knowing I'd have a good start. I got crushed at the first buoy; my tooth still hurts from getting kicked in the face! National Junior races are tough but this is a whole new game. I already want more but I still have so much more to learn. Bottom line, I didn't come out in the lead pack so I had to bike like hell. 

Biking like hell isn't new to me so I rode the way I always do. With only a few Canadians, and Americans helping me pull I was going as hard as I could. I knew that was the only way to ride in such a big race, so that's what I did. I got off the bike in the chase pack, which was significantly better than were I started my bike ride and started to run. 

I was running really fast, although I'm not sure if my pace was fast I was running people down. It felt good and I felt amazing. It was extremely hot and I tried to stay cooled off at the 2 water stops that you could hit twice each lap. I'm very pleased with my first big race and I can't wait to get back on the international seen soon!

Congrats to all of the Canadian Juniors and Sarah Ann for her second place finish in the Elite race. It was great getting to know you all and to represent Canada with such talented athletes. I hope to see some of you in St. Andrew's! I'm excited to go home, and race! Now one more flight until I get home. Good luck in St. Andrew's to everyone!

Edmonton Bound

Hi Everyone,

This post is going to be short and sweet! I'm currently in the Montreal airport with some time to kill. I feel like I've been traveling a lot this year because I now have a favourite place to get food in Montreal! Anyways I'm going to be traveling a lot now that I get to go to Brazil for the PATCO Pan American Championships!

I started my day off with a short flight from Saint John to Montreal and now I have another flight soon to Edmonton. I'm racing in Edmonton on Sunday and luckily this race isn't as early as 7 for me! I think I can deal with a 8:15 start time. I'm excited to race and feel even more ready than I did for Winnipeg. The first race is out of the way and now it's time to really start the season. I race in Brazil the following weekend, then I fly back to New Brunswick to race a Junior Series race at home! Imagine that, a National Junior Series race right here in NB!

I'm looking forward to all of the races and will try (not sure what the wifi situation will be like in Brazil) to keep you all informed. All I can say is thank god for foam rollers and massage sticks. Now to Edmonton!

Reid

Winnipeg

First off I want to thank the Mislawchuks for allowing me to stay at their house over the past week. They were extremely generous, fed me well and I had a room to my self. It really doesn't get much better than that when you're away for a race. Thanks again!

I arrived in Winnipeg on Tuesday so I got used to the time change before the big day and I also had fun training with Tyler and the Manitoba crew.

Race morning was early, it's never fun setting your alarm for 4am! I got a good warmup in but was more nervous than normal because this was my first race of the season and I've never raced a tri during the school year. I felt fit but was hoping I wasn't rusty.

The water had been cold before the race so everyone was pretty sure it was going to be a wetsuit swim. I'm not a huge fan of wetsuits but I'm also not a big fan of being cold and at a disadvantage; so I wore my new wetsuit. Although I said I'm not a big fan of wetsuits, if I had to pick any wetsuit to wear it'd be the new Nineteen Rogue wetsuit that I just got. It is extremely buoyant, there is a lot of shoulder room and it goes fast. The swim was extremely aggressive for me and I was tossed around, dunked and everything in between. I almost panicked which has never happened for me because I couldn't breath air, and it felt like I had water inside my lungs.  I swam as well as I could but I can't say I was pleased with the outcome of the swim. But I am happy that I was chasing with only 5 guys instead of the group of 20 that was chasing us down. T1 went as smooth as possible with no mistakes and the wetsuit came off easily.

A group of 3 guys got out fast in the swim and ended up rounding out the podium. They left us chasing on the bike in a small chase pack of 5 or 6 guys. We took pretty even pulls and tried to hold off the peleton. With a good dismount and my shoes coming on smoothly I was ready to run.

I felt pretty fast from the start and just held the same pace. When people went by me I tired to stay with them. I'm not satisfied with how the race resulted for me but I am sure that I left everything I had out on the course on Sunday, except the vomit. That came after the finish line and off the course. Now to Edmonton.

Support Crew

Hi guys,

I don't think you've ever realized how much it means to have a good support crew backing you up. Of course your training partners and coaches want you to succeed but I'm talking about more than that.

I'm talking about the teachers that have let me go to training camps and miss weeks of school at a time. Those teachers have supported me in a way no one could and they showed that they believe in me by allowing me to pass assignments in a little late or change test days for a swim meet or training camp. 

I'm talking about my family that has always backed me up and believed in me. The pressure is always on in my family with my brother being a talented cyclist and exceptional student, my father being the physiotherapist everyone wants to see and my mother also in the sport of triathlon has won her age group twice at Ironman races and placed fourth in her age group at Ironman worlds. But the pressure is good, the pressure makes me want to succeed. It almost feels like it's not even close to pressure because it's so positive in our family. My immediate family and extended family have supported me from the start and I truly appreciate it!

My support crew has so many people in it. If I tried naming everyone in it, I'd miss more than a few so I'm not going to try and name names. I have so many friends, teachers, older athletes and mentors that support me. My support crew is always there when I need it. Thanks guys!  

Although, your support crew isn't always there for you at every race or every training day. They are the people that are there for you when you need them even if they aren't on the sideline cheering you on. I want to thank everyone that has supported me in chasing my dreams. I truly appreciate all of the work you have put into me. Take time to thank the people in your life that have made a difference in shaping you as a person or an athlete.

My dad and I on father's day 2011. First and only race we've done together!

The Importance of Mentors

Mentors are probably the most important thing when becoming a high performance athlete. Sometimes all it takes to be a mentor is to say a simple "good job." I have so many mentors in my life that make the difference in shaping me.

My parents are my biggest mentors. They have helped me realize how much of a well rounded person it takes to make it to the next level. They have supported me and encouraged me from the start. My brother has also been one of my biggest mentors. He didn't like to show it as much as my parents or anyone else but he encouraged me in a different way. He was always pushing me to the limit; trying to see how much faster or how much stronger he was than me. He made me work harder than ever.

My family and friends have also mentored me throughout my life. Sometimes it was as simple as the "good job" and other times it was helping me get over a bad race or competition. There is nothing that makes you feel better than encouragement when you are feeling down.

This summer I met so many people that became my mentors. Andrew Yorke, David Hopton, Taylor Reid and John Rasmussen and many other athletes on C3 helped me throughout the summer. They helped me with the strategy through my first race of the season and shared everything with me that I needed to know about draft legal racing. They beat me up a little in the pool, they beat me up a lot in the open water but it had an effect. I started feeling better in open water and they made me feel like I belonged with them. It was nice to feel like they actually wanted me to train with them.

The simple "good job Reid" got me one day at swim practice when I was training this summer. I was swimming as hard as I could and was swimming besides Simon Whitfield, an Olympic gold and silver medalist. This good job made my summer. It was all the encouragement I needed.

Paula Findlay, me, Simon Whitfield

Yorke and I

When I was in Arizona Yorke gave me his official WTS cap from San Diego and made my day! Living with the guys meant I was constantly given advice about triathlon and life. It was an amazing experience and taught me how important mentoring was.  

I hope that I am being and can continue to be a mentor to all of the Triathlon New Brunswick Juniors. Thanks for supporting me and helping me achieve my best!

Arizona April recap

Hi guys!

I just flew back from Phoenix, Arizona on Saturday morning. I was in Arizona for 15 days training with some of the greatest triathletes and mentors in the country. The first couple of days were fairly easy, then the hard days came. We did lots of swimming, biking and running. The swims were done in an amazing local pool all week with the picturesque mountains in the background. The bikes were completed on the hilly, mostly smooth roads of Oro Valley. The runs on the track, trails and roads surrounding Tucson.

Living with the people you train with all day is a completely different experience. You learn so much because when you're with older athletes like I was they give you advice and share their knowledge to help you improve. I felt like a professional when I was living there, with all the hours of training and actually training with professionals.

I had the time of my life down in Arizona, and I can't wait for the season to get started in Winnipeg. Thanks so much for the constant support!

Reid

Here's a picture of myself, Taylor Reid, Andrew Yorke and Barrie Shepley!

Tuscon 2.0

Well I'm currently stuck in the Phoenix airport waiting for the shuttle service to resume so it seems like a perfect time to write another blog to keep everyone updated. I'm pretty tired but the adrenaline is rushing to get some solid training in so I think I'll be fine.

I had a swim meet last weekend where I wanted to break the 9 minute barrier in the 800. It seemed like a reasonable goal and all of my training was going well. I felt like I was in the best swimming shape I've ever been in (I was and still am for that matter!), but I had been training extremely hard and although it seemed like I was resting for the meet my body had been pushed so hard for so long that I still wasn't ready to go when the race came.

I started my weekend with a 100 free, I went a 58.78 which I thought was pretty good considering I've been doing mostly distance swimming. That night I swam a 400 free and went a 4:26. I wasn't pleased with the time but because it was a timed final it was as fast as I could go, I really needed a prelim swim to get under 4:24.  Sunday, I came in to warmup in the morning just so I could get a good feel for the water. I felt really fast and was going well under pace when I warmed up. I felt ready. Then I went home and rested for the big race. I warmed up again before finals and felt even better. The 800 was last and the field was better than ever. I dove in and felt good, felt on pace for the first while but I could tell from the signals Brian was sending me that I was a little off. I swam a 9:07.25, which was a PB. But I'm not going to lie I was really disappointed that I didn't break nine.

 I got right back into the pool Monday morning at 6 to start training hard again. With all hard swims and runs this week I'm a little tired and sore. But I am felling ready for the big camp and looking forward to rooming with Yorke, John and Taylor. It's going to be fun, hot and fast.

Here's me going up Mt. Lemmon in February. Looking to kill it this time.

Tuscon Camp and Lots of other important things

Hi everyone. First off I want to apologize for waiting so long to update my blog. I've been very busy, but I should have set aside some time to keep everyone updated. This blog is going to have a lot of information in it because I have a lot of stuff to tell everyone.
I had a meet in early February and it went ok but I wasn't quite where I want to be for 800 yet. I went a 9:10, which is a PB for me but it wasn't fast enough. I need to break nine this year and I've been putting in some hard swims to get there.
On Valentine's day I got up at 5:30 and drove to Bangor. It wasn't that long of drive and flying out of the states makes a lot of sense because you save a lot of money. Well, at least most of the time. When we got to the Bangor airport with our three bikes (Mom and dad came too!) we found out it was going to cost 200 dollars per bike to get them to Phoenix. Initially we thought it was going to be around 100 dollars so our trip didn't start out well but thank god we still brought the bikes.
We arrived in Phoenix around six and drove to Tuscon immediately. As soon as we got there we went to bed after a long day of traveling. I woke up the next morning and went to the pool for a swim and saw Barrie for the first time in a while. I really enjoyed talking to him because the last time I saw him was in Moncton at the Tri NB banquet.
After loosening up in the water, I went for a nice scenic ride with my parents and we actually stopped and took some pictures (that never happens!). I finished off the day with a nice and short run with my dad. I was feeling ready and getting very excited to see my new teammates for the first time since July.
We did a morning hour run and I got to catch up with Taylor, Rui, Yorke and John. Everyone else was tired from their long day of traveling and I waited until they were well rested before catching up with them! The hour went by faster than ever and the pace was slow enough that I didn't get dropped!
The rest of the week consisted of some very hard swims, runs and a few hard rides. The encouragement from Yorke, Taylor and John kept me going when I was tired. I can't thank them enough, they really got me through the hard week! We did lots of cool open water drills in the pool with coach Kevin Clark (Edmonton academy coach). Early on in the week I did an insane workout up Mt. Lemon with Yorke, Taylor and John, it was so insane that I cannot give away it's difficulty. Lets just say I slept well that night!
I've really been working on my run, because it needs a lot of work! Jairus Streight (extremely talented running coach) worked with my form throughout the week. I learned so much that I am bringing back with me and I feel faster already!
Nonetheless, I did sit in the hot tub a bit and talked a lot. I met some very nice and talented triathletes from Edmonton and can't wait to see them again! It was so nice getting a solid warm weather training camp in as well as catching up with David, Connor, Rui, Yorke, Taylor, John and everyone else. I hadn't seen them in a while! I'm coming back with more motivation, knowledge and determination than I've ever had before, I can't wait to get to Mac this fall so I can be with these guys all the time. C3 is like a family, and I feel like I've been adopted now. See you guys soon!
Reid

Here is a picture of Taylor drowning me. Just one of the drills we did on this fantastic week! Thanks to Barrie Shepley, Jairus Streight, C3 and everyone else that made this week a success!   

St. Andrews Race

I am pleased to say that I found out yesterday that I can say with certainty that there will be a National Junior Series race in NB this year. There is not a better and more dedicated province to host such an event and we are only 1 in 4 places hosting one of these high caliber races.
I encourage EVERYONE to at least come out and watch this race because this is the first time we have had an event like this in New Brunswick and it will be a great one. I cannot stress enough the importance of having this race in New Brunswick. Our board of directors has been working extremely hard on our Junior program since before the last Canada Summer Games in 2009. They have supported me the whole way and are trying to develop some very talented kids such as yourself.
If you feel as though you are not ready to race in such a competitive field you should still make the trip to the beautiful little town of St. Andrews because it will be a great race to watch and learn from. Triathlon New Brunswick is now not only developing highly competitive athletes, but now Triathlon Canada can see that we are also capable of hosting races for these athletes. I cannot wait to race a draft legal race in NB and will be happy to see you all there.

Merry Christmas, Goals and Happy New Year

First off I want to wish everyone a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.

The meet in Moncton didn't go as planned but it was still a great meet. My swim coach and I both thought my 800 was going to be on Saturday morning when it turned out to be on Friday night. I missed it and it was pretty disappointing considering the 800 was my key race going into the meet. I overcame the obstacle and went into the 400 feeling fresh on Saturday Night. Brian said to stay controlled but don't hold back too much. I went a 4:29.13 which was a best time, and I did it controlled! I left the pool on a high, went out for supper then had an early night at the hotel room to rest for finals in the morning.

I felt like a million bucks warming up on Sunday morning, I felt ready to go. I got out of the water and talked to Brian. The plan was to use my legs a lot more than normal. To finally use the cycling power in my swim. I was super pumped right before the 400. Listening to 'Till I Collapse like always just before I dove into the water feeling smooth and fast. I actually saw my 200 split 2:10. I thought this is fast and I was still feeling relaxed. I finished in a 4:24.47 an 8 second PB and was very pleased.

The 1500 was another story though. I could see my splits again at 400 I was 4:35, 9:20 at 800.I had almost split out a best time in my 800 and was still feeling good. Then the 1000 mark came. I died, I didn't completely die because my parents didn't even notice that I slowed down but I felt it. I was too hot and too tired. Why the hell did I wear a cap? Stupid idea. Hair or not 1500 is too far to go with a cap on. Although I was disappointed I still finished in 17:40 and went a 3 second PB.

After the meet as I was driving home (I have my license now! I feel so grown up.) my dad emailed Barrie my times. One word "Wicked." Barrie doesn't really give compliments unless they are deserved so I became extremely happy about my meet even if it didn't go as I had intended.  

Christmas went okay but I had an extremely bad cold that made it impossible to train. I don't like resting but rest was exactly what I needed at the time. I recharged for a couple of days and then started doing a little bit at a time. Now I am back full tilt and feeling better than I was before I got sick, I must've really needed the rest!

New years is a time to set goals. I recommend that you write down your 2013 goals as Barrie told me to do. It allows you to become aware of how much you really have to commit to the sport or life, whatever your goals may be. My goals are personal to me, some people might say they are too ambitious but they are mine and I will always set difficult goals, they motivate me. One of my goals is to graduate from Saint John High another is to join C3 and both of them are easily achievable but some of my other goals are going to be significantly more difficult. If I don't achieve them, I will sit down and figure out how I can meet the goals in the future because I have many years to go as an athlete and a human being. As Michelangelo said "The greater danger for most of us is not that our aim is too high and we miss it, but that it is too low and we reach it," so ladies and gentlemen set your goals high. Even if your goals are farfetched or long shot goals, they give you something to strive for, something to pursue. Good luck to all of you in your 2013 endeavors!