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!