O Canada!

So much to say, so little time … I’ve been terribly negligent in my blogging and I apologize. I think initially, after the marathon it was because I didn’t really have much to say – everything seemed a little stalled and I was generally feeling lukewarm about the whole contest and my ability to complete an Ironman.

And then the vote was announced and, to be honest, with the pain and difficulty of the marathon still fresh on my mind there was more than a small part of me that questioned whether or not I even wanted to try to be voted into Lake Placid – it’s so soon, and an Ironman is so far – I found myself wondering how I even got myself into this in the first place, and if I really had it in me to do 140.6

Then things changed – I went to an awesome Triathlon camp up in Muskoka, Ontario, Canada. I found out about it through the Subaru Race series (I’ve participated in a few of the tri’s & du’s over the past few years and really enjoyed them all). I’ve lived most of my life 30 minutes from ‘the bridge,’ I grew up with Saturday’s Hockey Night in Canada as the highlight of our household television week and spent 20 years of summer family vacations in Bobcaygeon, part of ‘cottage country’ a few hours northeast of Toronto, I’m a fan of Canadian music and any excuse will do to head north for a show and come Springsteen tour time I hang with the greatest, luckiest group of Bruce fans, E Street Canada. Is it possible, that through osmosis, or CTV and CHUM-FM and shows at Massey Hall that I’ve become part Canadian?

Ok, so I think you get the picture that I don’t need to be bribed to spend time north of the border. And Kevin MacKinnon’s Mackatak Tri Camp at the Clyffehouse in Muskoka was no exception. Still dragging from the marathon I felt I needed to refocus and could use all the help I could get with this Triathlon thing. The Memorial Day Tri camp, except in Canada it was just another weekend :-), was just what I needed (uh, minus the black flies!!) The coaches, Kevin, Jay & Greg were great! Helpful and encouraging and very on point with their comments and evaluations (except I'm still waiting on some pictures Jay :-).

Along with the great coaches it was so fun to meet and train and hang with ‘my fellow Canadians.' ;-) Everyday folk who also happened to be great athletes; Ironmen, Ironwomen and marathoners galore! So impressive and positive and fun to be around. And a special thanks to my ‘cottage mates’ Mary, Mary, Gail & Jackie for being so inspiring and encouraging (I do believe this fall’s Muskoka 70.3 is now in my future too – see you there! ;-)

Since I’ve been back when asked about the camp, I’ve told everyone exactly that, but also noted that, for me personally, it was a big confidence builder. Everyone, other than myself, seemed to think I had an Ironman in me, and similar to the contest weekend at Cadence, by the time I left the camp I had joined in the chorus.

But as they say, a journey of a thousand miles, or perhaps more appropriately, 140.6 miles, starts with a single step – and that first step is your vote, so send your e-mail to triathletemagcontest@gmail.com with my name in the subject or text and then let’s see how far we've come!!