Swim, School, Team, Race
With under a month left to go in my second semester of graduate school, I am starting to feel the pressure of finishing strong on this round of my studies while moving forward in my training.
I have the good fortune of regularly training with an amazing and accomplished group of high performance triathletes, so every group session inspires me toward my best.
School requires a similar effort, so the next month will require a lot of focus and commitment to excel in both areas.
Lately, I’ve made some progress on my swim stroke, which gives me reason to celebrate. For months, my coaches have worked patiently with me to help me understand how to improve. I’d make adjustments, but nothing seemed to change. I was told to be patient and keep it up. I did. Finally, in the last couple weeks, something clicked. I’ve made some noticeable progress in my swim technique and speed. Of course, I am currently far from being first-out-of-the water, but nevertheless this progress is extremely encouraging.
More generally, my work with the PT Performance Training team is going really well. There are so many group sessions where the energy of my teammates helps me to keeping pushing my pace or dig deep to rock another hill set. My whole experience with Noa, and the high performance athletes she trains, has been amazing. I am hungry for race season to begin.
I’m still detailing my race schedule for 2010, but I have my eye on two big races: the 2010 Kelowna ITU Triathlon Premium Pan American Cup (Canadian National Championships) and the ITU Age Group Triathlon World Championship in Budapest, Hungary. This is my first year racing in the ITU and I look forward to learning a great deal and meeting some of the new challenges posed by the draft-legal race style. I am honoured to race some of the top triathletes in the world. I intend to show up with all I have and give my best effort.
Oh yeah, Laura and I (along with our dog, Luthor) are moving at the end of the April. We’ve found a completely detached suite that overlooks the water in Cordova Bay. Goodbye upstairs neighbours who keep us awake! Hello bright new space to live, love, and study in!
By the way, if you’re interested in the evolutionary origin of glossolalia or in Walter Benjamin’s invocation of messianic eschatology to highlight the always-present possibility of a revolutionary terminal event then chat to me in late April after I’ve written papers on these matters!
Until next!
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Leif, I’m really excited to follow your results this year. Congrats on keeping up such a high level of training while going to school!
Thanks Ian. I’m not making any promises about results, but I will strategize and train so that I can perform at my best. I am hoping that you’re planning on enjoying a few races this summer. I’ll be racing the Chinook Triathlon Festival in Calgary on June 19th, in case you’re in the area.
I hope your semester is finishing out strong.