Motivation Monday ~ Dream Big Girls

"Little girls with dreams become women with vision."
~ Unknown

This post is dedicated to my Mum, the biggest female role model in my life. She is independent, strong and beautiful inside & out. I love you Mum, you inspire me every single day to dream bigger & do better.

❤

Fall 7 Times, Get Up 8 ~ Moments that seem like failure & embarrassment

Moments of extreme embarrassment or what seems like failure, I have a more than my fair share of these in my pursuit of becoming a triathlete. I feel like these are the moments that make or break you as an athlete, because in the process of making yourself great, there WILL BE times that you fail.

• My first hill climb (cycling training) ride with my coach, Meyrick... It was a tough ride, for me, but I was managing to do pretty well, we were on the last leg of the final hill and I could tell Meyrick wasn't completely 100% convinced I was going to make it to the top. In full support mode, he stayed beside me supportively encouraging me and of course just in case I needed him to steady me or give me a push, but to his surprise and mine, I did it! He pulled ahead of me and waited as I rode up beside him. Just as I began to unclip I realized that I was slowing down faster than I could get my tired legs unclipped from my peddles. Loosing momentum, I bailed, tipping right over onto my side, (and the hard pavement). Ego bruised and disappointed in my poor finish I crawled to my feet and lifted my bike off the road. FALL 7 TIMES, GET UP 8.

• Any triathlete knows how important transition time is, as a paratriathlete it's even more important to get this done as quickly as possible, taking into consideration that not only are you going from swim, to bike, to run, with that needed equipment but as an amputee, myself, also changing legs for each discipline. This being the case, Meyrick had me scheduled to practice transitioning during one of our sessions. This wasn't my favourite session, I felt slow, clumsy and awkward and eventually I also got flustered, frustrated & tired. He set up a practice area in his facility with all my gear, part of it including getting on the treadmill and walking a distance (for time purpose). I was doing decent, that was until I got to the section where I was supposed to get on the treadmill. With my mind processing all the new steps, I failed to get on the treadmills' stationary section and jumped right on to the moving belt. FAIL. My feet went straight out from underneath me and I went flying off the end of the treadmill onto my knees. Facility packed with other people & trainers, my face now beet red... I looked up at Meyrick sheepishly with tears filling my eyes as I pulled my embarrassed self off of the floor. FALL 7 TIMES, GET UP 8.

• During my very first triathlon Meyrick had warned me, don't forget where you left your bike in transition & don't fall off your bike during dismount. Sighhhh, I had a GREAT ride and once I got to the dismount line (with a crowd watching) I was calm and cool (or so I thought) as I began to hit the brakes I suddenly lost all track of what to do next, as I stopped I failed to firmly plant my real leg on the pavement before I unclipped my prosthetic leg. EPIC mistake. I threw my entire body off center, lost my balance and came crashing to the ground (although by crashing I mean falling in slow motion as everyone watched)... Hit the pavement... Volunteers rushing to try and help me up... A firm "no thanks, I'm fine!!", was all I could say as I pulled my body and my bike off the pavement. FALL 7 TIMES, GET UP 8.

• (This ones' a real goodie...) Leaving the facility with Meyrick for a training ride, we headed up a hill toward the one set of lights at an intersection that we had to navigate to begin our ride. As we climbed the hill I slowed my pace in hopes I could coast a bit and keep my momentum so I wouldn't have to come to a full stop and unclip, (clearly an area needing work for me). There was one car ahead of us waiting at the light, (in the car were two of the trainers that work at Meyrick's facility). Unfortunately, for me, this happened to be a long light... As I got closer and closer to the intersection and literally right beside the car I realized (in an extremely delayed reaction) that I was going to have to unclip. Too late. I lost momentum and started falling over, not just onto the street but onto, against and basically on top of the car, apologetically yelling "I'm SORRYYYYYYY!!!", as I hit the ground. MORTIFIED, I quickly pulled my road kill self off of the ground, hobbled to the side of the road (out of traffics way) and to a safe place I could remount my bike. FALL 7 TIMES, GET UP 8.


Those are just a few samples of times I've had to suck it up and get back up. Of course I have bailed while running at the track, I have even had my leg just fall off right in the middle of a workout and I have had more cuts, bruises and sores from training that have left me sitting on the "so called side lines" until I healed up, feeling a bit battered and absolutely left out but those, in particular, are a few of my most memorable moments. TRUST ME when I say there have been many other moments like this and I'm sure that there will be more in the future. Having a prosthetic leg doesn't make me the most graceful creature on the planet, but it has made me a very resilient one. In those moments when I feel like I'm about to die of embarrassment or frustration I have learned to take a deep breath, calm myself and just move on. After all, the only way to really save face in these situations is to get back up and prove myself worthy of this sport. I'm not the only one who has found them self on the ground and embarrassed, this I am sure of. Each training day that passes by allows me to become a more efficient and competent athlete, my skills grow and so does my confidence. I can proudly, with a slightly embarrassed smile on my face, say I am proud of all these "falls" I've gotten up from.

If I fall, I will get back up.
If I am beaten, I will return.

Motivation Monday ~ Never Stop

I value my intensity because it drives me to push forward even when the feelings of fatigue, pain or frustration arise.

Great Workouts ~ Challenge & Perseverance

Ahhhhhhhhh :) Today was one of those days. An amazing day when I feel like my body is capable of absolutely anything. Not that the day was without some struggle or new learning curves, but still a fantastic day.

I trained with a new swim coach who was highly recommended by both a friend & my coach, Meyrick. He taught me new drills & corrected my stroke in several ways, in hopes that with time these news skills & corrections will make me a much more efficient & FASTER swimmer. Faster is ALWAYS better. He had me doing drills that I had before and new ones, new ones that were totally challenging but completely doable. One hour of complete dedication to improving my imperfect stroke and more work to do in my strive for perfection, or something close to it. I left the one hour session with enough energy to do another hour in the pool, THIS is a fantastic feeling.

I had a mini break in between and met my Dad for a quick breakfast and meeting about some bookkeeping that needed to be done with my husbands business. Afterward, and refuelled, I headed to session number two of the day with Meyrick.

I've now been training with Meyrick two days a week since September, today was a strength training session at his facility. I'd loooooove to say these sessions get easier, but they don't! He continuously comes up with new ways to challenge me. (I should also probably add that Meyrick is a below knee amputee - there are NO excuses with him - if he can do something, he'll 99.9% of the time find a way I can do it too, a seriously problem solver). Even during exercises that he gives me that seem impossible I find myself smiling, stopping, and then resuming my attempt to do what he has asked of me. I left this workout in sweaty and happy.

Common ground between two completely different workouts = challenge & perseverance. I'm a good swimmer and I can hold my own in a gym, but being able to constantly challenge myself has been something I have grown to love. I hope I always have this feeling. It's powerful and it encourages growth. I am constantly evolving in my pursuit of my ONE BIG MAIN GOAL - Become A Triathlete. This fact is something I believe is key to being the best version of myself.

Fitness Motivation, Inspiration & Attaining Goals ~ I Am a Triathlete/Paratriathlete ~

Since I have begun my serious path on the road to Triathlete/Paratriathletestatus I have gotten a lot of comments regarding motivation and inspiration.Mostly it is from friends and family who are supporting me along my journey,continuously reminding me that what I am doing is inspiring to them and thatthey know I can attain all of the goals I have set for myself. These are thecomments that I carry with me and am so grateful to hear, but feel I will neverreally know how to receive them properly. In fact, it always makes me a littleflustered and shy when I get them as I feel like what I do every day is prettygeneric.

I fell in love with sport as a kid, thanks to my parents, and all of my lifesport has been a huge factor. After I lost my leg to cancer it seemed onlynatural to treat learning how to walk, run, and be active again just like Iwould treat learning a new sport. I got up early, went to phsyio, listened toevery single word my physiotherapist said in her instructions and directions, Ipractised relentlessly. If you see me out day to day, the way I walk and movearound may seem pretty natural or even easy, but just like sport, it has takenme countless hours of practise and dedication just to be a "normal"everyday person again.

There have also been many times when I was so frustrated I actually justtook my prosthetic leg off and tossed it across the room... seconds laterfeeling embarrassed and twice as determined to achieve what I had set out to do, ending up hopping like a little rabbit on one leg across the room toretrieve my VERY important tool. It wasn't the leg that was holding me back, itwas my mind, I wasn't too tired or unable, and I was frustrated by a newlearning curve. So I constantly reminded myself, I CAN DO THIS ~ THIS IS MY NEWNORMAL.

There have been other times or days when I just really didn’t feel likedoing it, doing anything to be honest. Days when putting my leg on in themorning seemed like a huge hassle. Moments when I felt down on myself for notbeing where I thought I should be or could be. These are the times I havereally had to dig deep. Thoughts that usually went through my mind during thesetimes were of failure... did I WANT to fail? Hell no. That was (and is) theeasiest way for me to get off my ass. The idea that I had set a goal for myselfto attain that I might not be able to reach was (and is) an extremelymotivating factor. Honestly, unless I am completely incapacitated I am GOING TOfinish what I set out to do.

My coach, Meryick Jones, summed it up simply but extremely well for me oneday. We were discussing my goals, people’s reactions to what I do athleticallyand what is the best way to respond to people who ask me how I am so motivatedto do it all. Meyrick said something along the lines of, "Well they get up everyday and put on your shoes, just like you get up each day and put your leg on".It’s really no different. It's all in those first steps each morning to justget up and get at it. You simply either DO or you DON'T. I just make the verysimple choice to DO.

Just like learning how to walk well and hone my skills of everyday life on aprosthetic leg was once a goal of mine, my new goal is to become an athlete. Not just any athlete, a triathlete, or in my case, a paratriathlete. Iknew it was possible, I have seen amputee runners and traithletes before. Ifollowed a few and knew that with proper training and dedication it was an achievablegoal. So I set it ~ GOAL- BECOME TRIATHLETE. Little did I know at the beginningof my journey how many little goals within that goal I would have to set. It isactually one massive goal broken down into a whole whack of littler goals.

Goals:

v BECOMETRIATHLETE (COMPETE AT HIGH LEVEL, 2016 RIO PARALYMPICS)

v Attain prosthetic equipment

v Attain funding for prosthetic equipment $$$

v Attain triathlon equipment $$$

v Find a coach (Meyrick Jones http://meyrickjones.blogspot.ca/ )

v Learn to run (again)

v Learn to swim (again)

v Learn to ride a bike (again)

v Do 1^st Triathlon (2013 UBC TRI https://rec.ubc.ca/events/triathlon/– Vancouver, BC)

v Start all over with prosthetic equipment,rebuild running, cycling, training legs (poor fit, too many issues, start from scratch)

v Hone my skills as a cyclist

v Hone my skills as a runner

v Hone my skills as a swimmer

v Do 2^nd Triathlon (2013 Shawnigan LakeTriathlon  http://triseries.ca/shawnigan_lake/-Victoria, BC)

v Do 3^rd Triathlon (2013 Nationals http://edmontontriathlon.org/main/2013-Register-World-Cup.html – Edmonton, AB)

v Do swim event (Bay Challenge http://vowsa.bc.ca/vowsa-races/bay-challenge/– Vancouver, BC)

v Do cycling event (GranFondo Whistler http://www.rbcgranfondowhistler.com/- Vancouver/Whistler, BC)

Keep in mind these are goals of one season. Under “Become Triathlete”these are just some of the goals that I have had to set for myself in order tomake that future goal a reality. In the next couple years until the 2016 RioParalympics I am going to have to set and attain a whole new spectrum of goals,just when I feel like I have gotten to where I need to be there may be anotherathlete out there that can out race me, in those times I am going to have toreach higher and train harder. So now, as I work towards those goals it is aconstant daily struggle to reach my potential. I am swimming 3 days a week,cycling 3 days a week and strength training 3 days a week. Running is unfortunatelyon hold until I have a new running prosthesis, (it has been a huge area offrustration and setbacks for me, due to the nature of the prosthetic and how much pressure it puts on my body, a work in progress that I am determined toconquer).

So what keeps me motivated these days’:

v The end result, the vision of me competingagainst other elite athletes at the 2016 Rio Paralympics. This inspires me to be my best.

v My incredible family & friends. They areconstantly offering words of encouragement and support, they’ve helped lift me upthrough my lows and celebrate my highs, I wouldn’t want to share all of thiswith anyone else. They inspire me to be my best.

v My coach. There are many reason I chose MeyrickJones as a coach but definitely top two are that he is an experienced coach ANDan experienced athlete. This guy has done more events than I can count;cycling, running, triathlon and skiing (and more I’m sure). He lives andbreathes sport. I constantly feed off of his energy. Talk about practise whatyou preach, he’s living proof that this is a winning combination. He inspires me to be my best.

v Triumph’s like completing my first triathlon(UBC), having agreat long ride on my bike, setting a new personal best in the pool or finalisinga finished well performing running prosthetic. These are all mini attainedgoals that will help me attain my final goal. They inspire me to achieve whatever it next.

When you really want something there are really only TWO options in my mind; you either go out and get it or you don't.

I'm all in :)