Silver's still a great colour

First and foremost, thank you all for the kind messages and thoughts throughout the entire weekend.  I was on a mission and I still believe I succeeded.  Yes, the colour of medal isn't exactly what I was after, but I still ran a great race.  Anyone who knows me, knows I gave it all in the race.  I set myself up for the win as best as I could.  Silver at the Canadian Championship is a great accomplishment, and I couldn't be happier having it around my neck.  There was great competition in my race and I ran right through the line. So thank you all.

A special thanks to my dad for making the trip out to Calgary to watch the race.  He's flown all over North America to watch a race that is less than 2minutes.  

Thanks to Greg and Frankie (Leanna's parents), Kim and Danny, Ryan, Cathy and Abigail for all coming out and giving me a cheering section.

The stressful part is over.  To make the World Championship team, part of the criteria is to come top 3 at Nationals.  Canadian Championships is all about tactics; anyone who watched my race can see that.  Heats and finals are some of the hardest things to do because it's all about timing and patience. You have a group of guys in a race who can all run similar times, so it's hard to outrun them.  Now it's all about running fast.  It's all about time now.  Now I just have to "Nut-up or shut-up".  

BC here I come, it's time to roll out!!!

GOING FOR IT

Tomorrow will bring the Canadian Championship finals.  I've got one thing in mind...GOLD.  The 800m is a race that is completely unpredictable.  You can get boxed in, you can fall, you can just have a bad race,  or you could have a great race.  Anything can happen.  The pace could go slow, it could go fast, either way I have my plan, and it's going to set me up for big things.  I'm giving it all till I cross the line.  Bang or bust baby!!!

CBC is broadcasting it tomorrow from 4pm - 6pm ET.  or it's being live streamed on cbcsports.ca  
I run at 3pm Mountain time (5pm ET). 

This was last yr.  Silver medal.....

Finals baby!!

I did what I needed to do. Won my heat and moving on to the finals. HELLS YA!!
Thanks for the vibes. I'll need big thoughts for saturday.

Race Day

Semi's are today.  Top 2 go on to the finals. If you're sending me the good vibes, think Top 2.  Race starts at 8:10pm Mountain Time.

Less than 3 days to go until the 2011 Canadian Championships are underway in Calgary.  Thursday is the semi-final for the 800m which because of hitting a standard, I get an automatic bid into.  Don't be too quick to high-five me though.  There are quite a few more athletes who also get to skip the first round.  But it still means one less round, which means once less day to get tired for the finals.

Semi's are all about top 2 finishers.  There will be three heats of the mens 800m which the top 2 from each heat then the next 2 fastest times from all the heats move on to the finals.  All I read is top 2.  Anyone who knows me knows Nationals is a bit of a mental game with me.  Last year was a breakthrough year where I placed 2nd, and my goal is to improve again.

I'm already getting asked, "are you ready?" or "how are you feeling?" or "Are you going to win?"....  Right now all I'm doing is relaxing and not focusing on the race.  There will be no over-thinking, or over-analyzing this weekend.  I know what I need to do and my body knows how to race.  Giving all my energy now into planning means I'm going to be burnt out for the actual race.  You know that feeling...when you've stressed about it all week then the day actually comes and all you think is let's get it over with.

One race at a time and the race starts Thursday.  So am I ready? ......I will be on Thursday!!!

CALTAF

Sorry, it's been a bit since my last post.  I'm in Calgary, AB soaking in the altitude once again at 3500ft.  Just to clarify, Toronto is a mere 347ft above sea level so 3500ft is a big adjustment.

I raced last night at the CALTAF classic.  A 400m.  With Calgary's great weather, the day was filled with sunshine and thunderstorms; changing every 5-10min.  So my shoes were soaked and you needed sunglasses to race.   I finished 2nd in the race.   48.44.  Not a PB but I`m happy.  I got out hard my first 200 which was a new thing for me (I have a tendency to wait a bit) and rigged up hard my last 50m to the point where I thought I was going to fall on my face.  Each step my knees got lower and lower to where I felt like I was shuffle stepping.   I was just hoping a wouldn`t clip the track with my spikes and go face first down (which I have done before).  

Oh man my lungs burned after the race.  It was my first above sea level performance.  It`s leaving me fully confident in my performance for Nationals and hungry for more.  I`m jacked to race at Nationals.

Bad Race Card

Last night was a bit of a flop for me.  I walked in with big expectations and I let myself down.  I had two openings to try and make a solid move to challenge for the win and I hesitated. I can't tell you why I did this.  It just happened.  I placed 2nd overall in a meet that had a couple of my competitors that I'll face at the Canadian Championships in Calgary.  I have one bad race each year, and I'm using my card for this race. So if this is as bad as it gets, I'll take it.  2 yrs ago my bad race came at the Canadian Championships where I was ranked 4th going in and then finished a disappointing 10th.

A mature runner takes each race and analysis it finds the strengths and weaknesses and move forth from it.  I've done this.  I know what needs to be done, and this mistake won't happen again.  I only make them once.

It's time to make a push for the top.  I want the win at Nationals.  No more mistakes, I know what I need to do 

Race Day

Just a quick note this time.   I've been in travel mode all week.  From Flagstaff, to Victoria, and now I've just landed on the mainland of Vancouver, revving up for a race tomorrow.

Tomorrow I'm rocking out an 800m at SFU against some of the Top runners in the event from Canada.  It'll be a  great battle royale because we're all shooting for the World Championship standard.  Send me some good vibes for tomorrow as I'll lace them up and step on the line at 7:45 Pacific Time.

P.S.  for the Beaches Blue Devils rolling out this week for their semi finals.  Give it your all.  You never want to look back after the race and wonder "what if".  Lay it out on the line and there is nothing left to worry about.