Life and times of the Loshack

Update time

I have been very busy with school and training over the past few months and have had little time to write for pleasure, thus the lack of blog updates. Everything has been good over the past few weeks and i feel that i am now on an upward curve in life and training after the dip i had in November.

On November 11th I raced the CIS national cross country championships in Quebec City with the University of Alberta Golden Bears. The race was abysmal, I was sick for the week leading up to it and was in survival mode. School was busy and i was trying to maintain my swim fitness, while my ankle was giving me serious problems on the running front. I had one of the worst races of my life but i really didn't care. I raced cross country for the first time in three years and did not enjoy it at all. I love cross country and love the guys i ran with, but the idea of a school team and all the school spirit is not my style. I also prefer to work with Kevin, and i can tell you honestly that i will not run cross country for the bears in my last year of school unless i am allowed to train with Kevin instead. In the end my body broke down, i had to take two weeks completely off and my ankle was in shambles and this was not worth the scholarship money i received.

Kevin is my coach, he is fully qualified to take me where i want to go and i refuse to work with anyone else for any reason unless he is the one to bring that person in.

So after this time off i have had to make up a lot of ground in the pool, but i can honestly say that it is finally coming along. My run is going amazing, which goes to show that with Kevin i can run over 70km per week and feel great and healthy and with anyone else 20km per week causes injuries. The right training for the right body type is important, and he knows i cannot handle too much speed work or high intensity running.

In the pool i am slowly starting to find some form, nothing magical, nothing great, but it is getting to a point where i feel comfortable in the water again. I am closing the gap between the faster guys in my group and am hoping to still rip off a best time in the 400m and 1500m by the time the season starts.

The weather has been beautiful in Edmonton and i have taken advantage to ride outside as much as i can. I have been riding a chromoly hybrid mountain bike with 29er wheels and 2.4 inch tires for my long rides. It is a single speed, so i mostly just grind it out at 80rpm for 2-3 hours at a time, but at this time of year that is the perfect training for me. I can definitely gain a lot of strength and have managed to stay upright so far (knock on wood). I will be sure to post a few pics of the rig soon to give you an idea of what it is like to train in the Great White North.

As far as writing goes i have been enjoying my non-fiction writing class and have lined up some more writing classes for next year as well. I am learning the tools and techniques which is important to developing my skills. I have to remember that it is a process, i used to think people just wrote a book in one shot, now i understand it takes years to develop the ideas needed for a novel or even a short story. The problem i have is that i know most of what i write is autobiographical and in that sense it is hard for me to apply perspective to my life experiences as many of them are still fresh. There is a lot of material swirling in my mind and at some point i hope to find a way to filter that into something cohesive and entertaining. I relate the process to my triathlon training. You can't win a gold medal in one day nor can you write a novel in a day. It takes a whole career of training and practice to reach that pinnacle and it is ridiculous to focus only on that pinnacle for your whole career. First you must learn the skills involved which is where i am at right now with writing. Then you must use them in smaller, less important areas such as publishing small stories or non-fiction pieces, or do smaller races to practice. It is only then that you can begin to leave your mark on more polished pieces that carry more weight and significance, or likewise begin to race more national level races and be in the race, which is what i hope to do this season in triathlon. There is a lot more to come after that, but it seems pointless to think about it now.

Everyday is a process, every workout and every word spurs me on to another level in that process. There is no ceiling, no predetermined end and there are no guarantees. Nothing is ever fair or right and it is impossible to plan for every road bump. The only thing i can do is to write one word at a time, run one step at a time, swim one stroke at a time. Those words turn into stories, those steps and strokes turn into workouts, and those stories and workouts come to define not only your career but also who you are as a person.

One word at a time, One step at a time, One stroke at a time

Love,

Shack