Looking Within

At the end of the day, when you look at yourself in the reflection of the mirror, you and only you truly know if you gave your all today. You and this mirror share the most intimate relationship of all. You will not admit to anyone else that you did not work as hard as you could have today, but the real truth lies deep inside of you, and even deeper inside the mirror. The one great thing about you being the athlete and the mirror being the mirror is that the mirror will never lie to you and you will never be able to fool the mirror. The truth surfaces each time you look back into your own eyes with each passing glance and reflecting stare. You, the athlete: Contemplating whether you can accept or not accept all you did this very day to be the best athlete you can be.

Understand, you are the only one who has to look at yourself through this mirror – not only today, but every day. Because today is now over, you look within your self and know what you must do tomorow. Never look in that mirror and give up, giving up is not for champions. You must see a champion, a winner to become one. All of these decisions lie within yourself, you and this mirror only know the best of your ability, so go out and show the world.

The voice within

As an athlete, every few hours or minutes a day you think of your sport. There is not one day that goes by that I do not think about the workout I have to do that day, or the next meal I am going to eat, how much water I consumed, or how I'm going to finish that perfect race. All of these things are important aspects of being an athlete. To not let these things run through your mind constantly, you are not true to your sport. To picture yourself running a flawless race is something that should come to mind frequently, for a runner. If you imagine it, you can make it happen.

Every athlete has an inner voice. This voice speaks to them when they are in pain, when they are at the point of exhaustion, but can see that finish line in eyes view. This inner voice, hopefully, is filled with pride. This voice appears demanding in yourself excellence, and tries to push away from failure at all costs. Failure is a driving force for any athlete. No athlete wants to have the feeling of failure, but it is bound to occur at some point in their career. Don't let it break you, use it to push your body harder then it went before. Use this feeling to strive you to never let it happen again. I have failed, and it put me down for awhile, placing my self esteem very low. It left me terrified to fail again. I have learned to make it do the opposite affect on me now. If I have a bad race or workout, I have to use that to get me fired up, and run my next race smarter,and faster. With this fear I know now how to let it give me an urge to go and push away any thoughts of giving up when I hit that barrier of pain.

The inner voice knows the difference between training and exercise. Only a select few have the heart and desire to train unconditionaly, pushing past their barriers each time they set out on that field, track or court. I have learned to listen to this inner voice, and let it push me to my limits, gaining character and courage, letting me never feel like I have failed myself again. Each day I lace up my running shoes and I think of how lucky I am to have this ability, to have my health. I look forward to dress myself with pride once again, as I will spike up and support my team mates. Knowing that I am representing the name on the front of my shirt, Lancer, not a name on the back.

It's more then just a race its a style

I have not mentioned the progress my training has developed too, over the past two weeks. I am extrememly happy to say that I have ran 6 days a week, for two weeks now, with only slight pain in my ankle. I have been sticking to every other day a long run, and then three up beat tempo workouts a week. It has been going well, and my everyday routine finally feels back to normal. My first week back was hard, mostly because I would be sore and have to workout again on top of the soreness, but now that pain has gone, and I am trying to get back my speed indurance and strengthen my body to hopefully be ready for the first outdoor track meet here on the Windsor track. This warmer weather is making it especially wonderful to get out on the field or track everyday. I am looking forward to the outdoor season, and ready to train hard, as I realize there will still be some struggles for me a long the way. I have to keep my thoughts positive and get through some really tough workouts before getting the results I would like. I am ready to strive to give my all each and everyday in order to be the runner I was before, and a better runner still.

"Some people create with words, or with music, or with a brush and paints. I like to make something beautiful when I run. I like to make people stop and say, "I've never seen anyone run like that before." It's more then just a race, it's a style. It's doing something better then anyone else. It's being creative."Anonymous

We put the Win in Windsor

The Lancer Track and Field team were all smiles this past Saturday as both the Men and Women were anounced the new Canadian Champions. As it came down to the last event of the meet, the 4x400 relay, the women had to beat Guelph in order to grab the Canadian title. The tension was high, and everyone was praying for the best...and the best is what came. We beat the Guelph Grypons by one point after beating their time in the relay, ending up forth overall. The St. Dennis center was packed with extremely excited athletes, almost in aww over what they had just accomplished.The Lancer ladies finished with a total of 91 points, with the guelph grypons only 1 point behind. The Lancer Men had a outstanding three days of performances, leaving them 73 points ahead of the second place team. They finished with a total points of 145.5 points, one of the most dominating performances in CIS Track and Field
history.
Day two started brought us ahead in the standings, as we captured 11 medals over both teams. Some incredable performances by many, but some that really stood out where made by second year Lancer, Noelle Montcalm. After capturing the 300m silver medal, just a few minutes later she grabbed the silver medal also, for the 60 m hurdles with the time of 8.57. Another amazing performance was done by Raeleen Hunter, going into the 1000 meters ranked #10 in Canada, she came through the finish line #2 in Canada, with the amazing time of 2.50.04.
For men's side, Jamie Adjetey-Nelson continued his strike as he captured the silver in both Long jump and high jump. Jump coach Brett Lumely was proud, as five Windsor men took the top stops in teh long jump competition. Ben Warnock snatched gold with the jump of 7.19, followed by Jamie and Brayan Patten taking the silver and bronze medals both with jumps of 7.14m. Teamates Derek Watkins and Anthony Dandie took the forth and fifth positions. Derek Watkins also captured the Gold medal in the high jump competition that same day.

The third and final day of the competition started off well for the women as rookis Jaideen Lowe picked up the bronze medal for her jump of 12.07m in teh triple jump. The ladies 4x200 team went on to the finals lead by Noelle Montcalm, followed by Nicole Sassine, Natoya Wittingham, and Danielle Harrison. There they dug deep to get the silver medal with the amazing time of 1:39:84. The men kept rolling through on top. Derek Watkins recieved Gold in the triple jump, with the jump of 15.09 while his fellow team mate, Jeff Vukasovic, flew over the pole vault at teh height of 4.83m, to capture the bronze medal. Cole Bloxam had the best throw of 15.38m in the shot put, ending up teh teh bronze medal in the competition.

The day ended with tears, smiles, and pure excitment as both Men's and Women's teams made history in the St. Dennis Centre. It was the first time ever to win both titles in our own house! Congradulations to all Lancer Track and Field athletes!!

Lancer's sweep a gold and silver...First Day at CIS Championship

The First Day of the CIS Track and Field Championship began last night. The lancer's had a great start to the competition, bring it on in OUR HOUSE. The men's pentathlon started the evening. We had three men in this event, two of which captured the Gold and Silver medal. Jamie-Adjetey Nelson held the first place spot right through the competion,starting first with a new CIS record in the 60m hurdles, with the time of 8.21 seconds. Him and his fellow team mate, Derek Watkins, were last two left standing at in the high jump with amazing jumps done by both of these men. Sailing high above their own heights Jamie stopped jumping at the height of 2.04 m and Derek cleared the pole at 2.16m. Jamie's final score, that won the pentathlon, was 4075 points!

Also, we had two of our ladies move on to the final in the 600m. Raeleen Hunter and Melissa Bishop will be running the final Saturday at 1:30pm.

The 60 metre prelims and finals were also held last night, where we had two lancer ladies and a male compete in the final. Noelle Montcalm finished with the bronze metal, with teh time of 7.64 seconds followed shortly after by Nicole Sassine who placed 7th, pulling in some points for the Lancers. Justin Keating, a Lancer Football athlete, came to the track team this year and did very well for himself as a rookie. He placed 6th overall in the 60 meters with the time of 6.83 sec.

The competition starts back up today at 1:30 begining with the 60 meter prelims. Come out and support your Lancers!! There are going to be some amazing performaces all through the weekend!

The runner within me

I crave a runner's symphony: the whispered breeze a quick sprint brings, the gravel or leaves crunching beneath my feet, the mild air brushing up against my face. I define lines as as my distance markers: lane lines, start lines, finish lines, the lines of roads and side walks, the line of the horizon ahead. I confront these unforgiving hills with force, and I embrace that inevitable exhaustion that proceeds. And before I outrun either time or opponent I remember that sometimes running smart supersedes running hard. I make my own path: the path to my limits, to my goals, to my line. A path to one more hill, one more mile, one second faster. When I reach the end of my path, I know that I gave my all today; pushing to my limits which will make me a stronger, faster, quicker runner. This pain builds character, and this character is what will get me through the race.

Homemade burgers are far better then a Big Mac...

A two-a-day workout leaves my stomach in a constant state of grumbling most of the day. By the time I make it home in the evening I am craving...well almost anything. I picked up ground turkey at the grocery store after my final workout today, so I decided to make some yummy turkey burgers. My mom use to make me these when I was home from school this past summer, and they are delicious! They are very easy to make, and do not take too long to cook either. I made them on my little grill inside, seeing as it was a bit on the chilly side for any bbq'ing...plus I do not own a barbeque here in Windsor. If you do not have a grill, a pan will do. Here's how it done:

Ingredients
1 pound lean ground turkey or beef (at least 90 percent lean)
1/2 cup coarsely chopped pitted green olives (2 ounces)
2 tablespoons finely chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley
1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground pepper
Cooking spray

Directions
Combine the turkey or beef, olives, parsley, cumin, and pepper in a mixing bowl and mix until well incorporated. Shape into 4 burgers.
Spray a grill pan with cooking spray and preheat over a medium-high heat or prepare an outdoor grill. Cook for about 5 minutes on each side, until cooked through.
Serving suggestion: Serve on whole-wheat buns, garnished with slices of tomato and lettuce, with ketchup and mustard on the side.

Per Serving: one burger
Calories 145; Total Fat 4 g; (Sat Fat 0 g, Mono Fat 1.5 g, Poly Fat 0.5 g) ; Protein 28 g; Carb 1.5 g; Fiber 0 g; Cholesterol 45 mg; Sodium 305 mg
Excellent source of: Protein, Niacin, Vitamin B12, Vitamin K, Manganese, Selenium, Zinc
Good source of: Fiber, Iron

This was the recipe I went by, however I did not use cumin...I don't really know what that is. Also, you can add your own prefered toppings to the burger, and minus the bun or use whatever type of bun you would like, whole wheat is simply the healthier choice :)

Another thing I did differently was that I did not make four bugers out of my meat, therefore I just minused the ingredients to fit two burgers instead.

Lancer's Be Swift

The Windsor Lancer's Track and Field Team travelled the four long hours this past weekend to compete fiercley against the top Ontario University's. Lead by our "fearless leader" Dennis Fairell the team began the championship forcefully as the lancer spirit was definitley brought with us to Toronto. The Lancer's dug deep to reach their goal of winning the OUA title once again. The Men had a solid finish of 185 points taking the trophie with them back to Windsor, while the Women effortley finished strongly in second place, just 7.5 points away from the winning team Guelph Gryphons. Lancer pride filled the indoor track throughout the two days of competition, as our athletes competed with excitment and passion. To see results from this meet go to http://www.golancers.ca/ The team is now getting ready for the Canadian Championship held here, at the St. Denis Center March 12-14. Having the CIS Championship in our own house makes for an exciting and exteremly memorable experience. Top athletes from all of Canada will be competing for their teams chance of being the next Canada title holder. Come watch some future Olympians break records and ripe up the track. Lancer Pride will sure be floating through the air!

You'll find the more difficulties you have along the way, the more you will enjoy your success

I thought I'd write an entry simply on what inspires me each day to keep training, even when some days can be extremely tough both physically but even more mentally. The process of getting healthy again has been a never ending feeling that honestly brought out the worst of me at times. I dislike very much when I show or feel weakness, and I found myself to feel like the weakest person on earth, mostly because I was so upset inside. Many days all I wanted to do was be alone and (I know this sounds a bit much) but cry. I think the worst week of it all was when I had crutches. Walking to campus felt like an intense workout...my arms would be burning, the palms of my hands would throb and I would be sweating buckets, not a very pretty sight when walking into class.

Then came the Boot, I'm sure many of you saw me hobbling around campus on this space boot contraption. Though it looked as if I transforming into the next girl version of Optimus Prime, it was a lot easier to get around. This took some stress off me and I was then able to start doing pool workouts everyday. Slowly, I mean verry slowly, I was able to transfer to the bike, then to the elyptical, and finally, where I am today, two tempo workouts on the track a week, and milleage on the elyptical, bike and occasional runs outside. Though its not exactly perfect, I am finally at the stage where I see hope in racing this summer.

To get through the first bit of emotinal struggling, which I feel takes the biggest tole on an injured athlete, I turned to people I love to make me feel happy. Without them realizing, I reached to them simply just for laughter and fun, which took my mind off of the injury. At this time, I knew I could do nothing more for my ankle, but let it rest. To get me through endless, boring as hell, workouts in the pool, I kept the thoughts of what it would feel like to begin running again, and what it would feel like to get back into it without any fitness at all. This inspired me to stay dedicated to those workouts because that was the only thing close to running I had, and I knew that that was the only thing I had to make me a better athlete. What pulls any athlete through times like these is their love for the sport. The fact that I know I want to be stronger and faster, kept me going . Knowing I was not ready to put down my spikes quite yet, I was not willing to give up on my goals and dreams as an athlete. To compete as a Windsor Lancer once again, will make my university career feel complete. When I stand up on that start line, I not only want to win for myself, but for my team, for my fellow Lancers. There is a feeling of pride being part of such a close knit team.Iif one day you feel like you can not give your best for yourself, you feel the need to for your team. Being a Windsor Lancer once again, and wearing my blue and gold while crossing that finish line, is one of the biggest inspirations for me. I want to do this with all I have, no regrets. That's why I'll keep running.

Some songs that push me through workouts:

• Rage Against the Machine-Renegades of Funk
• " " " " -Calling in the name of
• Alexisonfire-Boiled Frogs
• Matthew Good Band-Push Till it Hurts
• Arcade Fire-Wake Up
• Kanye West-Stronger
• Fort Minor-Remeber the Name
• OutKast-Bombs over Baghdad

I feel like chicken tonight

One of my favourite meals is chicken stirfry. It is really easy to make, and is quit tastey...well in my opinion. I do not eat a lot of red meat so for protein I enjoy turkey, fish, and chicken meals of all sorts. They are all very lean meats that are very good for you, and supply you with the protein that is much needed in your diet each day. Your body makes protien from 10 different building blocks called amino acid. However, nine of these are made from food such as chicken, fish or beef etc. Foods from aminals of course provide complete protein, however, for any vegetarians out there, there are many substitutes that supply you with you daily dosage of protien as well. http://www.vrg.org/nutrition/teennutrition.htm This website supplies vegetarians with information about getting teh right prtien intake form other sources such as beans and other good tips on being a healthy vegetarian.
Here is a easy Chicken stirfry recipe for you all to try!

INGREDIENTS
2 teaspoons peanut oil
2 stalks celery, chopped
2 carrots, peeled and diagonally sliced
1 1/2 pounds skinless, boneless chicken breast halves - cut into strips
1 tablespoon cornstarch
3/4 cup orange juice
3 tablespoons light soy sauce
1 tablespoon honey
1 teaspoon minced fresh ginger root
1/4 cup cashews
1/4 cup minced green onions

DIRECTIONS
Heat 1 teaspoon of the oil in a wok over high heat. Add the carrots and celery and stir fry for 3 minutes. Add remaining 1 teaspoon oil, then add the chicken and stir fry for 5 more minutes.
In a small bowl, dissolve the cornstarch into the orange juice. Mix in the soy sauce, honey and ginger. Add this sauce to the wok and cook over medium heat until thickened. Top with the cashews and green onions.

Nutritional Information:
Chicken Honey Nut Stir Fry
Servings Per Recipe: 6
Amount Per Serving
Calories: 235
Total Fat: 7.9g
Cholesterol: 69mg
Sodium: 536mg
Total Carbs: 13g
Dietary Fiber: 1.2g
Protein: 27.3g

ENJOY :)

And the sun is shining...

I just got back from my first decent workout of running!! It was such a beutiful day out, I thought it was time to give the old ankle a try out agian...and it was quite successful. I had it taped up but felt no pain at all, which is really good news. My body felt great, and the nice breeze, with the sun shining down was wonderful. I also got on the track and did some drills and excellerations, which is when you start slow and speed up as you move until you are in full stride, moving pretty fast. Everything felt great and I feel renewed...even with only having four hours of sleep. Post run I finished with some core exercises which is very important and useful for runners. http://www.buzzle.com/articles/core-exercises-core-strengthening-exercises.html This site has a few good exercises for anyone who is interested. They are fairly easy exercises and some can be very relaxing and extremely good for your body. If you have back pain frequently, strengthing your core can help reduce that pain a lot. For runners, strengthening these muscles not only helps reduce back pain but help with out running form very much. But I would recommend these to everyone, you can actually feel a change in your body after a few weeks of doing these.

For the love of your sport

After getting my blog critiqued, I realized that the way I talk about running and the struggles I have had to conquer through my process of healing is hard to understand to a person that has no interest in running or physical activitoes persay. So, to make this passion of mine more clear to others I will compare my interest to interests all of you may have.

I think I was born with this little gene inside me that gave me a bit of talent. Talent can only go so far. If you don't have the heart, your talent could become wasted. Heart is what keeps you going when you feel like your legs are burning off or your lungs cannot take much more. Heart brings you past your personal best time, and what gets you through the workouts that got you to that time. People always say to me that track is a crazy sport, Why would I enjoy running in circles over and over again? I never really inderstood how people conceived it that way because to me it is so much more. Each one of those laps gets me closer to winning for myself.

For a writer, you must have heart to keep writing that story even after multiple days and nights of writers block. You cannot be satisfied with that poem or short story until it is perfect. Sometimes it takes numerous re-writes and analyzing until you get this little trigger or idea and everything seems so clear, then you can not seem to put your pen down. When the product is perfect to you and you feel that there is nothing to make it better, how do you feel? Or for an artist when they write that perfect song or paint that unimaginable painting. In this moment you are proud of yourself. You feel complete, you can not stop smiling, you may get very emotional; many different feelings occur. When I finish that perfect race, knowing at that time I could give nothing more, I feel, well it is hard to explain. Nothing makes me more proud of myself then running a good workout or a great race. I know how much I love this sport because almost nothing else in this world makes me feel that happy or that upset. Nothing gets me more down or gives me such a high. Like musicians and artists, Track and Field is a one on one sport. There is no one else to look to and blame after defeat, or to lean on when you're tired and slacking off. You must find strength inside to pull past the pain, work through a tough couple days of writers block, or get past a really bad set at the show.

When I got hurt, it helped me realize how much track means to me and how happy it really makes me feel. When I am in shape and the practices that killed me at the beginning of the season, seem much more simple, I am happy and relaxed. Think of losing your hand if you are a musician or writer, or your voice if you are a singer. You would feel this emptiness, that nothing else could truly replace. You would try and find other things that give you that much joy, but you can't, because your heart is always there, looking for that thing it use to care so much

about.

A great way to start a busy day!

When I was young my parents often feed me oatmeal in the morning before school. I still remeber how much I loved Maple and Brown sugar flavour. Still, to this day I do enjoy starting my day with a warm meal. Oatmeal is especially great for a preworkout meal, if you are doing a morning run, swim, lift etc. It is quick, easy and very filling, which is very important because getting hungry during a workout is never fun. Even if you are not going for a workout, it is good before a morning of dragged on classes or long day at work. I tried this recipe recently and it was quit tastey. Try it too!
Ingredients: 2 1/4cups of water
1 cup of regular oats
1/2 tsp of cinnamon
1/2 tsp of brown sugar or honey
1/2 cup of raisins
1/4 cup of chopped walnuts
milk to preference

Another set back

So the past few weeks I have been getting a run outside in everyother day, and it was feeling fantastic to begin to feel that passion burning inside again. But of course, more pain had to occur...due to running awkwardly, I formed a bit of tendinitis on the outer bone of the side of my foot, so I am back cross training. Cross training, for anyone intersested, is pretty much any type of exercise that is not running. For example, I have become a huge fan of the deep end of the St. Dennis pool. It is like treading water but a bit more complicated, you are basically going through the running motion under water, and there is NO PAIN! well not on your muscles, but it sure gets tiring on the lungs after 40 minutes; it works up a sweat and I look pretty damn sweet too haha. Another handy machine is the elyptical, it is a great way to stay in shape while healing, especially for my ankle/foot because there is no pounding. Now that it is freezing and icy outside, I have found peace with turning to these facilities indoors. As I was told by my body, I need to slow things down and allow for the proper healing. In the mean time I will stay positive and make the most out of what I can do.

"Far away in the sunshine are my highest aspirations. I may not reach them, but I can look up and see their beauty, believe in them, and try to follow where they lead."

Support your Lancers

This weekend Lancers annual CANAM Track and Field meet is taking place at the St. Dennis Center... Come out and watch some amazing performances while supporting Windsor Lancers! The meet begins at 10:30am and concludes at 4:30pm. For results and more information about teh meet go to www.golancers.ca

Be happy for this moment, this moment is your life

Yesterday in class, a fellow student stood up to make an anouncement of a fundraiser she is holding to raise money for her sick father. Her father has leukemia. I could not imagine going through a situation like that or even getting enough strentgh to get in front of the class to talk about it. The moment after her speech I thought of how lucky I am to have my own health, and my family and freinds health as well.
Last October I broke my ankle and this took from me something a love very much. This love is to RUN. Running for me is fulfilling; to feel that good pain, to push myself further then the previuos run and to reach a goal I create for myself and yes to feel that "runners high". Without this huge part of my life I felt an emptiness which did cause for sadness. To fill this hole, I found other activities that could keep me occupied and fit. I began to pool run. I know it sounds silly, but it is the next best thing to running on the ground...and yes it is just as tiring, maybe more. I struggled to stay motivated and I am still struggling, but when you love something this much, you will commit to it no matter what.
I realize that things could be much worse for myself, and getting injured made me appreciate my sport fully. I have a healthy family and freinds and this means much more then a silly broken foot that I had created to be so devastating at first. I am semi healed now and am taking the training process in strides. My first run back felt exilerating, and I had a huge smile on my face the whole time a am sure.