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.