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!