Sunday, June 12, 2011

NTT

Canadian National Team Trials is always a weekend filled with; hope, excitement, and happiness.
Unfortunately, it is also carried along with disappointment, sadness, and high expectations.
It is one of the most pressure filled weekends the sport has to offer in the country. It realizes peoples dreams, and makes people realize how hard it is to do what we do.

If anything there is only lessons to be learned. Losing, winning, and of course being content.
Accepting the fact that maybe you didn't make it because of a lack of training due to injury or maybe you forgot the main target goal during the year. Their is a number of excuses or happenings that could cause failure, but only one element can contribute to winning.

Hard work.

It all starts in September, after World Championships. The racing season is over. An athlete is filled with joy, regret, contentment, happiness, etc. I could go on forever.
Like a bear preparing for hibernation, athletes need to prepare their aerobic and anaerobic systems for the next racing season. Once they have put as much as they had time for into the reserves they restart at the team trials and see what they can do. Its a viscous circle of success and failure. But without failure their would be no success.

The weekend for myself was a zero pressure smiling fest. Without the 6 months of aerobic and anaerobic pump, I didn't have much to bring to the course other then the technique I have learned from Youtube, and stroke technique.
But, I brought what other people could not.
The lack of pressure on me for the weekend was probably the single reason why I managed to get through the week and weekend without quitting in the middle of a workout and managing to get through a race without screaming at myself during my cool down.

The weekend consisted of two runs on the first day and two on the second. I had two touches on the first three out of four then my last run I managed to do what I thought was a clean run but was given, what I thought to be, a controversial touch. Again. But due to the fact that this was not a high pressure race for me; their was no need to protest.

I guess it turned out to be a pretty successful race for me.

It was a great weekend. Although it pains me to see an Albertan athlete who deserves to be on the team to miss it this year I am happy to see another make the Senior team for the first time in their paddling career.

It seems like Team Trials is always a win lose situation. But, that's life I guess.

Here I am in the Quebec City airport at 2:46 am local time awaiting to return to my kingdom. Its pouring rain but I couldn't be happier sitting exactly where I am, right now.



Well I'll be home soon and I'll be seeing you all soon.



Hope all is well


Aj

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