Moving Forward

Not much has happened since I last posted. My time at home in Canada in September was amazing, I had a great time. Especially being apart of the Canadian Olympic Team celebrations in Ottawa and Toronto was amazing. It was such an honor to meet Prime Minister Stephen Harper and receiving the Queen's Diamond Jubilee Medal. It was such a fun way to cap off the Olympic year and celebrate with the rest of the Canadian Olympic team and be celebrated by all of our fans in Canada. 

At the end of my time in Canada I was able to hold a free clinic in Peterborough, my hometown, to give back to everyone who supported me and was interested in learning how to racewalk. I had a great turn out considering the on and off rain all morning. It was great to see people improve their technique over the course of the clinic and I hope they continue to racewalk.

Now since I have been back home in San Diego, I have started back training slowly and just trying to get back to enjoying to train and racewalk again. It still has been a struggle to get over my Olympic performance. I am learning to "forgive" myself for what happened. I saw a quote one day that really hit home with me and helped me realize how to move on from the Olympics. It was:

"Forgiving does not erase the bitter past. A healed memory is not a deleted memory. Instead, forgiving what we cannot forget creates a new way to remember. We change the memory of our past into a hope for our future." - Lewis B. Smedes

This quote has helped me a lot and now I am able to not think about my race at the Olympics as often and to move forward with the exciting long career I have ahead of me. 

Now we only have a few other racewalkers here to train with. I have Miranda Melville (2nd place at USA Olympic Trials) and Tim has Andreas Gustafsson (3:50 50km racewalker from Sweden). The group has definitely gotten smaller but its been fun to be with such a committed group. 

Tim and I will be heading to Las Vegas, NV in 2 weeks to do the Rock N' Roll half marathon there for fun and training. We have had the opportunity to do this race two times before and its so much fun to walk on the streets along the Vegas strip. I would highly recommend this race to anyone and everyone! 

Tim and I now have 3.5 weeks until we start our Christmas trip where we will be in Long Island, NY, Tim's hometown, for 5 days, my hometown of Peterborough, Canada for a week and then a week in Pharr, Texas again for our annual Junior racewalk camp where we have almost 40 kids coming from around the country. Lots of exciting events coming up! 

Keep on walking,

Rachel

Racewalk Clinic in Peterborough on September 22nd

I am heading back to Peterborough, Ontario on Monday for a visit with my family and for the COC Olympic Celebration. I wanted to do something to thank everyone that supported me before and during the Olympics and so I will be putting on a free racewalking clinic. Here is the information that you will need to know!

When: Saturday, September 22nd at 9am (roughly 2 hours long)

Where: Trent University Track

Who: Everyone and anyone is invited to come, no racewalking experience necessary

Cost: FREE

What to Wear: Athletics Clothes and Athletic Footwear

What to Expect: I will give an overview of what racewalking is and what the rules are. We will go through the basic technique involved in racewalking, proper warm up and stretching. Ill talk about my Olympic experience and have a question and answer time.

 Clinicians:

Myself, 2012 Olympian, 6 time Canadian Champion, Canadian Record Holder and proud Peterborough native!

Richard Borek, Coach of the Peterborough Legion Track Club and Trent University Cross Country. Also, the coach that taught me how to racewalk and my coach for 5 years!

If you have any questions, please feel free to contact me at seaman.rachel@hotmail.com

I look forward to seeing you there!

Keep on walking,

Rachel

London Olympics Race Recap

Well I hate that I am here yet again to write about another disappointing big race. This one however tops the cake. Ive been writing on here, facebook and twitter the last few months about how strong I was feeling and how good of shape we knew I was in. This is/was all true leading up to my race at the Olympics. I felt like I was in the best shape of my life and that I was really going to put down a great time. I feel like I had done everything right this time and that nothing could go wrong. 

The day of the race I thought I did everything right. I was feeling really good when I got to the race course and still no thoughts of doubt came into my mind. When the gun went off, my plan was to go with the girls I knew that I could walk with, girls with similar PBs or even a bit faster. I did this and the pace was feeling really easy and good. Went through 5k in around 23:05 which was a good pace for me. The next few km's were fine and then I started to feel an increasing heaviness to my body, not like a normal racing heaviness but one that I couldnt just push through. As the race continued, each km got slower and slower and I think at one point, I knew that it wasnt going to be my dream race. My left hamstring/glute was also getting increasingly tight as the race went on and this has been a problem for me all year but usually I can handle it. I finished the race in a disappointing 52nd place in a time of 1:37:36, far from my PB or my goal time. 

I heard from a lot of friends and family that they were happy to see me "smiling" the whole race. I wish that was the case but it was a grimace for both the agony and disappointment I was feeling. I know that a lot of people are saying or thinking that I can never perform at the big championships and I know it seems that way. I believe that a lot of my championships, there have been a legitimate reason for not doing well but this time I cannot say the same thing. As I said above, I thought I was in the best shape of my life and that I did everything right and so this time, I cant explain what happened. Now that it has been a week and a half since the race, Tim and I have had a lot of time to reflect on what happened. The only thing I can come up with is that I may not have eaten enough during the day. I ate my main meal at 11am that day and didnt really eat much after that. This may explain why I ran out of "fuel" by halfway through the race and couldnt push through it. The other "reason" may be that I was in my monthly cycle and that this may have caused my body to react the way it did. These are the only real things I can come up with. 

No matter what it was, it doesnt change that I am extremely heart broken by my result. I know a lot of other people are disappointed in me too but no one is more upset than I am. I am the one who has to live with this the rest of my life. This is not what I had planned for my Olympic debut. My mind has already been torchuring itself enough since the race. I am reminded of this every minute of the day it seems. It is going to be really hard to get over but I know I will get over it in time. 

I appreciate all the support and kind messages before the Games and after. I know how proud all of my true friends and family are of me and I really appreciate it. I am now trying to figure out plans to do another race before I finish the season off so that I dont waste my fitness. I wish I didnt have something to bounce back from but this is sport and it has its ups and big downs. Ill keep you posted on what I decide to do. 

It was so great to have my family in London with me. The day after the race we all went sightseeing and it was nice to spend time with  them. My experience at the Olympics other than the race was great. I wish that I would have been able to experience more than I did but the Opening and Closing Ceremonies were amazing and I will never forget the feeling of walking into the Olympic stadium. I look forward to the journey over the next 4 years leading up to the 2016 Olympics. 


Keep on walking,

Rachel

Life in London......and Germany!

 After a busy few weeks in Europe, I am finally able to post an update! Here is a recount of what I have been up to.

After getting on and off planes, cancelled flight, changed flights and 10 hours in the San Diego airport, we finally go on a new flight, direct flight to London. It was a hectic trip which is even more a reason why we decided to go a bit earlier than planned. You just never know when stuff like tis will happen. We finally arrived in Germany about 3 hours later than originally scheduled so not bad considering all the problems! We were staying with Sabine and Bastian again for 6 days before I was heading to London for the opening ceremonies. I always love going there. It's so nice to have a home away from home where I am familiar with the training locations, I'm comfortable where I am living and have good company. It's been so great to have Tim here with me! I've gotten so used to being here without him that it sort of feels like vacation having him here. 

I had a bit of a hard time adjusting to the time change but training was going very well. It was nice to have my tough nights of sleep there before I headed to London. I left for London a few days before the Opening Ceremonies so that I had a chance to get familiar with the village, go get all my Hudson Bay Company (HBC) clothing, etc. The village is nice, not too big which is comforting. This is my 3rd time staying in a village setting and I'm glad I've had the experience before because some people are finding it overwhelming and I feel very comfortable with the whole experience. The volunteers have been amazing and the whole organization of the Games have been impressive. I am it thrilled to be competing in an English speaking country, it makes it so much easier. 

I trained in Victoria Park which you can access through the village and I had to train around the Olympic Park one day too. Even though being in London is great, I started to feel grateful that I was going to be heading back to Germany for training since its definitely not ideal for training to be there and that is the point of the Olympics, to do everything in the best interest of your competition. 

The buildup for the Opening Ceremonies was so exciting. The Canadian team had a pep rally before walking over to the stadium and everyone was really excited. I was a 1-2km walk from the village to the stadium and it was lined with kids cheering us on. The anticipation as we got closer and closer to the stadium kept building and just before we went into the tunnel to the stadium, we started singing O Canada. Everyone was so proud to be walking behind the Canadian flag and you could feel it. It was amazing walking into the stadium, one of the best feelings of my life. The crowd was roaring for us and I was just hoping to get on camera do that my family and friends could see me and they did! Soooo cool! Once we were done walking in, we went off to the side and watched all the other Countries have their moment. It was so neat to watch everyone elses expressions. This is what the Olympic Games are about! London put on a great show and I look forward to watching the whole show when I get home. 

Only 3 hours after the ceremonies ended, myself and 2 other athletes were off in a car to the airport to head to Kamen, Germany for the Athletics Canada pre-Olympic training camp. We met up with the rest of the track and field team here and our final preparation for the Games. This is a great facility! I was here in 2009 before the World Championships in Berlin and it was nice to come back to somewhere familiar. It's also only a 20 minutes train ride from where Tim is staying (with Sabine and Bastian) so he was able to come here for my hard workout on Tuesday and then I went back with him to stay the night and get my last long walk in. My 6 x 2k workout on Tuesday went great! I couldn't ask for anything better just 11 days before the biggest race of my life! It was one of the best I've ever done this workout and I finished in 8:56, with a low Heart rate for me. My confidence for the race is building every day and I know that I am ready for the best race of my life.

The start lists came out yesterday and I am ranked 40th out of 61. I know that I am capable of improving on that ranking and my goal is top 30 for sure! And of course break my own Canadian record. 

I will be in Kamen for another 6 days and then I head back to London for my race. First, we have Trevor and Inaki competing on Saturday in the men's 20km race and it'll be nice to get a preview of the course, etc from them. Till then ill be training and resting in anticipation of the big day. I'll try and blog one more time before then! 

Thanks for the support. Remember to follow me on twitter at @Rachel_Seaman 

Keep on walking,

Rachel

Olympic Trials and ONE Month To Go!!!

What a whirlwind last month! On June 13th I headed back to Canada for some major events. First we celebrated my nephew, Bruno's 1st birthday. I was so happy to be able to be there as I missed his sister, Anna's first birthday last year. He is such a smiley little guy, I just love him! Next was my sister, Ruthy and her now husband, Drew's wedding. I was so excited and happy to be back with my family and be able to see my relatives. What a better way to get together than for a wedding. The day was perfect and Ruthy looked gorgeous. I am so happy for them, they have a great future ahead of them.

While I was home I had the opportunity to get treatment from massage therapist and owner of Return to Function, Josh Martin. It was great to have him work on me to make sure my body stayed loose and injury free when I was home. He introduced me to a new product called Dynamic Tape and this really helped my hamstring stay in place while still having a good range of flexibility. I recommend you try it if you have any lingering injuries. Thanks Josh!

After a great two weeks in my hometown, I was off to Calgary for the Canadian Olympic Trials where I looked to win my 6th National title in a row and officially book my ticket to London. It is also so fun to be back competing in Canada since I dont have the opportunity very often. My sister Rebecca and my nephew Bruno came along with me since they arent able to come to London to watch me compete. It meant a lot to me to have them there with me to celebrate my Olympic birth.

The day before my race I had the chance to finally meet one of my heroes, Janice McCaffrey. She is a 3-Time Olympian and former 20km RW record holder before I broke the record. She was also so inspiring to me as I was growing up and trying to make my way up in the racewalking world. My skype name is even Rachel13449 because her record was 1:34:50 and my goal was to break that one day. It was so fun to hear her stories from her career and she motivated me again to keep striving for better. Thanks Janice!

The next morning it was race time. I had a very hard time sleeping the night before for some reason and I know I couldnt fall asleep till well after 1am. Ready or not, wake up call was 5:30am. I felt good in the warm up and the plan was for my TEAMmate Bruno and I to go after a sub-46 minute 10km which would have been a PB for both of us. The first kilometer of the race is downhill and we went out in 4:31, a bit too fast but it was to be expected with the downhill. They had no other splits throughout the look and it was an odd shaped loop of 2452m's. What goes down must come up and with having no splits to look at, we came around the first lap 7 seconds slower than our goal pace. I knew at this point that I wasnt going to be able to do my goal time. My fatigue and the course would prove to be too difficult on this day and my motivation was very low after I knew I wasnt going to walk very fast so I sort of just settled for the win. The win was still amazing though since this sealed my spot on the Olympic team! So thrilling!

After the race I was able to go to the track, receive my medal and then watch the rest of the meet. On top of meeting one of my heroes, Janice McCaffrey, I also met Canadian racewalking legend Guillaume LeBlanc. Guillaume is the Olympic Silver medalist in the 20km racewalk from 1992 and was inducted into the Athletics Canada Hall of Fame the weekend of the trials. With Canada being so large, its not normal to get former and current top racewalkers together in one day and so it was so great to finally meet Janice and Guillaume.

The day that ive been looking forward to ever since I walked the A standard was the Olympic team announcement day. This was going to be the day where I was going to be officially named to the Canadian team and try on the Olympic uniform. When the Chief de Mission was talking it gave me chills and it was finally hitting me that I am going to the Olympics. After all the welcome speeches, it was finally time to get called up and announced to the team and given our team jackets. Once my name was called I was feeling so nervous and overwhelmed. It was definitely one of the best days of my life.

After that great day my sister and I had one more full day in Alberta and so we decided to head off to Banff for the day and it was great to be in mountains again. I was last in Banff when I was 11 years old. It is so beautiful up there! If you are ever in the area, I highly recommend making the trip up there to check it out. Just beautiful!

It was great to be in Canada for 20 days but I was looking forward to getting back to San Diego to get some good training in before we had to head over to Europe. After some tough training after getting home in May, I was determined to get back to my old self and walk how I knew that I could again. I was finally feeling myself again and getting some good training in. I had my first fartlek since going to Europe in April and it was a bit of a rust buster but it was still my 2nd best of that workout ever which really isnt that bad. Only a week later, we did the same workout again and I was able to do a minute and 8 seconds faster for my overall 15k fartlek time. The workout was 3 x 4km/1km and I did 18:52, 18:37 and 18:14 for an overall 15k of 1:11:40, a grand 33 seconds better than my previous best of this workout in February. I felt great and strong and never felt like I went all out at any point. I was lucky to have Tim and TEAMmate Nick Christie to walk with which helped a lot. It has been very humid here lately, 30-40% more than the East coast so im happy I have been able to walk so strong in those conditions. 

Tim and I only have a few more days left in San Diego and then we are headed off to Germany to stay with Sabine and Bastian for a week before I go to London for the Opening Ceremonies. This is going to be such an amazing month, I cant wait! We have also decided to go to Split, Croatia after the Olympics for a nice little 5 day vacation before headed back home to reality. 

Thank you all for the continued support this year. The biggest race is yet to come and I look forward to hearing from you more, ill need all the help I can get as I go against this amazing field of woman. 

Here are a some articles from the past month on me:

Peterborough Chex Newswatch

Peterborough Examiner Article

CTV Olympics- Trials Preview

Keep on walking,

Rachel

World Racewalk Cup Recap and Back Home!

My European journey finally came to a close 3 weeks ago after my final race at the IAAF World Racewalk Cup in Saransk, Russia. After my Olympic qualifying race in Germany, I was excited to get to Russia and finally be reunited with my husband and get one final good race in before finally heading back home to San Diego.

I was in Russia 4 years ago for the IAAF World Racewalk Cup and I was hoping to have a much different experience this time. Last time I had a lot of stress with where I was staying, local sponsor commitments, bad food and my race went terribly. This time around I knew things would be different. I am a lot more mature as a person and an athlete and this being my 5th major international championship, it is becoming old hat for me. Conditions were different this time since we were in a different part of Russia where it tends to be a bit warmer at this time of year. With that in mind, I knew that I couldnt chase a time and that I had to fight for place. My best place at World RW Cup in previous years was 66th place. I knew that this year would be one of the toughest with there being a record amount of participants this year, 105 starters. My race plan was simple, just go out conservative and pick off as many women as I could and fight till the end.

I was fortunate to borrow my TEAMmate Trevor Barron's ice vest before the race and I think it made a big difference to keep my body cool in the 30c heat. The unfortunate thing about IAAF events is the call room. We had to be in the call room 20 minutes before the race and the "room" was a marked off area outside with little shade. I was able to keep the vest on until they took us out to the start line. I just kept praying for God to help me through this battle because that was what it was going to be, a huge battle. I knew the pain I would be going through pretty quickly into the race with the heat, wind and incline on the course.

Ill keep the rest of my race recap short....it was tough but I finished pretty well. I did what I wanted by starting conservatively and even though I kept slowing down as the race went on, it was my best performance at a World RW Cup or World Championship. I never felt like my body or mind completely crashed at any point. My first 10km's was 48:14 and my second 10km's was 50:30 for a finish time of 1:38:44. Not my best time but im happy that I was able to have my best performance at one of these events. Hopefully it will just keep getting better.

It was so great to have so many of my TEAMmates with me in Russia. It made the experience so much more fun. Over the years I have gotten to know so many international athletes also and its so nice to see everyone again. Saransk was a nice city with great people. Everyone was very nice and we had the greatest guides that the local organizers provided. They were there for everything we needed and were so much fun. This experience will be hard to top in my next World RW Cups in the future.

Even though Russia and my whole European trip was great, it was definitely time to head home. After travelling for 31 hours, I finally made it back. Being back in consistent weather and being back with Tim on a daily basis is great. I am so happy with my life and where I live that it really makes me appreciate it even more every time I am gone.

I had the easiest transition when I got to Europe but coming home was the complete opposite. Sleeping was easy, we just got tired early but I was feeling tired in training for longer than usual. My heart rate was outrageously high and after being home for 3 weeks now, it has only just gotten to normal levels in the last few days. This has been very frustrating but I knew that it would come down soon and that I just had to be patient. I also hadnt done many hard workouts the whole time I was in Europe and so getting back into those workouts again and doing more mileage is taking a bit to get used to again. Luckily I still have 2 months until my race at the Olympics so I have lots of time to get more work in and be ready for the biggest race of my life.

My plans for the next month are to be in San Diego for another week and then im heading for Canada for the rest of the month. I have some big events coming up with my nephew, Bruno's, first birthday party and dedication. I also have my sister Ruthy and her fiance Drew's big wedding day coming up and I am so excited for them! Then on June 30th ill be in Calgary for the Canadian Olympic trials where Olympic spot will be confirmed. There will be a big team announcement and I am so excited for that. Once I get to Canada ill be doing some media for the Olympic build up and this will make it even more real for me to be back in my home country! I love Canada!

Ok, I will try and update sooner next time! Thanks for all the continued support.

Keep on walking,

Rachel

Good Times in Germany

I cannot believe that my 5 weeks in Germany are almost over. This trip has gone much faster than other years which is in big part due to having my TEAMmates with me (Lauren, Miranda and Bruno). Its been so fun to have them here to experience training and racing in Europe with me. We have been able to experience a lot of the culture with great guides/locals Sabine and Bastian Krantz. They have been good friends of mine since meeting them in Flagstaff, AZ in 2008. Ever since then I have come here every spring to race for 2-6 weeks. This time its been great to be able to actually do some training with Sabine. Sabine isnt used to having a training partner and neither was I until this year (thanks to Nick and Bruno) so shes been enjoying the company also. Im sad to be leaving her because when I get back to San Diego I wont have anyone to train with anymore since Bruno will be back in Canada and Nick has gotten too fast for me.

We have been able to go downtown Bochum which is one of the more major towns around here and we have been able to get some delicious gelato, try some different pastries at the bakeries and try the local beer. In this picture, I am drinking a beer that is mixed with Sprite. I usually really dont like beer but this one was really good! I completely understand why people gain weight when they come to Europe. The food is so fresh, you cant contain yourself from trying everything! Thank goodness im an athlete!

I am stay at the TV-Wattenscheid Athletic Club now which is Sabine's club. They have housing and a cafeteria and its only 30 Euros a day which includes all three meals. I am here for just three nights since Sabine's parents came to visit. It is great though because there is a track right outside and a nice bike path so we can do all of our training right from the front door. Today we did our last hard workout before leaving for Russia. I had 10 x 1km with 2 minutes rest inbetween and the plan was to just do it in race pace. It felt good and comfortable. I am glad we didnt have to go much harder because the weather wasnt great with rain, wind and cool temperatures. I am feeling strong again after a solid week of training. Now only a week left till the big race at the IAAF World Racewalk Cup.

Monday Bruno and I leave Germany for Russia where we will land in Moscow and then that night we will take an overnight, 10 hour train ride to Saransk. This is the best option other than waiting till Friday for a charter flight. A lot of teams are taking the train option. Since there are bunks to sleep on in the train, it shouldnt be too bad. Ive never tried to sleep on a train so this should be interesting! The best part is that I will be reuniting with Tim in Moscow. I am so excited to see him! Being away from eachother for 5 weeks is very difficult but it was well worth it as I already achieved my goal of coming here, qualifying for the Olympics!

On to Russia we go! Cheers!

Keep on walking,

Rachel

Headed to the Olympics!!!!!

I have been in Germany for 4 weeks now and I came here with only one goal, to achieve the Olympic A standard. I came here a week earlier than originally planned so that I would have an extra chance to go for the standard. I had every belief that I was capable of walking the time but would it happen?

My adjustment to the time change and jet leg was the best its ever been when ive come here to race and training was feeling good. First stop on the racing schedule in Europe was the IAAF Racewalk Challenge event in Rio Maior, Portugal. I had been looking at the forecast all week and it was calling for very severe winds. I told myself not to worry about it and that since I was in such great shape that even if it set me back a bit, that I should still have enough cushion to do the standard of 1:33:30. The plan all along was that if I wasnt on pace for the time that I would drop out at 10km's or as soon as the pace was falling off. The forecast was right, the wind was between 30-40km/hour and so I knew it was going to be a tough day. I started off in good position and on the right pace and was in a great pack of women. Once the top women started to pick up the pace I was left alone to battle the wind alone and after a few more kilometer's, it became apparent that I wasn't going to be able to hold on to the pace I needed to and so I decided to drop out after 11.5km's. I was disappointed to have lost the opportunity with such a great field of women but I had to be smart so that I would be rested enough to give it another shot 8 days later in Naumburg, Germany. Here is a clip from the race, mostly from the beginning few kilometers: 

As I headed back to my home base in Germany, I did a lot of reflecting on what happened in Portugal and what it was going to take to get focused on my next race in Naumburg. I know that I was ready to walk a good race in Rio Maior but after the fact, I was thinking to myself, how much do I really want this. The answer kept coming back to me that I wanted to qualify for the Olympics more than anything. I had put in such good training over the last few months and I had come over to Europe for this long, away from my husband to achieve this goal. I wasn't going to leave here without getting the job done. I did a lot of self talk in the week leading up to Naumburg to get myself ready for a big fight. No matter what happened in Naumburg, I was going to finish the race. Slow or fast, it didnt matter, I was walking the whole 20km race.

I was excited to head back to Naumburg after having been there twice before. It was also my last race in the 2011 season where I finished in a new PB and my 3rd Canadian record of the season. Ive had some nice memories there and was looking to add to those memories.

They changed the course a bit in a very good way. They eliminated a very odd, short turn that I probably lost my 3 seconds from last September in my first real shot at the Olympic standard. I was excited for it to be an even faster course. I knew that I would most likely have to walk alone since there werent many people going my pace. I started off and Sabine Krantz (top German walker and whom Ive been staying with in Germany) was with me for the first few kilometers and then she told me that she didnt think she could go my pace (her goal was just to win the German National title) so I decided to get myself going and go after the time alone. I found myself with a Malaysian guy who stayed less than a step behind me and I felt very comfortable with him there. I went through the first 5km's a bit ambitious in 22:56. "Oh well, its ok", is what I told myself. I just couldnt believe how easy and comfortable I was feeling. I tried to slow down a bit though since I knew it would creep up to me later in the race. Went through 10km's in 46:07 (23:11 last 5km's) and immediately after we crossed the start/finish line the Malaysian guy that I had gotten so comfortable walking with got DQ'd. This was disappointing but I could see it coming from all the paddles he was getting.

I just kept motoring on knowing that I was a lot under the standard and since I felt so good, I knew that I could do it. Calculating that all I had to do was 47:23 for the last 10km's to get the standard, I started to get a nervous feeling. Nervous that I would crash and that I would get the time. I just kept trying to focus on one lap at a time and got to 15km's in 1:09:28 (23:21 for the last 5km's). Sabine had caught back up to me and since time didnt matter for her, she was so nice as to walk with me and help push me to the end. She kept telling me to fight and to push. I think the nervousness in my stomach really hurt me, I couldnt get it to go away and I could only focus on making sure that I was fast enough to be under the standard. All I had to do was 24:02 for the last 5km's to get the time. With every kilometer being under the pace I needed, I knew that I had it. I crossed the finish line in 1:33:05, under the standard by 25 seconds! Also a new PB by 28 seconds and another Canadian record! I was thrilled! I ran right over to my backpack and woke up my husband at 1:30am and then woke up my parents who werent really sleeping anyways :) WE'RE GOING TO THE OLYMPICS!!!!! So much excitment, I just couldnt believe I finally did it.

Thank you to Susi Metzner for putting on a great event yet again! Its becoming my good luck race in Europe and I will definitely be back again! Thanks to Sabine for helping me fight to the end.

I am mostly feeling relief at this point. It has been hard for me to let it sink in, even a week after it happened. I think its because I am not with my family yet. I am trying to get myself to realize what has happened but it just hasnt hit me yet. Now I get to say that I am going to London and I can start planning the rest of my season to ensure the best result possible at the Olympics. 

For now I am still in Germany for another week then I am off to Russia for the IAAF World Racewalk Cup. This will be my 3rd time at this event and I have never had a good showing and so my goal is to get a good performance in and place where I deserve to be. I will also be reunited with Tim in Russia and its been a long 5 weeks. I cant wait to be back with him. You can find information about the event here.

You can also view a few articles about me after getting my Olympic qualifying standard:

Peterborough Examiner and Harry Jerome Website

Thank you all for the support! I will try and update my blog more often as I prepare for London!!!

Keep on walking,

Rachel

The Season Has Begun...One Week till Germany

Hello again! Ive been gone for awhile but its not because things arent going well, its because ive been incredibly busy! A lot has happened in the last month and a half. Mostly good with a bit of bad.

Lets start with the good. Training has continued to go very well. I had a bit of a blip with my abductor/hip flexor. I only had to take one complete day off because of it, otherwise I was able to train through it. I have had the best training of my life and have had the most weeks of training in the 140's (kilometers) ever. Ive been feeling very strong and everything for the most part has gone very consistent. In my personal life, Tim and I decided to purchase a condo with my parents on the beach which has been very exciting but also stressful... On to the bad.

We have had quite a few people coming to visit us in the past month starting with my sister, Renee and her boyfriend. They were here for a week and it was a bit too demanding for me, too close to my race in Huntington Beach. At the same time, everything had closed with our new condo and we were starting renovations. All of this was/has been quite stressful on me. On top of this, I had more family arrive the day before the race in Huntington Beach and while I was very excited to have them here, it was not my best choice as I was trying to walk the Olympic qualifying time the next day. I was definitely too distracted in the few weeks leading up to the race and was not able to focus on myself and my goals. Even though training was feeling good, my heart rate was considerably higher because of the stress.

I started off the race as planned with my two training partners, Nick Christie and Bruno Carriere. We were on pace for the first 10km's going through the split in 46:39. It was feeling very easily and my breathing wasnt labored at all. To say the least, I felt comfortable. A few km's later I started to feel my body tightening up and I am not sure if it was because of the course, the cold morning or what? I started to fall off the pace a bit and my mind in the moment was not strong enough to make my body push through it. I made the tough decision to pull out at 15km's. I felt pretty disappointed once I stopped because I didnt feel tired, the reason I stopped wasnt because my body gave up, it was because my mind did. Looking back on everything now, I think I was too overwhelmed with everything else going on in my life and the race was the breaking point.

One of the reasons why I decided to stop at 15km's was so that it wouldnt take me very long to recover from the race. I was practically able to jump right back into training right away. I was even more motivated to make my next racing plans and focus on that. I now have only one more week at home until I go to Germany for a month and a half.

I will first race in Portugal at the IAAF Racewalk Challenge in Rio Maior on April 14th. A week later I will race in Naumburg, Germany again, planning on only walking 10km's. Lastly, I will walk at the IAAF World Racewalk Cup in Saransk, Russia on May 13th. Finally I will be coming back home on May 14th, just in time for my wonderful husbands birthday.

Since the race in Huntington Beach, I have had some of my best workouts including a 4 x 3km/1km workout where I walked the 3km's in 13:58, 13:56, 13:46 and 13:40, going through the 15km workout in 1:11:16. I did this workout last year at this exact time and I walked 2 minutes and 8 seconds faster than last year. I exceeded my expectations and walked the workout alone which gives me a lot of confidence going to Europe where I may have to do a lot of the races alone.

I just finished a 145km week of training and now since it is 3 weeks until the race, I will slowly start to back off the mileage again. I am feeling great and I look forward to going after the Olympic standard.

Keep on walking,

Rachel

On the Upside

Training is continuing to go well....a little too well. Its exciting and nerve wracking all at the same time. I am well ahead of where I have ever been at this time. Im well ahead of where I was in July/August when I was in my best shape last year. With a month to go till my first 20km race of the season, im anxious for it to get here.

Last week we did  a lactate test again to follow up on the one we did in November and I was able to improve upon the results from November. I was able to go faster than the last test and my lactate was considerably lower. This proves that the training is working and im improving which is always nice to see the proof.

Ive been doing all of my training with TEAM members Nick Christie and fellow Canadian Bruno Carriere who is here for 2 months training in the sun and escaping the snow. It has been so great to have people with walk with everyday. This is something I have never had in my whole career. When I lived in Canada, I had my parents to train with a lot of the time but never have I had consistent training partners. Its really helped in the hard workouts to have faster guys to push me when in the past its been hard to push myself. All of my fartlek workouts have been going so well and to the point that im just waiting for a bad day to come because it cant be reality that things go so well, can it? Tuesday we did 3 x 4km/1km, a 15km total fartlek and I was able to finish in a time of 1:12:13 with 3k total easy. This was very encouraging for me. Its results like these that give me confidence that I can achieve the Olympic A standard in a month.

On Saturday it will be exactly one month until the race in Huntington Beach and im sure the time is going to go very quickly. Right now the plan is to have Nick and Bruno walk with me and im excited to have the comfort of every day training with them to keep me at ease during the race.

A few weeks ago we did a 3km race on the track at Cuyamaca College, the day before the USA 50km RW Olympic Trials. It ended up being a disaster weather day which is quite rare in San Diego. It was cold, windy and pouring rain. My goal was to break 13 minutes but it became apparent that it would be tougher than I thought to do that. I ended up walking 13:07 which I was quite happy with anyways considering the weather. Its a new PB but I havent raced a 3km in over 5 years.

Speaking of the USA 50km RW Olympic Trials, my husband and coach Tim fought so hard and ended up coming 2nd in a time of 4:05:50, Olympic B standard. He was just 15 seconds off of his PB from 14 years ago. He was so inspiring to me and all of our TEAMates. He fought right till the end and I hope that if im ever in the same type of situation that I would be able to fight like he did. Even though he did not qualify for his 3rd Olympic team, we were incredibly happy with his result.

Now just a few more hard weeks of training to go and then we start to rest up for the race. Cant wait!

Keep on walking,

Rachel

Hello 2012!

Im so excited to say that it is finally the Olympic year! We, elite athletes, wait and work so hard for this year to finally come. With being so agonizingly close to qualifying for the Canadian Olympic team, I am even more excited.

Since my last post, Tim and I have been in New York for Christmas and Texas for the US Junior training camp that we go to every year. In both places, we had great weather, better than we could have asked for. No snow in December in New York is very rare but it was great for us coming from San Diego. We were able to get some good training in with different racewalkers from around the country. Texas was a lot of fun and there were a lot of kids with tons of potential. We are excited to see what they can do throughout the year.

Training has been going incredibly well. I am very ahead of where I have ever been at this time of year and I cant help but be excited and anxious for my first race of the season in March. I have only done a hand full of fartleks so far this season but all of them have been way ahead of my times from this time last year or better than ever. For example, I did a 3 x 5km/1km fartlek and my times were 24:26, 24:04 and 23:43. I would consider this workout my best ever out of any workout. I felt so good and it felt very controlled and easy. We are just now starting to do two hard workouts a week which is earlier than last year but I want to be ready to try and get the Olympic A standard at my first race on March 11th in Huntington Beach, CA to get it out of the way. After that race, I will plan the rest of my season which will include the IAAF World Racewalk Cup for sure on May 12-13.

Its been great to have some fellow TEAMmates here training with us in San Diego. Miranda and Lauren have moved out here through the US Olympic Trials and Bruno just arrived this week from Canada to train with us for 2 months. We also have Nick Christie, a new racewalker from Tim's team at Cuyamaca College who has been improving very rapidly and he has become a very good training partner for me.

Tomorrow I will participate in a 3km race at Cuyamaca College. I havent raced a 3km in several years, around 5-6 years. I think my official PB is 13:49 so I should obliterate that tomorrow. Then on Sunday I will be in Santee, just outside of San Diego, cheering on Tim and the other male competitors as they race to see who will represent the USA at the Olympic Games. I am so excited to watch Tim race as he is in really good shape and excited at the chance to make another Olympic team but this time at 50km's. Check out www.usatf.org for results on Sunday.

Keep on walking,

Rachel