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

One Month till 2012!

I cant believe that it is December already! Time is just flying by and now it is only one month until 2012. The last month has been pretty busy. I went to New York twice, the first time for a race Tim did and the second time for the NYAC All-Sports Dinner. It was great to meet more people from the NYAC family that has been supporting me all year. I am so grateful to be part of such a great TEAM.

Training has been coming along very well. I just finished off my second biggest mileage month of training ever and im feeling so great. This week will also be my second biggest week of training ever and it makes me very excited to see my progress. Last Friday we did a lactate test and it went very well. We always do a lactate test in November and this way we can compare where we are at and compare the results to the previous years results. On Friday I was able to improve upon my results from last year. My lactate was lower for each of the intervals which bodes very well for my upcoming season. Its always a relief to know that I am on track.

Next weekend, Saturday December 10th, a bunch of us from the TEAM will be entering a little race in Huntington Beach to support John Nunn as he races to get the USA Olympic 50km Trials qualifying time. We will be entering the 20km race as a workout. We plan on doing it in zone #2 pace and I hope that my result is better than when I did the Rock n' Roll Half Marathon last year in Las Vegas on December 4th. I did 1:41:20 for 20km's last year feeling very comfortable. Im looking forward to walking a bit faster again since we have mostly just been doing easy zone #1 workouts.

Keep on walking,

Rachel

Only 3 Seconds inbetween me and the Olympics!

Check out this newspaper article from my hometown's Peterborough Examiner on my season and my upcoming year trying to make the Olympic team. You can view the article here.

This weekend I am headed to New York with Tim as he will race 50km's at the USA 30km RW Championships. I look forward to being able to visit some family at the same time. Should be a fun weekend!

Keep on walking,

Rachel

Back at it, 42 weeks to go!!!

Back to training! Wow, 2 weeks off went very quickly but I am glad to be back and moving towards making the 2012 Olympic team.

I started training last Monday and its been humbling so far. I wish that I could have started back exactly where I left off but obviously that is not possible. So far training has been going well. The pace ive been walking  has felt easy but my biggest obstacle is my heart rate. Its normal that for the first few weeks that my heart rate is high before it goes back to normal but its just frustrating. Today I tried really hard to go slower so that my heart rate average would go down. Even though it was my lowest heart rate since I started training, im still not happy with it. Hopefully by the time I start the new week on Monday, my heart rate will be closer to normal or will be normal. Ive been able to train with my new TEAMmate Miranda Melville who just moved out here so its been nice to have some company for a change.

The Pan American Games kick off this weekend for track and field with the women's and men's 20km Race Walk events. Now that its come, I wish I was there but then I remind myself why I decided not to go. The games are too late in the year which is why most of the top athletes in the western hemisphere also decided not to go. I also didnt want to miss so much of base season if I didnt take a break until after the games. I already feel like im getting a late start by starting in early October but of course, I know ill be fine. I want to wish my TEAMmates Maria Michta and Lauren Foruges all the best on Sunday as they represent the USA!

Just over a week ago I found out that I was one of the recipients of the Canadian Athletes Now Fund. The fund gives support to athletes in all sports in Canada to help us work towards our goals. Their support this year is going to make a big difference for me and put less pressure on me in such an important year. If you have the means to donate, please do so in such a crucial year for athletes as we strive to make the Olympic team next summer. You can click on their logo on the right side of my blog and find out how to donate. Thank you for your support!

Im looking forward to everything that is to come this season. It should be one of the most exciting years of my life, I cant wait!!!! I look forward to bringing you all along with me on my journey.

Keep on walking,

Rachel