New Coach, New Digs!

I can finally spill the beans on who the head coach will be.... Philippe Bertrand! Coach Phil, or Coach PB (I just made that up now... but I like the sound of it!) has been named as the new National Team Coach and I am really excited to have the opportunity to work with him as my personal coach. We had a fantastic camp in Tucson with Philippe and I know we are all anxious to get him and his family settled in Vic so we can keep the momentum going. 

Here's a link to the press release and Phil's personal blog can be found here. Just a heads-up that his blog is in French and although I do enjoy scrolling through it, I have to admit that my French is not good enough to understand most of it. Actually, not even close. Why didn't I pay more attention in high school french class?!

The last few days have been BUSY. We arrived late Monday afternoon and I spent the rest of that day and the following day getting settled in the new apartment. Wendy did MUCH more than simply toss the furniture inside the door. It was arranged (nicely), the fridge and cupboards were stocked with enough food to get me through the week, the bed was made, fesh flowers on the table, shoes in the shoe rack, and even the coffee maker was loaded with fresh coffee for the following morning!! My gosh, thank you, Wendy! The bedroom is a work in progress as it is lacking in storage space right now. My clothes have exploded everywhere and everytime I plan to start to sort through them, I seem to find something else "important" to do... I am astonished at how much gear I own. Clothes for 3 sports AND regular clothes (I realize I could fill an entire wardrobe alone with Lululemon gear... yikes!). It's no wonder I have so much trouble packing for trips!

We had three days of recovery this week and got back at it today. I can't say I felt wonderful today but that's the way it goes sometimes. I've learned that I usually come back from a mini-break feeling refreshed and ready to go, but I struggled a little today. We leave for Ishigaki in just under two weeks so definitely no time to dwell on or overthink the fatigue. So, I put the burning legs on the bike and the uncoordination in the water out of my mind, and focused on the effort. It turned out to be a bigger day than expected: 5k swim, 2 hour ride with 2 x 30' "solid", and an hour of running with 4 x 8 minutes hard off the bike. Kerry joined me on the bike and I couldn't have been more thankful. We traded off pulls for the hour, probably spoke about 3 words to each other, just doing our best to push each other and keep the pace on. I jogged over to Beacon Hill (which is about 30 seconds from my new place!) and started the run. Much to my surprise, my legs felt strong! I was thankful I had the Garmin (GPS) with me so I could monitor my pace and it was definitely my best run off the bike this year. This is what I love about our sport: you can feel terrible one moment (or in one sport) and great the next. I even got to see my favourite Bedlington Terrier, Gatsby while running through the park (I can see Adam rolling his eyes :) I seem to have an incredible memory for dog names and breeds (I can remember exactly what the little brown poodle, JB, was wearing in Lausanne as I passed him on race morning....3 years ago...) I have only met Gatsby once on a run during the summer and as soon as I rounded the corner by the petting zoo, I knew it was him! I think I nearly gave his owner a heart attack as this sweaty, snotty, crazy girl comes barreling around the corner yelling, "Gatsby! HI!"

I'm off to ice in the ocean before the sun sets!