A coffee cup and a t-shirt

French follows

Happy Canada Day!!! Maybe not the best place to admit that sometimes I ‘talk’ to our flag. I’m not as bad as I used to be… I kind of used to negotiate with it – you know, what it meant to me, and what I wanted to do for it… Now I just mutter to myself about how proud I am for Canada, and thank it. We really do have a great country.  And… we kind of know that more than most Canadians.  Continue reading

Motivation is like a puppy

Wow, was the Olympic Excellence Series really only 1 month ago?!!!

Apparently getting motivated and inspired is easy. Staying motivated and inspired… that’s the hard part!

Summer training is a back-to-basics time; volume, fitness and when you get intensity – it comes only on the back of lots of volume and fatigue. Makes competition season look pretty cushy!! This is usually a time to try to break bad habits and entrench new efficient motions. Which as we all know… is easier said than done. Continue reading

Yes AND… Simon’s note

On the heels of this year’s Olympic Excellence Series, I’d like to once again send out my thanks to everyone who attended.  100 athletes +  120 coaches and staff from 16 sports arrived and it really felt like 1 team left.  You are Passionate, Ready, Resilient, Confident and United. (Passionnée, Prête, Resiliente, confiante, et unie).

From Ray Zahab’s “no limits” message – the audacity of a smoker believing he could cross a continent worth of sand!, Sylvie’s realization that sometimes humans really do need to be shaken up – because you CAN is not enough; You have to WANT it – badly.  Both of them spoke of staying focused on your commitment to ‘self’ and the journey – that looking, and going, forward was the only option.

Johann’s understanding of the self instructions of the ‘short true sentences’ that only we hear – how powerful was that!! His acceptance of a being a team member who’s role was to make the athletes around him stronger is what made him a 4 time Olympic Gold medallist (3 in front of a Home crowd).

The freshness of Adam’s message was evident as he spoke. Continue reading