Our YMCA Connection

I was reading through our posts today and realized that we have never really explained how we became connected.

Shortly after moving to Hamilton, I joined the YMCA and started swimming with the masters team. Within a few weeks I had decided to join the YMCA triathlon group, a new group that had started for beginner triathletes. Evan was in that same group. I was new to the city and Evan very shy and so it was not until May of 2007 that we first spoke and immediately there was a connection. We began dating shortly after, have been together ever since, and will be moving into our first home this coming spring.

We train together on a very tight schedule. A usual day begins for us at about 5 am when we are our of bed and on the way for a run, spin or swim before work. We usually finish off the night with a couple more hours of training before packing up our lunches and heading to bed by 10:30. Life involves an extreme amount of planning and scheduling. We attempt to prepare all of our meals for the week on Sunday so that we can fit in our training throughout the week. It's tough but if we didn't, we would live on PB and J! (Even though we do tend to eat quite a few)

Training and coaching each other definitely has it's ups and downs. There are times when Evan is having a bad day, and I am able to pick him up or vice versa, however the problem comes when both of us reach lows. We try our best never to go to bed angry! This I am sure is one of the secrets to our success. I am sure people wonder how we can spend so much time together, but to be honest I wouldn't have it any other way.

Cheers,

Deanne

OH YEAH.....

WHY WE TRI?

Because we have each other!!!!!

COACHING

I started coaching figure skating, swimming and volleyball many years ago, and have recently broadened my coaching abilities by taking on individual athletes for personal fitness and running.
During the next month, Evan and I will be completing our YMCA Individual Fitness Leader Training as well as our Community Triathlon Coaching Level in March.
Once finished here are some of the qualifications that we will have to offer new clients:

• NCCP Level II Theory Certification (Dee)
• NCCP Community Triathlon Coach (Dee and Evan)
• YMCA Personal TrainerYMCA (Dee and Evan)
• Group Fitness Leader (Dee)
• Red Cross Emergency First Aid and CPR (Dee and Evan)
• NCCP Level II Volleyball Coach (Dee)
• Volleyball Canada Level II Referee (Dee)

Feel free to check out my Coaching website @ http://www.coachdeanne.blogspot.com/

Cheers,

Dee

2009 Update

So far 2009 has brought quite a bit of thought for my future with this sport. After returning from Clearwater in November, I sought out a Sports Medicine Doctor in hopes of finding out what damage has been done to my legs. Immediately he sent me for bone scans resulting in some terrible but manageable news. I had stress fractures in both feet. On top of the stress fractures, I had Plantar Faciitis in both feet and Shin Splints in both legs. Wow. I should have probably stopped training back in March of last year when the pain intially set in. It's amazing....the saying is true. Hind site is 20/20.
I have been seeing a physiotherapist twice a week now for almost 2 months. The pain is going away, though not nearly as fast as I had hoped. I attempted a 30 minute run a couple of weeks ago but the pain returned. I now have made the decision to withdraw from the Grimsby Half and the Around the Bay races, and focus on returning to running slowly. I am running 20 minutes 3 times a week now and plan on continuing that for the entire month of February.
My physiotherapist feels that running is probably just not my sport. I understand that I am most likely not genetically geared to be a runner, but that is not going to stop my dream. I will, I am going to finish that Ironman.

I will post again soon with an update of my progress. Until that time, I guess it is onto the bike.

CHEERS!

Dee