Jet-Lag

Today, I present to you a post about jet lag. Seeing as I am currently overseas attending a training camp in the beautiful mountain town of Font-Romeu, France, I figured a post about the joys of jet lag and some of my own personal strategies on how to best beat it would be appropriate.

So first, what is jet lag? Jet-lag occurs when you a quickly transported to another time zone that is either far ahead or behind the one you currently reside in. Therefore, your circadian rhythm is thrown off and your body thinks that it is day when in fact, it is night, or vice versa. The primary symptoms of jet-lag are not being able to sleep and the side-affects of sleep loss or sleep deprivation such as lack of energy, grumpiness and general lethargy. Although not being able to sleep, or feeling sleepy in the middle of the day is never any fun, it is especially troublesome for athletes as we need to be fully alert and awake in order to perform at our highest levels. It is for this reason that many athletes have spent much time and effort coming up with strategies to combat the effects of jet-lag.

Everyone has their own best method. Some swear by staying up late the night before traveling. Others like to use copious amounts of caffeine to stay awake upon arrival. Some prefer to turn to the brilliance of modern pharmaceuticals and use sleeping pills or melatonin to help them sleep when its night. Personally, I like to use a very basic method that helps me regain a normal schedule as normally as possible.

The first step in my own personal jet-lag battle plan to be as caught up on my sleep as possible before I leave. That means making sure that I go to bed as early as I can and sleep as much as I can before I leave. I do this because I am not the best sleeper on planes and I prefer to rely on my nice comfortable bed for sleep instead of hedging my bets on an uncomfortable airplane seat. By doing this, I also virtually assure myself of being exhausted from a long travel day when I arrive, and thus can have a good first nights sleep.

Secondly, I make sure to try and bring my own healthy snacks on the plane with me, as well as drink a lot of water while on the plane. This helps to make sure that I keep me healthy since its easy to catch something when you are inevitably tired in the first few day.

Upon arrival, I like to get some exercise. I normally do a light jog, combined with a good long stretching session since my muscles are always tight from sitting in a plane for way too long. I find that this helps tire me out a bit so that I can sleep better that first night and also lets me see some of my new surroundings and exposes me to natural light (or darkness) thus helping my body figure out what time it really is.

All that helps me get through the first night. But the hardest nights are often the second and third. At least  for me anyways. My key to sleeping on the second and third nights is quite simple. NO NAPS. I always want to nap on the second and third days. Always. My eyelids will get heavy as I enjoy a quick sit down after a meal. I think, oh I'll just take a 15 minute power nap. Then bang, I wake up and I have slept for an hour or two or more. By night time, I'll be wide awake and end up falling asleep at 4 am only to have to wake up a few hours later. Its also important to go to bed at your normal bedtime. After I manage to not take a quick nap,  7:30pm rolls around and I think, I'll go to bed now, I'm really tired only to wake up at 3am with nothing to do, nowhere to eat and my roommate sleeping so I can't even watch crappy late night TV in Russian (or Chinese, or whatever language may be spoken in that particular country). With any luck, I manage to get a solid block of sleep each night and by the fourth or fifth night, I fall into a nice rhythm of sleeping and eating at the proper hours.

So that's that. My jet-lag strategy. Does it always work? No. Some places are easier to travel to. I find Europe is easiest on the trip out, but harder on the way back. Asia is hard no matter which direction you travel in. Sometimes I am lucky and it works well, sometime its tougher. Beating jet-lag isn't an exact science, but if anyone out there has a foolproof method, let me know!

Moving Mega Post

For a while now, years actually, I have face a single question from many many different people. Usually the question would arise at competitions, either at home or abroad. Sometimes I would get it at training camps. I've even been asked it while on vacation. The question?

"When are you moving to Montreal?"

It also came in variations.

"Have you thought about moving to Montreal?" "Why don't you move to Montreal?"

I've even got "So I heard you moved to Montreal a while back"

For the longest time my answers were the same. "No, I'm comfortable in Calgary", "Everything is going well so why change?", "Where did you hear that? Its not true by the way".

But finally, the time has come. Actually it has come and gone.

Once the season finished in March, I decided to put some serious thought into moving. After all, moving across the country is not a decision to be taken lightly. I started to piece together some details, talked to some key people who's opinions I valued a lot. I thought A LOT. Probably too much. But finally after a trip home in April, I made my final decision. I would move to Montreal to join the rest of the National Team for this season.

There were many factors at play that led to my decision. But ultimately what it all boiled down to was that I didn't want to look back on my career as a skater and think, what if I had have had the courage to move to Montreal. Could I have been a better skater? Could I have achieved more or learned new methods? I didn't want to have these question nagging a me forever.

Once the decision was made, the work started. Along with my other Calgary teammates, I attended a pre-season evaluation camp here in Montreal in the last week in April. This gave me the perfect opportunity to search out a place to live and get acquainted with what would be my new neighborhood. Once I got back from Montreal, it was really game on. Packing up my condo, cleaning, recycling, selling and giving stuff away (I still have two desks for sale, leave a comment if you are interested and in the Calgary area!!).

Then on May 16th, I packed my Volkswagen Golf as full as it has ever been, and pointed it east.

                                                         At the Saskatchewan border

                                           The Manitoba Border, taken at 120km/h.

                                                          Welcome to Ontario!
(didn't manage to get a Quebec border sign pic because it was pouring rain and I just wanted to get there by that point)

3800km and four days later, I arrived in Montreal. The drive across the country was long. But it was also beautiful and even a bit fun. I don't know if I would be eager to do it again soon, but I will definitely do again in the future, and hopefully take more time to explore along the way. Canada is really big and beautiful.

So thats that. A big change. The six years that I spent in Calgary were awesome. I've met so many neat people and been fortunate to train with great training partners and under a fantastic coaching staff, but it was time for a change. I'll miss Calgary for sure, but I'll be back one day. I've been in Montreal for two weeks now and even though there have been times where I have felt homesick and had doubts, things are going well and I'm looking forward to this season in a way that I haven't for a long time.

The whole team is off to Font-Romeu, France, for a training camp on Saturday so I'll try to get some pics up as well as some news from the Pyrenees!

Three months in 25 lines

Get ready, were going to do this fast. Like really fast. This fast.

Feb 6, 2011
Landed in Russia.
It was cold, but not that cold.
Raced. Won a bronze in the 1500m. Won a bronze in the relay.
Got stuck in the worst traffic.
Flew to Dresden.
Raced. Crashed hard, twice. Won a bronze in the 1500m. Won a bronze in the relay.
Flew to Montreal. Trained
Flew to Sheffield.
Raced. Won World Championship in the Relay.
Flew to Warsaw.
Raced (poorly). Finished third in World Teams.
Partied in Warsaw.
Flew to Calgary.
Season over.
Went skiing in fresh powder (sick!)
Relaxed.
Watched hockey.
BSD!!
Went to Yellowknife. XC skied alot. Wish I had more time there.
Flew to Montreal. Testing Camp.
Back to Calgary.
Started work required for a life change.
Which will be covered later
May 16th.

Pre Road Trip 15 (sort of) Random Thoughts

Tomorrow I'm heading on the road again for another set of World Cups. But I'm going to be adding some other stuff onto this trip. Like World Championships among other things.

1. Packing is tiring. And I'm not even finished. Luckily every trip needs the same thing, so packing is also repetitive, which may add to the fatigue (cause its boring)

2. The longest I have been on the road at one time is three weeks.

3. This trip is going to be six weeks long and will cover 5 countries.

4. They are Russia, Germany, Canada, Great Britain, Poland. I have never been to Russia, Britain and Poland.

5. Basically my itinerary looks like this. Russia one week, Germany one week, Montreal two weeks, Britain one week, Poland one week. Oh, and I may add on a week of sightseeing at the end. We'll see.

6. I'm not sure how many Aeroplan points I'll end up with, but hopefully it will give me a really good head start towards Elite status for next year.

7. Tomorrow will be a long travel day. Calgary, Toronto, Montreal, Frankfurt, Moscow.

8. I'm excited though. Racing is why we train, so its nice to be able to have a lot of racing to do after all the work we have put in this season.

9. One thing I regret not doing while I was in Asia in the fall was taking pictures. I don't know why I didn't. I am going to make an effort to take some this time. Which will hopefully mean some for the blog.

10. Modern Family is an excellent television show. Just brilliant.

11. Canada's freestyle and ski cross skiers are awesome. Just this week they have won four different World Championships. Jenn Heil in moguls, Warren Shouldice in aerials and Chris Del Bosco and Kelsey Serwa in ski cross. Major Boom.

12. In other amateur sport news, mad props must be given to Christine Nesbitt, long track speed skater, who just won her first World Sprint Championship. Not bad for a non pure sprinter. Also boom.

13. I'd love to be on the podium at World Championships this year. That will now be my goal for the rest of the season.

14. I have a plant that is dying. It has barely grown in the three years I have had it and now it has a few brown leaves.

15. In the words of Ronnie Coleman, Ain't Nothing to it but to do it!

Since Christmas...

So whats been going on since Christmas? Honestly, not a whole lot out of the ordinary. Upon returning from Yellowknife for a short Christmas break, it was time to get back to business and put in our last bit of work before we headed off to the Canadian Championships in Montreal Jan 21-23. The Canadian Championships, as they do every year, determine who will compete for Canada at the last two world cup stops and the World Championships and World Team Championships.

Early in the season I had set my sights on this weekend as my main goal for the year. With Worlds being my main focus this season, I would have to skate well at the Canadian Champs in order to qualify.

The weekend started well enough, I finished 3rd in the 1500, but things quickly took a turn for the worse as I was disqualified in my heat. At this point, I knew that I wouldn't be able to accumulate many points in the 500, and in a competition like this where cumulative points from four distances qualify a skater to the team, consistency is key. Coming back on Saturday, I wanted to just skate well and get as many points as I could (30, compared to 1000 for a win). I did this and looked forward to Sunday and the 1000 and 3000m distances.

Leading the 1500m Final. Olivier Jean and Francois Hamelin behind. Photo: Paul Shoebridge

Overall on Sunday I felt I really brought my A-game physically and mentally. But it was a terrible tactical mistake that I had been making all week that cost me a spot in the 1000m A final. Following this, I figured for sure my chance of making the team was over.

But, as they say, its never over til its over and there is perhaps no other place where this is true than in Short Track. Following nearly 20 (out of 27) laps on my own trying to lap the pack, I managed to finish third in the 3000m and claim 5th overall (5 go to worlds) by only 28 points. I don't know if I have ever hurt as badly as I did in that 3k.

Needless to say, it was a roller coaster of a weekend for me, but I showed myself that I am improving as I did not need to have my best performance to make the team. A few years ago a weekend like this would have left me way back in the results. I know what needs to be fixed and changed.

So with that weekend behind me, its time to look forward to the rest of the international season. On Sunday, Jess Gregg who was the other Calgary based athlete to make worlds, and I will head to Montreal to meet up with the rest of the team and head off to Moscow, Russia and Dresden, Germany for two weeks of world cups. Following that I will either return to Calgary for a few days, or head straight to Montreal to train with the rest of the guys prior to the World Championships which take place  in Sheffield England, and the World Team Championships in Warsaw, Poland.

Big Cheques are Fun!!

My annual trip home for Christmas has come and gone, much to quickly as usual. While I was at home in Yellowknife though, I attended a small ceremony to hand over a cheque on behalf on Intact Insurance to the Yellowknife Speed Skating Club. As I have mentioned before, Intact has introduced a new program this season where for each individual podium achieved by a Canadian athlete on the World Cup circuit, $1000 will be donated to a grassroots club in Canada. As a bonus, the first podium by any athlete will see that $1000 donated to their home club. So as I was on the podium for the first time this season in Montreal, our club was one of the first to receive support from this great program! Speed skating in Canada is really lucky to have Intact as a sponsor, not only at the National Team level, but through all levels of the sport in Canada. They are a true example of corporate philanthropy. Thank you Intact!!

20 Thoughts from the last month

To be honest, the idea of writing the same good ol' blog update blah blah about how things are going isn't inspiring me to write anything. So I'm going to try something different today. Here are 20 random thoughts from the last month(ish)

1. Skating is a funny thing. You can be good one day and bad the next. Good one week and bad the next. Cycles are good though. Leaves you wanting more. And makes you work for it.

2. World Cups and exams always seem to coincide. That makes for a crazy week returning from a trip. I had two exams upon returning from Quebec and China. Fun week...

3. But the best way to come down from a hectic post world cup/mid-term week is to go to Canmore for some altitude/volume/mental recovery training.

4. I'm trying some new blades. Got on them just over a month ago. They are called EVOs. Men's National team coach Derrick Campbell is involved with the company and let me try some. So far, so good.

5. Trying them made me realize that its good to be able to adapt quickly to equipment. You never know when something could break and you will have to go to something you aren't necessarily comfortable with.

6. Airline upgrade certificates really do work! Got to use my first one (after having them for several years and never being able to use them) on the way to China. A 11 hour flight is a good time to be in first class.

7. You can still smoke in arenas in China. In Changchun, even the security guards were smoking in the stands despite the announcers asking people not too. Its hard to race hard when all you see when looking across the rink is a haze of smoke.

8. Speaking of China, I have to say China scares me. Not physically being there, but realizing the shear size of the population and how fast they are developing. With the increased wealth and growth, the amount of raw materials needed in the future will be ridiculous. China will surely control much of the world in the next 20 years.

9. The suburbs of Shanghai are a nice place though. All brand new. One of the neatest places I have skated for sure.

10. The Koreans are in great shape. Most would consider this a no brainer, but I guess selecting a team only on time trials doesn't compromise racing skills.

11. I thought I gave Ho-Suk Lee a pretty good run for his money at the end of the relay in Shanghai though.

12. Unfortunately that was my best skating in the Chinese world cups. Individually I made too many mistakes. Tactical mostly.

13. I'm hoping to get another 20 questions up soon. Probably with one of my teammates who did their first world cups in China.

14. It was awesome to have 5 athletes all from Calgary on the World Cup team.

15. One cool question we got was from a lady after getting off the plane in Beijing enroute to Changchun. "You guys are the Canadian Short Track team? Aren't you supposed to be francophone?"

16. That being said, I really enjoy my time on the World Cup circuit with my teammates from Montreal. We have a lot of fun. And my french always improves after two weeks on the road with them.

17. Jet lag sucks. Why can't we just jump half-way across the world and have it just be like nothing happened.

18. I once again realized how spoiled we are to have such an amazing facility here at the Olympic Oval in Calgary. The rink in Changchun was FREEZING. Shanghai's rink was slightly warmer. At least in Shanghai we could warm-up in our shorts outside in +18 degree weather.

19. It was great to have Dustin Miller and Gabby Waddell's families in Shanghai. We had our own personal cheering section!

20. I am constantly blown away by the support I receive from Yellowknifer's. I'm looking forward to coming home for Christmas big time.

We won gold in the relay in Changchun.

Teammates from Calgary. I kind of missed the cue that we were taking a pic. Liam didn't though.