BALANCE!

It is the OFF season! And the last week of it!
I have been on Tri-vacations for two weeks now with just a few trainings to do. Nice and easy, all in liberty!
To me, this part of the year is just as important as the rest for performance. I believe that in order to achieve great things, you have to savour and remember every little achievement on the way, then use it as a pillar for building the rest. And also...be able to remember the importance of BALANCE.
Right now, I am savouring the last step I took this year, taking some time to give myself a pat in the back. I am taking some time to visit the other extreme, the other parts of me that I have put aside and can't explore freely when training hard. The parts of me that I go back to when I need strength and inspiration later in the year.
After Clearwater, there was no more structured training. I am afraid to say, the first week was not so resourceful, as my bum didn't really enjoy being on (such a hard) chair for long hours, working on the final details and corrections on the thesis (YES! I KNOW!!! I AM PRETTY SURE IT IS DONE NOW!!!! F-I-N-A-L-Y!). Still, I enjoyed studying from that hard chair since it was in my little house in the beautiful valley of my favorite little ski town. I was with mom again and with her wiener babies.
Yess....some people really like their dogs...

I love the country, it helps me feel free. I enjoyed little escapes, walks with mom between chunks of studying, going to get food at the village in the already Christmasy atmosphere ( I love the holidays). I enjoyed going to the pool, just to play as I wished. Just playing, loving to swim, stopping whenever I wanted, just a little revenge for all those times I didn't allow myself to in the year. Now WHENEVER I WANTED, sprinting WHENEVER I FELT IT! And nobody would tell me to keep on pushing, not even myself! ha! Oh! how I enjoyed training with a little evil grin on my face!!! I got into some games....sure you have played: Racing each of the 25m sprints that the mystery man in the next lane declared once in a while. Seriously! I did lots of that with a big smile on my face. I once also got a couple of 25m sprint men that relay-raced me good! (In case you don't know, those are the dudes that get in the pool, stay on the side, watch you get tired, and make you a sprint victim once in a while, ever met any of those, they can be very useful, actually I might have been one of those myself when I first started swimming with the big fish!!!).
I even had some fun with great music on the trainer rides!!! Fun and play in training. No stress.


Oh...here I am talking about training again! STOP! The title of this blog is balance (maybe that is why!) and this is the off season!

So....I would prefer to tell you about how, on my way back to my little beach house inVictoria, I stopped in Toronto to visit my sister Ariane and her new husband, the amazing Sean. I love them and ..they spoiled me rotten. First, they flew me there. I talk to much to get into details but I should say the week-end started with champagne off the plane, included a taste of Sake the next day to enhance the taste of the best sushi in Toronto and ended with a delicious brunch....that left me wanting more mimosa....ehheheeh. (What? Remember the words! -Balance- and -off season-. Thank you.) Now, unfortunately, we did not spend all our time eating as we HAD to get to work: So much hard work my friends.....Playing princess with my sister Ariane. Shopping, Toronto style. AAAAaaaaah! Bringin' out the -girly- side this week-end for sure.
And....since training must always be considered, I also went running with Sean, Ariane and the dogs at the beaches. Good times doing what I love with the people I love.


Oh and also...I must tell you that I realized that it was not only my mom that had a thing for dogs. Sean and Ariane have a boxer and also took me -shopping- for a new baby hush puppy on the week-end. The next addiction ...oh sorry....I meant addition to their new family.



So I am back in Victoria now.


Wanting to train but thinking that I will enjoy being LAZY ME for a few more days before I put it aside for another -long- time COMBAT! heheeh. Tonight! To the movies with Curtis and Jennifer. That will be fun. I also want to go out dancing later this week. Here as some other things I want to do: Surfing, snowboarding, riding a motocross again, playing violin again, going to a Spa, going on a club med dream vacation, reading more, learning things, cooking, discovering new recipes! But only a few more days before work starts again! I'll make sure I take note of these ideas for later.
HAVE FUN EVERYONE!!!!!
Magali.