Lemme see whatcher've got in yer

With 2013 having been all about long course, it's time to change things up. I'll be 35 this year (ooh, new age group!) and I'm entering my 6th season of racing - that puts me near the end of the average person's likelihood of continuing to improve just by doing the training. I may also have slightly pushed the boundaries of how much time my incredible husband is willing to spend with a wife who is constantly mired in 12+ hour training weeks, making her - by which I mean me - absent, tired and prone to irritability.

Basically, not much fun.

So, the focus this year is shifting. I'm going to try to race a little less, race shorter, but get faster. Focused training sessions instead of just mileage. It'll hurt, but sometimes the stuff that hurts can be fun, too!

I feel like I should be winking and nudging right now. Just imagine that I am.

Say no more!

I don't make resolutions for New Years. I just don't. However, I do usually have some goals, so here's a small list for 2014 off the top of my head:

1) Go sub-90mins for a standard 750m-20k-5k sprint tri. I came close at Woodstock last year, and probably could have made it if I'd tapered at all. Will probably have both Woodstock and Belwood at which to make attempts. There may also be some 5k racing, crits, CX and maybe another stab at the Cambridge Classic Mile.

2) Finish my business with Mine Over Matter. I completed it in 2011, then broke my wrist there in 2012. This will be the Canadian Cross Triathlon Championship, so I will get my ass soundly handed to me, but damnit I'm going to get through it again without breaking myself.

Especially since I'm in the video still on the front page of the race's website.

3) Go paddling with Tanker lots, including a canoe trip at some point this coming summer. It's something we've been meaning to do for awhile, but my training tends to eat the time we could use to get him comfortable in a canoe (I grew up with a paddle in hand, so it's just building stamina for me) and rentals are a bit expensive around us. With shorter training hours and a friend having given us a boat in a staggering display of generosity, we should be able to get this done!

Paddling at the Pinery on Thanksgiving weekend.

4) Keep drawing regularly. I started sketching again in November, and try to do so every day at work. I'm not very good, but the only way I'll get any better is through practice, and it feels good to create things using nothing but a pencil and paper.

5) Be a little more fun this year. Go to more concerts, ride my motorcycle more often, spend more time with my husband and friends, and enjoy all the wonderful things life has to offer outside of tri.

6) At the same time, be a good ambassador for healthy, active lifestyle and achievement along with all the kickass women I have the privilege of getting to know through the Vanderkitten VIP program!

Ophelia's got my back!

7) Keep on top of my nutrition and body composition. 2013 finally saw me lean out again after some nutritional and hormonal issues going all the way back to 2010, and I think I've finally identified the last of my food sensitivities. While it's a bit of a pain at times to have so many restrictions, I feel awesome when I fuel myself right and my body responds by shedding excess weight and performing well. I won't say that I didn't indulge over the holidays, because you're damn right I did! But since my favourite jeans - the ones I bought in fall of 2012 because they fit me perfectly - still don't need to be un-buttoned in order to put them on & take them off, I can't have done too much damage.

These goals may not bring me fame, fortune or even age group podiums...but they should bring me happiness and wonderful memories, which I think are a lot more important.

Hope your holidays were fantastic, and that you're on the road to an amazing 2014!