ON THE ROAD AGAIN AND AGAIN...
Feels like weeks rather than just over one week that I left Calgary. Specifically, it was only 9 days ago. From the snow of Alberta to the tropical clime on Montreal I found myself downtown doing the last preparations for a talk that was set a year ago for Skate Canada. Not speed skating, but figure skating. It’s funny that I was doing a talk for figure skating because I am often mistaken for ‘that figure skater’ by random strangers. People recognise me but can’t always remember my sport. Why is this funny? Because I am bigger than most of the males in figure skating! I am 5’9” and that makes me a giant in that sport. It’s like seeing a 5’5” gymnast- someone still not too big but relative to the body type of the sport would look ridiculous.
At the 2006 Olympics in Turin, the speed skaters and figure skaters really bonded. There was something special there and all of the hanging out in the athlete lounge brought us together. Joanne Rochette and I share a mutual supporter through the Foundation D’athlete D’excellence du Quebec as well as Bell Canada; Jeff Buttle and I share a sponsor in Visa; and of course how can anyone not be mesmorized by the grace and class of Marie-France Dubreuil and Patrice Lauzon? I was honored and nervous to do a talk to my peers. Yet, at the same time, excited to share this path that has been my life for the past 17 years and hopefully let the audience know that the struggles we all go through are universal when one is striving for excellence.
A treat was to see Jamie Sale and David Pelltier MC the Gala event- the former dressed as the Tooth Fairy and the latter as Cupid. The theme of the entire AGM was BELIEVE and they really pulled off a magical evening of fairy tales and dreams.
It made me think of a passage I once read in a novel called THE POWER OF ONE about a young boxer in South Africa that went something like this:
“IF THE MIND CAN CONCEIVE,
AND THE HEART CAN BELIEVE,
YOU CAN ACHEIVE”
At least that’s how I remember it. It pretty much sums up my approach to sport. Over and over again I have proven to myself and others around me have shown that the real power and possibilities lie in the brain. It was like that for me in Turin when I skated the 5000m- I had convinced myself at a cellular level that I was going to win. That belief allowed me to endure the torture of the distance and push through insurmountable amounts of pain to get to that finish line faster than anyone else.
From there, I traveled out west and found myeslf in Vancouver. The first step outside of my hotel and I was reminded (or told, perhaps, is a better word because I really did not know this!) that there were 991 days, and counting down to the second, left until the opening ceremony of the 2010 Games. Wow. And I actually get to try to go, to represent my country, and strive for that excellence that has garnered so much already. What a gift.
After a morning talk at Bell Canada, where I was lucky enough to share some experiences with the wonderful women who are Bell family during `Women`s Week`about what it has been like to be on the athletic path as a female, and I got to meet Rick Hansen!!! I was in a taxi to Richmond, BC.
The next four days were spent looking at the construction site where the oval is being built (beautiful, right beside the Fraser River) and enjoy a warm welcome from the City of Richmond. Did I mention this was with 60+more people that make up development, national and junior teams, as well as our support staff…what a big group!
The thing I took most out of this camp is that I really do want to commit the now 882 days of my life to that one day where I get the chance to try to win again on the Olympic stage. One of the caoches said in his presentation:
“You make the choice to be better”
And that`s what it is: a choice. It does not just happen, and if you are good at what you do that`s fine but to actually be the best this is the choice one has to make each and every day: to improve and to look for inspiration. There are so many people who care and genuinely want to see me succeed- it`s all up to me and my willingness to commit to the life of an athlete.
With so much travel at the moment, it feels like a dream to be able to focus and stay in one place. To channel all of my energy into being the best that I can. Because I have been so, so busy with incredible opportunities since winning the Olympics, I have not been able to do this. And it`s only now that I realise why I have been so tired.
So, it`s up to me. Simple as that!
