THIS IS IT!!!
I realized something at the end of this morning’s ice session. It was before the last set of easy warm-down laps after very hard training when it hit me. I am in Calgary, training on the ice surface I’ve skated hundreds of kilometers on. Suddenly, the reality that these were the last few laps on this particular ice surface of my skating life became vividly real.
I looked over at my teammates Kristina Groves and Shannon Rempel, and said ‘Girls, these are the last five laps on this ice before we go to the Olympics. For me, these are the last laps I will ever skate here as a speed skater.’ It felt good to know this. This realization not only made me appreciate those few laps, it also made me aware that this is the last time I am going to an Olympic Games as a competing athlete. This is the last time I will have earned the privilege of representing Canada at the highest sporting level.
I don’t want to waste a moment of this experience and feel the need to continually remind myself ‘this is it’.
It will be an Olympics of new experiences. The sports psychologist I work with, Dr. Terry Orlick, said so eloquently earlier this week “the biggest possible maple leaf has fallen directly into your outstretched hand and heart – The Canadian Flag”. For the first time in my life I will lead a team into an event. What a team! What an event!!
For the first time, I will compete in a home Olympics. Another first is that I will be a ‘Defending Olympic Champion’.
Does any of this scare me? No way. Does any of this change the sensations I will feel after arriving in Vancouver tomorrow? Honestly, I do not know. What I do know is, I will remain open, as I always have, to the inspiration that exists everywhere. I will methodically and meticulously prepare, as I always have, no matter the circumstance.
This is it.
I feel excited to go to the Olympics. In many ways, it feels like the first time. It feels fresh and new and frightening and intense. It feels like everything and anything all at once. I feel tired from training but bursting with energy. I feel like every other time I have gone to the Olympics. I feel ready. Ready to work with what I have and deal with any situation. More than anything, I feel so ready to be inspired.
I am not sure if I will be able to write any more updates after arriving in Vancouver. I don’t fully understand the rules of journals and blogging while competing, but I do want to say this:
Thank you, everyone, for your support. Thank you for being excited about the Olympics and thank you for caring. When I am carrying the Canadian Flag into BC Place on the 12th of February, I am representing each and every Canadian. When I am racing, I am no longer just myself. I am something bigger, faster, stronger and far more beautiful: I am Canada. I just can’t wait to do this one more time. I will not lose sight of this gift of opportunity.
This is it!
