Write it down!

Write it down! This was a piece of advice given to me last year while training for my first competitive race. At that time I was just starting to think about what could be possible with running, what I could achieve, how fast I could get, at what level could I compete at, what life could look like with running as a main focus — I had a lot in mind.

I only partially took that advice — making minimal notes about my workouts on my training schedule. I didn’t write about my goals, my feelings about running — none of the thoughts that had been running in my mind.

I went on to do well in that race at the end of the summer, but afterward I didn’t have a firm grasp of what was next, or what steps to take, or if I had the guts to make some big life changes to shift my focus to running. In hindsight, if I had spent more time working through my thoughts and writing things down that summer it would have helped me have a clearer vision of what I wanted and how to make it happen.

Instead, I chose to turn down the chance to train with my now-coach, Jason Warick, here in Saskatoon, and took a reporting job way, way up north in the Northwest Territories. It wasn’t soon after that I realized I had left everything I wanted behind and I started to make the changes I wasn’t ready to at the end of last summer. Those changes lead me back to Saskatoon and the position I’m now in — working toward my goals and doing what I love to do — running and writing.

I’ve recognized the importance of “writing it down” and how important the visual is to me. I recently spent a few sessions with a graphic facilitator — Shelley Keyes. She’s a super talented woman, who somehow — through listening and talking with me — managed to make what was going on in my mind, visual — looking back at the past year, my current situation, and what I want moving ahead. It was transformative to see my thoughts, my journey, my ideas, my values, my dreams and more written in larger-than-life form on big sheets of rollout paper. Visual. Powerful.

What I have come to understand is there is more to write down than just the technical, that everything is linked — mind and body.

My partner, Candace, just birthday-gifted me with an awesome, very visual running journal put together by pro runners Lauren Fleshman and Roisin McGettigan-Dumas. It’s a cool, durable journal with space to track training, mental exercises, informative racing and training tidbits, great quotes, race calendars, pace charts — again, very visual.

Fittingly, Candace is the one who gave me the advice last summer to “Write it down!” She’s also the one who connected me with the graphic facilitator, Shelley — I have a lot of support and understanding at home and I’m super grateful for that.

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On the family note: I have updates from last week’s “Health, Health, Health” blog. Our dog, Skylar is on the mend after stepping in paint thinner last week which lead to an overnight stay at the vet. She’s through that incident, so we’re good there. Some subsequent blood tests showed she may be having some kidney issues, but nothing to panic about. She’s getting older, so some health issues will start to come up. We’re keeping a close eye and we’ll be back at the vet in four or five months to see how she’s doing — so, good news.

And, more good news with my mom — she’s back home in Richmond, B.C. after spending several days in hospital last week with a bladder and kidney infection that got into her blood — she’s now on bed rest at home. It’s going to take some time, but she’s on the upswing.

As for my health — also good news — that virus I had is still lingering, but it’s on its way out. I had a solid two-hour training session Sunday morning and I’m feeling good. I’m making some nutritional adjustments to ensure my body is getting everything it needs in order to not get run down. I’m happy to be getting right back on track and I’m looking forward to a great week of training — and writing it down!