VBeast Euro-Tour 2013: Chapter 1

It has been a week since I left Toronto for my first-ever European racing tour, and with today's official press release announcing Team Canada, I thought an update was in order. I began my travel in Ninove, Belgium, where I raced the Memorial Rasschaert Flanders Cup on Saturday, and am now settled in the SportCentrum in Kamen, Germany, which will serve as the base for much of Team Canada's preparation before heading into Moscow on August 7th. Here's the story so far:

Train selfie: "I'm finally here!!"

I arrived in Ninove, Belgium on Wednesday morning with a groggy Gravol-induced hangover, following a cancelled and rebooked flight from Toronto to Montreal, an overnight flight from Montreal to Brussels, and two train rides through the Belgian countryside. I had managed about 3hrs of inconsistent sleep on the plane, waking up just long enough each time to ask the flight attendant for another bottle of water, and getting more or less caught up on the plot of the new Tina Fey movie “Admission”, before conking out again in some contorted airplane-seat sleeping position (fyi, the movie is pretty good, from what I could piece together). During the 7hr flight I lost 6 hours in the time difference, so that by the time I finally got off the second train in Ninove at what felt to my body like 5am but was really noon local time, I was feeling the competing emotions of excitement, being in this beautiful new country, and utter exhaustion from the travel.

Backyard chicken coop

I was rejuvenated by a short nap and meeting my amazing hosts, the Bliki family. Peter Bliki is one of the main organizers behind the Memorial Rasschaert, and also happens to be one of the kindest, most genuine individuals I have ever met. Peter, his wife, and their 2 teenage sons made me feel so incredibly welcome, comfortable and cared for during my 5 day stay in their beautiful home. I shared meals with them, ran through the town and countryside, ate fresh eggs and veggies from their chickens and greenhouse in the backyard, and was able to focus on preparing well for my race. Ninove itself is a gorgeous little place; a town of about 35,000, with a neat mix of modern and old-style buildings, and tightly packed houses with livestock and vegetable patches in the yards. The people are friendly and while I didn't see many runners other than those who were there for the meet, I did notice that a ton of people riding bikes through the town and along the paved river-side path. I was so deeply touched by the openness of my hosts and by the character of the town--I'll definitely keep Ninove on my calendar in the future!

I met up with a group of fellow Canucks who were staying at the one and only hotel in Ninove, and it was great to have some familiar faces to share some runs and meals with. We went over to the track a couple days before the meet, and we all agreed that it felt fast. Although I was still feeling a bit jet-lagged going into Saturday, I was also excited to see what my legs could do on a quick track with some strong competition. Our rabbit had been asked to go through 800m at 2:10, splitting even 65's for the first 2 laps. The pace was hot right off the line, and I knew within the first 200m that we were well under goal time. Two women followed the speedy rabbit, and I made the snap decision to allow for a small gap to form; not generally my style, but I figured that with the pace they were running, one of two things would happen. 1) They would eventually slow and I would catch them, or 2) They would run sub-4:00 that night, in which case I thought "good for you, see ya later". I was essentially leading the second pack for the first 3 laps, when, with 350m to go, I finally made contact with the

Shaking out at the track

two ahead of me. I saw 3:19 through 1200m--ultimately slower than I wanted--and made a strong push for home. I felt good through the last 300m, but wasn't quite sharp enough to hold off a late move by the Ethiopian with the fastest seed in the race. In the end, she ran 4:07.2, and I wound up in second with 4:07.74, a new PB and only my second time ever under 4:10. I was pleased with the personal best, and with my patient race tactics, although I am always hungry for a faster time, and stronger result. (Race video HERE)

This meet reminded of something that I am being made constantly aware of: that although our performances are almost always solo endeavours, we are able to connect deeply with the emotions, trials, successes and disappointments of our competitors and teammates. I was so proud, looking around the track on Saturday and seeing so many Canadians, all acting as great ambassadors for our country and our sport. I watched Jess Furlan give one of the gutsiest performances I've ever witnessed in her valiant attempt at a World standard in the steeplechase, and felt my heart break a little as she stumbled over the final barrier in her desire to run 9:48, which she was poised to smash. Look out for this woman, she's fierce! On the other end of the emotional spectrum, I watched Anthony Romaniw lower his 800m personal best, breaking 1:46 for the first time in his life, and securing a spot on the World's team on the last possible weekend to do so.

Anthony waiting for the train to Kamen

 I also felt for Andrea Seccafien, who arrived at the track in the early evening and supported all of her teammates as she waited around for her 10pm 5000m, which kept getting delayed, and was ultimately canceled when the heavens opened up around 11pm, unleashing a major thunderstorm that closed down the meet.  People often say that what defines us is not whether we experience lows, but how we handle them. I would say that the same is true for the highs in life. Every Canadian competitor, whether thrilled or disappointed by their outcome, offered support to their countrymen and women, and handled themselves gracefully. I felt very proud to be from the True North Strong and Free!

I'll write an update on our time in Kamen in my next post. For now, it is off the bed for this gal! I miss you, my friends and family at home, but am having a wonderful adventure! More to come....