I spent some time last night mapping out the next few weeks of my life and suddenly realized that another year of training and racing is about to begin.  

Over the last few months, I have had a bit of time off but most of it was spent trying to better prepare my body to handle another year of hard training and racing.  I need to be bullet proof and free from injury in 2010, so doctor after doctor and exercise after exercise, I have been trying to give myself the best shot at another great season.

I am now working with Dr. Reichlin, one of the Team Garmin doctors, who is a wealth of knowledge and although some of what he does is a bit "voodoo" to me, it works and has worked so quickly that I can't question it.  According to his assessment, my leg is not the only problem and there are a number of other muscles and firing patterns that are either weak or have been completely shut off for a substantial amount of time.  What that means is that I've been training and racing on about 1 cylinder.  That in itself is really exciting news.  If he can get me working and we can get the firing patterns retrained then who knows what I will be capable of!

I have also spent the last few months working with a psychologist in Boulder, Julie Emmerman.  An ex pro cyclist herself, she has a great perspective on athletics and how the stressors of both athletic and outside life can affect each other negatively and positively.  She has been an invaluable resource for me and I'm really glad that I stumbled on her.  

And, conveniently enough, my relationship with both Dr. Reichlin and Dr. Emmerman does not have to end when I leave the country.  Thanks to technology I will continue to correspond with Dr. Emmerman via Skype at regular intervals.  I will also, hopefully, be able to meet up with Dr. Reichlin on the road as he is constantly on the move with the Garmin Team.

Amidst all of the phsyical and mental rehab and restructuring, I have been swimming a whole lot.  I have also had the opportunity to enjoy some of what Boulder and winter has to offer.  I did a lot of hiking in the fall which was like weight lifting outside of the weight room.  But once the snow started falling, I had to kind of pack the hiking thing in and embrace "winter". Since my "winter" is only about 5 weeks long, I decided to take full advantage of it.  After all, this is the last of winter I will see for a year - unless it snows in Switzerland again this summer.  

I had never alpine skied before but had always wanted to, so I went Alpine skiing at both Copper Mountain and Beaver Creek.  Neither mountain has had enough snow to be completely open and because we went during the week, the slopes were really quiet.  This was absolutely ideal and the perfect way to learn.  Aside from face planting a few times (part and parcel of going down black diamond runs your second trip out to the slopes) it was great cross training both mentally and physically.  I also went XC skiing for the first time and did a "hut trip".  We back country skied out to a hut, spend the night and then skied back out in the morning (on our way to go Alpine skiing).  It was a really good time and a totally hard workout!!

The next few weeks will bring a few trips to California, Chicago and then Boston for the holidays.  I'm looking forward to seeing my family - both in California and back home in Boston - but I'm a bit sad because it means that my time in the US is over for at least 3.5 months.  

But I suppose leaving the US is just bittersweet because it means that training camp is just around the corner!!! I head back to Australia to start training camp at the end of this month which I am really excited for.   I'm not sure I have ever felt so ready to get back to my training group and to my coach and to bury my head in my training again.  It is time...

EMAILING FOR THE GREATER GOOD Join me

Thanksgiving update

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!!!

I am thankful for an amazing and wonderful family who have supported me through thick and thin. I am thankful for my sponsor family who continue to keep me ahead of the curve with the best equipment and support out there and treat me as part of their family. I am thankful for my friends and all of the people who continue to believe in me and my crazy dreams and I am thankful for the little things in life, which often bring me the most joy.


The last couple of weeks have been a roller coaster of sorts for me. I have been making some progress forward with my leg injury and was back running for a few days. Joy and excitement overflowed me. However, I then hit a bump in the road and had some serious pain in my leg again, which the doctor thinks was just the scar tissue breaking up. I'm better now and moving forward again. I'm still spending the majority of my time in the pool right now but have started to build in some riding and will be back running again, slowly, in the next few days. I'm just ready to put the injury behind me and to move on so I can be ready for a huge 2010 season.

Wishing you a safe and happy holiday weekend!

Twitter

I finally caved in and now have a twitter account.
I'm not sure how much I will actually use it, but I have one now, so if you are on twitter feel free to add me.

Username: JennaShoemaker

New York City Marathon

My weekend in NYC was fantastic. It was so great to see my mom, sister and little brother.

I had the opportunity to swim with the NYU swim team at their pool - for part of 1 practice - but they were really welcoming and it was fun to swim with my younger sister. They then had a meet to attend, so I was left to my own devices to get in the rest of my yardage. I buckled down and managed to pull out some great swims including one 7,200 yard session on my own. A giant thank you to all of them though and especially to their fantastic and amazing coach Lauren Beam.

I attended the marathon expo and spent a bit of time talking to my liaison at the American Cancer Society about some potential ideas for the 2010 season. There is a lot to flush out still, but they are excited about the opportunity to partner with me and I am over the moon to work with them to raise some money and awareness. The pre-race dinner was great and hearing some of the stories of the athletes racing for ACS in the marathon were both inspirational and amazing.

I also sat at the Garmin booth and signed some autographs for them. That is always fun as I love spending time with the Garmin team. The booth is always out of control busy and it is good fun to hear some of the questions that get thrown at them... and at me... when people think I work there. Their sponsorship has been terrific and I look forward to working with them over the next few years in the build up to London.

Marathon day was great. It was a bit chilly for the spectators but perfect run weather for the athletes. It was great to see the elite athletes and of course to see my mother running. We were watching between mile 16 and 17 and at that point she was cruising along and smiling. It was a few miles later that she said she kind of got "over it" and hit the wall a bit. But her final performance - 3:54 - was terrific and as always, incredibly impressive.

The weekend was all too short and since then I have been back in Boulder training and working. I'm nearing the end of my first training block, which has been swim focused while I continue rehab on my leg, and if I'm being honest, the end of the block can't come soon enough. My arms are not used to all of the k's in the pool and I've dug myself into a pretty solid hole of exhaustion. It is really great to be back training, I feel much less "out of shape" after 3 weeks in the pool, but I am itching to get out and start back running!