01/01/2026
2025 some lessons and highlights.
1. Repetition, repetition, repetition. My kids are a constant reminder of this. Jackson rides a pedal bike now, and Mim strides! Introduce it early, and just keep on putting them on the bikes! This is huge for me, since Jackson can do a good easy pace with me on runs now!!
2. Consistency!!! Show up. Day.after.day. In March, my L ankle became incredibly painful, after doing 2-track workouts, and a MP session on the greenway with an athlete. The cumulative load for the week on the ankle was too much. Months and months of training and rehabilitation culminated in my first half marathon victory at Conquer the lake in June, and a PR 1:24:39. I was mind blown. I never took more than 3-days off, and every time I stressed the joint with a trail run (had to—CTL is partially on dirt path), I had pain, and the next day it would be significantly better.
3. Put Faith first. In July, we got baptized Orthodox Christian. I was previously Catholic, and we had started going to church a couple years prior, after leaving God and the church, almost entirely for over 10 years. I am so grateful for the Orthodox community here in Kelowna. The struggle has been a joy. I kept putting one foot in front of the other, still struggling with pain in my ankle, especially with faster running. The day after our baptism, we raced midsummer 8k, and it sucked. I had pain in my ankle the whole time. I did a quick swim in the lake after, and it was so painful to flutter kick—worse than running. It exposed something though, so I trusted it, and we started swimming every day, kept up the rehab, kept up the Vo2 max + paces that caused pain, and alas, by September, and the Fast days 5k, ankle was finally better! I ran a 5k PR 17:57! The rest of the season I struggled with achilles tendon pain, but this I could live with! Finally, following the Hyrox training/taper and recovery, achilles are 95% and Im starting 2026 injury free.
Goal for 2026: No injuries. Use Resting HR and overnight HRV to help guide when a rest day is warranted! Don’t be so rigid on the schedule. Taking a day easy or off today, will probably save 5 days of sickish training or totally off!
