Gratitude

I have been inspired to write about gratitude today. A goal I set for my self this summer is to focus on being grateful for everything that I have. Its not that I feel that I have ever lacked in this area, I have always made a point to sit back and appreciate my life on a very frequent basis. I have been very fortunate this far in my life, I have been given some amazing opportunities and have been apart of some great moments.

I write this as I am about to start another day in training camp with the Canadian Woman's National Soccer team as part of their therapy staff for the first camp since they won the Bronze at the London Olympics. First, how many people get an opportunity like this to work with such amazing athletes? To travel with them? Share in their victories (I was on the field with the team in 2008 when they qualified for olympics the very first time) and defeats or learn about their personal goals and accomplishments? To top things off, during this camp I got to go to BC Place in Vancouver for the unveiling of the 2015 Woman's World Cup Logo, the World Cup will be held in Canada. Its getting to be a part of things like this that I am always asking myself how in the world did I luck out.

Big things are always the easy ones to be grateful for, that is why I am trying to focus more on the small stuff, being healthy, having a great fiancé and family, enjoying the forest during a trail run or the smell of snow, man do I love the smell of snow! Perhaps this is why some people think of me to be really optimistic but I even take a moment to enjoy stressful times, I find appreciating it for what it is and having a chance to experience those emotions (even When they feel far from great) helps me to deal with the situation better. I find if I focus on how bad I feel at the time it just feeds into how bad I feel, why would I do that to myself.

In a nut shell have you stopped to smell the flowers today?

The wonderful month of December...and training

December is the worst….yet in a way, the best time of year to start training for something.

December is great in that there is usually way too much food consumed and not enough exercises being done due to hectic schedules and training helps to balance this out. You make sure to get your exercise in and generally if you are training for something you need more food! Yes I know Christmas cookies and the sort are not the best so you do have to be careful but training during December should essential stop that December weight gain. 

It is bad in the fact that my schedule is CRAZY! (as is everyone’s). It seems there are Christmas parties left, right and center and then to top it off I am working a soccer training camp from the 12-20 of the month on top of my regular job and volunteer work. Some ways that I have been able to sneak it in are through short high intensity interval sessions right before work in the morning, run with my dog rather then taking her for a walk (she loves this if its in the bush but HATES it if it is on the road!) and space my injury prevention strengthening throughout the day. It is not too uncommon to find me on a sudden burst of air squats, Y&T’s or hip stability work if you were to open my office door. Most office people take a break and quickly chat with a co-worker but I am the only one in my office so that eliminates those breaks!

For the next week an a half I am going to have to be extra creative as I will be working at a soccer camp as well. I can get my prehab work done while watching practice but my conditioning training will have to be a bit more strategic. I may have to look at late evening workouts and to make up for the lost sleep have quick cat naps in the middle of the day (which are easier then mid-day workouts as I don’t have to shower after!)

All in all I am very excited to be focused on training again. I over trained in 2011 and just lost the drive to really commit to training but its back and I am stoked, 2013 here I come!

2013 = Big Year to Succeed!

Most people who know me would agree that I am not one to take things easy, generally its go big or go home. I am on a mission to find my limits and this year’s goals just may enough to send me packing.


GOALS
Goal 1 – Wentachee Marathon – get a PB, my PB so far is 3:28:32
Goal 2 – Sinister 7 (148 km) – Under 24 hour finish
Goal 3 – Trans Rockies Run – have fun with a great bunch of friends (ok so this one is not as much of a stretch…)


Sure there my be some obstacles in there as well
1. Looks like it may be another high travel year, fingers crossed that if I am staying in an unsafe area that the hotel has a treadmill. I can only skip for so long!
2. Wedding Planning – we are now planning our wedding for the fall – good thing we both want something simple
3. Work – I have big goals with what I want to accomplish with the VPD which makes my work day long and I am often exhausted at the end


MY PLAN!
1. Crossfit Endurance – less milage more weights = less chance of over training
2. Schedule Ahead – a must do if I am going to get my workouts in during my busy week days
3. Fine Tune My Nutrition – Clean eating 85-90% of the time and focus on my nutrient timing – pre, during, post and my regular meals
4. Supplements – Vega for my pre and post, variety of mid workout foods both natural and supplements, multi vitamins, vit D and fish oils to help my body recover.
5. AND THE MOST IMPORTANT – SLEEP, QUALITY SLEEP, LOTS OF SLEEP, DID I MENTION I LOVE TO SLEEP?

Mini Victory Post!

I am a bit excited about a mini victory at Crossfit today so I thought I would post it, I got a new deadlift PB today! 245lbs!! Woohoo!  I did start my Shakeology shakes today...maybe that was it! Then we had to do Karen - 150 wall balls with a 14 lb ball, it took me 8:37......legs are a bit wobbly now! Fingers crossed they are good for my course tomorrow!

USANA!

I am happy to announce that I am a independent seller of USANA supplements as of this summer. I am super excited about promoting these products after seeing the research on them. First of all they have very high quality vitamins and research has shown that they are much more bioavailable then the majority of the other vitamin lines out there. What do I mean by bioavailable? Your body is able to absorb much more of the nutrients in each tablet then they are of other ones out there. What every your body is not able to absorb, your body excretes it, usually in your urine. What’s the point of spending money on vitamins if they are just going to run through your body rather then help you?

Second, they are guaranteed to not have any banned substances in them. For the average person this is not a big deal but for a competitive athlete this is a BIG deal! Athletes have to be sure that whatever they put into their body does not have any banned substances otherwise there could be bad, career ending consequences. USANA stands by this so much that if an athlete tests positive due to their products they will give the athlete 1 million dollars! How many other companies out there are so confident in their product that they offer this? Well over 350 athletes trust USANA on their quest to top physical performance so why shouldn’t I?

Not sure if you need vitamins or what you should be taking? USANA has their True Health Assessment you can go through and it will offer suggestions on where you may need the help of supplementation – Check it out!  www.activfit.usana.com

Calling all P90X or Insanity Addicts!

As of recently I am become an online coach as a part of Team Beachbody. Beachbody is the company that made P90X (and the new P90X2), Insanity and many other great at home workout programs. Though I didn’t think of it at the time (though in retro spec I should have), adding this side venture may be very well timed or a little late – you be the judge! 

I am now selling a whole range of products for them from their fitness videos, fitness equipment and supplements. Great in the sense that there are many items that would make fantastic stocking stuffers and Christmas presents right! Or how many of us have that New Years Resolution of eating healthy and exercising regularly but then fail as we do not have a plan in place to help us with our goal? It can be a great gift to yourself to start off 2013 strong and in the right direction!


Downside? I only have so much time to get my name out there before everyone buys their Christmas presents! So this will be a bit of a test of how I can use my SEO and online marketing skills to get word out there. I am up to the challenge!

 

Click here to find out more!

How did these past months fly so fast?!?

Well here I am starting the ball rolling with my blog posts. If you have not noticed it tends to come in waves.....  It has been several months since my last post, mostly due to being busy with work, travels and training. Here is my recap!

August - I went to japan with our Woman's U20 National Soccer team as one of their therapists. We were lucky to see several areas - Sundai,Kobe, Saitama and Tokyo. One of the highlights was eating Kobe beef in Kobe and doing modified Crossfit workouts on playground and in various parks!

September - Wrapped up my training for my October marathon, started teaching First Aid to Police Officers and got a few great outdoor rock climbing sessions in!

October - Ran a half marathon the second weekend of October in San Fransisco, got back home on the Monday and then on Tuesday I left for Copenhagen with my Fiance. We were there for a night and then flew to Greenland to run! I ran a full marathon and he ran a half marathon, all covered by Adventure Marathons -http://www.adventure-marathon.com (we won our trip through their Facebook competition in the spring!!). The marathon was called the Polar Circle Marathon and it was small but FANTASTIC!! I definitely have to go back to Greenland to explore!

Stay tuned as I will be posting pictures from these trips and there are a few exciting things brewing right now that I will be talking about!

As for November I am making it my "off season" and let my body rest before some big running challenges in 2013!

Which Path Should We Look At?

I was looking for some good pics for my sites today and I came across this one first and I think it was for a good reason. My mom recently started running and I am extremely proud of her. She likes to compare herself to people that have been doing things longer then her, I am guilty of the exact same thing (we are a lot alike in many things!).

When I became a certified athletic therapist and was working with some amazing therapists, in my mind I kept comparing myself to them. I mentioned it to one who was and is still a mentor to me and she just said don't, you have been out of school for months, I have been in the profession for over 30 years, that is not fair to yourself. You are good at what you know, you will get there, just keep working and developing yourself.

So I can relate to how my mom is feeling, perhaps that is what helps my mom and I to keep working hard to success. That and we are strong headed enough to not feel hopeless when we compare ourselves to others that we admire. But I cannot help but think that this comparison has somewhat of a negative effect on us, whether we know it or not.

Yes lets strive to achieve success among the stars but instead of looking so far ahead that we are not able to see the whole route to the stars, why not take a look back and see how far from the start line we have become. I find when I turn around a look in that direction every so often, I usually impress myself! Those tiny forward steps were hard to notice while I was taking them but when I take a step back and look at them as a whole it is quite rewarding. It is the stepping back and taking that new view that I find drives me much more forward and keeps me much more positive then when I am just staring at the route ahead. I will admit, that direction can be overwhelming at times but always important to keep an eye on so you stay on track!

This post is for my mom, you are amazing! A year ago none of us, including you, would have even thought of the idea of you running. Now after only a few months, if that, you have completed your first 5km! A celebration is in order! I am beyond excited to do a run of any distance, any speed, crawl, walk, jog run, piggy back (by that I mean you carrying me ;) ) YOU ARE A RUNNER! Welcome to the crazy world I became addicted to years ago! Love You :D

My love for training

What can I say, I love my body, I love to push it to its limits and it is hard....very hard for me to take some time off for my body! Perhaps that means that part of my drive for my training is a mental aspect, its for my mind.

I am one of those lucky people...???.. that has a very active mind, to the point that it can race with so many ideas that if I do not surround myself with outside distractions I can not focus on one certain thing too well. For example, when I was in university I got my most effective studying done while sitting in a loud, high traffic study area while listening to punk music! Or watch me during a conference lecture and you will most likely see me trying to write out something unrelated or at bare minimum twirling my pen around my fingers.

Anyways, running and training helps to provide me with productive thinking time, especially those 4+ hour runs! When I take time off it seems everything can become unbalanced and maybe its because my head gets to full!

As of this week I have started training for my marathon in October...did I mention it is in Greenland! Also I am running a half marathon the weekend before it in San Fransisco, I can't wait! I have started to get out on my runs after taking a month off of consistent training after my 50 miler in May. I guess I should say running not training as I have been doing more and more CrossFit, a new love in my life.

Going to Crossfit allowed me to cut a significant amount of mileage out of y training schedule but still leave me confident for my ultras. For my 50 miler i never ran more then 20 km (minus my 1 weekly long run). I'm converted!

Bring on another training season!!

Weekend of Wedding Fun with Crys!

Well to start off there is no hidden meaning behind this picture! I just thought it was fun! Perhaps it made me wonder how our wedding day will go... love you hun ;)

My sister, Crystal, came to town this weekend, 7 months pregnant from Calgary so she could be a part of the fun wedding stuff, like finding a dress. And we found it!! All I can say about it, in case Rob were to look at this posting, is that its two main features are ones then I never even considered, really the two things I would have avoided. Who knew that they would make the perfect dress! I ended up buying it at a store in New West and they were great. They allowed us to take pictures and even offered us to use their tablet so we could get my mom on Skype to see some of the dresses.

To finish off the weekend, Crys helped me finish off my invitations. The majority of the invites were via email but not everyone has an email so we headed to Michaels, picked up supplies and crafted our own paper invites. Now my to do list is done until the end of summer, how great is that!

5 Days into 31 and its been a big BANG!

I have always been one to believe that life just keeps getting better, I met an amazing lady a few years ago that also confirmed my belief. She was a new client and I was asking the regular intake questions, for example "and your age?..92...PARDON?! I honestly would have guessed 75ish! She looked amazing and showed no signs of being any older then what I had though, but sure enough she was in her 90's, unbelievable! As I was working with her I will never forget when she said "if I have to say anything about growing older, it would have to be each year just gets better, never be afraid of growing old!"
Though I was never afraid of growing old or worried about the wrinkles I would have from loving to smile so much, her telling this to me just helped to strengthen my belief.

Each year after my birthday I have been able to look back and take so many positive things from the year, although I was pretty convinced that being 29 was some form of cruel initiation to have the chance to turn 30, there were many great things that happend when I was 29.  I ran my first ultra marathon, I landed my an amazing job, I ran a marathon in Rome and yes in there were many lessons learned that push me and challenged me more then I thought they could, but I stepped up to these life challenges and came out on top.

Being 30 was about using these new lessons and to continue to grow with them, learn more about myself and just how much I could handle (I also ran a 120 mile run over 6 days and ran my first 50 miler right before turning 31!). I must have been successful for showing I could handle more of a challenge when I was 30 because here I am 5 days into being 31 and HUGE changes have already come about!

1. I am no longer the Fitness Coordinator for the Vancouver Police Dept.........my position has officially been changed to ATHLETIC THERAPIST for the VPD. This is beyond huge and therapists out there would understand this best. VPD is setting a precedent in North America by recognizing a need to have an in house therapist on staff. Yes I was doing therapy before but it was when I had extra time, now it is officially part of my job description! Yeay for us Athletic Therapists! and Yeay to VPD for being so incredibly progressive!

2. As of tonight I have added another venture to ActivFit Sports Therapy. I am now a part of the USANA family. I will be selling some amazing nutritional supplements that I am beyond excited about. Though there are many great things about them, when sparked my interest so much about the products are A. the vitamins are top notch for being bio available and B. they have a million dollar guarantee to athletes that there are NO banned substances in their products. All I can say is how many other companies are so confident in their products that they are comfortable making this claim?!? Working with high level teams and having many times searched through stores for products I was comfortable giving my players knowing they may be drug tested soon, this is a big relief!

If this first week is setting the tone for good old year 31, I cannot wait to see what is in store for me!

Winning the Job Lottery

I must say that I feel extremely lucky to be able to say day in and day out that I feel as though I have won the job lottery. Actually I should add to that, the career lottery as well. Everyday, no matter how crazy, stressful, chaotic it is I always seem to stop and laugh and think WOW I love this. I had an position interview a few weeks ago and the person interviewing me was asking what would happen to my position if I won the lottery and left my job. I just stared at her and responded well I wouldn't be leaving me job! I love it too much! And that is the 100% honest truth.

When I was six all I wanted was a broken leg, then as chance would have it I broke my leg that year on April Fools day (it took x-rays to convince my parents it was broken as I was known to be quite the injury faker). At 6 years old while skiing I had somehow managed to fracture and dislocate my knee cap. I spent 6 weeks in an ankle to hip cast that had to be replaced 4 times due to me using it as chalk on the driveway. After it was off all I would play with were my crutches, casts and tensor bandages. I remember crying when my parents made me throw away my stinky old casts, I loved them so much!

Through my childhood it would vary from ski doctor, ski police, doctor, physio and in high school I learned about people who work with teams and that taped ankles and knew that is exactly where I wanted to head! I headed to UBC for Human Kinetics and found out about the Athletic Therapy profession while in my 3rd year of the program and from that point on I focused on getting into a school for it.  Another early sign that I was destined to work with injuries was when I was 20 I fractured my right forearm so bad it was bent at close to a 45 degree angle, did I cry? No, I told my friend to go get her camera as this is not something we see every day! I still have the x-ray!!

Every step in school and every step after that I have taken in my career path has made me fall deeper and deeper in love with what I do. Whether its taping people (love love love), figuring out faulty biomechanics on someone, learning new conditioning methods, testing out methods and theories on my self, I know that without a doubt I am doing what I am supposed to be doing. Yes it is not all daisies and smiley faces all the time, its not an easy go, but I chose to enjoy the stressful moments rather then to let them push me down. They are what make me grow and keep striving to know more, understand more and to keep challenging myself.

Why write about this you may ask? Well today was one of those days that it just plain looked rough from the get go, and then out of no where I have found out that some of my hard work has paid off, sooner then expected I cannot say what yet, no it is not a new job and yes I know I am going to push myself harder and strive for more now, but isn't that how this cycle should play out?

For those looking for their dream job, keep looking, it does exist. It may even be something that you have never considered but keep your eyes and mind open. Don't settle for mediocre or something that pays the bills, go for what make your truly happy!

Athletic Therapist - Becky Swan

I completed my Athletic Therapy degree, with High Honors in Applied Health Science (Athletic Therapy) in 2007 from Sheridan College. Once becoming a certified Athletic Therapist I took on the position of Athletic Therapist for the Canadian Woman's National Soccer Team, which I feel I was extremely lucky to get so early on in my career. I have continued on to work with the U20 womans team, worked in a clinical setting and now I am the Fitness Coordinator for the Vancouver Police Dept where I do work ranging from injury prevention and rehabilitation to testing applicants on their fitness and creating fitness and injury prevention programs for the various sections of the department.

ActivFit Sports Therapy is my own business and it started off as therapy service, both in clinic and
as a mobile service. It has since been expanded to therapy consulting as well as small business internet marketing specializing in working with therapists.

Growing up I competed in a variety of sports, particularly alpine skiing. Upon going to university
I traded my skis in for a pair of rugby boots to play for the UBC Woman's rugby team as well as
living and playing rugby in New Zealand in 2002. Now I focus on runnning endurance events ranging from half marathons to multi day runs.

My Current Work
Vancouver Police Dept - Fitness Coordinator
Productive Fitness - Consultant
Activfit Sports Therapy - Owner
CATA Education Committee (Volunteer)

Education
Red Cross First Aid Instructor
Cranial Sacral Therapy Level 1
Active Release Techniques - Lower Body
Canadian Athletic Therapist Association - Certified Athletic Therapist CAT(C), 2007
Bachelor of Applied Health Science (Athletic Therapy) High Honors, Sheridan College, 2007
Bachelor of Human Kinetics, UBC, 2004
Canadian Red Cross First Responder and CPR - HCP
OFA 2 First Aid Attendant

Work Experience
Vancouver 2010 Winter Olympics- BC Place Opening and Closing Ceremonies
Canadian Woman's National Field Hockey Team
Canadian Woman's National Soccer Team and U20 Team
West Coast Kinesiology
Whitecaps Men's Residency Program
Sport Med BC - Taping and Sports First Aider Instructor
Fitness on the Go - Personal Trainer
BC Soccer Provincial Teams