Alien Update and Charity Event Info

It's been an "eventful" couple of weeks to say the least, with the tragic death of one our Mercury Rising athletes, PHAT camp in Penticton and the various ups and downs of pregnancy. I still have a Part III for the Alien in my Belly series, but that will have to wait for another day. For now, a quick update.



Clint and I went to 3D baby for a "gender" assessment yesterday. (The social scientist in me cringes at the use of "gender" instead of the more appropriate term, "sex") So, start again. We went for a sex test...Oh, Now i see why they dont use that phrase...



Here are a few things i know so far about my alien;



1. It's a girl!! We both wanted a girl, so yay!

2. She is smart... ok, thats maybe a stretch, but at 23 weeks she has found her thumb already to suck on, a sure sign of a genius, right?

At first glance, she looks like she has a grandma chin, but thats her little hand in her little mouth!

3. She is very active. She seems to move around a lot. Not only do i feel it, but at every ultrasound and every time the doc takes the heartbeat we see or hear kicking and flailing of arms! During the first ultrasound she woke up and immediately put her feet and hands over her head!



My energy has been really good and at the camp i managed a little bit of "training" in the wonderful Penticton heat AND still had energy for the rest of the day! I lead a drills session on the track one afternoon. Imagine preggo doing ABC's!! I guess there was one drill where i looked particularly ridiculous and i wondered why the campers werent doing the drill properly. Then we got Rachel to demo the same drill and everyone went "oh!! thats what its supposed to look like!" Lesson learned. Thanks Rach.



Here are a few belly shots from the camp:

On Tuesday, the gang did a long run (and they really champed it up, in my opinion). I, on the hand, ran 45mins forgetting to bring a post-run hoodie (it was overcast that day), so I ended up wearing baby Ryan's blanket for 2h15. Thanks for the loaner Ryry!



For some reason I love this photo of Carrie and I striding across the parking lot during our bike skills practice. Last year she was pregnant and I could wear little jean shorts!



And finally, here i am with some of the girls on the track. i was pleased to be able to do a "double run" that day, 30mins in the morning and drills and strides in the afternoon!



Tomorrow I am off to Calgary for the 70.3, to support my athletes and team members and also because we have our charity event on Sunday. If you are in Calgary this weekend, please consider coming to the event. Our speaker Laura has fetal alcohol syndrome and i hear she has put together a very inspiring talk about how sport and triathlon have changed her life. All money raised goes to the Fetal Alcohol Syndrome Network in Calgary. We will also be doing a short memorial for Kerry Enick, so if you knew Kerry, please consider coming. Two of my athletes have put together dozens of photos of Kerry with some very nice music. I am very grateful for their contribution! Kerry's wife Sharon will also be attending.



Here are the details of the event:

The Inspiration Series: Event #1

From Humble Beginnings: How Ironman triathlon helped me overcome the challenges of living with Fetal Alcohol Syndrome

With speaker Laura Dodds

A charity event in support of individuals and families living with

Fetal Alcohol Syndrome

Also including a tribute to the life of Kerry Enick

Sunday August 1^st 2010, 6pm-late

Location: Jr's Billiard

LOUNGE • BAR • BILLIARD

3181 32nd Street NE

Calgary, AB

T1Y 6Z7

Includes: 3-course dinner

Silent Auction

AND,

After-party for Calgary Ironman 70.3!!

Tickets only $50

All money raised will go to Calgary Fetal Alcohol Network “Empowerment Fund”

www.calgaryfasd.com

Join us for an inspirational evening of food, fun and learning!!

Email me at sara@saragross.ca for tickets!

Thanks for reading!!

S.

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Kerry Left Early

For a number of days now I have been mulling over words in my head... what to say about Kerry, his life and the tragic way he left us. I have gone through disbelief and denial, deep sadness and anger as I struggle to understand what happened to my friend and athlete.

For 3 years Kerry attended every training camp I organized in Penticton, Tucson, Calgary and Victoria. It didnt matter where or when, Kerry would make it a priority and Kerry would be there. We spoke on the phone every week or two about his training mostly, but sometimes about how he was feeling, his worries about his job stability and how to deal with the negative voices that we all hear sometimes when we set our sights on big goals like Ironman.

In 2009, Kerry had a breakthrough year in which he PBed in almost every race. He improved his half ironman time and finished Ironman Canada in 16h17.

Here is Kerry on the run course in Penticton 2009. Neither of us ever doubted that he would finish that race, though it was very hard for him. He had 3 punctures and I know it was a mental battle to run (and not walk) the marathon.

Kerry was an inspiration to many in the triathon commmunity. During his journey, he lost over 150 lbs. He always worked extraodinarily hard in training, to the point that i had to slow him down sometimes to make sure he did his base training properly! Kerry laughed easily and heartily, and had that special quality of being able to laugh at himself. He also loved his wife Sharon deeply. I remember one time at a camp, I caught Kerry pouting a little bit by himself and asked him what was wrong; "I miss Sharon," he said. It was charming.

Kerry also had his struggles and we struggled in our relationship. Sometimes coaching him was like wrestling with a bear. At times, he would become so convinced that he was getting slower, not improving, doing it wrong etc... I would have to talk him back to a place where he saw himself as the rest of us did, successful, improving, not to mention constantly losing weight! Sometimes i could talk him back into a positive mindset and sometimes i could not.

Over the last year, Kerry and i had more and more of these moments. I felt like i was constantly having to tell him that his glass was half full, that a positive mindset is the only way to achieve your goals and to make the seemingly impossible, possible. Increasingly, however, Kerry did not believe me.



I recall one particular email conversation we had that keeps replaying in my mind now that he is gone. At our camp in Victoria, Kerry left abruptly from our final dinner and did not say goodbye. We were all perplexed by his actions and i emailed to ask him where he had gone. He told me that one of his friends had died in a cycling accident and he had just received the news;

"I felt so down about it Sara. I didn't know what else to do."

"But Kerry, sometimes its important to put your feelings to one side for a moment, just to be polite. And sometimes sharing your feelings can help you feel better."

"I think i see what you are saying Sara, but in this case, I don't feel i had that choice. I was too upset, i had to go."

And so this conversation and so many more like it replay in my head since i found out he decided to leave us for good.

"But Kerry, you dont have to go this way. There are other options, we all care for you, we can help you.."

But one thing i know is that when Kerry gets a plan in his head he follows it through, just like he did when he lost 150lbs and just like he did when he trained and completed the Ironman. And so, in the end, whatever his final reason may be, Kerry decided to leave early. I will never know what went through his mind in those final days, and i will probably always wonder. I know that if we could talk one final time, the converstation would be the same. He would tell me that this was his only choice, and I would try desperately to convince him otherwise. As usual, I may or may not have succeeded in convincing him that things were better than they appeared.

Kerry left early and I will remember him always as the hard-working triathlete who got things done, laughed easily and charmed us with his ability to love freely.

I will miss you Kerry.


We will be holding a memorial for Kerry in Calgary in tangent with our triathlon team's charity event August 1st 2010 at 6pm. Details below:

From Humble Beginnings: How Ironman triathlon helped speaker Laura Dodds overcome the challenges of living with Fetal Alcohol Syndrome

A charity event in support of individuals and families living with
...Fetal Alcohol Syndrome.

Includes: 3-course dinner, Silent Auction & After-party for Calgary Ironman 70.3!!

WILL ALSO INCLUDE A CELEBRATION OF THE LIFE OF KERRY ENICK.

Tickets only $50

All money raised will go to Calgary Fetal Alcohol Network “Empowerment Fund”

www.calgaryfasd.com

For tickets, volunteer opportunities, or to donate items, please email: saragross@yahoo.com or michellemilot@hotmail.com, or contact via FB.

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There are no words

Kerry Update

http://www.cbc.ca/canada/calgary/story/2010/07/15/calgary-missing-kerry-enick-inglewood-truck.html#socialcomments

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Police Seeking Assistance in Search for Kerry

Kerry running at Shawnigan Lake Sprint, May 2010.

UPDATE

Kerry's big red truck was found this morning in Calgary at the Bird Sanctuary. The police are now calling for assistance in this matter, see link here:

http://newsroom.calgary.ca/pr/calgary/seeking-public-assistance-163831.aspx

I have also been asked for a "plain clothes" photo of Kerry, since all i have are swim/bike/run shots. If you have a plain clothes shot of him, please send it to me at sara@saragross.ca. I would really appreciate that.

Thank you to everyone who has participated in the search so far by passing the information far and wide. Please continue to do this and contact the police directly if you see or hear anything.

Thanks!!!
Sara

Kerry concentrating hard at the November swim camp.

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triathlete missing- please read!

Triathlete and Mercury Rising team member Kerry Enick has been missing since Wednesday. Kerry is 50 years old, 5.9", 180lbs and lives in Calgary, Alberta. His wife Sharon and family in Saskatchewan and Ontario are both extremely worried and exploring all available avenues to help discover his whereabouts.

I have been coaching Kerry for almost 3 years and recently he has not been himself. If you see him he may seem sleepy or confused. If you are reading this and have seen Kerry since Wednesday, please call me immediately on 250.896.1026.

Thank you for reading.
Sara

Kerry (2nd from left) at our recent camp in Victoria.

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alien in my belly: part II

Yay! Finally found time to write a new blog!

Two people have actually told me that they are waiting for part II of the pregnancy story... so i must keep my myriad of fans happy! :)

I just opened my training log from my first trimester to make sure that i remember accurately how i felt and how bad it was! I remember that i felt nauseous ALL the time, but never puked. I remember reading that many women get some respite from feeling ill, but i didnt. I also know that it gets a lot worse for some women, i have a friend who was hospitalized because she couldnt eat or drink. I also know that many women "get away with it", like my sister who actually started an exercise program when she found out she was pregnant, and said quote, "i was a little tired in the 1st trimester". A LITTLE TIRED!! Some days i could barely get up to walk the dog or write a program for an athlete.

So, here are some numbers from April and May. My weekly training volumes were as follows:
2h55, 3h, 55mins (lol), 4h40, 5h10, 2h30, 4h10, 3h20, 5h.

Some quotes from my training diary:
"2 long naps, feel worse than after Ironman"
next day; "worst run ever"
2 days later: "well, at least i swam"

And a week or so later: "worst run ever, had to walk home", followed but 6 days completely off.

Besides the nausea and fatigue, my blood pressure was up and down. One Sunday morning, Clint, Zoey and I went on a 10k run that took us almost an hour!! Half way through my blood pressure plummeted and i didnt know if i would make it back to the car. I remember swimming for an hour one morning and then requiring a 4h recovery nap while my mother-in-law was busy cleaning our house, vacuuming and all, i slept though it!

And, i just have to make a comment about so-called cravings... Cravings? I wish! A craving is almost a nice feeling, you desire a certain food and when you have it, its so satisfying! What i had was anti-cravings. The complete opposite to cravings. In the first trimester i was STARVING but could not imagine eating. I would stand in the kitchen and look through the fridge and every cupboard until i could find something i could actually imagine getting down my gob. Often, i failed and would end up in the supermarket, going isle to isle, trying to find something, anything to squelch my raging hunger. Frequently, the answer would be citrus fruit, oranges, grapefruit, or even lemon. If that failed it was oatmeal chocolate chip cookies. On a number of occasions during this time i bought food that went bad before i could handle eating it. We ate out a lot, since dealing with a menu was often the best option, sometimes i ordered a burger and and fries and could only eat the burger, or only the fries, depending on the day. I could only handle vegetables sometimes, so when i could handle them, that was my opportunity to get some good nutrition to my little alien!

During this time, it was not difficult to not be training since i felt so sick, i was just surviving day to day. Its much more difficult now that i am feeling better, not really with regards to training as i can now do enough exercise to keep me happy, but to not be RACING! With each race that i go to watch and cheer, it gets harder and harder... but thats another story, part III i guess!!

Here are some recent photos:

Clint and I at dinner after IM Couer D'Alene.

Here I am watching the bike during IM Couer D'Alene. I wish i had some better photos of the alien bump, but in every photo, i seem to just look chubby!!

That's all for now!

Happy training!
S.

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