What does a Track Star have for dinner 48 hours before her biggest race of the year so far?

I race Friday night at 545pm at Varsity Stadium and the two days before any big race is always the same routine for me. Unless of course I am staying in Yorkville and mere meters from one of my favorite places to eat: Sushi Inn!

This means the sustenance routine changes slightly.  Instead of the signature chewing of boston lettuce ala boiled fish,  I gave me the green light to enjoy some sushi. Yeah!

Umm No.

Because now I am sitting here super lethargic and fat as a tick bursting at the gut. I ate way too much grilled cod, Crab, Unagi, Spider roll,  Sushi inn roll, Tempura roll, this and that roll...

Like really, who does that? I know better (well at least at race time).  And this is why I don't eat my favorite foods leading to a track meet, because I simply love food too much. I cant' see it go to waste. "I paid $8.95 for that last piece of fried yam in egg batter, no you won't clear this plate!"

...I can't stand to see a waitress throw food away. Especially food that is going on my Visa card. Not one strip of seaweed not one rice grain has ever gone to waste when I sit at a sushi dinner. And herein lies the problem.

Sigh. But a lesson learned. 

Thursday night @ T-minus 24 hours, I will definitely be chewing something very green and very bland. Thinking Artichoke with a side of hay!

So So Sleepy....

Per...zzz...zzz

I Am My Mother's Daughter...

My mom will start to get butterflies weeks before I have an impending track meet. Just the thought of the upcoming race sends her tummy into tailspin.

And a week before the 2009 Canadian Championships I seem to be experiencing the same symptoms. And let me tell you heading to my national trials this is definitely a first!

No disrespect.

I have won 7 previous titles, all hard fought and well earned, but it has always been a meet I struggled to get hype for. After winning the 4th, then 5th, then 6th...you get my drift?. It becomes routine. I am grateful each time to claim the title but in the past, it was always "the house that Perdita built".

Yet this year is very different, the level of competition is the best it has ever been. And a year off has made me so hungry and thirsty for competition, I'll race anyone, anywhere, anytime.

My last three races have all been to the wire where I was hundredths away from the winner. A sign that I am on the upswing and my training is working well. My plan is just to work hard while focusing on Berlin and patiently wait my turn.

So excited am I, that I have already started packing. Hoping this anticipation will make the days pass faster. After nationals I am heading right to Europe for a few Golden League races for the first time in two years! I have never been this happy to be getting on the road.



And the early onset of Monarchs must just be confirmation that this is what I was born to do.

Ciao,

P

Eureka!

So for months now my coach and I have been trying to improve my start and first two hurdles. There is no reason for them to be as passive as they have been early in the season. Last week my girlfriend Nic drove up from Michigan to be at the Festival of Excellence and she attended one of my practices. We used to run track together in college and roomed and trained together for years, so she's hip to the game.

The menu: starts over three hurdles.

 

Nic is one of my closest friends and I love her to pieces. But I had to look at her crooked when she later revealed she wanted to just scream and shake me after each start. " Because there was just NO urgency!!" (If she had ever laid a hand on me, so help her God...)

I had no idea she was that frustrated while watching, she gave her two cents but for the most part was quiet and just watched as coach tried to get through to me. I always value her input and know if she was that affected, imagined my coach after all this time. Poor Gdub. Every week teaching this professional hurdler to execute a skill and having to start from scratch each session.



I pride myself in being an Academic-All American, graduating with honors and most importantly, being "coachable" a word Gary has often used to describe me.



So basically I'm not stupid...so why then can't I execute this skill the way I'm supposed to. I'm strong, proficient, and have some talent.



And yesterday we may have discovered it...
In Champaign around 1145am walking back after a start, coach approaches me and says: "I wonder if I'm just beating a dead horse, here".

Woah! Do I really look that outta shape Bubba. Sigh*

But I didn't say a thing and just let him ponder some more. I appreciate his ability to adapt to what he is seeing and make changes on a whim. For all I knew he'd can the starts and have me doing a 600m break down if that made sense.

The truth is I have actually been trying to make this part of my race better, so I'm not playing catch up during a race. It is just not translating and he sees that. I braced myself as he stood on the starting blocks in silence with his head down. Gdub giving birth to a bright idea.

Wait for it....wait for it.....

And then he told me to forget everything we have been working on, abandon the cues completely, they're history.

What? Really?! Because I have only been writing notes and making mental movies in my head for months about executing those cues perfectly. What a waste of paper and space in my brain. But OK.

He then directed me to execute the start the way I do a drill we use to warm up. It's the same thing he said, except you're using the blocks and not a box. The instant he said that, I knew exactly what he meant and how to actually execute that skill. I got in the blocks and the entire run felt sharper.

Eureka!

I walked back and we both were laughing!  I felt it. He saw it. The execution we both know I am capable of. I repeated it three more times and it stuck each one. What I couldn't do wasn't that complicated, it's perfect physics. Many others have learned it well and can do it without thinking. My brain just can't get a handle on it.

I don't care what that says about me, because we have finally found a way that my mind can understand what my body needs to do. And to quote Gdub yesterday: "forget science!".  

Right on brother, when it comes to coaching me, very basic is the new science!

Steady on the grind, 

Perdita

(See Nic no need for violence there was a slight mental issue at work!)

Cheer For Perdita, Cheer For Right To Play!

I am very excited to let everyone know about my fundraising initiative with Right To Play this season. I will be donating my Personal Best & my Canadian Record of $12.46 for each race I run this summer and asking Canadians and others to do the same. My season began in early April and my goal is to raise $7000 by the end of my season in late September, but I can't do it without you.

Visit  www.righttoplay.com/perdita to contribute. The site will update you on my races and results and I would appreciate you forwarding the link to everybody you know.

Racing For Right To Play 

I first became an ambassador for Right To Play after I won the silver medal at the World Championships in 2007. I love everything they stand for, helping disadvantaged children around the world experience sport and play. Especially children in refugee camps and young girls who are marginalized because of their gender.

Play A Right Of Passage

Play growing up in Pickering, ON was the everyday staple for me, I never thought twice about it. My sister Wanda and I would always play in the park even though our mom said we weren't allowed because of how dirty we got afterwards. We got so filthy playing in the sand and gravel that we would hop our neighbour, Mr. Allen's  fence and use his hose to  rinse our dirty legs and feet, then air dry on the walk home for dinner.  Our mom had no clue how much fun we just had and how great the dirt was!

Grateful to Be Back & Give Back

Sport has been a part of my life ever since I was nine and nearly twenty years later it has always been so important to me. Last year I unexpectedly had to miss the entire track season including the Olympics due to a very serious Lisfranc fracture. A part of my world that was so natural and constant was suddenly interrupted. I was told that racing again was very questionable and that any return could be unpredictable and less than world class.

That was heavy news and I worked hard to defy the odds and now have greater appreciation for this season and having my career back at the highest level. Through all of this I have also realized how essential it is to create opportunities for others who would never get the chance to play or experience sport. This is truly a special endeavor to me and I am so happy to be in a position to share Right To Play's message.

My next competition is The Canadian Championships/ World Trials in Toronto @ Varsity Stadium next weekend. 

Semi- Final: Friday June 26 @5:45pm & Final: Saturday June 27 @4:50pm

If you are in town please come out, I would really appreciate the support.

Thanks to everyone & please spread the word!

Perdita

XO

www.righttoplay.com/perdita

Look After Yourself, Look After One Another - Right To Play

I get a lot of requests to speak at functions and make appearances. It is always hard for me to say no, but some things just don't fit with my schedule. If I had to entertain the number of requests, I would be far from world class and my training would suffer. And the irony is all the requests would stop coming in because I'd suddenly suck.

My management company forwards all requests my way and even when we all know something won't fit, it is still important for me to be the one to say, "this won't work". 

However a request I always try to fulfill is individuals who want autograph photos or a short note of encouragement.

A few days ago I got an email from a mother out West, and when I read it I got goose bumps. This mother believes so fiercely in her daughter and how great that she can be she came to me for help. Her daughter happens to look up to me and she knows that anything I say would serve as some encouragement or a wake-up call.

 Her daughter dropped out of a sport she is incredible at, and is at an age where she is growing emotionally and finding her way. This mother had her daughter very early in life and knows sport can open doors and take her child places she could only dream of. There is a tone to her letter that suggests she refuses to watch her daughter repeat any of the mistakes she may have made.

 I got goose bumps because this was my exact testimony when I was 14. And it was my own mother who fought hard to get me back to track after dropping out for 2 years in high school. At that age I didn't know what an opportunity I was giving up.  I had a chance to excel and be great but I had no idea back then.

 How wonderful is this woman who will not stand idly by and let her own child's potential disappear because she is simply too young to know better. I admire her immensely and know one day (if she doesn’t already) her daughter will realize just how wonderful her mother is.

At that age kids don’t always have the life experiences to comprehend that this could be something they regret down the line.

 I hope I say the right things and make some kind of an impact. The fact that this mother came to me in this capacity humbles me and feels awesome at the same time. Thank you.

 Hats off to all the mothers out there that fight for the dreams of their children!

XO

P

I Get Around...

A short picture essay of my life as a jet setter, which began at the tender age of 4.

Enjoy!

Perdita

Fashion Faux-Pas'ing in Niagara Falls, ON

My Tax Haven Monaco, Monte Carlo (I kid)

Getting Glam Toronto, ON

Riding the Pony Vancouver, BC

Thin Air in Whistler, BC

Asking for Tetanus in Grossetto, Italy

The Plaka in Athens, Greece

An ex-flame from France

OJ @ The Famous Icebar in Stockholm,  Sweden

The Olympic Museum in Lausanne, Switzerland 

Draw Master @ Woodbine

Just a friend! The Air Canada Centre

Miles away from it all in Barbados!

'Sippin On Some Sizzurp'

The first time I ever encountered Canada's national media was on a summer's night in Paris in 2003. I had won a world title and suddenly every reporter wanted to talk to me.

It was cool but very overwhelming, and I didn't know what to say, and what not to say.

I remember talking to Randy Starkman of The Toronto Star while eating all the Parisian delights I could find. I was also having a glass of bubbly and told him that too.

This freaked out our wonderful Media liaison who shot me a look of horror and said to never mention this again! It didn't make the morning press and I'm still not sure if  Randy just didn't hear me or decided it was not part of the bigger story. 

In the six years since, if reporters only knew how many times I was talking to them while sippin on some Spumante Bambino...

Goodbye Inside Track

I don't always love the media aspect of my job,  but I do it and always try to be honest and open about what is going on with me. I have been asked some fluff questions that are easy to answer and I have also been asked some very hard/annoying ones over and over and over...again, and I answer those too.

In all these years of courting the media, so to speak, I have the most fun when I sit down with Robin Brown of CBC radio's Inside Track. and Mark Crawley who makes everything happen behind the scenes. It is a pleasure to speak with someone who is interested in the human side of an athlete. And not just the person who performs. Robin's interviews allow the athletes who go on to expose a facet of themselves that their fans rarely get to see and  that other media don't tap into.

I have no idea what CBC is thinking and why they would let one of their most insightful and peerless programs dissolve. But I will miss the stories that Robin Brown tells every Sunday afternoon at 130 local time, and I am certainly not alone.

Click here to hear my final interview (June 7) on  The Inside Track.

Thanks for all the fun Robin & Mark!

Link: http://podcast.cbc.ca/mp3/insidetrack_20090607_16556.mp3

Ciao,

Perdita

Perdi & the Pumpkins

I am back in Champaign and ready for some more days of training. I am not sure what coach has planned but I’m guessing it’s going to be taxing followed by a much welcomed taper going into nationals.
I usually get really sad when I have to leave Toronto, in fact I have been known to cry upon leaving the BFs while driving a compact Chevy Cobalt back to Enterprise. (Indeed this unexpected display startled us both).

But this time was the complete opposite, I couldn’t wait for 4:20pm to come so I could just beat it! Such was my enthusiasm to train and continue the work I have been doing. Get me to Champaign-Urbana STAT!

But this trip wasn't with out some bizarre encounters.

Tickets to the Gun Show
I am platinum on American Airlines but I wonder why I put myself through all of their crap sometimes. I used the self-check in kiosk and had to wait forever to get my passport verified. I kept motioning for this one free agent to come over to help but she kept darting her eyes away like she didn’t notice me.

Like hell u don’t see me flailing these big guns around sister. NASA can see these biceps from space!

Finally she gives me some lack luster hand gesture to approach an agent beside her, because clearly she is just at her podium for style.

Arghh.

I finally get some assistance but that meant starting the whole process over and also paying $45 for two checked bags. 

This airline is a hot mess.

Michelle the agent gets me squared away and has me proceed to customs. Which I do in a rush because I am boarding in 20 minutes. With my two huge roller bags, a small wheelie and a duffle over my shoulder I get to customs and Officer Dale is waiting.

“Hi” I say in my most non threatening 'why-no-I-don’t-have-organic-crunchy-almond-butter-in-my-bag' sorta voice.

“Citizenship?”

Canadian.

“Oh not Jamaican?” asks the officer.

“Umm…no.”

Officer Dale asks if I am of African or West Indian descent

I mean what does this have to do with me getting some almond butter into the country without being fined.

I’m confused because I am both.

“My mom is St. Lucian” I tell him.

“Ha” he laughs “But you want to be Jamaican don’t you!”

This was a statement not a question and Mr. Officer was getting all excited in his swiveling chair. To this I say why does everyone assume that all West Indians hail from Jamaica.

His response “Because Jamaicans are running tings!”

WOW! Is this a joke?

I chuckle nervously while looking over at Booth #8 for help, pleading with my eyes. No one meets my bulging, blinking, twitching eyes.

Not sure what to say I babble that my mom was born in a small village that I have been to only twice in 28 years. And while I love my St. Lucian roots, he really should know I was born in Oshawa.

I wasn’t really sure where I was going with this story but his response to it was: “Why do you look so strong?”.

???????!!!! 

Now I'm just waiting for Ashton Kutcher and MTV cameras to tell me I am being Punk’d.

No Ashton.

Sensing that this is clearly a very loose exchange we are having,  I decide to play his game: “I eat people's children, which makes me lean”.

He doesn’t’ look up.  

And I instantly regret the sentence and yelp out “Just kidding!”. Realising that was a very stupid joke considering the present setting.

After a long seven minutes he lets me go and I hear him laughing as I leave.

Feast Your Eyes Fellas
Next up I approach the group of officers who are supposed to take my customs form. But before they do the three of them exclaim and make some delighted noises. The one refuses to take my form, throwing his hands back and cheesing he says he “doesn’t want a piece of me!”

At this point I’m thinking three things:
1. Is dude allowed to say that?!
2. What are they feeding the officials in this airport?!
3. Oh really. You think this is swole fellas? Come check me after some Tuesday afternoon cleans, pumpkins.

They take my declaration form and ask what sport I do for Canada. I respond and they let loose some ooohs and aaahhhs.

At this point I’m not sure if I should be flattered, troubled or just book my flights out of Kitchener the next time.

Glad to be home again,

Perdita

Thanks Everyone!

Those who have approached, emailed IM'd, texted, called or got a message to me via six degrees of separation, to say good job on Thursday night. I really appreciate the amount of people who were able to watch the broadcast or listen on the radio.


I don't make post race commentary a habit, but it was funny to see the two kinds of reactions after Thursday's race.

1) Those who were keeping their own reaction in check until they could feel me out. Was P, happy with this performance?...hmmm, better play it cool.

Example - "Good job P, how'd you feel?"- J.H

2) Those who didn't give a rats booty if I was happy or disappointed with the run, because they were too over the moon for me (the vast majority).

Example - "Oh my gosh girl, you ran awesome!! I don't care what you say..." -M.H


I haven't won a single race all season but that is so far from my focus and not what is important in early June to me.

Of course I would love to and always aim to win, but my impetus is on following the course of my own season and the gradual build to Worlds in mid August. Every single race is important, but simply a stepping stone. The field assembled was world class and it was a joy to line up against a great bunch.


The last time I ran 12.88 was on April 25th with a +3.0 wind, to run that again into a -1.8 is something to be pleased about. I've already taken out the positives and negatives and kept this thing moving.


Click here to see race on YouTube




Click here for pre-race CTV Video



Click here for Meet Results

Steady on the grind,
P

Hats Off to Festival of Excellence

Wow! And that's not a word I use very often, and usually only when I see something totally inappropriate.

However, this time this use is to sum up my astonishment and amazement of last nights International track meet in Toronto. Other words that come to mind: bananas, ridiculous and are, you, kidding, me?

Yes yesterday was a hit on all levels. The depth of field, the enthusiasm and turn out of a crowd that weathered rain and wind. Wonderful volunteers that showed how world class this city is. And for an inaugural event the organization seemed like a well oiled machine. To race on home soil for the first time in my professional career, felt so right and long overdue. 

I'm kinda sad it over.

Well done T.O and thanks to everyone that had a hand in making it happen! I have been all over the world as a pro and last night affirmed, there ain't no place like home.

Same time, same place next year?

I sure do hope so, because I've already saved the date!

Super proud,

Perdita