Back at it

Ok, Ok, so I am a little off track for my weekly updates.  My excuse;  travel, family and getting back into the swing of training.

I finished up my time at home in OR a couple of weeks ago and spent some time with my family at my childhood home.  As I mentioned in a previous post my mom had surgery and is now in a rehab hospital to regain what she can of her walking and general function for daily use.  It is a slow process but she is making progress daily.  It is so hard to see her struggle, and in some ways harder to see my dad struggle with his emotions and feeling about the whole ordeal.  He has a whole new responsibility and I think he wonders how he is to succeed.  I know he will be just fine, and he would be even better if he just let God take over of all the past, present and the future.  I know he wants to but I think he believes he is not worthy of it (who is? But God WANTS to give us freedom from worry).  Anyhoo, I won't talk more about that.  I have to daily give my concerns and worry to God so dad is certainly not alone.
One great improvement was having my mom at a family wedding reception for a few hours.  She looked great, like herself and besides getting pretty worn out she enjoyed herself and recovered well.

So what next?  Well, I am back in the training environment after having trained alone in OR for the past few months.  It is a whole different atmosphere now that the new quadrennial has begun.  Many of the Olympic women have moved on, and some others are either taking a breather, or finishing school.  I have realized even in the first few days of being back that I have to set some goals.  The past year or so was pretty simple; make it to the Olympics.  Now that we are past that I have to start with the next Olympics as my end goal but there are 4 years prior to cover and in those I need good solid goals for each year, and even throughout each year.  I am already working on eating better, which is easier when I cook for myself and it is only me.  Somehow I reason bad choices when at home.  And my next two rowing goals are Head of the Charles in Boston in which I will be racing the Championship 2x with my partner from World Championships in 2011, and of course there is Canadian Rowing Championships in November where I race the 1x again to defend my title.  These are not easy tasks but I will train hard and work to be the best I can be and leave the rest to God to pan out. 

If I can ask for prayer yet again please pray;
-  for a better sense of my limits as to prevent injury
-  healing of current muscle problem in the rib/shoulder area
-  My mom of course and her local support system, namely my dad and sister.
-  Courage and a listening ear to Christ as I continue on my rowing journey.  I want to do the right things and I don't want to waste time on the wrong things.
-  My incredibly understanding husband.