For a lot of you reading this site, I’m guessing that you’re in the midst of a racing season right now. Maybe it is road. Maybe it is mountain biking. Or a mix of the two. Whatever it is, this is the time that we bike racers live for. The sensations from training are never quite as rewarding as those we get from racing. We do the intervals and long hard rides so that when we line up we have the fitness and confidence to push ourselves that little bit deeper and harder.

We set goals. We do our best. And hopefully our goals are achieved. If they are – great. If not – well the big thing that separates bike racers is determining what to do when goals aren’t met. Some people will reassess and set new goals. Others will look at their training and recovery and see if they need to make some adjustments. Others will ignore the missed goal and pretend that they are okay (mentally and physically). Others will realize the difference between performance and outcome. The thing about goals is that they are just that – goals. Nothing more. Nothing less.

Over the weekend the best mountain bikers in the world met up in England to race the Dalby Forest World Cup. Young Evan McNeely was there to race his first U23 World Cup in his Team Canada skinsuit. Evan had a good hard race and an excellent result. After the race, he had an interview with Canadian Cyclist website. I really urge you to watch/listen to Evan’s interview. He drops some deep words of wisdom about goals and racing.

Today is World IBD Day. In other words it is is World Inflammatory Bowel Disease Day. A day to try and raise awareness of the prevelance of Crohn’s and ulcerative colitis. Also an opportunity for people living with these diseases to talk openly about life with Crohn’s or ulcerative colitis. And even more importantly it is a chance for family members and friends of those with these diseases to talk about how they are impacted by having a loved one dealing with these diseases.

Every single of one of you knows someone who has Crohn’s or ulcerative colitis (yes – me). But I’m guessing you know someone else who has one of these diseases. The incidences of Crohn’s and ulcerative colitis are on the rise in the developed world. One statistic says that 1 in 160 Canadians has ulcerative colitis.

There is no known cause for Crohn’s and ulcerative colitis. There is no known cure for Crohn’s or ulcerative colitis. Some people are on drugs for the rest of their lives. Some people have their colon removed. Some people have their intenstines re-sectioned. Most people suffer from flares, the uncertainty of remission and the side effects from the medication. Some people have used a diet such as the Specific Carbohydrate Diet (SCD) to put an end to their flares and symptoms. Some people try a vegan diet. Some people remove gluten and dairy from their diet.

Two years ago I would never have believed that I’d be writing about World IBD Day or ulcerative colitis. But I am. I was diagnosed with ulcerative colitis two years ago. This was a massive shock to my system. After all, I live a very active and healthy lifestyle: very healthy diet, very active, don’t drink or smoke, etc. But still, I ended up with ulcerative colitis. Ulcerative colitis and Crohn’s disease are auto-immune diseases – in other words – our bodies are attacking themselves. For some reason my body chose to attack my colon.

Life has had its many ups and downs in these past two years. There have been days when I really couldn’t get out of bed because I was so sick. There were days when I’ve felt so healthy and strong that I didn’t believe I was sick.

And today? Well today I am in a remission – thanks to some very powerful drugs (Imuran and Asacol). My body is in a remission but somedays my brain feels like it is still in a flare. It is challenging psychologically to deal with the uncertainty, impacts, and fear of having a disease like ulcerative colitis. I’m also extremely aware of how hard this disease is on Marc. Every pain, loss of hair, chill, dash to the bathroom, and moment of uncertainty is felt by Marc. Sometimes I think the psychological impacts of this disease are worse than the physical.

I’ve tried to tell myself that I’m a healthy person. But this isn’t quite right. I’m a healthy sick person. I’m getting the most out of my body and life, while dealing with ulcerative coltis. Just like any other person – I’m getting the most out of life.

So today, on World IBD Day, take the time for an attitude of grattitude. Appreciate your healthy body and the gifts you have in life. Maybe you are dealing with somehting as well – well just make today the best day you can. This is all any of us can do.

Ulcerative colitis does not define me. It is part of me – but it is not me.

The weather is still not that great. But it is what it is, and as much as I’d like to – I simply can’t change it. The only thing to do is to deal with it and “buck up”. So I’ve been doing my best to embrace the wind, the rain and the cold.

Actually I’m starting to enjoy the wind. I get a strange thrill out of riding into a hard headwind or crosswind. Give me a headwind or crosswind anyday over a hill. I find I can turn my brain off, get in a pedaling groove and motor along against the wind just fine. But point the road uphill and I begin to spaz out a bit and forget that I have lots of power and spinning capacity in my legs. So, I’ll take the wind anyday.

As for the rain. Well, it isn’t so bad once you’re wet. Once I’m wet I give myself the check over: “feet are warm – yes”, “hands are warm – yes”, “core is warm – yes”, “head is covered and warm –  yes” – okay then no reason to not keep riding. The thing about the rain is simply dressing for it. Wear layers. Wear extra shoe covers. Wear thicker gloves than you think you need and bring a spare pair with you. And pedal hard. This way you won’t notice the rain. Oh and try to minimize “nature breaks” – especially if you’re a girl and are wearing bib shorts. Nothing worse than having to take off multiple layers to get at the straps on your shorts…

So all this to say that the weather is what it is. Soon enough the sun will be out again and some will be complaining about the heat. Whatever it is – I’ll take it. After all, I race my bike in December and January and really it doesn’t matter that it is in Belgium – it is still cold when all I have on is a skinsuit and a base layer.

Looking forward to some good riding this week. I’ve got a bunch of good hard long days this week and then four days of recovery next week. I’m slated to the local Ottawa training crit on May 31. Slightly nervous about this. But if I don’t try it – I simply won’t know. This time last year I was riding with the big boys without any trouble – so long as I can remember how ride a crit I should be okay. Time will tell I guess. I suppose the first step is getting my racing license…

Okay, well I’m off. Don’t know if you caught the Tour of California today but I was super impressed by Thor Hushovd taking off his booties during the race. This is kind of a “kids don’t try this at home” move – and please don’t try it in the crit on May 31!

Value. This is the word that has been swirling around in my head this week.

I’ve been busy this week applying for some really interesting writing and social media jobs that really are an excellent fit for me. The trick with this is clearly defining my value to my prospective employer and doing this in a one-page resume and a succinct cover letter. This can be challenging. Even for someone as skilled with language as I am. In the old days when I used to be only interested in technical writing jobs, showing and expressing my value to a company was pretty easy – I’m a darn good technical writer with excellent writing, editing and technical skills. Really these are more measurable qualities than what is required of an excellent freelance writer, editor or social media professional – and yes I’m darn good at this as well but I don’t have 15 years of experience to back me up. It is all about value and getting the message across.

The other thing that has had me consumed with value this week is my ongoing search for a couple of new sponsors for the upcoming cyclo-cross season. I have researched and found some excellent companies that I know I’d be a good representative of and the products/brands fit really well with what I do and who I really am. But of course, the trick is showing my value to these companies. I know that a logo on a skinsuit really doesn’t give the company much value – it is what I can do for the company beyond the bicycle (particularly when I’m looking for sponsors who aren’t necessarily involved with cycling). This is where it gets challenging. So I have been spending time this week really thinking about what it is I can offer companies who do sponsor me. I’m not sending out form emails to a whole bunch of companies – nope – I’m doing research, trying to find a real contact name and writing an email specific to the company and brand.

All I can do after all of this is wait and think positive thoughts. Hope that my emails, resumes, and cover letters got to the right person on the right day at the right time. There is no science to this business of showing value – if there was there would be very little unemployment and us cyclists and other athletes would be turning away sponsors.

Speaking of which, check out the fine companies who I do have supporting me for this upcoming season:

• Bell Lap Coaching
• The Cyclery
• Stevens Bikes
• Clif Bar
• Outdoor Gear Canada
• Champion Systems Canada

Normally when I go for a ride I put together a playlist of various podcasts to listen to. Typically these podcasts are a variety of CBC, NPR, This American Life, and Public Radio International podcasts. This makes for some good listening and I find I actually learn a lot while training. But yesterday I just wasn’t feeling any of the podcast options in my iTunes library. An audio book would have been nice, but I’m cheap and don’t want to pay to listen. I could have spent a lot of time dithering about what to listen to during my ride, but I was running out of time to get my ride done so I just went with whatever was on my iPod.

This is where I count myself lucky – running out of time to ride. This meant I couldn’t waste time fretting about a new playlist. Instead I went with a playlist titled: 2010 warm-up. I used this playlist for the entire 2009-2010 season – I listened to it before each race and often when out training. But I had forgotten what songs made up this playlist.

Well, what a treat to listen to 2010 warm-up. This playlist has everything in it with musicians like Against Me, INXS, Pat Benatar, Kings of Leon, Michael Jackson, New Radicals, Dixie Chicks, Jann Arden, and k.d. lang. Yes, a bit eclectic but it covers all the moods and emotions I go through before, during and after a cyclo-cross race.

All in all, this was the perfect playlist for Wednesday’s ride. It got me in the groove and found me singing (or yelling) out loud along with the musicians belting out their tunes. I feel sorry for anyone who heard me sing a long – being in tune is not one of my specialties. I used this playlist to help me get through my microburst intervals (amazing how hard 10 seconds can be) and to keep me focused on the end-goal. Songs came through the headphones that brought me back to the 2009-2010 season where everything just seemed to go perfectly. I met my goals, surpassed them in some cases and really had the dream season. Nothing quite like having these memories to fuel me through a challenging ride.

Inspiration and motivation can come in many forms – often from the most unexpected places. I’m thinking it is time to put together a new playlist for the 2011-2012 season – yes I’ve got that feeling back in my legs, lungs and soul.

(I haven’t done this in a while, so now is the perfect time. Speaking of motivation and inspiration – have you read my book An Unlikely Elite? It might just give you the spark you need to get through a rough spot or help you to set some goals for the year. Or maybe you’ll just find it an interesting insight into my life. Whatever you get from it will be good. So go download it an give it a read. Download the PDF here. Download the EPUB here.)