Michelle Stilwell Report #2

Here we go...

I had trouble falling asleep last night. It was after midnight before I convinced myself that I could only control certain things. If it rains or is windy, that is out of my control. If my competitors have great starts and push faster than me that is our of my control. I can only be responsible for myself and be as prepared as humanely possible. If the outcome is not what I had hoped for, it was not meant to be. So that is what I have done (an I didn't even make a list!) After waking up early this morning (6:30), I laid in bed thinking about the events that would occur today. I stretched for a while (all while thinking about my grand plan) and then picked up my book. By 9am I was sleepy again so I closed my eyes and took a nap. Finally around 10am I woke up, feeling refreshed and ready to take on the day.
I set my plan in action. I laid everything I would need today out on my bed. Then it was time to fuel my body a bit with some breaky. After a quick but relaxing nibble while watching the news (the crocodile hunter died and Aggasi retired from tennis), I took a nice long hot bath. Again I was going over the grand plan, minus the events that had already taken place.


Then the major decision was in front of me how was I going to do my hair!!! Ponytail, pigtails or braids? Hey this is a very important decision to make. So in honor of my new buddy Jess; I am going with the braids girlfriend. J So next on the agenda is lunch, then I will leave to the track from there with my hot water bottle in hand (I have discovered it is a great way to stay warm in the pathetic weather--all part of the plan).
I will save the rest of the details for after the race till then wish me luck. J

9:30pm So all is said and done for the 100m. I finished with a silver medal only 3/100 of a second behind the Swiss girl who took first. IT was very stressing and nerve racking leading up to the final hour before the race. We had lunch at the village like planned at 1pm and were going to take the bus at 2pm to the track. We got on the bus on time but it took us for a scenic tour to a neighbouring town to pick up a different bus driver. The 10 minute journey took almost 40min. My stress levels were sky rocketing. The when I got to the track I planned to get a sport massage at 3pm. However, Yvonne forgot and had gone for lunch. Yup, things were not looking good. I decided to get in my chair and warm up without the massage. Warm up went okay. The warm up track is a bit scary since you have many athletes of various speeds going in a circle and just for kicks we throw in the blind runners and their guides! The sun was peaking through and it was not raining so I was a happy camper.

I had about 5 minutes till I had to report to the call tent so I went over to our Canadian tent to drop things off and pick up my accreditation. A fellow quad racer (Clayton Gerin), asked if I was ready and I said, Yeah I feel pretty good. He looked at my chair and said, "Your not *&#!*#&# ready, your compensator is about to fall off" My heart rate went way up and now I was in a panic. The last thing you want to be doing before a race is fiddle with your compensator. Next thing I knew the wrench was out and it was being duck taped! I was freaking out that this would be a repeat of London.

The rest was somewhat uneventful, I followed the plan and when I heard the gun go I had an amazing start. Really strong. If we were doing 110m I think I could have finished first because the last 20m I really gained on Pia. But it was not in the cards for today. It does give me some good things to focus on for Wednesday's race.
Mark and my parents arrive tomorrow. I am looking so forward to seeing them!

I will write again after the race on Wednesday.

love,
Mikey