Heroes in our Tribe of Triumphers

We have so many heroes in our tribe and this week we would like to recognize a few of them. Isolation and social distancing are tough for us all but for some of our members, they have increased challenges in the face of this pandemic. 

LOUISE LEWIS-JAMES
Sadly Louise lost her Mum to cancer on the weekend. Our deepest condolences go out to Louise and her family. When it became apparent that COVID-19 was going to hit Ontario, Louise got herself to Guelph and picked up her Mum and Step-Dad knowing that if she didn't she wouldn't be able to help her ailing Mom. She brought them back to Ottawa and made it her mission to make sure that her Mum had everything she could possibly need. At the same time, she and her husband have 3 young children who need schooling, exercise, and feeding, of course. Our hats go off to you Louise for everything you are coping with. Louise, you are truly a Hero in our Tribe! 

RIDE TO REMEMBER LOUISE'S MUM
Having a death in the family when you can't have a funeral and grieve with your loved ones is tough! We have organized a Ride to Remember for Tuesday at 9 am. We will connect on Zwift with Louise and all of you who would like to support her and choose a Zone 2 Route. This will be our virtual way of supporting Louise and connecting with her to get back in the saddle with her Triumph friends.

GAVIN AND JAYCEE GRUSNICK (see main picture)
In happy news, Gavin and Jaycee are proud to announce that they have a new baby boy! Waller Grusnick was born last week at 8lbs 1oz and his brother McCoy looks pretty happy to have a brother. Going anywhere near a hospital is the last thing on most people's list but they had to be heroes and go on in. Luckily Jaycee had a relatively quick and easy birth and they were sent home the next day. They are all happy and healthy at home.

OUR HEALTH CARE WORKERS
A BIG thank-you goes out to our heroic health care workers who when we don't want to go near care facilities they are going in to work or supporting the health care system in their way. Thank you to Stephanie Obaseki-Johnson, Lynn Scott, Nancy St-Germain, Sue Bennett, Darcy Yee, Robert Chen, Lucie Villeneuve, Linda Lafrance and anyone else who is out on the front lines. A big thank you also goes out to those members who are at home while their spouses or kids are on the front lines: Don Anderson, Sylvie Lemay, Brenda Ross, and Julie Deimling.Thank you all for being there for our community!

FANTASTIC FEATS OF FITNESS!
For so many of us, learning that you are not going to race your A race can be really disappointing and maybe affect your will to continue training. Yes, there will be ups and downs but it's really important to keep up your training and decide what level of training you want to proceed at. If we are able to race in September, what would that look like if you had stayed on the couch now?

Case in Point - Josee Perreault qualified for Boston but she kept up the training and finished the marathon yesterday! It's important to stick to your goals and maybe not race at your top speed but do your best to safely reach the distance you had set out. Gary Maxwell, Debi Zaret, Sophie Dagenais and Francis Pomerleau all finished the Ironman Virtual Sprint triathlon on the weekend! Congratulations to everyone for pushing their limits and taking up the challenge!

Reach out if you need any assistance and please remember to join us weekly for our yoga/strength/spin virtual classes.  All of them can be found on our Youtube Channel here. Do not forget to subscribe to the channel and hit the bell so that every time a video is uploaded you get a notification.

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