The Bromont Grinder

Heading into January, I was finally regaining my momentum. My gym numbers were climbing, my baseline strength was returning, and I felt ready to properly rebuild after a disastrous December. Then, a massive curveball hit. I received exactly one week of notice from my coach for a mandatory training camp in Bromont, Canada. I had to immediately pivot, buy last-minute flights, and scramble to get my equipment across the border.

Bromont Velodrome

Despite the logistical chaos, I was genuinely keen to make the trip. I had lived in Bromont for six months in early 2024, and I was excited to return and train at that familiar facility. Right as I was packing for Canada, there was another major highlight. I secured my first official brand partnership with Insta360. Building my social media presence has been a massive parallel effort to my athletic career, and landing this deal was an exciting validation of that work. It gave me a fresh wave of motivation as I headed north to the velodrome.

I arrived in Bromont with a lot of enthusiasm, ready to capitalize on my returning strength. The workload, however, was immense. We packed an overwhelming amount of track time into what was originally planned as a nine-day camp. Near the end of the block, the trip was extended, pushing the total camp out to about two weeks. At first, the density of the training felt like exactly what I needed. I was putting in highly productive efforts and finally getting the structured track time I lacked all fall.

By the end of the extended camp, I wasn't totally spent, but I was definitely starting to feel the effects of the heavy volume. My gym strength had tanked hard. The real issue was looking at the calendar. Knowing there was still a massive amount of training on the plan for the next few weeks before leaving for the Pan American Championships made me slightly nervous. A familiar doubt began creeping back in. I was watching my numbers drop and wondering if I was heading right back into the exact same cycle of overtraining.