Paula Findlay is turning a corner in her triathlon career, and she does not know what is around it.
But 22-year-old Findlay does does not want a miserable race at the London Olympics to be her final competition of 2012. The former world No. 1 finished last in the women's triathlon.
Findlay managed just six weeks of quality training coming into London because of a hip injury that plagued her for a year. She wants to build on those few weeks and salvage 2012.
"I still feel like I'm in the middle of race season," she said Saturday at a coffee shop near the athletes village.
"Maybe just like some running races, road races and cross country. Maybe I just need to get my confidence back before next year a little bit I think."
"Last year, I finished my year with a did-not-finish in Beijing and that made the whole winter hard to go through, having that freshest in my mind. If I finish the season with this race freshest in my mind, I think it's going to be hard to go through the year again."
Findlay mentioned October's world championship in Auckland, New Zealand, as a possibility for her.
sa国际传媒's athletes produced dozens of memorable images in London, both happy and sad. Findlay crossed the finish line on Day 8 sobbing and apologizing.
She cried during her post-race interview and apologized to Canadians again.
Her tears were not just for the race, but more than a year of frustration that came on the heels of seeming so unbeatable. Findlay won six world championship series races over 2010 and 2011, including one on London's Olympic course.
Shortly before a scheduled World Cup in her hometown of Edmonton in July last year, Findlay injured her hip. It was the start of a downward spiral.
Months of trying to determine the exact nature of the injury and attempting to train through it produced setbacks. The situation came to a head in June when she split with coach Patrick Kelly and endured another athlete's appeal of her appointment to the Olympic team.
Joining forces with Simon Whitfield, his coach Jon Brown and physiotherapist Marilyn Adams for two months before the Games got her to the start line in London, she said. Her hip was not painful during the race. Findlay lacked race readiness because she had not been in one since last September.
The day after the women's triathlon, an emotional Whitfield criticized Kelly and others tasked with getting Findlay to the Games, saying her situation was "completely mismanaged."
Findlay is grateful to Whitfield for advocating on her behalf. She now faces major decisions. She needs a coach and training partners when she returns to Victoria on Monday.
"Honestly, I'm more sorry about when I go home of how I'm going to get back to structured training without a real training group there and without a solid plan," she said. "That's what I'm trying to work out."
Findlay needs a coach who can diplomatically pull on the reins if she is in danger of overtraining.
"I am good at talking people into things if I want them," she admitted. "I do think I need someone who is a little more strict."
Findlay has not discussed working with Brown in the future, but he specializes in running. Findlay needs a coach to train her in swimming and biking as well.
She would also like a few women close to her abilities to push her in training. Findlay could not find anyone to train with her when she was healthy.
"If there's someone that's pretty close and on-par to me, then I push myself harder because I want to beat them in training," she said. "If you're with a male and they're stronger and a bit ahead of you, you tend to accept that's OK because they're supposed to be faster than you. So you never really get that edge.
"If there's a track workout and there's a girl beside you, you make sure you beat her."
Triathlon sa国际传媒 will look to hire a new high-performance director to oversee the needs of its top athletes. Kurt Innes left the position in May 2011 to work for Canadian Sport Centre Pacific. The organization's president, Alan Trivett, has served as acting high-performance director since then and will have a say in Findlay's decisions.
"I think I need Alan's help to make sure he's supportive of what I decide," Findlay said. "Ultimately it is my choice. They've invested a lot into me, so they have a big say in the choices I make."
