Dear Julia….

Email: julia@icancompete.com
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Dear Julia,

Hungry Childrens’  Mom

Dear Hungry Childrens’  Mom,

Since I spend so much of my time at the pool (10 workouts per week), I don’t have a lot of free time to cook. After I get home from my second practice of the day, I am usually too tired to make anything complicated! I’ve learned that the best strategy is to prepare beforehand, on one of my days off. A dish I really enjoy is lasagna. I always use my mom’s recipe; it is simple, but so good that I refuse to order lasagna in a restaurant because it suffers by comparison. The best thing about making lasagna is that you can prepare it hours or even a day before, so when you are ready to eat it, you just have to throw it in the oven! Perfect for an exhausted athlete who has just walked in the door from practice.

Mary’s Lasagna:

You Will Need:

o      1 lb of extra lean ground beef (or ground turkey)

o      1½  cups of sliced mushrooms

o      1 jar of spaghetti sauce (I usually use Newman’s Own Tomato Basil Bombolina)

o      1 package of oven-ready lasagna noodles (using pre-cooked makes the job go way faster!)

o      1 medium container of Ricotta cheese (about 2 cups)

o      2 cups shredded mozzarella

o      1/4 cup parmesan cheese

Lightly spray the bottom of a 9×13 baking dish with PAM to prevent the lasagna from sticking. Then coat the bottom of the pan with a very small amount of spaghetti sauce (< 2 tbsp). You need to coat the bottom since you are using pre-cooked noodles: it prevents the lasagna from being too dry!

Using two separate pans, brown the ground beef and sauté the mushrooms. After draining the grease off the ground beef, combine with the mushrooms and remaining spaghetti sauce in a large bowl. Stir until the meat, mushrooms and sauce are mixed well.

Cover the bottom of the baking dish with a single layer of noodles: it is okay if there are spaces in between them, the noodles will expand when they cook. Using half of your ricotta cheese, coat each noodle with a layer of ricotta cheese (I usually pick the noodles up and coat the cheese with my fingers, it works better than using a spoon. Make sure you’ve washed your hands first though!). Cover the ricotta coated noodles with half the sauce-meat-mushroom mixture. Then sprinkle 1 cup of shredded mozzarella on top of the sauce mixture. Repeat this entire process for the next layer, and then sprinkle the very top with parmesan cheese.

You can then cover the dish with plastic wrap and refrigerate the lasagna until you wish to cook it. When you are ready to enjoy your dinner, remove the plastic wrap and cook at 325^o for 40-45 minutes or until the cheese on top is golden brown. Let the lasagna stand for at least 5 minutes after you take it out of the oven before you serve it.

Enjoy!

Julia

Dear Julia,

I am a 20 year old swimmer.  I’m starting to feel overwhelmed with swimming as if it is consuming my whole life.  I originally joined swimming because I loved being in the water, although I now feel as if it is turning into 95% work and 5% play.

There are many opportunities outside of swimming that I have to forego because of my commitment to the sport and sometimes I actually feel quite guilty about those opportunities which I feel I can never tackle. It’s frustrating because I’ve just reached the point in my swimming career where I’m exactly where I want to be.  I’m performing well, I’m always challenged in meets and at practice, yet the fire in me I feel is starting to die out.  What should I do?

Thanks for the advice,

GG

Dear GG,

I definitely understand where you are coming from! For me, swimming usually feels like “work” as opposed to “fun”, especially if you have lofty goals. It is no secret that competitive swimming is one of the more demanding sports you can participate in: early mornings, two practices per day, weekends away at meets, and a season that is pretty much year round leaves little time for activities outside of the pool. I usually tell people that, although they feel as if they are missing out on fun social activities, the rewards you get from sticking with the sport, like travelling to cool places or representing your country, are more than worth the social sacrifices. There are, however, some things that I still feel guilty about missing, so know that you are not alone. Last month two of my very good friends got married, but I was unable to attend because of my demanding training schedule in this Olympic year. Although I feel guilty for missing their wedding, my friends were completely understanding of why I could not be there. The people in your life who are truly supportive of your goals are the ones who will never make you feel guilty about your dedication to swimming. Try not to beat yourself up over your choice to swim and instead focus on the fact that, as you said, you are at a place where you want to be in your swimming and that is because you have worked so hard.

Since swimmers compete significantly less than we train, there can often be long stretches of time where you do not see any results of your hard work. This is usually what makes me feel like my fire is “burning out”. The best way to keep swimming fun and motivational is to maintain at least two sets of goals. I have my ultimate goal in the back of my mind at all times, plus a plethora of small goals that I work on every day in practice. The small goal can be as simple as changing something technically, like doing seven kicks off the wall in backstroke every workout instead of six. Or averaging two tenths of a second faster on a best average 50’s set. This makes practice seem more like a competition, even if you are simply competing against yourself. Often, your ultimate goal can seem like it is at the end of a long tunnel and you just can’t seem to see the light. By setting small goals along the way, you will stay focused and have more fun at practice. Plus, the small goals are the building blocks of your ultimate goal: it is all fine and nice to want to win an Olympic medal, but you have to build the foundation to get there first.

I hope some of this can help you get your fire back, especially if you finally feel like you are “on your way” to the success that all swimmers dream about. However, no matter how many goals you set or how many best friends you have in the lanes beside you, there are going to be days you feel guilty about missed opportunities or simply feel your motivation dwindling. I promise you that every athlete has days like that. Just remember that for any opportunity outside of the pool that you miss, there are multiple opportunities that will present themselves because of swimming. No, I could not go to my friends’ wedding. But I did get to represent Canada at the Olympics. Try to always focus on what you can do as a result of swimming, as opposed to what your swimming is stopping you from doing.

Go get ‘em girl,

Julia

Dear Julia,

I am a 16-year-old water polo player and my question is not about the sport because I know you are a swimmer. I read you attended an American university and swam for the school team. I just received my first Division 1 recruiting letter and am thrilled. However; with all the excitement I am scared even now when I have two years of high school left. I wonder if you could tell me if you felt any stress knowing you were a recruited athlete versus one who just showed up on the pool deck the day of try-outs and jumped into the water. I want to know how you dealt with the pressure your freshman year.

Thanks Julia,

Recruited but Petrified!

Dear Recruited but Petrified,

First of all, congratulations on receiving your first recruiting letter! I still remember when I started receiving recruiting packages. At first I was thrilled… and then I was stressed! I had no idea how to sort through all of them, and the fact that I grew up in Canada and knew very little about the NCAA or its institutions didn’t help. In hindsight, however, I realize that I had no reason the stress. You have so many resources to help you decide what school is best for you: your parents, your school guidance councilors, and there is so much information available online. I ended up choosing Texas A&M University after I took four recruiting trips to different schools, and I made the decision entirely on my gut. It turned out to be the right decision. Trust yourself!

Now, as you said, you still have two years until you are heading off to college so choosing a school should be low on your list of priorities right now. However, being recruited can put pressure on you as an athlete: knowing that a school wants to put the future of its team’s success in your abilities can be a bit intimidating… but only if you let it intimidate you. Instead, look at this recruiting letter as something to help build your confidence. This is something to put in your mental toolbox. You are being recruited as a high school junior, you are that good. Instead of freaking out because of the pressure, hold your head high and feel confident. Sport is just as much a mental game as it is physical, and you can choose how you respond to mental challenges. Don’t beat yourself before you even get to college!

My first semester at Texas A&M, I started having pretty bad lower back pain. For several months, the athletic trainers and doctors were unable to figure out what it was, and there was a chance that I might have to redshirt because of it. I was stressed, because I wanted to prove that I was worth my scholarship. In the end, I was able to get the injury under control and was cleared to compete. Although it was a stressful situation, the coaches, doctors and athletic trainers were doing everything they could to help me get better so I could be the best that I could be. The reason I am telling you this story is this: when you walk onto that campus your first semester, you will not be alone. You have a huge support staff there to help you succeed. They believe in you, so you should believe in yourself too.

Most importantly, remember that sports are supposed to be fun, and if you are having fun, you will perform better. So keep working hard, stay healthy, and have fun playing. You think you are good now? You will be even better by the time you get to college. Good luck!

Go get ‘em girl,

Julia