Olympic year begins now

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Julia Wilkinson wasn't entirely pleased about her performance at the swimming world championships, but she recognizes that was just one step on the road to London. (Francois Xavier Marit/AFP/Getty Images)

At 7:15 a.m. on Monday, I officially started the Olympic year.

That's the exact time my clock radio burst into a song - midway through, obviously - to let me know that it was time to stumble out of bed for my morning workout.

Although waking up after 7:00 in order to be in the water by 8:00 is a sleep-in compared to practices during the regular season, the fact that my short-lived summer vacation was already over was somewhat depressing. However, this is more than overshadowed by the excitement about what lies less than one year ahead of me: the Olympic Games in London.

After competing at the world championships in Shanghai last month, I arrived back on Canadian soil on August 4, and my 10-day vacation started off with a bang: I was moved up to first class on my flight from London Heathrow to Toronto! And I'm not talking about just a little extra legroom - this cabin had it all: seats that turn into beds, five-course meals and impeccable service from the flight attendants. I was a little bit embarrassed since the Swim Canada t-shirt I was wearing was far from clean - even though it was the cleanest shirt I had left - but at least I had taken a shower that morning. Needless to say, I felt incredibly lucky (thanks Air Canada!), but I must've stood out worse than a moose at a reindeer party.

Soaking up Stratford

I spent the first half of my break back home in Stratford, Ont. My mom thought it would be fun for my family to have a whole day of soaking up all that our little town has to offer: good food and the Stratford Festival.

On Saturday, we saw not one but two plays. We began with a musical, Camelot, and then headed to one of my family's favourite restaurants in town, The Keystone. Over the rich food we discussed the show and my mom prepped me for the next one: William Shakespeare's Twelfth Night. Unfortunately, regardless of my nerdy love for Shakespeare, the combination of jet lag and a full belly resulted in a horrible bout of "inability to stay awake" during the play. The parts I did see, however, were excellent!

The rest of my stay in Stratford was pretty relaxing. I walked the dog with my dad, got a pedicure with my sister, and went shopping with my mom. On Wednesday morning, my parents took me back to the airport and I flew to Houston to see my boyfriend, Shane, and his family. You know you have a good boyfriend when he meets you in baggage claim with your favourite Starbucks latte and a breakfast burrito that you have been craving since you moved away from Texas.

Texas forever

We spent the next five days cramming in as much visiting and sightseeing as we possibly could. On the first day, we visited Shane's youngest sister and toured the Blue Bell ice cream factory in Brenham, Texas (I really enjoy my treats when I'm not training). From there, we drove to Austin to help celebrate a friend's recent engagement. After day one, I was already exhausted.

The rest of the trip was spent fitting in as many "dates" as we had hours in the day, since we have spent the last 16 months in a long-distance relationship because of my training. We went shopping, to movies, and out for multiple meals.

The highlight, however, was probably when my former professional-baseball player boyfriend swam lengths with me at the local pool. Much to my chagrin, he was actually a pretty good swimmer. Since I'm terrible at every sport other than swimming, and he's good at every single sport he plays, I was hoping he would at least be a little bit... well, bad at swimming. Unfortunately, his athleticism crosses over into the pool too. Clearly, that simply isn't fair.

On my final night in Texas, we drove to Houston so I could visit with some of my friends that I swam with at Texas A&M University. It was fun to hear all about their lives now that they are graduated and retired from the sport: their jobs, their mortgages, their responsibilities. Even though sometimes I complain about waking up early and training until my body aches, I am so happy to still be swimming. I mean, not many 9-5 jobs let you have a nap every day, live in sweatpants, and travel the world. I'm so lucky that I get to do what I love.

Back on the warpath

Even though I only had a short break, I'm feeling more motivated than ever, for multiple reasons. Seeing my friends - former swimmers - made me realize how lucky I am to still have the opportunity to swim internationally. Seeing my family and Shane reminded me how much love and support I have behind me this year; support that I am definitely going to need for even a shot at the podium in London.

And, most importantly, not achieving my goals at the world championships has put me on the warpath. I know that I need to be the fittest, strongest and toughest if I'm going to be the fastest next year. That is going to take all the blood, sweat and tears I have in my body.

Whenever I don't get what I want in this sport, it makes me angry. And as my mom always says, "Angry Julia is bad news for her competition."

Less than 12 months to go. Let the real work begin.

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