I saw it coming but there was nothing I could do to stop it.
I tried to stop buying diet coke and had to muffle the nut grinder to sneak ground flax into Charlie’s oatmeal (…he was not impressed).
None of it really worked. I thought I was being clever. I thought I was going to heal him. (That was only 6 weeks ago.)
On Feb 19th and 20th, 1988, at a university in my home town, I met Charlie Francis for the second or third time.
Little did I know this man would transform my world into what I now refer to it as, “My entire adult life.”
It all sounds the same, I know. Girl meets boy… They marry… They plan… They have kids…
This was not exactly how our beginnings began.
Did I know he would stop coaching and want nothing to do with a sport that changed both our lives?
What I know for sure is whatever happened from that moment on was one of the very best things that ever happened to me.
——————-
I got the call at 7:15 am Wednesday May 12th from Sunnybrook Hospital in Toronto where I had dropped Charlie off on Mother’s Day ( not sure if only North America celebrates this exact date) (Sunday May 9th, 2010) for “routine chemo” — en route to stem cell transplant in July. We were so hopeful and felt we had our miracle.
I wasn’t going to answer the phone Wednesday morning because I had a little dispute with him the night before. Okay… Honestly he was pissing me off so I hung up on him.
I rarely hung up on him but I was at my wits end and admittedly struggling for sometime before this. He was guilty of loving me too much and trying to advise my attempt to hold the fort down while he was away from his work for a bit. Sometimes I don’t take advice the way I should. Okay, I hated it when he told me what to do. Not so much for the first 20 years of our marriage, but when I gained control in the last year ( control is the ultimate illusion) , it became annoying.
But I answered the call anyway. The doctor who called sounded more concerned than I was so I made a protein shake (my favourite one with pineapple and coconut milk… Yummy! Even Charlie liked it I grabbed a sweater as well just in case the day dragged on. ( I was protecting myself at this point)
I was cool. I didn’t rush. Charlie didn’t like me rushing. Especially when driving his cars.
I got to the hospital but he wasn’t there. I started crying and then I knew something was not right.
I found him in the Intensive Care Unit, but first spoke with the harried doctor who was on the night shift. The doctors presented options for us but told me I had to decide almost in an instant. I already knew what Charlie would say and I already knew what we would do. The doctor said to me “ I have never seen anyone digest that amount of information so quickly and decide something so important” Clearly this doctor knew nothing of how Charlie and I discussed everything.
When I first saw Charlie I was crying small tears remembering my last moments on our call the night before. He comforted me in his usual way as even I knew it was silly but I had to bring it up. We hugged, we kissed, we spoke and I began to make some calls to get dear James, Charlie’s wonderful brother and a few very special people whom are both friends, family and clients.
One by one everyone I called came quickly. Charlie was in good spirits, lucid till almost the end and he was the only one not visibly shaken. The time had come too quickly and suddenly and most unexpectedly but he was ready to die in that moment.
We prayed at the hands of our very dear friends Sandra and Brendon who study spirituality and religion. After we all said ’so long’ his last remembered words were:
“I need to get some rest. I am going to have to go. Amen.”
This site will live on as our memory to Charlie and his love of what he wanted most: To share his knowledge, his wisdom and his experience.
Thank-you all so much from James and I from the bottom of our sorrow-filled hearts. I know I should not apologize but sometimes I like to say sorry and I never meant to keep any of you out of the loop.
I have lots of ideas and plans and hope you will all stick around to see and share and mind your manners. Please and thank-you.
In the past few months before Charlie died we spoke often of many things but especially to do with our son James.
I wanted to know what he wanted for him. Do you want him to go to “x” university, do you want him to do “x” sport , do you want him to ………..?
He replied….. “The only thing I really want for my son James is to be a good person.”
How is that for some good common sense to get you through this spot we call life?
Cheers to all of you. Train smarter not harder and see you all back soon.
Charlie and I were discussing the importance of tempo and why some don’t get it. He summarized it perfectly by saying,
“You must do tempo especially for sport. Females are especially vulnerable because they have trouble staying lean without it”
Secondly their nervous system can not tolerate higher volumes of more intense alternatives.
Charlie Francis of CharlieFrancis.com adds..
The longer your athletes spend on indoor hard surfaces the more likely shin splints, Achilles tendon issues and other lower limb problems can occur.
To prevent this you need an arsenal of alternative strategies.
The “No Excuse Series” in our store offers varied levels of workouts to suite almost anyone for fat loss, increasing lean body mass and tempo training. All you need is a small space, the right attitude and you are ready to go!
The “No Excuse Series” also contains a bike workout that steps it up a notch if you have a regular or exercise style bike. The primary advantage of this workout is you get the cardio done limiting the pounding.
Finally Project Jane a favorite product of ours which contains an excellent pool workout that works very well replacing tempo especially for those who can not run due to injury.
Let us know how it goes and we will see you on the forum.
The video addresses many of the complaints from Athletes and Coaches alike about problems resulting from lack of facilities and poor weather conditions. While most sprinters chase the sun, many have to contend with the harsh reality of bad weather and lack of facilities. Charlie’s former squad certainly fell into this category, yet achieved international success and perhaps this is why Charlie does not accept such complaints as a justifiable excuse for poor preparation. In this video series Charlie and wife Angela Coon, former Canadian National Team 100m Hurdler, present several general conditioning workouts for athletes of different levels that can be done almost anywhere. This is the advanced segment, which runs 1hr 41minutes and includes in depth commentary from both Charlie Francis, and Angela Coon.
Ms Jowell, the minister for the Olympics and Paymaster General, made her frank admission to around 40 leisure industry bosses at a dinner on Tuesday night.
“Had we known what we know now, would we have bid for the Olympics? Almost certainly not,” she told the gathering.
The budget for the 2012 games has risen almost four-fold to £9.35bn since Britain won the bid in July 2005, £6bn of which is coming directly from the Government.
Ms Jowell defended the spending as a “counter-cyclical investment” and claimed: “We have taken £1.5bn costs out of the project since we started.”
She attacked the media’s portrayal of the project, claiming that anyone who read the newspapers or watched the television would be left with three impressions: “The budget is out of control; all the venues are late; and all the people involved with this great project are completely useless.”
None were true, she said, adding: “People involved in the ODA [Olympic Delivery Authority] are world class.”
She said the “counter-cyclical benefit” was reflected in the companies working on the Olympic Park. “Ninety-eight per cent are UK companies, over two-thirds are small and medium companies and over half are outside London,” she said.
They included suppliers of steel from Wigan and seating from Huddersfield, Ms Jowell said.
She added that cities around the UK would also benefit from international teams using their training facilities. She said the Thai team planned to train in Manchester, while the American track and field team were close to opting to train in Birmingham. (more)
Vancouver mayoral candidate Peter Ladner prepared to lose election over secret $100M loan By Christina Montgomery, The Province
Published: Saturday, November 08, 2008
NPA mayoral candidate Peter Ladner said Friday he was prepared to lose the election rather than go public with — and risk — negotiations on a $100-million city loan to developers of the financially troubled False Creek Olympic village.
“I am willing to lose the election to protect taxpayers’ interests in the Olympic Village,” Ladner said.
And he accused his opponent, Vision Vancouver’s Gregor Robertson, of “spreading misinformation” about the city’s involvement in the project and of costing the city millions of dollars by harming the city’s negotiating position.
The comments came just minutes before sitting Vision Vancouver councillors attempted to table an emergency motion asking for a public council debate Nov. 15 — one day before the civic election — on the matter.
The effort failed when the motion to reconsider the loan was ruled out of order.
Known as the Olympic athletes’ village, the project is a seven-block area on the southeast shore of False Creek. It will feature 1,100 housing units in 14 residential buildings, along with retail space and a community centre. After the Games, it will be converted to 850 market-value homes and 250 units of social housing. About 60 per cent of the residential units have been sold. (more)
As coaches, what can we take away from Usain Bolt’s effort in the Olympic final, running 9.69 with a mini-celebration in the last 15 meters? What do we know about his training and preparation? Also, does this mean that we should be recruiting taller athletes for the 100m? (more)
It seems like many of the training principles to improve linear speed are based on the distinguishing factors between the elite and super elite. Like the differences in GCT between the fastest people in the world and second fastest, or stride length, range of motion, GC position in relation to COM, etc.
My question is how much of this type of system for linear speed improvement can be applied to multi-sport athletes of poor to average physical ability? Are similar distinguishing factors seen between poor and average performers as seen between elite and super elite? Should those of us that train 13 yr old, slow soccer players be careful of applying a philosophy for training that was developing from analyzing the fastest people in the world? (more)
Interesting to note how in a series of competitions over the last few months down to the rounds of yesterday and today’s final that the limits of human performance in the short sprints must unavoidably be reconsidered.
What, perhaps, even one week ago may have been considered to be unattainable in the next series of decades or perhaps much longer (ergo sub 9.6) , has, in two days, almost instantly become quite reasonable and, I think we’ll agree, generated a paradigm shift in the thinking of very bright and informed minds.
The, once again and momentarily unbelievable, sub-maximal nature of his effort on the 9.69 will inspire countless discussions and predictions until we see what he is truly capable of.
…and he only recently turned 22 years of age…(more)
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I grabbed a sweater as well just in case the day dragged on. ( I was protecting myself at this point)