Phil Edmunds Classification
Ralph introduced Phil Edmunds by saying that Phil had been a member of the Club and had made many friends who encouraged him to return, and he is welcome back. Phil went to Western and has been here building Huronia Physiotherapy for 20 years. He's active in the community and has served on the Y Board and is currently on the Hospital Foundation.
Phil said he's glad to be back. He tries to take an Australian expression to heart - you are your activities, not your career. He was born the shortest of 5 in Winnipeg but in 1970 the family moved to Windsor where they took up sailing and from where they did a lot of traveling. His major influences have been Kelly, her two boys and their two girls and Robbert Hartog who taught that you get back more than you give and who left a terrific legacy through his mentoring and teaching.
He and his family love the Bay and go boating as much as possible in the summer and then get out on it in the winter. Last year they went to Beausoleil and built an igloo for an overnight.
To say Phil is active in athletics would be an understatement. He's run the Boston marathon, the pinnacle of long distance running, where they bus 38,000 people out of town and let them run back. He's also raced in Australia and Montreal and acted as team therapist. Another jaunt was a 3 day exercise wherein team members develop their logistics and map a route and then, by running, canoeing, climbing and biking, arrive at their destination. It's exhausting, he says, but it takes you to a place where you begin to know your limits and to push through them, all for a pat on the back and a slice of pizza. As painful is the Ironman Triathalon - a 4 k swim, a 180 k bike ride and a 42 k run, all in eleven and a half hours - 'to see where I could go'. Then there's the Canadian Ski Marathon which starts at 6 am at Gatineau and takes two days to do 160 k's.
Phil recommends managing the body, not time by balancing the physical, emotional, mental and spiritual aspects of our lives to develop flexibility and resilience in all dimensions.
We are all aware of circadian rythms but may not of ultridian cycles. These run on a 90 - 120 minute cycle throughout the day and when we are on a down we yawn and move and go for a coffee and a doughnout which causes an adrenaline and sugar surge from which we inevitably crash putting us on a sugar roller coaster. Unlike circadian, we cannot rest around these cycles so we need to pursue performance rather than recovery by taking down times and by incorporating positive rituals into our day, such as moving regularly, eating smaller meals more often each day to stabilize blood sugars and by eating seeds, nuts and fruits rather than cookies.
Phil ran a short video, produced by Stephanie, depicting the facilities and services offered by Huronia Physio.
Mike thanked Phil for his presentation and welcomed him back to the Club.