Q&A: Canadian Olympians Mary Spencer and Annamay Pierse talk sports, health and beauty

The London 2012 Olympics are quickly approaching and Olympic fever is slowly setting in. While Canada's Olympic athletes have always been a great source of inspiration, the female athletes are particularly notable for setting positive examples of what it means to be healthy, strong and driven women.

Canadian boxer Mary Spencer is currently ranked #1 in the world and is a gold-medal favourite for this summer's Olympic Games, which will be the first time women's boxing is a part of the Olympics. The 27-year-old from Wiarton, Ontario, has already made her mark on the boxing world, with three women's world championships, eight national championships and five Pan American Games gold medals already under her belt.

Canadian swimmer Annamay Pierse is a world-record holder and a world championship silver medalist, who represented Canada at the Beijing 2008 Olympics. She is an inspiration and a positive role model for young girls.

We had a chance to sit down with these two impressive Canadian women -- who are P&G's newest brand ambassadors for CoverGirl and Pantene -- to get the scoop on their beauty routines, their dedication to their sports and how they find balance in their very structured lives.

Q: How did you get involved with boxing, Mary?

Mary: That was 10 years ago. A friend of mine wanted to do exercise classes at a boxing gym, so I decided to tag along just for some cross training. I took a fitness class with her until my basketball season started -- I was a basketball player at the time. The day my basketball team lost in the playoffs, I took a cab back to the boxing gym to resume the class but the schedule had changed and when I walked in all of the fighters were training. They were like, "Come on, if you want to learn a little bit then you're more than welcome to stay," and I was like, "Wow, really? OK." So I met the coach and he showed me some things and I just fell for the sport immediately. I've thought since day one that it was definitely destiny.

Q: How long did it take you to get really serious about the sport, Mary?

Mary: After I began boxing with my first coach, he told me that if I really wanted to go far in this sport, I needed a coach who could get me there. He took me over to meet my current coach, Charlie Stewart, a three-time Olympic coach, and Charlie just wanted to see what I had. He had me throw a few punches at the bag, he asked where I lived, and he told me to be ready at 5 o'clock in the morning -- he'd pick me up. And everyday since then, it's been hardcore training.

Q: How long have you been swimming, Annamay?

Annamay: I have been swimming for 22 years. You have to love swimming to be able to do it because you stare at a black line for 20 hours a week, so I've definitely loved it for pretty much all of those 22 years. Obviously, you don't love it every day, but ultimately I do.

Q: How do you juggle the demands of your sport while still trying to maintain feeling feminine and looking your best?

Mary: I think it's natural for everyone to care how they present themselves, but at the same time I'm a very practical person in the sense that I can be myself and go to the gym. Am I going to wear makeup? Well, it doesn't make sense if I'm putting on head gear and somebody is aiming for my face with their fist. So I try to be myself on a daily basis rather than presenting something different.

Annamay: Being in my sport and making sure I'm healthy, that's what makes me feel most beautiful -- when I look in the mirror and I know that I'm happy and healthy and confident.

Q: What are the beauty-related problems that result from being in the pool and the gym so often?

Mary: In the world of boxing, it's kind of funny, because it's a male-dominated sport, so you get a different angle for all of that stuff. Every time I go to the gym, any kind of problem I have, my coach is like, "Put some Vaseline on it." We have Vaseline to put on our skin before we spar to make sure it doesn't cut or mark, but he just takes it to a whole other level.

Annamay: My skin gets so dry from the chlorine, and then chlorine and putting a swim cap on my hair causes breakage, split ends and dry ends, so those are the main things.

Q: What kind of health plan to you follow to stay in prime physical condition?

Mary: It gets a little bit complicated when you're preparing for a tournament or when you're in a competition because you have to balance what you're eating based on different needs, whether you're eating for energy or eating to recover. Having this experience over these last 10 years of trying different things and seeing how it feels, and you really get in tune with your body when you're exercising on a regular basis. You know what's going to make you feel better and what foods are going to just ruin a workout.

Annamay: Eating well, eating right and giving into those indulgences. I love chocolate and I love junk food and a glass of wine, but I can't have them every day, all day.

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Q: What has your training schedule been like?

Mary: I'm in the gym Monday to Saturday -- Saturday's a half day so I have Saturday night and Sunday off. I'm definitely a fan of running, maybe more so than most boxers. I feel like even if I wasn't boxing, it would stick with me for sure as a way to stay in shape. We do sprints, we do long distance, we do hill running, we really mix it up.

Annamay: Training was basically 20 hours per week in the pool. Two hours each morning and afternoon, on Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, Friday and then two hours on Wednesday afternoon and two hours Saturday morning. And then in the weight room or doing some sort of dry-land activity would be an hour to an hour and a half every day except for Sunday. I started doing yoga this year because it was great for stretching and just relaxing, giving myself that zen time.

Q: What are your favourite healthy foods?

Mary: One of my favourite foods that I don't recall having very much of until I started boxing is oatmeal. It's become an almost daily part of my diet. It's a carb that is going to give you long-term energy, it's not something that's going to pick you up for an hour and then you're going to crash. It

Annamay: Right now, I am obsessed with kale -- kale chips.

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Q: Do you ever feel the need to just sit back and be lazy?

Annamay: Oh, of course. Everybody has to indulge. I mean, I would go absolutely crazy without working out or being active in my life, I couldn't always be a couch potato, but there are definitely days when I will sit on my butt and watch movies and not really move. You have to do that, too, in order to stay sane and stay healthy. You can't just constantly be going and going.

Q: Can you describe some of your beauty rituals?

Mary: I pay a lot of attention to defence to try to avoid cuts and scrapes. But when I do get marked up, it's never anything that I try to hide. Actually, for myself and most boxers, we want to show it off a little bit -- battle wounds that you want to just have on display. Once or twice a week is all I'm applying makeup because I'm at the gym the rest of the time.

Annamay: Pantene's Professional Level Damage Repair Ampoules are a deep conditioner that's really helped with breakage. I'll do that once a week to make sure I'm putting moisture back into my hair. And then for my skin, I use Vaseline, and just make sure I'm moisturizing.

Q: Are there any beauty indulgences you enjoy when you have a bit of down time?

Mary: Massage is part of my training routine, so it's a nice little indulgence that I am forced to work into my routine. Not that it would take any forcing.

Annamay: Oh, yes. My indulgence is a pedicure -- I love them so much. If I've had a bad day, let's go get a coffee and have a pedicure.

In need of a quick and cheap workout routine? Check out the video below that shows how you can workout in a space the size of a half a tennis court with no pricey equipment.