K2

I am getting ready to head out for my first K2 practice with Jen Burke we have 8x500m lined up for a practice. I am really excited and a bit nervous to get into a K2 its always such a great unknown or a least to me. Wish us luck but hopefully it will be all skill!

Strength Training

As a nordic skier I was considered fairly strong as a kayaker I have a long way to go. Recently it feels like each time I hit the weight room my butt gets kicked, the funny thing is I don't mind. I keep thing well if I feel like death it must mean that I will get stronger and therefore faster its a little bit of a long convoluted mental process but it seems to be working for me.
We did a brief max testing in bench press and bench pull 135, and 140 respectively which is more then my body weight so I feel that that's an ok place to start the winter season.

Twitter

I' m now on twitter Username: Kaitie_Mcelroy. I am working on getting my tweets to go to my blog site hopefully I will have that running in the next few days.

Coffee conversations and communication

Today has been a whirlwind of activity. I had the opportunity to meet with Joe Jacobi (executive director of USACK), Coach Caven (current coach) and Jen Burke( future k2 partner) to discuss the promotion of canoe/kayak in the USA. I think the meeting was great and gave all of us a lot to think about and expand upon.
After that I grabbed my Phone and had a conversation with Dan from Canoe & Kayak Racing magazine about writing an article form them. Now I am catching up on emails having dinner and heading off to a OKC thunder Basketball game.
Plus I got a California girl out on the water in 33degrees for a rather productive workout oh yeah !!!!
What a day, I love it.

Windy City

If people think Chicago is windy it doesn't hold a candle to OKC! The wind is crazy but somehow it doesn't interfere with training sure there are big rollers and surfable waves but because its in a canal that dumps out into a protected area its kinda fun and is teaching me better balance. You have fun for 1.5km in blustery conditions then get your workout in go back to the canal and hammer your butt back to the dock through the gale force blowing in your face. While this may not instictively sound enjoyable, its actually kind of fun and if nothing else you feel tougher then nails by the end!

Edmond, OK

Today is my first full day in Oklahoma City. So far so good, I have a nice 4bed room apt. at the University of Central Oklahoma which has been provided for the athletes by the OKCBF. The canoe/kayak portion of OKCBF is based out of the Route 66 boat house on lake Overholser. The lake/estuary we paddle on is awesome there is a 3km straight canal like section then kilometers of narrow whinding river which is protected by woods.
Pictures will be coming soon!

On the Move

I ' m on the move again. The first leg of my journey out to OKC has started, I am at the airport and ready to get a move on to California where I will pack up my stuff tomorrow morning and then start the drive out to Oklahoma by mid day.