Its official I am moving to Oklahoma City, OK to kayak with the new water sport development center which has been built in the area. I will be flying out to CA to pick up my stuff on Nov. 3rd and then driving out to the big city on the 4th.
If anyone is interested in driving from CA to OK with me I would love the company.....
Saturday, October 24, 2009
Tuesday, October 13, 2009
Fall Training in Bethel, ME
The early mornings are becoming increasingly brisk in Bethel, ME making it harder and harder to get out of bed and train before work.
This morning I woke to the sight of big fluffy flakes falling from the sky and a blanket of white on the ground. I quickly decided I was going to pretend that it was a dream, rolled over buried myself under the covers and went back to sleep. When I woke for "real" I had to face the facts it was snowing (as a skier I was excited as a kayaker I was very unhappy and I believe I kept muttering something about how the world was out to get me etc..). No matter the weather, I was determined to paddle today. An hour later I arrived at Songo pond to dreary, foggy and damp conditions but no wind, as I took the boat off the car and got ready to paddle I kept repeating to myself "I love to paddle, I love to paddle". Once I was off and kayaking the 1.20hr workout I had planed flu by. Focusing on the workout and not the conditions made a big difference in how I felt and the overall quality of the workout, I doubt the weather is going to get much better as Nov. rolls around but I will keep getting on the water and enjoy those moments where I feel I have conquered the elements.
This morning I woke to the sight of big fluffy flakes falling from the sky and a blanket of white on the ground. I quickly decided I was going to pretend that it was a dream, rolled over buried myself under the covers and went back to sleep. When I woke for "real" I had to face the facts it was snowing (as a skier I was excited as a kayaker I was very unhappy and I believe I kept muttering something about how the world was out to get me etc..). No matter the weather, I was determined to paddle today. An hour later I arrived at Songo pond to dreary, foggy and damp conditions but no wind, as I took the boat off the car and got ready to paddle I kept repeating to myself "I love to paddle, I love to paddle". Once I was off and kayaking the 1.20hr workout I had planed flu by. Focusing on the workout and not the conditions made a big difference in how I felt and the overall quality of the workout, I doubt the weather is going to get much better as Nov. rolls around but I will keep getting on the water and enjoy those moments where I feel I have conquered the elements.
Friday, September 25, 2009
Marathon Worlds
The Marathon World Championships in Crestuma, Portugal, was a fabulous event. The organizing committee did a great job on all fronts, the event was well run, races went off on time, there was live event coverage online, the food was great, and the bus ride to and from the course provided us with an up close look at Porto and the surrounding area/countryside ....wow that was a mouthful.
The durou river on which the event was held runs through the small hillside town of Crestuma and is a beautiful and active(ferries, wine boats etc..) tidal river with 12ft tides!
The K2 event in which Anne and I competed took place last Sunday. The race went well, we had a great start staying in the mix, riding wash and fighting with the other teams to grab the best position. The field contained several athletes who had medal in the Sprint World Championships in August and athletes who competed at the 2008 Olympic games! Anne and I were knocked off the pack by a feisty Italian team who decided they did not want us to be riding wash with their "group" one minute we were on the wave and the next we were spun off to the side. We didn't let that bother us and kept on plugging finishing the race with a sprint to edge out Argentina.
We still have lots of things to work on, such as portaging and being more aggressive at the start but we came a long way since last year and fixed what we had set out to fix which was our start. Now we have a world class start and can work on figuring out the next part of the puzzle
The durou river on which the event was held runs through the small hillside town of Crestuma and is a beautiful and active(ferries, wine boats etc..) tidal river with 12ft tides!
The K2 event in which Anne and I competed took place last Sunday. The race went well, we had a great start staying in the mix, riding wash and fighting with the other teams to grab the best position. The field contained several athletes who had medal in the Sprint World Championships in August and athletes who competed at the 2008 Olympic games! Anne and I were knocked off the pack by a feisty Italian team who decided they did not want us to be riding wash with their "group" one minute we were on the wave and the next we were spun off to the side. We didn't let that bother us and kept on plugging finishing the race with a sprint to edge out Argentina.
We still have lots of things to work on, such as portaging and being more aggressive at the start but we came a long way since last year and fixed what we had set out to fix which was our start. Now we have a world class start and can work on figuring out the next part of the puzzle
Tuesday, September 15, 2009
Portugal
Anne and I arrived in Porto, Portugal Sunday afternoon. We were completely jet lagged because we were unable to sleep on the plane ride over, its actually close to a miracle that we were able to get through security in Madrid and transfer planes but as always we pulled through.
After arriving at the hotel we took a 4hr nap then preceded to locate diner this was much harder then anticipated . We followed the map which lead us to the waterfront beach area about a 30min walk away, still no food siting. The beach was beautiful and we walked along the boardwalk aways then low and behold the golden arches appeared. In our half starved state we succumbed to the urge to go towards them and find food. We ended up eating our lovely mc'ds over looking the ocean and watching a beautiful sunset.
After arriving at the hotel we took a 4hr nap then preceded to locate diner this was much harder then anticipated . We followed the map which lead us to the waterfront beach area about a 30min walk away, still no food siting. The beach was beautiful and we walked along the boardwalk aways then low and behold the golden arches appeared. In our half starved state we succumbed to the urge to go towards them and find food. We ended up eating our lovely mc'ds over looking the ocean and watching a beautiful sunset.
Wednesday, September 9, 2009
All around the world!
Plane to plane, one city to the next, race series after race series, add in friends a few national championship and world championship medals and you have the makings of one cool experience. The past month has been fun and tough, that much travel can rec havoc with your body combine it with racing and your in for a whole new meaning for the word fatigue. My immune system gave out fairly early in my travels but somehow my body kept doing what I had trained it to do and I placed in the top 3 in 9 out of 11 races plus managed to do a little poking around each place I traveled too.
I am in MA training for a few days before I head out with my K2 partner Anne Blanchard for my last race of the season at Marathon Worlds, Crestuma, Portugal.
I am in MA training for a few days before I head out with my K2 partner Anne Blanchard for my last race of the season at Marathon Worlds, Crestuma, Portugal.
Friday, September 4, 2009
Premier women rocked at dragon boat worlds
The title tells it all the premier women's team dominated at Dragon Boat World championships coming away with 2 silver and 2 bronze, four medals four races!
Friday, August 21, 2009
Nationals
Hailing from Atlanta GA, or rather Gainsville. The USA sprint national championships started off yesterday with the 1000m events, today was the 500m and tomorrow distance and 200m knockouts. The races have been going great, I placed second in the 1000m K1, 3rd in the 1000m K2, 3rd in the 500m K1 and 1st in the 500m K4. Unfortunately I caught a really evil cold when I was leaving Canada and it has put me in bed for the rest of the day. I am hoping to feel better tomorrow so I can race the 200ms but I have to be smart since I still have a month left on the road.
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