Hospital

Last week was one off those weeks....... It started off with me being run to the emergency room for severe stomach pain, I was admitted for 3days while the doctors decided if I they should cut me open and see what was wrong. I was improving on weds and released that afternoon. Thursday was the start of USACK Sprint Nationals and qualification for the Pan American Team which would start pre-olympic qualification in Oct. I managed to crawl out of bed for the race, sit in my boat, paddle to the 500m start, turn around and race back, I ended the semi finals with the 3rd fastest time of the day and in a good position for the finals that afternoon. I was honestly unsure if I was going to be able to make it down the race course again in the afternoon but I went home took a long nap and tried to relax before the finals. I had been unable to put much food in my stomach with out getting ill so at this point I had barely eaten in 4days and was extremely fatigued, so I was relying on my "muscle memory" to get me through the day. That afternoon I put my self in my boat made it to the start and raced. After all was said and done I managed to nab a 4th place and a birth on the Pan American Team, which will be competing at the Pan American Championships in Mexico City Oct 8-10.

Summer Days

The temperature is rising daily in OKC and our training is heating up in preparation for the 2010 US Canoe/kayak national championships which will be hosted by the Chesapeake Boathouse in OKC.
After getting back from a month of training and racing in the northeast, I felt like my body was done. Each practice was miserable and my boat speed was flat, I really couldn't understand what was happening with my body. After 2.5weeks of this my mental state was destroyed and I thought I would never go fast again, then we started doing faster shorter pieces at high intensity, and my body started responding and my boat speed shot up to the fastest I have ever been. This experience taught me the importance of training cycles and the use of different intensities and workout volume. I knew it intuitively but feeling the dramatic changes in my own body hit it home.

LPI regatta

What a great long weekend in Lake Placid!
Day 1
The lake Placid International regatta started off with a bang at 8am on Friday, first up was the senior women 500m heats. I had a solid race winning my heat which put me in the finals in a prime lane. A few hours later I raced to a close 3rd place finish in the SrWK1 500m final, next up was K2 we had a great 400m in the lead dropping to 4th after being caught off balance by the wind and needing to brace. At the end of the day Jen Burke, myself, Ann Blanchard and Beata Cseske teamed up for a K4 which place a close second to the Canadian team after a babble in the last 100m.
Day 2
200m's is an awful short race for a marathon paddler but I figured i would give it a shoot! I ended up just out of the medals in the K1 SrW 200m final by a few 100th of a sec!

Outdoor Nation Youth Summit

I had the wonderful opportunity today to attend the Outdoor Nation Youth Summit in Central Park, NY. The event brought together youth from around the country to brainstorm ideas for engaging young people in the outdoors, healthy active living, and conservation. Members of Obamas cabinet attended OutdoorNation to bring back our top ideas to the president!
In a major effort to help bring some of our ideas/solutions to fruition the North Face and Camelbak have each announced major grant programs which individuals/organizations who have a program plan they think can engage youth with the outdoors should apply for @ www.explorefund.org.

Olympic Day @ RiversportOKC

Olympic day was awesome, lots of kids came out to try kayaking, rowing and other Olympic sports at the Chesapeake Boathouse today. This event helped to launch Ms Obamas Lets Move initiative in OKC. The US Secretary of Health, the Mayor of OKC and several Olympians came out to make it a special event for everyone!

Erg comp.

Getting psyched for the erg competition, watching the Olympics and eating a great home cooked meal made by Maggie Hogan!

Back on the H2O

Yesterday I was back on the water for 10x500m. The sun was shining and the temperature was in the mid 40s so beautiful day for a workout. The intervals felt a lot better this week, I was focusing on a strong core and good leg drive. My times were slow but I feel I made progress on technique so eventually the speed will come. By focusing on core strength in the boat I realized how important it is to develop core stability off the water with physio ball workouts and balance drills, I knew this before but it really sunk in after this workout!