We are halfway through our third hard week here in Florida, and the workouts on the horizon are definitely going to be a challenge. The next two days we are doing a fair bit of testing to evaluate the team's overall fitness so far, and that means some very challenging workouts. Up to now I have been feeling very solid on and off the water, and I really think that this is the fittest I have entered camp.

This morning before our training session we were greeted by some good news for the canoe team. Pierre-Luc Laliberte has been a guy that has been on the bubble of making the national team for a few seasons in a row, and now he will be a late addition to the 2009/10 national team. The retirement of Genevieve Beauchesne-Sevigny, sister of Gab, opened up another spot and the team was fortunate enough to be able to allot it to Pierre. So again many congratulations to the canoe team's newest member.

This afternoon we had the afternoon off training, and I made some homemade lasagna and we took up a little boxing outside. Here's a quick video of Bernard Irvin (the one and only) rocking the gloves, the Baron, Gab and Camille, and a shot of a good sized pizza.

All for now, keep it real,

Andrew

We are coming to the end of our second week now, and I have been feeling really positive about how our national team camp has been going thus far. This week we built on a lot of the ideas from the last, slowly generating a bit more speed, and ramping up the kilometers a bit. This week the goal was around 120 km, though I do think we will be over that quota. The efforts on the water are challenging the aerobic system primarily, and have kept us on the water for between an hour twenty and two hours.

I have really noticed that my motions feel as though they have cleaned up a fair bit, and I think that working on the stroke with the pulley systems in the gym was a big factor. That said it is still very early on in the camp, but usually these are the weeks I find myself struggling to stay in the game in years past.

Off the water we are still running very hard, this week a beach run and bridge hills were hard on the lungs. Big ups to Dustin Shaw who is showing some great focus, and has been really solid in his efforts in training, showing great improvements from last year (last year far behind in most running workouts, Dustin was the 2nd fastest guy on the hills this week). In the weight room endurance weights have made an appearance, making some of the training days feel pretty long, but they are the types of workouts you feel great once you are finished.

While training has been consuming most of my time and energy in Florida so far, I have managed to continue working in my role with the RBC Olympians program, in particular working with an upcoming event I am very excited about. Teamed up with the ACNS (Aids Coalition for Nova Scotia), we are working on a big adventure race style event called the "RBC Amazing Challenge for Aids" that should prove to be a great time. To have a look at our sneak peak: http://www.chesterco.ca/blog/blog.php, or for more info check out

That's about it for now, all the best for now, and keep it real,

Andrew

Hello and greetings all,

The first week of Florida training camp is now behind us. It was a fairly challenging first week, with on water practices designed to re-associate the paddling muscles with the motion of the strokes. I felt very good through the week, and feel as though my work through the winter had me much more ready to work right away in camp. I had one of my best longer workouts in quite some time on Saturday morning when we did three times 20 minutes on the water. It is such a satisfying feeling finishing that type of workout.

While the intensity on the water may not yet be full out, off the water there has been some very high intensity running. This week it looks to be more of the same, with the bridge causeway quickly becoming a challenging staple on the program.

Canada USA tonight, you can be the Pines will likely be loud for every Canadian goal; Bingo night just ran into some competition for rowdiest crowd.

All the best, and keep it very real,

Andrew