Last night, I had the privileged of receiving the award for Ottawa Male Athlete of the year at the Ottawa Sport Awards. For the last 6 years I have attended the awards held annually at Algonquin College, and every year I have left the evenings festivities with a deep desire to one day win the over all athlete of the year award. I was taken by surprise last evening when my name was called for the award. As is common with many athletes, I am often guilty of looking critically at my own performances and trying to find ways to improve, instead of patting my self on the back. When they started reading out the description of the winner and I realized that I had won, I was pretty emotional. I know it is a strange 'dream' goal to have, to win an award that is decided to by a selection committee, but it really was one of the things I wanted to do before I hung up my paddle. There is no one else I would have rather received the trophy from than Mike Scott and there he was with the serious hardware on stage. When I looked down at the trophy I immediately saw my plaque right next to Angus' name from last year. It made me immensely proud to see our two names side by side, I doubt that our mathematician parents ever dreamed their two sons would both end up winning Ottawa Athlete of the year back to back! After a moments emotion up at the podium, I realized that my brief speech was a chance for thank you's that rarely comes along in life. I let Mikey hang on to the trophy while I made a quick speech, trying to get my thoughts together. I wanted to thank all of those who have been 100% supporters of me since the day I took my first stroke on the Rideau. During the 2 years I missed due to injury my family, freinds and teammates never once even let me consider not coming back full strength, and I will always remember that feeling of confidence they lent me. I ended my speech pointing out that Mikey, who was still holding the trophy, truly deserved the honour not me. After 60 years pouring his heart into the RCC he really is the reason there was such a great club for my brother and I to join and grown up in. Thank you Mike, and thank you to everyone who has called, emailed, texted and tweeted me today.

Rideau has held down this award the last two years.....who is going to make it a three peat?

This morning Johnny, Corey and I roused ourselves from our peaceful Sunday morning slumbers to take part in a 6km Time Trial at Nakkertok Ski Club in Cantley. We were joined by hundreds of local young skiers and by fellow Rideau paddlers Matt Raymond and Rhys Hill. It was a beautiful day up at there property and, as always, I was super stoked on the fun, warm vibe that Nakkertok always has for these events. I also always feel that I am enjoying a somewhat unique Canadian experience up at Nakkertok. This feeling could possibly be narrowed down to the experience of using Nakkertok's new and improved outdoor, 'naturally cooled and ventilated' washrooms pre-race. It could probably be more accuratley attributed to the fun, welcoming atmosphere that the club creates allowing so many people to enjoy beautiful Canadian winter weather.



The race itself was a tough 3 x 2km loop, 6km effort. We started in a big pack and the first lap was mostly jockeying for position with the big group of skiers. I lost a little bit of ground in the first 500m and was stuck a bit behind after one lap. I felt I was skiing well, but could not make up all the ground to catch Johnny (who skied his best race ever) or Corey who finished ahead with the front two packs. I did however end up locked in a heated head to head battle with young Rideau canoer (sometimes he pretends to be a kayaker.) Zach Cameron. I reeled Zach in on the second lap and on the first climb of the third I made my move. Alas, it was too early and Zach's superior downhilling skills proved to much for me on the back stretch and he passed me on the final tight, downhill turn. I felt I had the wheels for a strong kick to take the win over this young buck, but it was not to be. My tired legs betrayed me and I took a nasty spill in the last 150m to the crowds delight. To my dismay Rhys took the opurtunity to pass me as I collected the items I had laid out in my yard sale and I was left in 5th place in the Padderls race-within-the-race, with Matt Raymond picking up the 6th spot. Hats off to Zach who won our head to head the battle this day with a great ski, to give him his due here is the victory shot.

Another busy holiday season has passed, and a new year is upon us. It was an amazing Christmas and New Year for me, spending time with all of my friends and family and having ALOT of fun. We just completed a 5 day stint at Mont Saint Anne near Quebec city where we had a cross country ski camp. The conditions were great, and as a group we got in some high intensity km's on the skis. We also had a lot of fun hanging out at the chalet and doing a little downhill one evening in the middle of a blizzard. After missing the fall Florida camp, it was great to be back in a training camp setting with a lot of the senior team. It made me anxious to get to Florida and into the main camp of our year down south. Before I head south however, I have a lot of training and school to get to (and enjoy) so it is time to reset for the new year and plunge in. Back to school this week and a new cycle of weights. HERE WE GO 2010!