Two equally important parts of a good training program.

Hello readers,

I hope you are all having a good week. Mine is going well, training is hard and I’m feeling much better on the water technically. I realized that I wasn’t watching enough video lately, so I got some from our coach Tamas Buday and spent some time analyzing it before a hard practice. I ended up having what was probably my best workout of the camp so far, mainly because I was paddling much more efficiently and was able to use my whole body instead of just my arms. Needless to say I will continue to watch and analyze more video in the future, and encourage young paddlers to do the same. The more video you watch the better, not just of yourself, but also Olympic and Worlds video so you can compare yourself with the best and learn what you need to do to improve.

Another thing necessary for improvement is lots of good, healthy food. Without proper nutrition you won’t have enough energy to train or race to your potential. Adam, Aruss, Gab and I have been trying to cook not only great dinners, but also big nutritious breakfasts as well, which is arguably the most important meal of the day (top three for sure).

Last night my family (sans Adam) and some friends had a great dinner at one of our favourite restaurants down here, the Coconut Grove Café. The name is deceiving, as it is a family run German restaurant serving all kinds of great sausage, schnitzel, sauerkraut and beer, not some fancy shmancy cafe serving extra frothy lattes, mango smoothies or orange mocha frappuccinos as the name might suggest. It is also right on the river, which provided us a great view of the sunset just as we were finishing off our apple strudel.

Thanks for listening, see you next time.

The Bunny! The Bunny! I ate the Bunny! I didn't eat my soup or my bread, just The Bunny!

Greetings and Happy Easter to all,

March madness has been happening in many ways down here in Florida. First is the madness that was the 2008 Yak for a Stack race. The weeks leading up to it were hectic to say the least. Trying to build our costumes in between practices was a challenge, especially when the workouts got tougher, giving us less and less energy to sew giraffe skin and practice walking on stilts, which was a lot harder than we had first anticipated. The big day finally arrived, and while we were still painting the final spots on 15 minutes before our entrance, we did get it finished on time. The wind as always was a challenge for those of us with large costumes, and it was hard work walking the much too far 500m we started away from the entrance, but it was a great feeling walking into the crowd of people, towering over them and hearing the impression we made on everybody. It is after all, the people that we do it for, not the prizes. Sure it’s great to win a record breaking 5th Yak for a Stack Costume Contest in a row, some would even say it is “unprecedented”, but it’s really about making the people happy and putting on a good show. When I got off my stilts and had a look around, I was really impressed with not only how many people had costumes, but how good they all were. Everyone stepped up and it makes me proud to think that I helped raise the level of costume making in the paddling community. Congrats to everyone who had a costume and to Morty and Cuthbert for putting on such a great show.

Of course the real March Madness has hit our small community down here as it has across the U.S. of A. Suddenly everyone has become huge basketball fans, living and dying by whether or not the random American colleges they picked in their bracket win or not. Steve said it best when he ran into our room after a buzzer beater in overtime: “Sports are so much more fun when you are betting on them!” Kudos to Aruss for organizing the bracket and giving us all something to talk about before practice. The weather was getting a little tiresome.

I’m happy to write that my training is going very well. We are in the middle of a hard few weeks and things are right on track. I’m still not 100% comfortable in the boat I’m using, it being larger than my old one and a little less responsive, but it’s getting better everyday and I should be feeling right at home in it within a few weeks. The higher sides on it are something I’ve deemed absolutely necessary after almost sinking at Trials last year. This week I had some really good sessions, including one with Em and Sofia, who seem to think that doing 6 minute pieces at 3:50 pace is normal... It was a battle the whole way and I don’t think one of us won two consecutive pieces the whole time. These kind of intense workouts are something I’m trying to do more and more the closer we get to race season. Of course with the step up in intensity the last few weeks, I think we are all feeling pretty fatigued and sore, making our rest and recovery just as important. I’ll be spending some much needed time on the couch today, trying to catch a glimpse of Aruss and Gab on TV in the crowd at the NCAA tournament games in Tampa. I also might catch some rays at the beach, followed by a big Easter dinner tonight at my sister and friends house.

That’s all for now I guess. Thanks for reading this, you rock.

This week was all about rest and recovery for us after a long period of hard training.

Greetings web surfers,

I am glad that you have returned to our site and welcome you to my second journal entry.
The past week has been one of recovery for us, and after four weeks of hard training it was a much needed break. While I did do a couple of hard sessions, they were shorter than usual, and we were only on the water once a day. I also had the chance to get out in crew boats which was a nice change of pace. On Thursday I went C2 with the legendary Aaron Rublee, who I teamed up with last year to set a new National Record in the C2 200. The speed came back to us immediately and we had a great workout. Let’s just say that Aruss and Gab’s eardrums are still hurting from the sonic boom we created in the first piece.

Yesterday afternoon your own Canoe4Canada team jumped in C4 for the first time this Florida Camp. We hadn’t been in the boat together since September, but it felt like it was yesterday. Even with a less than perfect setup we still felt great together, sprinting like it was nobody’s business. We had a great time, and while our focus this year is entirely on Beijing, it’s sometimes nice to think about next year as well, when C4C will have the chance to take on the world together in front of the home crowd at the World Championships in Dartmouth.

The extra rest this week also gave me and Gab a chance to begin work on our Yak for a Stack costume. Being the 4 time reigning costume contest winners, we have been feeling a lot of pressure, and deciding how to live up to our reputation was a challenge. After a slow start, we made a lot of process later in the week, and things are looking good for next Saturday. We still have a lot to work to do, but I know we will pull it off, and I feel confident that the drive for 5 will be successful.

Today I will be hitting the links for a round of golf with Aruss, Attila and Karl Karlsen, followed by a nice sushi dinner with family and friends. It should be a nice, restful weekend before we get back into some serious hard training for the next few weeks. Two world class paddlers from France have joined our training group, which will be good for me, especially when the other fast Canadian guys are in C2. I also am looking forward to getting in some hard sessions with Mini Fournel, the hot young kayaker from Lachine the Red Machine, and DJ Sofia, coming at you live from the ice cold waters of Lake Vättern, Sweden.

That’s all for this time, check back soon for new pictures and video which should be up sometime next week.