Summer is here!

Hello,

Summer is here but Spring was skipped! It was fairly cold here in May and now that June is here it seems as though the temperature jumped 20 degrees. It is very hot here in London! Bit of a shock to the body as there wasn't really an adjustment period, but I seem to be managing the elements well so far. It is nice to be wearing shorts and tank tops though. It saves on laundry and I get a little tan as well! Don't worry Mom, I am wearing sunscreen!

Rowing is going well! Still gaining more speed! I am much closer to the lead single now. Our training group, the Pan Am candidates, is very small right now. On a good day there are 5 of us, but other days there are only 3 of us (due to injuries). We are only rowing singles right now as the Heavyweight scullers are doing selection and using all the doubles. Later this week, once selection is done I think our group will be growing and then we might do some selection ourselves! The Pan Am group is not a high priority right now, as we don't race until October, which gives me more time to get more speed before selection happens.

I thought I would give you a little information about the lake we row on. I have provided here an image of Fanshawe Lake, the body of water we row on. It is a great size lake and usually we can find some flat water somewhere. The star at the top left of the image is the beginning of the lake and we do row up there to get longer endurance workouts in, but we usually spend most of our time on the 2k course. The land around the lake is primarily a camp ground and conservation area. The water is not clean enough to swim so we don't have any problems with power boats, just fishermen and sail boats. The full distance around the lake is 10km, so we can get a lot of kilometers rowed in one workout! The 2k course is buoyed which is great as I can go straight!




This coming weekend I will be going to Seattle for my Graduation! Commencement is on June 11! I will be meeting my parents in Vancouver then we will drive down to Seattle for a fun filled weekend! Monday I will fly back to London. It will be a quick trip but I am looking forward to the break and seeing friends and spending time with my parents!

Well I need to go now, off to do a weight workout!

Happy Rowing

Hello!

It has been raining for 24 hours now! Last night there was a flash down pour for about an hour and the basement by the back door started to flood. There was a puddle forming which then started to seep in my closet (which is on the other side of the wall). I had to empty my closet floor of my suitcases which did get a little wet but they have dried now. That's the excitement of my new house! I am starting to make my room feel more homey. I went to Ikea with Brenda Synesael and got some artwork to put on my wall.
This is what I got:
I also got a picture of penguins but the picture didn't work out for me.

On the rowing front, I will not be racing this summer on the Senior team. I'm not quite fast enough yet, but I do have the opportunity to be selected for the Pan American Games. Pan American Games happen every 4 years, the year before the Olympics Games. These games happen in October in Guadalajara, Mexico. The plan now is to train until selection which will happen in June.

Happy Rowing!

One Month

I have been in London for one month now!

The past month has been an adjustment period. Adjusting to the increase in volume of training, getting organized for moving into my new house and making sure I get enough sleep. I have just moved into my house and now am adjusting to living on my own and preparing dinners for myself. It will take a while to make my room feel like my own as the walls are bare and I need some more storage space to get stuff off the floor.

Rowing is going well. We are entering into selection this weekend and I'm gaining some more speed so hopefully selection will go well!

I want to thank everyone for your support and encouragement!