Hello,
A new rowing adventure is underway! I have moved to London, Ontario and am training at the Canadian Women's National Training Center. I moved on April 4th and have been adjusting to life of full time training.
You're probably wondering what has happened to me since last summer, well here's a quick update. After the summer I went back to Seattle to finish my degree at the University of Washington and in December I graduated with a degree in Psychology. Since Christmas I have been training in Victoria to receive an invite from the Training Center to be able to come to London and train here. That happened in March! I received my invite and moved out here beginning of April.
I have been in London now for about 3 weeks and it hasn't been too bad. It was quite an adjustment and shock to the system when I got here. I was training twice a day while I was in Victoria which seemed like a lot, but 3 times a day is a whole lot more. It has been getting easier to get through workouts and I am learning how to pace myself as well as making sure I'm getting the proper nutritional recovery after workouts. The atmosphere at the Training Center is great. Everyone is friendly and wants to go fast and together we push each other. It is a World Class group and being able to train with the fastest girls in the country in awesome! Right now the focus is small boat training and I spend a lot of my time rowing in a single or double. Selection for summer crews will be happening in a couple weeks so everyone's competitive nature is going to come out! Should be fun!!
On the non-rowing side of things I have been staying with a wonderful family, Pete and Brenda Synesael, for the month of April before I move into my house on May 1st. I will be living with 4 other girls who are all rowers as well. I am looking forward to establishing my own space and not have to wear a limited selection of clothing (as most of my belongings are still packed away). I have purchased a bed and received a dresser from Pete and Brenda as well. Things are coming together!
Just for your information, I will be updating my blog probably every couple weeks and I hope to include some pictures for some aesthetic appeal.
Keep you blade in the water!
Wednesday, April 27, 2011
Friday, July 30, 2010
Here is one last post with some pictures of my experience in Belarus.
The hospital. My room is the first one on the bottom floor. At night there would be people walking around outside smoking. The building in the background is the newer portion of the hospital where I had my CT head scan done. The building I was in was the infectious disease section. I still don't know exactly what I had but it was some form of virus.
This was my room. I did have my own bathroom but was not very sanitary.
The whole team including coaches and physio staff. It was an awesome group. Everyone got along and we called ourselves the 14 best friends!
The crew after they received their medals.
The hospital. My room is the first one on the bottom floor. At night there would be people walking around outside smoking. The building in the background is the newer portion of the hospital where I had my CT head scan done. The building I was in was the infectious disease section. I still don't know exactly what I had but it was some form of virus.
This was my room. I did have my own bathroom but was not very sanitary.
The whole team including coaches and physio staff. It was an awesome group. Everyone got along and we called ourselves the 14 best friends!
The crew after they received their medals. It was difficult watching the girls receive their medals and I shed a few tears.
My health has improved a lot. I still have spouts of light headedness and I'm trying to keep my liquid intake high but overall I feel great. I am back to training and rowing in a single. I am really enjoying it and the change in activity and boat is great.
Again I'd like to say thank you to everyone for their support and their prayers during my adventure this summer. Your support has meant a lot to me! I will continue rowing and sometime early next year I will be moving back to London,Ontario to train full time with the senior national team with aspirations to get a medal for Canada (as I didn't get this one).
Have a great summer everyone and God Bless!
Sunday, July 25, 2010
Finals
The girls came 3rd! It was a really great race for the girls. Tough competition but the girls stood put to the challenge. It was really difficult watching from the stands but I know that I put all the work in that boat for it to place where they did. I was included in all the photos and celebrations which was nice. I did shed a few tears with the girls but they were understanding.
We are leaving tonight at 10:30 for Warsaw. I am looking forwards to getting out of this country and into some more American style civilization.
Thank you everyone for your support and prayers during my trip. When I get back to Victoria I plan on writing a little bit more on my blog and provide a few more details and pictures for you.
We are leaving tonight at 10:30 for Warsaw. I am looking forwards to getting out of this country and into some more American style civilization.
Thank you everyone for your support and prayers during my trip. When I get back to Victoria I plan on writing a little bit more on my blog and provide a few more details and pictures for you.
Saturday, July 24, 2010
Belarus
Hello Everyone,
I apologize for not posting anything since I have arrived in Belarus. It is a long story so I'll give you the short version. Upon arriving here in Belarus, my body started to shut down as I got some kind of bug in my system. I was having diarrhea that was not going away. I thought that I was improving but I ended up fainting when I was at lunch. I have never fainted before and I took a very big tumble (I have a nice black eye to prove it). I went up to my room to rest but ended up passing out again. Our team doctor was really concerned so he called the ambulance and I went to the hospital to get IV fluids. I ended up staying two nights in the hospital receiving over 7 liters of IV fluids. I am now at the hotel with the team but am still regaining my strength and appetite. Due to the status of my health and for my own personal safety I will not be racing on Sunday. One of the girls from our lightweight crews will be racing in my spot. My crew still has a very good fighting chance to repsresent Canada. I will be in the grandstands cheering with all my heart.
To those of you who knew my condition I thank you for your support and prayers during my illness and to those of who were wondering what happened to me I again apologize for not being able to update you.
I apologize for not posting anything since I have arrived in Belarus. It is a long story so I'll give you the short version. Upon arriving here in Belarus, my body started to shut down as I got some kind of bug in my system. I was having diarrhea that was not going away. I thought that I was improving but I ended up fainting when I was at lunch. I have never fainted before and I took a very big tumble (I have a nice black eye to prove it). I went up to my room to rest but ended up passing out again. Our team doctor was really concerned so he called the ambulance and I went to the hospital to get IV fluids. I ended up staying two nights in the hospital receiving over 7 liters of IV fluids. I am now at the hotel with the team but am still regaining my strength and appetite. Due to the status of my health and for my own personal safety I will not be racing on Sunday. One of the girls from our lightweight crews will be racing in my spot. My crew still has a very good fighting chance to repsresent Canada. I will be in the grandstands cheering with all my heart.
To those of you who knew my condition I thank you for your support and prayers during my illness and to those of who were wondering what happened to me I again apologize for not being able to update you.
Sunday, July 18, 2010
Day Seven (July 18)
As I promised, here are some pics from last night and a full team picture.
Left: whole team; Right: my boat!
This is how we put the maple leaf stickers on the oars.
Today was our last day in Poznan, Poland. It was a cool day as last night there was a thunder storm that came through. The cool weather is a nice break from the humidity we have had all week. This morning we had a practice and then we loaded the trailer and it is on its way to Warsaw where we will meet up and cross the border with the boats. This afternoon we had off so I went shopping! I was successful found some cool stuff for cheap!
Tomorrow is going to be a long day. We are leaving at 7:15 for the train that will take us to Warsaw (about 3 hours) and then we cross the border, who knows how long that will take (could be hours) and then we are driving about 3 hours to Brest, Belarus (and the roads could be quite bad, good thing I have my gravol). I'm looking forward to traveling by train across the country. Hopefully there will be a lot of fun/cool sights to see.
Well off to pack!
Saturday, July 17, 2010
Day Six (July 17)
One week until we race! Yeah! It's coming. I'm getting really pumped and so is the crew! Speed is coming easily and we are posting some good times for 500m and 1000m pieces.
Tonight we had a maple leaf ceremony. The purpose of this ceremony is to present to everyone their maple leafs that go on the oars when racing. Our oars have the countries flag painted on them. These oars are only made when we go to world championship events such as the one I am going to. (World Cup events do not count.) During training the maple leaf is taken off and the oars are just red and white stripped. So getting maple leafs (which are stickers) and putting them on our own oar is a BIG deal. It symbolizes all the work you put into it and that you have earned your place on the team. The ceremony includes the coaches calling out your name and you receiving your maple leaf (sticker). Nothing big but still significant. Tomorrow morning we will be putting the leafs on the oars in preparation for going to Belarus. (So I'll have pics tomorrow about the event.)
That is all that happened today. GO CANADA!
Tonight we had a maple leaf ceremony. The purpose of this ceremony is to present to everyone their maple leafs that go on the oars when racing. Our oars have the countries flag painted on them. These oars are only made when we go to world championship events such as the one I am going to. (World Cup events do not count.) During training the maple leaf is taken off and the oars are just red and white stripped. So getting maple leafs (which are stickers) and putting them on our own oar is a BIG deal. It symbolizes all the work you put into it and that you have earned your place on the team. The ceremony includes the coaches calling out your name and you receiving your maple leaf (sticker). Nothing big but still significant. Tomorrow morning we will be putting the leafs on the oars in preparation for going to Belarus. (So I'll have pics tomorrow about the event.)
That is all that happened today. GO CANADA!
Friday, July 16, 2010
Day Four (Friday July 16)
Good morning to those in North America! :)
Today is another training day. Nothing too special to report to you but I have thought of some things that I do here that may be worth mentioning for your interest.
First, laundry is really expensive (about 5 euros for 2.2lbs of laundry) so I have been doing laundry in our tub and hanging it around our room. I anticipated this so I have a sunlight bar of soap which I use to do my laundry. Second, it is not recommended to drink the water from the taps so the staff got us bottles of water that we drink instead. It's not too big of a deal but it is a bit of hassle to remember to get water from the stock. Third, in regards to the food that we are eating, it is mostly North American based. The hotel we are staying at provides buffet breakfast, lunch and dinner for us. Every meal is a hot meal with a make your own salad and fruit. We don't get any Polish cuisine (ie, perogies).
Back to rowing now with some more info for you (well for you Dad and anyone else who may be interested). When we are practicing, our coaches do have a motor boat at their disposal but sometimes they also ride their bikes along the shore (depending on the workout; the hard workouts they get in the coach boat, paddles rows they ride their bikes). There are no other rowing crews practicing here on the course, only Polish kayakers.
If 2's company and 3's a crowd …what's 4 and 5? A really good time! (Just for you Dad! Haha)
Today is another training day. Nothing too special to report to you but I have thought of some things that I do here that may be worth mentioning for your interest.
First, laundry is really expensive (about 5 euros for 2.2lbs of laundry) so I have been doing laundry in our tub and hanging it around our room. I anticipated this so I have a sunlight bar of soap which I use to do my laundry. Second, it is not recommended to drink the water from the taps so the staff got us bottles of water that we drink instead. It's not too big of a deal but it is a bit of hassle to remember to get water from the stock. Third, in regards to the food that we are eating, it is mostly North American based. The hotel we are staying at provides buffet breakfast, lunch and dinner for us. Every meal is a hot meal with a make your own salad and fruit. We don't get any Polish cuisine (ie, perogies).
Back to rowing now with some more info for you (well for you Dad and anyone else who may be interested). When we are practicing, our coaches do have a motor boat at their disposal but sometimes they also ride their bikes along the shore (depending on the workout; the hard workouts they get in the coach boat, paddles rows they ride their bikes). There are no other rowing crews practicing here on the course, only Polish kayakers.
If 2's company and 3's a crowd …what's 4 and 5? A really good time! (Just for you Dad! Haha)
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