It’s been a week since the game and people are still buzzing about it.

The last time I ventured to the Oval was for a paddling clinic before the 2010 Olympics and on Sunday I was given a chance to take part in a BC bobsleigh/skeleton talent camp.

Right around the mid paddling season point, I came up with this goal/fitness challenge of taking part in a talent camp, if I made it sweet if not I was able to make it that far. The original goal was to enter one next year but after a few bobsledders I know egged me on to do it this year. Do have to say that it was a great learning curve and now I know what I need to work which would also help with my paddling.

It was really nice to be part of a small group of 8 (12 people signed up though) people instead of a huge group of 30+, this way you aren’t waiting around to long. Being the only female who took part did suck as I wasn’t really able to gauge myself against my own gender and all the guys having true track backgrounds which also didn’t help but at least they didn’t laugh at me.

Now the waiting game begins as I wait for my results.

How was your long weekend?

Comment for a Cause (C4AC) is back for it’s 4th year. C4AC is my way to raises funds & awareness. This year I’ve picked BC Children’s Hospital as my charity of choice. Each comment this site gets equals $1 that I will be donating at the end of the month.. Don’t forget to keep up to date by subscribing to my rss feed

If you know me, you know that I love sports not just paddling related sports but also North American style football (CFL, NFL) and bobsled. You might ask why bobsled and not just because of the yummy guys on the Canadian and American teams but because I just love the sport in general and it’s something I’ve always wanted to get into somehow around my paddling.

Just a few years ago at the 2002 Olympics, Women Bobsled debut and now in 2011 four very lucky US ladies got to do a trail on a fourwomen team. I’ve always wonder when the day would be when there was gonna be a fourwomen crew, now to wait and see if it catches on.

Depending on my racing schedule this summer …. I might take part in a try out or at least watch one (from a far lol)

In all my years of flying I’ve never had to deal with a deicing which made me nervous as we were delayed 45 minutes before we even got into the air, and of course the second plane I had to catch was at the other end of the second terminal, I was able to make it with 5 minutes to spare before we were loading that plane. By the time I got off that plane I hadn’t eaten all day and I wasn’t pleased that if I wanted a snack on the plane that I had to use my credit card for a $3 dollar item instead of cash. So I went to Starbucks as I was waiting to be picked up. Walking out of the Airport and my allergies weren’t pleased with me.

We didn’t do to much yesterday, because my friends are big Colts fans we went to a well known sport bar chain out here in the Midwest to watch the game. I noticed on the menu they had a Canadian beer and I was craving something from home so I order a drink and the waitress didn’t have a clue what I was talking about or allowed me to order as I didn’t have an American ID, nor my passport on me (I’m sorry I hate traveling with my passport), just because they had a problem with Mexican’s using fake id’s. So we left and went to another restaurant and they were a lot friendlier and I can see my friends going back there again.

Hope everyone had a great weekend

Quoted at the 1996 Olympic Games
By Juan Antonio Samaranch (1920-2010)

Comment for a Cause (C4AC) is back for it’s 3rd year. C4AC is my way to raises funds & awareness. This year I’ve picked Right to Play as my charity of choice. Each comment this site gets equals $1 that I will be donating at the end of the month.. Don’t forget to keep up to date by subscribing to my rss feed

For the last while, I just found heading to the gym or even working out at home isn’t doing for it for me anymore.. It just feels like I’m doing the same boring thing over and over again even if I changed something. So after a lot of thought and googling I found a pilates studio that’s about 15 minutes from my house, so tomorrow morning (err in a couple hours) I’ll be taking in my 1st pilates class (signed up for 15 weeks). I’m looking forward to be working out in a different way and not be waiting in line for a treadmill or the weights.

My goal isn’t to have a killer beach body by the summer but to be able to compete the skill tests that you need to do if you want to join the national bobsledding team. The one part of that test I’m NOT looking forward to is the running since I’m not a runner, no matter what if I truly try out for the team or not, I see this as a great cross trainer for my paddling.

What’s driving you to your fitness goal?

Comment for a Cause (C4AC) is back for it’s 3rd year. C4AC is my way to raises funds & awareness. This year I’ve picked Right to Play as my charity of choice. Each comment this site gets equals $1 that I will be donating at the end of the month.. Don’t forget to keep up to date by subscribing to my rss feed

It’s day 15 of this years Comment for a Cause and I wanted to write a bit more on why I decided to pick this charity.

Everyone always says oh they are a 2nd or 3rd world country, Kids aren’t Kids there, but when it hits home then people whine and complain and want the Kids to be Kids.. It is true that a lot of Kids these days don’t have the chance to be a Kid and take part in sports or other after school activities. For me I think anyone who wants to take part in a activity should be allowed, if there isn’t a girls hockey team then let them play on the boys team until there is one and so on..

Can’t remember where I heard it, but 1 in 3 Canadians families can’t afford to put their kids into sports/after school activities. I can’t imagination what it must be like for those parents of the kids who want to take part in something but can’t. This is why I think a charity like this that helps out globally instead of just in Canada or say in Africa, will teach everyone to takes part a thing or two about life.

Just tallying up the total so far, Comment for a Cause has raised $74 that will be going to Right to Play.. In the 3 years I’ve been doing this, I’ve donated over $260 to different charities.

Comment for a Cause (C4AC) is back for it’s 3rd year. C4AC is my way to raises funds & awareness. This year I’ve picked Right to Play as my charity of choice. Each comment this site gets equals $1 that I will be donating at the end of the month.. Don’t forget to keep up to date by subscribing to my rss feed

Other day when I was working out this years budget and I just realized how much money I have spent in the last 16 years in my beloved sport of Dragon Boating. Sure I could have quit the sport and saved that money for a house in one of the best areas in Vancouver but I rather paddle and live where I am out in the boonies because there are less snobs and cheap rent is good.

More I think about it, the more I might want to get another job and have this job where I am at now and have it to pay for my paddling addiction and maybe my bobsledding addiction (going to be trying the sport in the Summer and use that as my cross trainer). Guess I should crunch some more numbers and figure how much sleep I’ll be getting before I apply for another job.

Would you get a second job just to help with your sport/hobby’s addiction?

As of today Comment for a Cause has raised over $43. Thanks everyone who has commented daily.

I maybe a very proud Canadian with a maple leaf tattoo but I support every athlete out there whether your have a mega sponsor(s) like Shaun White of the USA or those athletes who taking time off work and paying out of your own pocket to attend the games.. Like most of the parlympics athletes had to do.

With that being said, I do believe that the Olympics and the Paralympics has changed us Vancouverites (and maybe even the rest of Canada) in a big way, As I’ve never seen Vancouver so bubbly and so patriot like our neighbours to the south. Where ever you went you heard a huge crowd people singing our anthem or a small group of people signing theirs. There was always someone in that crowd of red and white wearing their nations flags as a cape. This is a once in a lifetime event and it was priceless and just awesome. Only thing I am not looking forward to is the paying off the debt.

The highlight of the Olympics games for me would have been when we broke the 34 year curse of not winning a gold on home soil, and for every athlete being able to make it to the Olympics and doing their personal best. And talking to US Bobsled Elena and Canadian Luger Chris.

On the day of the Olympic opening ceremonies Vancouver’s paddling community got together and just like in the Beijing Olympics in 2008 the torch was on a dragon boat but this time around there were 7 dragon boats, 6 outriggers and 1 voyageur though our local tv station just decided to cover Hugh Fisher (a Gold and Bronze Medals in K-2 in the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics) who was the flag bearer in the dragon boat and Kamini Jains (A kayaker in 2000 Sydney and the 2004 Athens Olympics) who was the flag bearer on the voyageur.

Both of these folks are now amazing dragon boat coaches that I look up to. From where Hugh got onto the boat to where they meet up with Kamini, it would normally take less then 3 minutes of paddling but they were told to paddle really slowly. (video clip is over 6mins long).

Mini Rant:

- It’s 2010 not 1910 the Paralympics should be getting the same if not MORE coverage on tv/radio then what they got for these games.. I’m sorry but 57 hours of tv coverage is bullcrap! Hopefully the summer games in London 2012 will be more coverage.
- Sadden when everyone decided to take down all their Canadian flag/car flag two days after the Olympics and barely anyone had them for the Parlympics. Which is a shame, if your gonna show your support do it for both or don’t do it at all.