60 minutes, not 59 minutes and 59 seconds

Merry Christmas!

What a rush of activities, and as always, it was so great to relax and enjoy quality time with family.  It was especially nice to watch the kids (my nephew and three nieces) get excited on Christmas Eve when they saw Santa – yes, THE SantaJ.

Leading into the Christmas week-end, I had a great workout with Kathleen and Jackie (Jackie is a Canadian lightweight rower who is training out in Europe to represent Poland at the upcoming World Championships, and hopefully Olympics!).  Of course having the three of us side by side during a 60 minute piece brought some added competition to the workout – the 60 minute piece consistent of various rate changes in between and split goals to hit at each rate.  Overall, I think we all did pretty well: I held 2:04.7/500m for the 60minute at stroke rate 19.  This result helped boost my confidence a bit since a month ago I did 2:03.5/500m for 60min at stroke rate 22 (and that was a personal best). 

We were lucky to have some rate changes during the 60 minute piece to help keep it interesting, but regardless, it was still a little tempting to take a small rest as boredom set in – but we didn’t, and we are better off for not having done so.  Each day counts, so while in Dominican I will try to keep focused on that and motivated to get through my workouts alone, with the temptation of the beach just next door:S).

Speaking of boredom, I had a very funny comment from my nephew over the week-end.  I recorded myself playing the piano again, but this time it was for my parents.  Since I was the one to introduce the piano to my nephew (I started teaching him when he was 4), I wanted to show him the video.  The first thing he said was “you look so bored!”.  I couldn’t help but laugh, but he actually was kind of right!  I wasn’t bored, but I think I look it because I played this just after having done the 60 minute piece, followed by weights, and I had only a small window to record the video – so I was probably not as enthusiastic as I could have been.  Plus, this specific song is a Sonata that is made up of about 5 full length pieces (it is about a 25 minute song when played in full).

In any event, the comment made me think of the 60 minute piece.

Whether you are doing a long workout or a long performance, it is important to stay focused and know that the end result is what counts.  You may not get immediate satisfaction from the results performed that day, but it will pay off eventually and you just need to believe that with every practice, you are improving.  So if you have a 60 minute run/erg/bike, then do 60 minutes (not 59).

Even with piano, I have only been playing randomly for about 1-3 hours a week, but already my hands are starting to get more comfortable again on the keys.

Put in the work and it will pay off!

Enjoy this week and close out 2011 with a bang:D

(Below is the song I recorded for my parents - it’s 10 minutes long, so you may come to understand why I looked bored, but know that I really wasn’tJ):

Thankful for so much

With the holidays just around the corner, there are a number of parties going on (for work and friends): you drink, eat a lot, and have great times spent with family and friends.  For me, Christmas has been about spending time with them while also slowing down to appreciate even the smallest of things I am fortunate to have.  I think it’s easy to get caught up in the craziness of shopping for presents, and wanting this or that.  Some of us are lucky to be able to ask for things we “want”, while others are simply asking for things they “need”. If you have a chance, really look at yourself in the mirror to ask if you are one of the fortunate.  If you are, is there anything you can do during the holidays to give to those who aren’t as fortunate?  At work we are donating toys and food, and one of my friends held a charity night where everyone brought a new toy to donate to a kids charity.

I would like to be able to give back more to the community.  I am aware that I don’t do enough now, but that can change.  And this “giving” back will hopefully be all year round, not just for the holidays or after a natural disaster. I have a friend, Jackie Halko, who has lived in Poland for the past year as a member of “Athletes In Action”.  While involved with this organization, she has also had the opportunity to row for the Polish National Team.  As a role model it is really good to build your credibility as an athlete so that the younger generation of athletes you are helping can have a goal, believe and achieve just like you.  Jackie is a great example of this.

As I look more internally, I assess what my driver is with rowing.  At first I jumped to the conclusion that it was more selfish than anything else – think about it, I am choosing to spend time away from family/friends so that I can do something for me (twice a day, 6 days a week) with a goal of finding out how good I can be at something.  While that still holds true (“to be the best that I can be”), I know that my ultimate goal with rowing is to have the opportunity to build my credibility as an athlete so that I can give back to my community in a bigger way – specifically I want to be able to reach out to young female athletes.  I had some challenging times as an athlete when I was younger, and I see it much too often with others too (young and old).  At one of the Christmas gatherings, I learned about an amazing organization that is giving back now and making a difference.  It’s called “StepStones for Youth” – it’s a charitable organization run by two people who work endlessly to offer programs to children and young adults who are considered vulnerable or at-risk within their community.

Again, I feel it is important to slow down and really appreciate how lucky I am and be thankful for the opportunities I have been given.  Never take anything for granted.

So on my mission to build my credibility, I am continuing to work hard in the erg/weight room.  Over the week-end, between the ridiculous amounts of cookie eating, I did trainJ.  I actually had some of the best training sessions to date.  I was fortunate to be with my teammates, Kathleen and Claire.  I’d like to say that we destroyed the ergs, but part way through some of the pieces I felt like I was getting destroyed pretty bad myself, ha!  The one piece I am most proud of this week-end is the 2 x 3000m workout.  I was able to hold sub 2:00 / 500m at a stroke rate 20.  My second one ended up being faster than my first, so I am seeing more consistency and endurance coming into play now.  This is now the last week before I head off to the Dominican (this time I can check off “personal” instead of “business” on my customs formJ).  I am hoping to get the chance to train on an erg while I’m there, but if I don’t, then trust me I will entertain you with a very interesting way of erging with a rolling seat and bands!

Happy Monday!

Analyzing behavior (behaviour)

I just got back from Indianapolis for work, and as always, it was a very productive trip.  The purpose of this trip was to bring my whole team together to talk about our goals for the next fiscal year.  We had a guest speaker come in to review and discuss something called the DISC report – it’s an in-depth personal behavior assessment: D = Dominance, I – Influence, S = Steadiness, and C = Conscientiousness.

In general, everybody has some percent of D, I, S or C.  It was interesting to read through my results as they were very close to how I actually behave.  DISC can help a team become more aware of their similarities or differences, and learn how to be more productive when working with one another.

I can see how this kind of report can be beneficial for rowing crews as well.  Right now I am rowing in a single scull, but having rowed in crew boats for 5 years (8+, 4+, 4x, etc) I can see how it can be helpful if everyone (including the coach) understands how each individual behaves.  I would guess that there would be many Ds and Is in a rowing crew (highly competitive individuals who strive for results), but it would be important to see if there are Ss and Cs in the group too.  Would coaching strategy change if you knew what types of athletes you had?  Maybe they do these kinds of reports on athletes at the elite level – I don’t imagine it being harmful if you had this information handy.

I could go ahead and tell you what my report looks like, but I’m sure you could guess on your own.  It really was scary how accurate they were:S  Being “aware” of a behavior (unfavorable) is the start to being able to change so that you can have a favorable behavior. 

On another note, when traveling to Indianapolis I officially claim to have trouble getting up in the morning!  The bed at the hotel is SO comfortable that I can’t get myself to get out unless I absolutely need to.  So, that will be something I need to work on – training myself to get out of really comfortable hotel bedsJ.

No more hotel training for a while, back to the erg in my living room or at the rowing club!

This is what training feels like..

Yesterday I attempted to train and I was able to get through half of my workout – moving in the right direction.  Many people have pets, and as a pet owner you really come to feel that your pet is not just an animal, but rather, they are a part of your family.  And for anyone, it is hard to lose a family member.

After 17 years of being in a routine, it’s hard to just fall into a new one.  For example, I don’t come home at lunch or after work anymore to take Waggs out.  That part of my routine has changed and will take some getting used to.

I’m going to start to turn my training around.  As I mentioned in the Tribute, Waggs loved to lick my sweat after workouts (ewww, haha), so to get myself moving again and focused on preparing for the Canadian Indoor Rowing Championships in February, I’m going to try and sweat as much as I can in every workoutJ.

This somewhat came into effect today as I got my heart rate up doing weights with my teammate Kathleen.  She kept me smiling and laughing the whole time with her energy, it was really nice – thanks Kathleen!   We did a heavy weights circuit, and since I haven’t done weights since Saturday, my muscles were struggling, ha!  Usually the next day after doing a new set of weights, people feel like their muscles are HUGE (you feel like you look like the Hulk!).  I am already feeling this, and it’s only been an hour after the workout – I feel like my little biceps are POPPING out (I wish)J.  Often people feel this with their quads after doing squats…walking down stairs can be brutal, not sure whether going up the stairs is easier or harder than going down (you know what I’m talking about).

In any event, this feeling means I’m still in the game and I am on the road to getting back into my training routine.

Taking it a day at a timeJ

Night

Tribute to my baby girl, Waggs.

Today I held one of my bestest friends of 17 years, and said good-bye!

Back in 1994 I was blessed with a new family member, best friend and protector.  Her name was Waggs.  I fell in love with her at a family friend’s cottage when she was just 2 weeks old – our family friend used to take care of dogs until they were old enough to be adopted.  I found out how much it would be to buy her from the humane society, so I worked hard washing cars and selling lemonade to save enough money to buy her, and I did!

She has been with me through elementary school, high school, university and adulthood.  When she was younger, she would bark with so much power that outsiders thought she was a big dog.  But Waggs was small, no more than 12 pounds.  She was an adorable yet interesting looking little mutt – a mix between schnauzer, poodle and fox terrier, with solid black hair and a stripe of white down her chest.  And although her hair turned to grey as she aged, strangers would still think that she was a puppy because of her energy and puppy-like looks (up until just a few months ago).

Waggs got her name for a reason (it has the double “g” because I was 10 when she was named and I couldn’t spell all that perfectly:S).  She got the name because she was ALWAYS wagging her tail – it acted like a mini air conditioner in the summer.  It was a powerful tail, and long enough to whip you if you weren’t too careful.  As a puppy she would think her tail was a toy (as most dog’s do), and she would chase it for hours – she would just be running in circles!

She had so many funny habits: circling around trying to gain momentum so that she could poop, again circling around before laying down in her bed, trying to make her many versions of beds as small as possible so that she could just lay on top of the mess, she would get her food from her bowl and then walk away to eat it in another location (always fun to clean up after her!), and she would also jump up to my waist every time I came home in hopes of jumping high enough to reach my face so that she could lick me…

#1 Fan

Back when I did Triathlons, Waggs would hang back with my family and cry for the whole duration of my race (which could have taken several hours).  She would not let up until I was finished racing and went to see her – at which point she would try to lick every ounce of sweat off of me.

Partner in Crime

As a little kid, I would naturally get into petty arguments with my parents, and one time I threatened to run away with Waggs.  I put her leash on, walked out the front door, and then walked with her around the neighborhood – simply to find myself returning back home only because Waggs needed food and waterJ.

She “nose” bad people

She also had an amazing sense of people.  When I was younger and lived in a townhouse complex, there was a man she couldn’t stand – she would bark and bark and bark at him, pulling hard on the leash to have at him.  She didn’t do that with anyone else, unless she had the same feeling towards them.  Soon enough we found that same man leaving the complex in handcuffs.  Waggs could smell a bad person from a mile away!

Consoling

A while ago my dad had a mild car accident that in the end put him in the hospital.  Since it was “mild” in his view, he thought nothing of it and didn’t go to the hospital to get checked.  However, for weeks after the accident, Waggs sensed that something was wrong with my dad.  She wouldn’t leave his side and lay with him constantly.  It was her way of trying to console him as his internal system struggled – soon after, he was rushed to hospital and treated.  

All in all, Waggs was just filled with SO much love.  Her and I were incredibly close, and although she’s physically gone she will still be with me forever.  17 years is a long time – it equals 119 years in dog years!  She lived a very good and happy life, while making everyone around her either love her or question their love at times (she may have peed in a couple of places where she shouldn’t have:S).

We did almost everything together and she has been with me through the most adventurous times of my life.

She is missed and will always be, but her energy, love and spirit will live on!

Love you Waggs and may you rest in peace in doggy heaven. xoxoxo

Sweating for speed!

“Don’t feel entitled to anything you didn’t sweat and struggle for!” – Marian Wright Edelman

Sweat!

There was no shortage of that this week.  With the heavier training load, I sweat so much that I actually lost 2.5 lbs from one day to another.  However, that is NOT good!  Athletes need to make sure that they are refueling with food AND replenishing their electrolytes.  I usually drink an electrolyte drink during and after training, but clearly not enough during the week.  I learned quickly though and made sure to drink enough yesterday and today, as I had hard workouts back to back.

Yesterday I did a 30 minute piece at stroke rate 20.  This is a common “test” performed in Europe to see how athletes are improving with their endurance.  I didn’t go into it like a “test” but my end result was good.  It wasn’t a personal best for me, but I held on for every stroke, sweat for the final result which was only .9seconds off of my personal best.  Then today, my teammate Claire and I did weights, low rate erg pieces (focusing on power per stroke), and a second erg piece focused on high rate and intensity.  During the high rate pieces, we both thought we wouldn’t finish…but we weren’t ready to let eachother or ourselves down, so we sucked it up, pushed our legs down hard and fought until the end.

I sweat so much that my clothes were soaked – it puts a lot of demand on my laundry machine:S

I came across the following:

6 General Guidelines for Replenishment (these are not concrete and should be tailored for each athlete) – www.waterbenefitehealth.com
The following six guidelines are general recommendations for replenishing electrolytes in the body lost as a result of exercise:

1. In most cases, drinking mineral-rich water will be sufficient to maintain electrolyte balance when exercising moderately for less than 60 minutes.

2. When exercising for 60 minutes or more, drink at least 12 ounces of an electrolyte replacement drink (with added sodium and glucose) every half hour.

3. Also drink an electrolyte-replacement drink for high-intensity and hot-weather activities lasting more than 30 minutes.

4. Reduce your intake of sodium in general. This will actually increase your body’s ability to retain sodium during exercise.

5. Increase your intake of fresh fruits and vegetables daily to increase your potassium levels.

6. Drink at least half your body weight in ounces of mineral-rich water throughout the day for stay properly hydrated. For example, if you weigh 190 lbs, you would want to drink a minimum of 95 oz. (about 3 liters).

This tank top used to be light grey! This was from yesterday's workout.

Happy SweatingJ

No answers, but a good break!

Yesterday, my training was “revised” slightly as Andrew and I went to the hockey game: Toronto Maple Leafs vs Boston Bruins.  It was a great game, even though we lost 6-3 (boo!).  Of course I was on the edge of my seat cheering for the Leafs and booing the refs when they called out some pretty unfair penalties, but I was also very observant of the goalies and their focus – there is so much pressure on a goalie!  How do they recover after a goal?  What strategies do they have to get back in the game and think positively?  They must have their own cue words I’m sure of it.

The activities in the rink alone are a lot to manage against focus, but so are the activities outside of the rink.  Near the end of the game, fans started to leave.  Whether it’s because of traffic or the score, I can see how that can be distracting.  Do the athletes notice or are they so focused on what’s going on in the rink?

So many questions…and no answers!  But sometimes as a fan and athlete I guess it’s healthy to simply sit back, enjoy a game, and let others feel the pressure for a little bit.  I was back to my routine today and felt pressure from training and work, so the small break yesterday was good timing!  Goodness knows that tomorrow and Saturday's workouts will punish me enough:).

Some photos from the game: