Small things can make a big difference!

The past week gives me reason to write today.  As I previously told you, I’ve been moving around a bit to get in some solid training while the Under-23 team is in Lithuania (They are racing incredibly well by the way!  Check out their races on worldrowing.com and cheer on these amazingly hard working athletes).

So where did rowing take me this week?...Miami? No…Vancouver? No…Welland?  YES!  I bet if you asked most people, they wouldn’t be the first to jump in a bus to go to Welland, but after this week, I would come back in a heartbeat! Of course that’s if my work, friends and husband came with meJ.

Aside from the hundreds to thousands of motorcycles I saw today (they meet every Friday 13^th in a local town), the hardcore gardening I did for my mom (I have an entire new appreciation for it!!), and the several local farmer’s markets I went to, I got to spend this week at my parent’s “farm” (more like a country house in the middle of farm country) with my dad - my mom joined us today after work.  It was amazing as I haven’t spent this much time with my dad in years!  I felt like I was a little girl again – we ran all errands together, had delicious meals and also made a trip to Bulk Barn where I was able to take advantage of his Senior’s DiscountJ.  Below is a picture of a dessert I made for us from a recipe my teammate gave me:

Black bean brownie with black bean cocoa pudding on top, greek yogurt, strawberries, and a drizzle of maple syrup. You can’t feel guilty when you eat BEANS now can you?!

Spending time with my dad this week helped me remember that it’s important to slow down and appreciate the little things in life too.  In Toronto I am always in a rush…rush to rowing, rush to the office, rush back to rowing, rush home to see my husband, rush to put my food together for the next day, rush to bed…I’m sure you know exactly what I’m talking about!  It’s nice when things slow down a bit, and yes, sometimes it means driving slower too. 

I think this appreciation carried into my rowing this week.  Both my partner and I slowed things down in our 2x (in terms of our stroke rate, not speed don’t worry) and we really focused on moving the boat in the most efficient way possible.  We looked at ourselves and analyzed our movements to make sure that we were making the most of each stroke, together as one.  Small movements have a way of disrupting the set of a boat, and with our focus we have eliminated a lot of these movementsJ.

It is also nice that we had a nice stretch of about 10km to row on without any cross winds or turn arounds.  Below is a video of the National Development Centre where we have been training out of all week.

At the NDC we were fortunate to train with some friendly and speedy rowers.  They also know how to have fun - after some practices on hot days (pretty much EVERY DAY!), they jump into the water to cool off.  Unfortunately if we did that in Lake Fanshawe in London we might grow a third eye:S…not kidding! 

So my advice for anyone reading this before the week-end, is that you remember to appreciate the little things around you – it could be a person, something material, or a moment.

Enjoy!