Our second session for the day was intended to be in the Inglewood pool paddling in our slalom boats, but the weather was so nice we decided to bring our training to the river.
The adventure started with a text message from Mike (my coach) who said:
I was able to get out for my first ski of the season with my mom and two good friends. Our day started out with a trip to Laggans Mountain Bakery because all great ski adventures start with some yummy baked goods!
A good friend of mine and a retired Slalom White Water Kayaker has launched a new magazine called Grit Magazine. Grit is an online forum of anything related to sports.
One of their features is called Beginnings where Marissa has put together a string of photos of high performance athletes in their younger years of their involvement in sport.
Check out my story below! If you would like to see more you can visit their website at:
http://gritmag.com/beginnings-part-ii/
I have returned from the World Championships in Prague this September and now my 2013 competition season has come to a close. I have looked back to reflect on my experience throughout the whole year. I found myself wondering, "What were my greatest accomplishments in 2013?" When answering this question it was obvious, my paddling results were stronger in the competitions in North America where I found myself on the podium at every event. Another highlight came when Canoe Kayak Canada announced I was the top ranked Canadian Slalom National team member according to the 2013 Canoe Slalom National Interclass Ranking.
One thing I have heard consistently from my coaches is the fact I am continually improving. This year's World Cup circuit provided a progressive training ground for me. Although I fell short of my goal to break into the top ten, I did advance to the semi finals at two competitions to place 13th in World Cup 1 in Cardiff, Wales and 13th in World Cup 2 in Le Seu, Spain.
Earlier this summer our sport psychologist presented a perspective that helped me to position how I approach training and competing. Instead of thinking "I HAVE to go to training" it was suggested to rephrase it as " I GET to go to training". Following that everything revved up to full speed and I had forgotten about this for most of my summer. In the thick of competitions I found myself focusing on my race results instead of paying attention to the journey. My coach reminded me before the World Championships in Prague, that "I GET to be at World Championships". After my second race I was rather disappointed with my performance and did not advance to the semi finals. With the pressure off I then had the opportunity to cheer on my team mates and decided to take in the full World Championships experience. As a spectator I watched the semi finals and finals, finding myself sitting at the edge of my seat watching individuals from many nations fight their way down the difficult course. It was truly amazing to be at this event and I could feel the energy of the crowd as we cheered for each paddler that went down the course. I observed facial expressions and body language seeing athletes show signs of triumph and defeat.
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| During race run #1 |
Moving forward I am now back home in Calgary and I GET to start school, work, and training again. It is a whole new year that will hopefully be full of improvement, determination, and fun! Although I did not accomplish all of my goals, I achieved significant outcomes and I continue to learn what it takes to become one of the World's C1 paddlers.
I want to thank everyone who has supported me this year as I could not have done it without YOU!
Below I included the video summary of my race at the World Championships. My boat is pink and blue that is shown close to the beginning!
I am presently in Prague, Czech Republic gearing up for the World Championships, which take place on September 12-15. All of us on the Canadian team have just finished a 3-day break from our intense training and now we are transitioning into a phase called "tapering" where we are preparing for the most important competition of the year. During this phase we will continue training to maintain our condition levels, however being careful not to tire out our bodies. The next 2 weeks will be filled with resting and preparing for the World Championships. I have been training extremely hard all year and I am confident I am ready to do my best!
One exciting change for me this September is starting my first official semester as a business student. I have full support from my Mount Royal University instructors who have helped me to work independently while I am competing at the World Championships. I find doing my course work provides a positive distraction that helps me relax and prevents me from worrying about the upcoming race. I am working on my first assignment and so far it is going very well.
So far my training and school fill my days, where I am achieving the proper balance, which is keeping me on track.
I welcome positive change as an opportunity to learn new things and to push new limits! It is going to be a very stimulating semester with many new challenges. I have learned when I really love something I will find ways to make it work. I am in the ZONE where I love canoeing and I love marketing!