Photos

Last fall I did a photo shoot with Marissa Tiel at the old weir, now called harvey passage.  Here are the results.

Check out more of Marissas (MarBar) work at
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Marissa-Tiel-Photography/287088587989766
http://marissatielphoto.com/

PanAmerican Champion!! :)

March 2/3 was the 2013 Pan American Canoe Slalom Championships in Union De Tulla Mexico. It was my first training camp back in the boat after a long winter in the gym and on the kayak erg.

Leaving Calgary on Feb. 15th I was itching to see how my winter training would transfer to the water. It didn’t take long to shake the cobwebs off and be back in my groove. The 2 weeks of training on the witewater course in Union De tulla prior to the race were fabulous! I was feeling strong and confident on the water. 

Despite the fact that I was feeling good on the water the race was a real test of my winters training. If you don’t recall last year the Pan American title (and Olympic berth) was given to Ana Vargas of Brazil. Watching Ana paddle in the days leading up to the race was exciting; she was looking very fit and dynamic on the water. The rest of the Canadian crew was training well leading up to the race as well. I knew it was going to be a quality competition.

In the race Ana had taken the lead in both the qualifiers and semi final by a few tenths of a second. In the final I managed to take the win with a clean run! Regaining the PanAmerican Champion title!  It was really special to win yesterday. The level of competition within the pan-americas has become exceptionally competitive in the past couple years; and with the 2016 Olympics in Brazil that level of competition will only continue in this upward trend. We are all pushing each-other to be better athletes. 

Winning the race was the cherry on top of an awesome trip. We had great team dynamics, great coaching, great company, great food and great training! 

Thanks to everyone for the kind words of congratulations in the past couple days xoxo

http://coach-pav.com/2013/01/07/pavlosophy-how-to-deal-with-failure-like-a-winner

A good article

http://coach-pav.com/2013/01/07/pavlosophy-how-to-deal-with-failure-like-a-winner/

4Months of Crazy

It has been a while since I have updated my blog however I can sum up what happened in the past 4 months very quickly 
1-School 
2-Training
3-Work
Although I felt like I was going to go crazy some days and just wanted to drop a class or skip something to get a bit more sleep I am glad I pushed through it. (Thank-you to everyone who supported me through this) It was a good eye opener and It reinforced where passions are. 

I will be the first to admit that I took on too much. I had no spare time for anything really. I was scheduling in showers at 11pm before bed. There are a few things I plan to change for the next chapter. 
First- A social life did not exist and I have to apologize to my friends and family for that. I look forward to catching up with everyone over the holidays.
Second- Training recovery- I pushed through training for the past 4 months and saw some gains however I think I could have bigger gains; I did not give enough respect to recovery time and well... thats on the New Years Resolution list.  (I started this afternoon with my first nap in 4 months, now im ready for training session #2 today.) 
School - 1/2 load.  I took 4 courses this semester and they were really great but I am going to cut that in 1/2 to focus on training before the 2013 season.
Looking Forward!!

Olympic Experience

I never imagined going to the Olympic games as a spectator. I only imagined myself as a competitor. When we didn’t get an Olympic spot for Canada my family asked me if I still wanted to go. Most people would jump at the opportunity to experience the energy of the Olympics; but didn’t know if I would be able to bear being at the event I poured my heart into for the past 4 years.  

I have been able to put that obstacle (not competing in the Olympics) behind me. I have learned and grown from it as an athlete and a person. And I’m thrilled that I went and experienced the Olympics. I got tickets to all the Slalom Kayaking and cheered on my team mate Michael Taylor, as well as all the other competitors I usually race with. The atmosphere was unreal and electric. There were 12,000 fans at the slalom event alone!!

I learned a lot at the Olympics. I learned that they are no the end all be all of sport. It is really just another race. In Slalom, it is such a small field that the racing is far less competitive than a world cup or world Championships. My goal is still Rio 2016 but I am going to focus more on the process of being the best athlete I can be rather than the result. The journey rather than the Destination. I believe that this mentality will make me a athlete worthy of any world stage competition medal :) 

Thank-you to everyone who has supported me over the past 4 years and Im pumped for the next 4 :) 

World Cups 1,2,3

Im on my flight home from Europe where I competed in 3 World Cups. First in Cardiff, Wales, then Pau, France, and finishing the tour in Seu D’Urgell Spain. My results were not where I was wanting or expecting to be. I was top Canadian woman on the tour but that did not line up with my international goals. That said It is not because I paddled poorly, I had some good stuff. The level of international competition has taken a big leap forward; you have to be strong, fast and not make mistakes to be among the top. I believe this is a good advancement in our sport but I need to figure out how to get there.

 Throughout the winter I was making gains and improving. I felt like I was on track for a successful year. The problem with that was I had no international benchmark to base my gains on. Sure I was doing well within North America, but I have my sights set further than that.  There could be a number of reasons my results were not where I wanted. After a meeting with my coach we discussed to areas to focus on before the next set of races. I have 4 weeks of training before racing starts again. Im looking forward to a good training block at home! 

Crepes in France

New Paddling top

Sightseing @ Stonehenge

On the Flip Side

This weekend was the Jr National Team Selections in Kananaskis. The weekend was beautiful and the race ran extremely smoothly and successfully. I did not race because I am too old but I helped with for-runs to test the timing system and I did some judging. For me this experience brought on an entire new respect for race organizers. It was my first time as a volunteer and not a competitior. I saw more of the behind the scenes organization to a race, and the difficulty of judging. 


Huge thank-yous to Alberta Whitewater for organizing another amazing race, to the coaches dedicating there time to the young athletes, and all parents and volunteers who help these events run smoothly!


*I hope you caught my interview on Global TV saturday evening! 


Next for me is World Cups I head to the UK for the first race, then France, and lastly spain. Stay tuned for more on that.