I am finely finding the need to use this blog site again. I could attempted to write everyone personal emails which I would prefer but my Internet time now has a limit plus the sun is beckoning for us to be out side!
Having a fantastic time. Scott and I are now certified divers now! The first two days were in the classroom and pool doing lots of skills tests videos etc. It was very intense, had to take a lot in in a short space of time. Then at the end of day 2 we had the theory exam. There was 7 of us and we were aloud to take as long as we liked, after about half an hour the rest of the class had finished and gone home and Scott and I were still there half an hour later ha ha., to the point the instructor woman who was a patronising cow said to us not to worry, there's nothing wrong with being slow!!! We thought this comment was hilarious but she then thought we weren't taking it serious enough! Anyway we scrapped through and passed.... we are designers what do you expect!
Spent the last two days in the Great Barrier Reef and it was absolutely amazing sooooooo fantastically amazing. We saw all the fish in finding Nemo.... even a shark although it was the size of my arm! Not scary at all. We saw a huge turtle which was amazing. Scott touched it's back so I did then got told off, even though the instructor was flinging a sea cucumber around like there was no tomorrow. I really don't think she liked us. Then yesterday we had this really cool Korean instructor called Ray, he was so enthusiastic about everything and we completed our PADI withe him and it was high 5's all round. Plus he thought Scott and we so natural we were aloud to go out by our selves on the last dive. We were slightly apprehensive as we seem to get lost quite a lot generally let alone under the sea. But it was really good, a huge sense of freedom in a new world. We found our way back fine.
The hostel we are in at the moment isn't the best and this morning just as we were checking out a cockroach fell on my head!!! Not impressed but we are heading to mission beach on the Grey Hound bus at 12pm then booked into do a sky dive on Scott's birthday on the 24th Thursday plus we are staying in a hostel called Scotties!! So it was as if it was meant to be.
We have made friends with a couple of Irish and English and an Aussie girl who are doing the same thing. They said Scott has to wear his birthday suit to do his sky dive ha ha... Can't wait for the sky dive, 14,000 feet and we land on the beach it's self.
Got to go, miss you all loads xxx
Monday, 21 September 2009
Monday, 2 February 2009
My training partners name is now pain!
Well pain was always there waiting for the opportunity to step up and now coincidentally just as Julia has chosen a new path I have found a new level of pain… the kind you get that makes you feel like you’re going to pass out or throw up! But that’s a 500m sprint for you and the name of this game. Training at Elmbridge is good and it’s just what I needed to make this winter a positive one. Elmbridge canoe club is a fantastic place; with plenty of talent, the Thames and great coaches. It makes working hard that bit easier and so far I am happy with the improvements I have made here.
I am very excited about the year ahead and although Julia is already missed and the reason I have got this far, I know that this is for me regardless of my environment or company. Even when I’m not sure about stepping out of the door in the ice, sleet, rain, snow, wind and floods; I just have to think about how lucky I am to be training every day and how much I enjoy pushing myself to new limits and striving to improve in the boat and in the gym.
I will endeavor to keep you updated on my progress on Julia’s blog if you care to follow the second sisters continuing journey in the world of sprint kayaking!
I am very excited about the year ahead and although Julia is already missed and the reason I have got this far, I know that this is for me regardless of my environment or company. Even when I’m not sure about stepping out of the door in the ice, sleet, rain, snow, wind and floods; I just have to think about how lucky I am to be training every day and how much I enjoy pushing myself to new limits and striving to improve in the boat and in the gym.
I will endeavor to keep you updated on my progress on Julia’s blog if you care to follow the second sisters continuing journey in the world of sprint kayaking!
Thursday, 29 January 2009
Goodbye Kayaking
It has been far too long since I have written but over time I have made the decision to give up kayaking. It was the hardest decision I have ever made and took a long time to realise that I couldn’t go on any more. I had a lot of doubt in my mind for a long time and this started to make training a constant battle. When I was training 3-4 times everyday it just made me very unhappy. I can’t stand the thought of giving up, but I was burnt out and felt mentally drained all the time. Maybe if there had been a sharper progression curve I could have thrived off this but I think it is one of the hardest skills to master in the world as an adult and I would like to see Rebecca Romero take on the Sprint Kayak challenge.
My sister Antonia on the other hand is still extremely motivated and to be honest was always slightly better than me at the sport. I found this very hard to deal with as well, because she’s my younger sister. I have always felt I should be better than her and although I did come to terms with it, when you are training in a pair most of the time you are either first or last.
Antonia has now moved to Surrey and is living in Kingston-on-Thames and training with Roland Lawler at Elmbridge Canoe Club. Roland is a leading GB coach who guided his son Ivan to 5 successive world championships. Our original plan was for me to move there too, however after completing a couple of grueling training sessions I knew that I couldn’t do it anymore!
I do feel sorry for letting people down who believed in me but I am very lucky to have had the opportunity to give everything and see how far I could take it. I couldn’t have done that with out the support of my family and friends. I don’t regret spending 18 months training full time, it was a brilliant experience and I have far more respect for every athlete who invests the time it take takes to train at that standard.
I will always do sport because it’s in my blood and would go crazy with out it. At the moment I am running a lot with Wells Harriers. I aim to do a triathlon at some point this year or any sporting challenges that come my way.
I have recently made another decision of moving to Australia. It is something I have always wanted to do and now I really want to do something for myself. I am lucky that I love my career in Graphic Design and want to pursue this in Sydney. Half my family live there so feels like a natural move to make. Also I haven’t forgotten about the Iron Man competition I saw on Coogie Beach – an exciting goal that isn’t 4 years away!
I have a lot of respect for Antonia, training is her life and she loves leading it this way. Antonia never questions the amount of training even when she is really exhausted, she just gets on with it. She is doing really well at Elmbridge and is around the right people to enable her to see how far she can take it. Antonia is going to write the next installment on her progression.
Thank you to everyone who helped me pursue an amazing dream especially those who helped coach me. Andy Maycock, Matt Brown, Ivan Lawler and to the BCU who lead me on this adventure and introduced me to a very good friend Naomi who has been a kind of mentor through out.
Wednesday, 5 November 2008
Fast track slow track by Antonia
Fast tracking myself has been a challenge that is nigh on impossible, as to do something quickly you need to miss out the mistakes which take up time by learning from the best in the game. The best people in the game are few and far between in this country. Sprint Kayaking is a minority sport and as I have realised by training at nearly every club in the south, the place to be for the fastest improvement is London. All serious canoeists travel to London to train, to get the depth of competition required to gauge how good you really are. What purpose does it serve to be the best at your local club if you turn up at a national competition only to be thrashed and ultimately humiliated? This issue is compounded by the technical nature of sprint kayaking and that most clubs don’t have dedicated coaches. Sprint kayaking is the most technical sport I have attempted to master. I never would have thought to be the case, but even months after learning, I had only just scratched the surface. All my fitness, strength and power, hours in the gym and on the lake counted for very little when a chubby 14year old girl effortlessly moved passed me, while I thrashed and fought my way through the race. She was technically sound and that is what is required in the first instance to move a sprint boat fast.
It is evident now that we have taken a slow track in the way we have progressed in the sport; not in time but in relation to the number of sessions we have done. We haven’t started canoeing like most with one session a week; we have thrown ourselves into it with complete commitment and enthusiasm. Typically training on the water five times a week and land training including specific weight training, running, swimming and cycling seven times a week from the start. This is where we have gained momentum and improvement at a greater rate than the typical canoeist and also why I feel like my input hasn’t yielded the results that I set myself a year ago. My targets were inline with the athlete being coached on the fast track programme and even with the quantity of training in place, without the quality of coaching and expert knowledge we have not been able to attain the results we were aiming for. However in this year I have markedly improved my paddling, strength and fitness and by taking the route with a big detour we managed to gain a strength in character, confidence and self belief that cannot be given to you by a coach. However it is now time to go to London to get some decent coaching and combine strength and fitness with technique to see if I have what it takes to make a boat go faster than anyone else.
It is evident now that we have taken a slow track in the way we have progressed in the sport; not in time but in relation to the number of sessions we have done. We haven’t started canoeing like most with one session a week; we have thrown ourselves into it with complete commitment and enthusiasm. Typically training on the water five times a week and land training including specific weight training, running, swimming and cycling seven times a week from the start. This is where we have gained momentum and improvement at a greater rate than the typical canoeist and also why I feel like my input hasn’t yielded the results that I set myself a year ago. My targets were inline with the athlete being coached on the fast track programme and even with the quantity of training in place, without the quality of coaching and expert knowledge we have not been able to attain the results we were aiming for. However in this year I have markedly improved my paddling, strength and fitness and by taking the route with a big detour we managed to gain a strength in character, confidence and self belief that cannot be given to you by a coach. However it is now time to go to London to get some decent coaching and combine strength and fitness with technique to see if I have what it takes to make a boat go faster than anyone else.
Friday, 5 September 2008
5 x falling in champion!
This weekend is the last Sprint Regatta of the season. I have no idea how much we have improved but the last two weeks it has seemed the odds have been against us.
Firstly we have a serious transport problem. The head gasket went on our car then our mothers car then yesterday on the way to our last paddle session the exhaust decided to fall off my borrowed Grannies car! So it seemed doubtful that we were even going to get to Nottingham but luckily living on a farm it was fixed or temporarily welded back on . . . it could still fall off on the way to Nottingham!!! (please no)
This last month we have had the honor of training with Elmbridge Canoe Club. One of the foremost canoe clubs in the country. At one of the regattas someone pointed out the Kayak legend Ivan Lawler, 6 times world champion. If you want to be the best you have to surround your self in the best so we approached Ivan to ask if we could train with them. We told him our back ground and he said if we had been on the fast track programme we must have some bite about us and agreed to see us.
Elmbridge Canoe Club is based is Weybridge so we trecked up there to meet Ivan and his group of youngsters he coaches. We went through loads of skills that we had never been taught to help our stability issues. It was very refreshing to have his input, he truly is a gifted coach and his methods were similar to the rowing coaching we used to get. A no messing around attitude and if you show willing, he has a lot of time for you.
The next morning Rowland Lawler Chief Coach of Elmbridge and yes Ivan’s Dad who coached him to victory was taking the session in the morning. We had already done a session with Ivan first thing and we were asked if we would like to join the group where about 40 paddlers get on the water and are split into 3 groups. One of our main issues is we find it very hard to paddle in wash as so we thought we should just go for it. Whats the worse that can happen, we fall in!
So we got on the water and were circling in our boats while everyone came on. We recognised a few paddlers from the GB squad and I suddenly thought what the hell are we doing here?? We were put in the third group and Roland set the first 2 groups off. Well the whole river turned into the sea and then he set our group off, after 500m I fell in! I couldn’t believe it! Antonia bless her was worried and waited for me. I quickly got back in and we managed to catch up with them again in time for the 2nd effort. But yes I fell in again! The groups just seemed to paddle off into the distance and as I had a bit more of a swim I wasn’t sure I would catch up with them so headed in that direction anyway. I eventually saw them and realised they were actually charging towards me so quickly spun the boat and joined in a head of the wash, I managed to stay in for this one! Amazing! They started setting people off with the slower ones first. Roland shouted out “what’s your name” at Antonia, she answered “Antonia” he replied, “can’t say that your name is Tony!” Then said to me, “your Tony’s friend”! Charming! So he set Tony’s friend off first, yes me, then Tony. This worked a lot better not being in the wash, but I managed to fall in another 2 times!! The choppy water is my biggest enemy, the Hunstpil is so flat and if there is wind it’s coming from one direction so can get use to it. We found to improve we just have to paddle more often with a group it’s the only way forward.
Our biggest problem is living 40mins from our nearest river and 2 hours from our nearest decent club. We spend so much time traveling around the country and it really takes it out of you. We will be into winter training after this regatta and need a solid season if we are going to make the improvements we need by next Summer. Hopefully this winter wont be too bitter or we might just find our selves in Australia again!
Firstly we have a serious transport problem. The head gasket went on our car then our mothers car then yesterday on the way to our last paddle session the exhaust decided to fall off my borrowed Grannies car! So it seemed doubtful that we were even going to get to Nottingham but luckily living on a farm it was fixed or temporarily welded back on . . . it could still fall off on the way to Nottingham!!! (please no)
This last month we have had the honor of training with Elmbridge Canoe Club. One of the foremost canoe clubs in the country. At one of the regattas someone pointed out the Kayak legend Ivan Lawler, 6 times world champion. If you want to be the best you have to surround your self in the best so we approached Ivan to ask if we could train with them. We told him our back ground and he said if we had been on the fast track programme we must have some bite about us and agreed to see us.
Elmbridge Canoe Club is based is Weybridge so we trecked up there to meet Ivan and his group of youngsters he coaches. We went through loads of skills that we had never been taught to help our stability issues. It was very refreshing to have his input, he truly is a gifted coach and his methods were similar to the rowing coaching we used to get. A no messing around attitude and if you show willing, he has a lot of time for you.
The next morning Rowland Lawler Chief Coach of Elmbridge and yes Ivan’s Dad who coached him to victory was taking the session in the morning. We had already done a session with Ivan first thing and we were asked if we would like to join the group where about 40 paddlers get on the water and are split into 3 groups. One of our main issues is we find it very hard to paddle in wash as so we thought we should just go for it. Whats the worse that can happen, we fall in!
So we got on the water and were circling in our boats while everyone came on. We recognised a few paddlers from the GB squad and I suddenly thought what the hell are we doing here?? We were put in the third group and Roland set the first 2 groups off. Well the whole river turned into the sea and then he set our group off, after 500m I fell in! I couldn’t believe it! Antonia bless her was worried and waited for me. I quickly got back in and we managed to catch up with them again in time for the 2nd effort. But yes I fell in again! The groups just seemed to paddle off into the distance and as I had a bit more of a swim I wasn’t sure I would catch up with them so headed in that direction anyway. I eventually saw them and realised they were actually charging towards me so quickly spun the boat and joined in a head of the wash, I managed to stay in for this one! Amazing! They started setting people off with the slower ones first. Roland shouted out “what’s your name” at Antonia, she answered “Antonia” he replied, “can’t say that your name is Tony!” Then said to me, “your Tony’s friend”! Charming! So he set Tony’s friend off first, yes me, then Tony. This worked a lot better not being in the wash, but I managed to fall in another 2 times!! The choppy water is my biggest enemy, the Hunstpil is so flat and if there is wind it’s coming from one direction so can get use to it. We found to improve we just have to paddle more often with a group it’s the only way forward.
Our biggest problem is living 40mins from our nearest river and 2 hours from our nearest decent club. We spend so much time traveling around the country and it really takes it out of you. We will be into winter training after this regatta and need a solid season if we are going to make the improvements we need by next Summer. Hopefully this winter wont be too bitter or we might just find our selves in Australia again!
Sunday, 3 August 2008
No rest for the wicked!!!!!
Recently I went on a family holiday in St. Ives. Even though I was slightly apprehensive about sharing a house with extended family with 3 teenage boys (my cousins and brother) I was quite looking forward to a break from training and working day in and day out. I find it very hard to just stop. A lot of the time I don’t feel like I deserve a break. I train more than the average person so I spend working in my spare time to make up for it.
From when I get up at 6am till I go to bed I am either training or working which doesn't leave any time for socialising and relaxation.
A few days before this much looked forward to relaxing holiday a letter came through the post from Sport England inviting Antonia and I to testing for the Girls for Gold Scheme. Great Britain are doing another scout for talented athletes in Cycling, Modern Pentathlon, Windsurfing, Bob Skeleton and Rowing. I don’t know if we are insane but somehow we couldn't resist doing the testing. It would have been like closing a door on opportunity. With this testing due, only a week after the holiday we had to get in some quality sessions. So we took our road bikes and loads of training kit and off we went.
No it's not a big seal it's my Dad. The sea really is that colour - Beautiful!
The day we arrived our cousins got us in the sea and we swam a mile across the harbour. Ok it wasn’t that intense but I did have my little?? 21 yr. old sister Suzanna on my back for half the way as she didn’t think she would make it.
Day 2 was Antonia’s birthday. We were going to take it a easy so we got the bikes out to go for a discovery peddle around. We saw a sign to Land’s End and thought how exciting lets cycle there and get the train back!. OH MY GOSH it was soooooo hilly. Up a hill half an hour....., down a hill ......2 seconds, up a hill...., down..., there was no flat the whole way!! As we hadn’t prepared for it, by the time we got there we were staving and in shock. There was no train station, in fact there was nothing apart from a touristy shopping complex. I had such a sugar low I could barely walk, but we found the pasty shop and had the most AMAZING pasty I have ever tasted. We then rang Suz and got her to pick us up. She wasn’t amused and granny had told her not to come and that we should cycle back!!! Perhaps she was right but we wouldn’t have made it before dark and Ant’s birthday BBQ would have been over!
Another ridiculous idea was going for a run first thing before breakfast, along a the coastal path to Zenner, it was 7 miles. We thought, 'that will be a good run there and back.' It started off fine then turned into extremely rocky terrain so we had to run where we could and climb the parts we couldn’t. Antonia described me as a mountain goat to some passers by!! After an hour it turned very misty and there was nothing but cliff edges, rocks, sea and gorse. There was no escaping and there was no way we were turning back so we carried on. Luckily we found a stream half way and had a drink out of it - I couldn’t taste dead sheep so think it was all right. We got to our destination after 2.5hrs (I'm sure it was more than 7 miles!) and were so pleased to see a cafe in the tiny Cornish village we ordered a huge lunch at 11am plus it had a bus stop. We weren’t running back!
Amongst pier jumping and swimming with seals, we also went mackerel fishing which was a big mistake. Five minuets into it I felt so sick I had my head over the side - Dad thought I was just taking the fishing very seriously until he himself was sick, followed by my Auntie, then my little cousin then my sisters. At that point the fisherman said he better take the hospital boat back to shore. I am never doing that ever again!
The last adventure we went on was a trip to Portrieth, to go Surfski kayaking with Holly, who we had met on the fast track programme. The Surf was huge and we were using these kayaks you sit on instead of sitting in. We paddled through the surf to get 'out back' which was great fun.We fell off and had to quickly get back on before the next wave crashed over us, then paddle as hard as possible to make it over the next wave. Once we were through the breaking waves, there were yet more huge rolling waves. It was awesome fun. Holly is into Quadrathlon which is swimming, kayaking, cycling and running - I have to do that one day, I may as well put all these skills to use.
So, not very relaxing holiday! Although it was a break and I don’t do sunbathing anyway. Plus the boys made it much more fun and they learnt the valuable skills of washing up!
We had testing last weekend for the Girls for Gold. I don’t want to say too much about it. I was really glad I went and again they sell you the dream of competing at a home Olympics. What they don’t say is there are no guarantees, you can give up everything and give it your all and then that isn’t enough either. But for me it’s worth that risk, it’s not a risk it’s a choice to take the opportunity.
From when I get up at 6am till I go to bed I am either training or working which doesn't leave any time for socialising and relaxation.
A few days before this much looked forward to relaxing holiday a letter came through the post from Sport England inviting Antonia and I to testing for the Girls for Gold Scheme. Great Britain are doing another scout for talented athletes in Cycling, Modern Pentathlon, Windsurfing, Bob Skeleton and Rowing. I don’t know if we are insane but somehow we couldn't resist doing the testing. It would have been like closing a door on opportunity. With this testing due, only a week after the holiday we had to get in some quality sessions. So we took our road bikes and loads of training kit and off we went.
No it's not a big seal it's my Dad. The sea really is that colour - Beautiful!
The day we arrived our cousins got us in the sea and we swam a mile across the harbour. Ok it wasn’t that intense but I did have my little?? 21 yr. old sister Suzanna on my back for half the way as she didn’t think she would make it.
Day 2 was Antonia’s birthday. We were going to take it a easy so we got the bikes out to go for a discovery peddle around. We saw a sign to Land’s End and thought how exciting lets cycle there and get the train back!. OH MY GOSH it was soooooo hilly. Up a hill half an hour....., down a hill ......2 seconds, up a hill...., down..., there was no flat the whole way!! As we hadn’t prepared for it, by the time we got there we were staving and in shock. There was no train station, in fact there was nothing apart from a touristy shopping complex. I had such a sugar low I could barely walk, but we found the pasty shop and had the most AMAZING pasty I have ever tasted. We then rang Suz and got her to pick us up. She wasn’t amused and granny had told her not to come and that we should cycle back!!! Perhaps she was right but we wouldn’t have made it before dark and Ant’s birthday BBQ would have been over!
Another ridiculous idea was going for a run first thing before breakfast, along a the coastal path to Zenner, it was 7 miles. We thought, 'that will be a good run there and back.' It started off fine then turned into extremely rocky terrain so we had to run where we could and climb the parts we couldn’t. Antonia described me as a mountain goat to some passers by!! After an hour it turned very misty and there was nothing but cliff edges, rocks, sea and gorse. There was no escaping and there was no way we were turning back so we carried on. Luckily we found a stream half way and had a drink out of it - I couldn’t taste dead sheep so think it was all right. We got to our destination after 2.5hrs (I'm sure it was more than 7 miles!) and were so pleased to see a cafe in the tiny Cornish village we ordered a huge lunch at 11am plus it had a bus stop. We weren’t running back!
Amongst pier jumping and swimming with seals, we also went mackerel fishing which was a big mistake. Five minuets into it I felt so sick I had my head over the side - Dad thought I was just taking the fishing very seriously until he himself was sick, followed by my Auntie, then my little cousin then my sisters. At that point the fisherman said he better take the hospital boat back to shore. I am never doing that ever again!
The last adventure we went on was a trip to Portrieth, to go Surfski kayaking with Holly, who we had met on the fast track programme. The Surf was huge and we were using these kayaks you sit on instead of sitting in. We paddled through the surf to get 'out back' which was great fun.We fell off and had to quickly get back on before the next wave crashed over us, then paddle as hard as possible to make it over the next wave. Once we were through the breaking waves, there were yet more huge rolling waves. It was awesome fun. Holly is into Quadrathlon which is swimming, kayaking, cycling and running - I have to do that one day, I may as well put all these skills to use.
So, not very relaxing holiday! Although it was a break and I don’t do sunbathing anyway. Plus the boys made it much more fun and they learnt the valuable skills of washing up!
We had testing last weekend for the Girls for Gold. I don’t want to say too much about it. I was really glad I went and again they sell you the dream of competing at a home Olympics. What they don’t say is there are no guarantees, you can give up everything and give it your all and then that isn’t enough either. But for me it’s worth that risk, it’s not a risk it’s a choice to take the opportunity.
Nat Champs Review
I have finely found time to write on here. The Nationals had it’s highs and lows. In kayaking you are promoted on your 500m and 1000m time so it’s important these races both go well. The 500m are always first, we had a heat I was in the first one and Antonia in the second. We both came 3rd in our heats and got exactly the same time! In my final there was a lot of pressure building up I felt a lot better in the Plastex and we have trained everyday in the boats bar 4 so I was expecting massive improvements. Got off the start and was going OK until with 200m to go I fell in. Distraught! I was in the frame of mind, why the hell do I do this? All the time spent put into it and I can’t even show that in a race. After a bar of chocolate I felt better. Ant got a 3rd which was really good. My other k1 races went OK but had blown my chances of a promotion.
Our k2 however was a different story. We had a tub of a boat but was pretty stable and we felt confident. We both wanted the same thing, to destroy the opposition and we had that faith in each other that we were going to go all out. The categories had been merged together so we were now racing a higher division. We were really looking forward to the races as this was our first time competing in a k2 since Australia where we got so annoyed with each other we nearly through ourselves out of the boat mid race.
500m I had steering issues and we came 4th, very annoying but we came back for the 200m and blasted it down the course and came 2nd. The best race of the weekend and made my training pay off at last. The race takes a minute, it’s just full power the whole way. Then the 1000m the next day we got a Bronze.
Ant got a bronze for her 1000m K1 as well. There was a harsh cross wind and I was on the far side where it was a lot worse OK!!. . .
Our k2 however was a different story. We had a tub of a boat but was pretty stable and we felt confident. We both wanted the same thing, to destroy the opposition and we had that faith in each other that we were going to go all out. The categories had been merged together so we were now racing a higher division. We were really looking forward to the races as this was our first time competing in a k2 since Australia where we got so annoyed with each other we nearly through ourselves out of the boat mid race.
500m I had steering issues and we came 4th, very annoying but we came back for the 200m and blasted it down the course and came 2nd. The best race of the weekend and made my training pay off at last. The race takes a minute, it’s just full power the whole way. Then the 1000m the next day we got a Bronze.
Ant got a bronze for her 1000m K1 as well. There was a harsh cross wind and I was on the far side where it was a lot worse OK!!. . .
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