My deepest apologies for not updating in a very long time! After having gone through our racing week multiple times I thought I had at least given a post race update! I am so far behind, so this will certainly be a long one :)
As many of you already know we (my partner and I) won our semi-final putting us into the C final. It was a fight but we ended up on top preparing us for our last race. On the day of the final we knew we would have a fight but we also decided to believe in the improvements we had made each race and make this last one confident and strong. The water was similar to our first day of racing (choppy and unpredictable) and we made a decision to take control of the conditions better than we had before. We also made a choice to race every 500m like it were our last but also stay true to our race plan and respond not react to anything around us. We lead pretty much the whole way and opened the gap on the field, with some response from other crews we held our heads and moved closer to the line one stroke at a time to take the win making us 13th in the World.
We would have liked to be in the top 8 but unfortunately that was not in the plan for us, despite our efforts this time around we had to make the best of what we earned. So in the end we did not qualify for the Olympics this round, but if Canada staff decides over the next few months that we are fast enough to win the last chance qualifier they will give us that opportunity, one I believe we can dominate with good hard continuous training. It is hard to know what is the plan for me but I am going to keep pressing forward until the road ends.
I have had plenty of time to think about my goals in the next 9 months and the day I returned from abroad I started to implement the steps to the big goal of qualifying for 2012. It is not a lot different from what I had already been doing but I am going to take greater steps to prevent injury, strengthen weaknesses and really hone my strengths. For the time we are on the water I will take great care in technical details to ensure my precision in all conditions and maximize my power application. These are all basic things but they make the difference between winning or losing... as I have learned first hand this summer.
Everything is a work in progress; WORK being an ACTION and PROGRESS being CHANGE. It is in my hands to live out and in God's hands to direct.
Our next adventure, as tainted as it was for us, was the Olympic Orientation visit to London UK. I had never been to the UK so it was a great experience. We stayed in a residence in the city and had opportunities to check out all the tourist sites, shopping and infamous Brick Lane (curry city!). We had some meetings where we discussed plans for transport, lodging, food, gear, etc during the games. But the fun part was the afternoon we spend running around the city using the transport systems and acquainting ourselves with the various Olympic venues as a part of AMAZING RACE set up by the Canadian Olympic committee. In teams for 3 or 4 we ran around taking photos of various locations designated in our guide book designed by the COC. Every Canadian team that comes through for this visit does the race and inevitably the race becomes a big competition not only internally but against the other teams. I am happy to say Rowing has demolished both the long and short course records! My team arrived at the final destination sweaty (and I mean dripping wet) after running from Westminster Abbey around to the Palace through Trafalgar Square and to the finish line. All the photos I took were while running, but I did manage to get a few good ones! In any case, we tied for 1st so the sweat was worth it.
All in all the trip was enjoyable and despite not being a qualified boat I took all the sites in, including the race venue in Eton. I may not know what is ahead but I sure can prepare for it!
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