Day 1 on the water

It turns out our hotel is super close to the staging/racing area (literally across the street), so it was a nice little jaunt this morning to get to practice.

Practice this morning was the first time that the entire boat had paddled together since the first round of on-water tryouts in October of last year. It's interesting trying to blend different paddling styles, but it's starting to come together.

Chrissy gave herself a bit of a black eye this morning when her paddle slipped. So, I guess in a sense that's the first casualty. Hopefully it ends there.

During morning practice we saw quite a few pelicans, "man-no-tees" and even had a dolphin sighting within a few feet of our boat. Something's you don't see everyday in Ottawa!!

We also figured out why Tampa Bay are called the "Lightening" - a random thunder/lightening storm sidelined our afternoon practice today for about an hour. But when we finally got out to paddle the humidity had gone down significantly and it made for a nicer practice session. I still cant get used to paddling in warm saltwater though ...

That's it for now. More tomorrow.

Arrival update part two

The Canadian Premier Women's dragonboat national team have arrived safe and sound in Tampa. So far - no casualties (human or paddle-wise). The hotel is pretty great - the free margaritas during the managers hour are a nice touch :). The hotel is going to go under this week hosting a bunch of paddlers (including the Aussies who drink like fish). 

It's crazy hot here - and humid. It's similar to Macau except that we actually understand when people speak to us. 

First practice tomorrow morning at 8:45. 

Hope everyone is doing well back home. And a special shout out to my hubby to be who is having his bachelor party tonight. 

Typed on a tiny screen using big thumbs

Typed on a tiny screen using big thumbs

Arrived in Tampa safe and sound

T minus 10 hours

So I spent the day running around and getting a lot of last minute errands done - and then procrastinated to the point where I waited until 8pm to begin packing. So much for trying to be on top of it all ;)

This afternoon, I signed into work to check emails one last time and my boss had sent a note out to 200 of my colleagues wishing me (and the rest of the team) good luck. The best part of the email was the last little bit - and I think all the women on the team would benefit from this - "paddle like you stole it". It was pretty inspirational :)

So anyway - our flight leaves tomorrow morning at 7. We arrive in Tampa sometime around 2pm and then have the evening off. Practice starts on Sunday morning where will be paddling in a new type of boat (to us at least). They are lighter, but tippier, so excited to see how the muscle in the women's boat will make it fly!!!!

Packing has been interesting. I thought of getting a gun case to make sure our paddles make it down and don't get busted by the baggage handlers. Canadian tire was sold out, so instead We've managed to jam over 800$ worth of carbon fibre paddles into a snowboard bag - hopefully, they arrive still in one piece :).

I'm nervous, excited, terrified, happy and optimistic - a good way to feel before leaving I guess :).

That's it for now. Wish us luck in traveling down :)

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Welcome to my page

Race Jerseys

So - you've found yourself on this page wondering how in tarnation you got here??

I figured that there are so many things/events/adventures going on in my life that to keep everyone up to date, I should start a blog. What better excuse than to start the blog right before leaving for the 2011 IDBF Dragonboat World Champsionships in Tampa, Florida!!

I was one of the lucky female paddlers to make Dragonboat Canada's National Premier Women's (ie: all age women) Team  this year after a (grueling) tryout process. For a list of the other athletes named to the team, check out this Dragonboat Canada bulletin: Women's Premier National Team

The girls from Ottawa who have made the women's premier  national team leave on Saturday morning (bright and early) to head to Tampa to compete against the best of the best, from around the world. Our top competition include China, USA and Great Britain. From Sunday-Tuesday we will have twice daily workouts with the rest of the Canada's Premier Women's crew (made up of 24 paddlers, 1 steers woman and 1 drummer - from ALL OVER Canada); we haven't all paddled together since our training camp in Myrtle Beach during the spring. Then, on Wednesday August 3, 2011, competition begins.


I will use this space to keep family, friends and colleagues updated about how the Canadian National Premier Women's Dragonboat Team are fairing at worlds.

Some other links that you might be interested in checking out include:
Dragonboat Canada
2011 IDBF World Champsionships Tampa website

Thanks for stopping by, and I'll be sure to update posts if not daily, then almost daily while away!