It's A Beautiful Morning

It is sunny, breezy, and 85 degrees here in Charlotte, NC.  I can't say that I could ask for more of a perfect day to paddle, except that it is my day off and I am thoroughly enjoying it.

Once again, I have been remiss in keeping up with everything that has been going on.  I came back to the east coast mid-February just in time for the NOC Glacier Breaker, the US spring season opener.  Since then has been a blur of training and racing.  So far this spring I have raced at the NOC Glacier Breaker, Charlotte Spring Opener, and US Open.  I will go so far as to say that I raced each day.  I am not overly pleased with my lack of performance, but it is a process that I am learning to embrace, although I am constantly chomping at the bit to jump ahead of myself and be faster (who could ever imagine a competitive athlete wanting that?).

Most recently I hurt my left shoulder.  I'm not sure how.  I raced last weekend at the US Open, came home and woke up on Monday (my day off) with a very sore shoulder.  I let it rest the entire week, which translated to a very high strung, antsy athlete that was sick of the treadmill.  Saturday and Sunday were my first days back on the water.  It felt great.  I could not stop smiling or demanding perfection of myself, per usual.

The US National Team Selection Race is quickly approaching (a week and a half away).  It is interesting mentally to start to realize that the day that you have trained for all spring is actually here.  For me it started when the other girls began to appear on the water a little earlier this spring.  Now it is that they are here to stay until everything is decided.  I cannot say I am not nervous.  In fact I am petrified.  I am so much better in my kayak this year.  Although I have backed off on the speed, I have been much better at executing.  The canoe, however, is a totally different animal.  I am still exploring the course and my own limits.  Being so new to a canoe (as in a few months new!) I am also still learning different pieces of different skills.  The doubt in my mind is whether or not I can put it all together when it counts.  Here's to a hail mary and a great big smile!

These Smiles will do! Buddy, Littlest Lucy, and Me - 2011 US Open

Happy...

New Year and Merry Christmas!
I am well aware that I am late on all of my holiday wishes for everyone, but I have just been having too much fun.  Very Seriously!
I spent a fabulous Christmas with my family and my mother's family in southern New Mexico where it was constantly in the 50s.
Now that I have once again returned to Colorado to take advantage of the water, I have been snowed in for the first time in several years by feet of snow in a single night, joined heckling efforts with Coach Cathy Hearn, wiped out spread eagle style twice in the middle of the street while trying to get to the river for a practice in said snow storm, been honked at for driving slowly on ice covered roads merely because the license plate on my Dad's car is from Texas, set a new low temperature training record of -4F (a workout which all the boys conveniently decided not to attend), met some pretty awesome people - mostly the infamous little brother Billy Hearn (warning to all: we have discussed pranks and I am trying to convince him to test out several), and tried some new recipes that may have killed a few people along the way.  In summary, the training of a lifetime!

Girls Only Workout Smelter, Durango, Co: -4F
Marci Cary, Catie Vuksich (Me), Cathy Hearn, Mini Hearn

The boats got so covered with ice that after 31 short courses we had to call it quits.
Cathy Hearn, Mini Hearn, Catie Vuksich (Me), Marci Cary

Who knew it would be better to paddle bare-handed in this weather.

All photo credits to Billy Hearn, self entitled Peanut Gallery and Cold Weather Heckling Support Team

Colorado Bound

A week ago I began the drive from Charlotte to Albuquerque.  Somehow I made it through a massive southeast snow storm that brought snow to every city on my route: Asheville, Nashville, Memphis...

After a couple of wonderful days at home with Mom, I have finally made it up to Durango, CO to get back on the water.  I brought out an old boat that I am planning on leaving so that I can always have one here.  Yesterday was my first day back on moving water since the USNWC shut down for the winter.  It was fabulous!  The water was super low creating just a little bit of current, but has a great green tongue and some wonderful eddies to practice in.  Making everything that much more amazing was the fact that it was snowing.  Not east coast snow, but that big fluffy beautiful snow that only Colorado has.  In addition to getting some moving water time in, every workout is an altitude workout (even a simple 60 minute bike ride after lifting or an easy paddle).  I'm hoping to come home having made some huge gains out of the next couple of weeks.

Oh ya, Thanks Nic for letting me crash both your home and workouts!  And thanks Cathy for letting me jump in as well.

CFA: check

Yesterday was the CFA Level 1 exam.  I took it.  Or rather it took me...for a six hour ride of page turning while searching for a question I knew the answer to.  Ok, it was not really that bad, but it was still pretty up there on my list.

The minute I took the GMAT this past September my attentions turned to the CFA Level 1 exam.  My goal  was to get it knocked out this December and move on to the second test in June - we will see how that pans out.  So for the past two months I have been attempting to cram two years of Wharton undergrad.  I will say that while the material itself is not difficult the sheer breadth of knowledge required is daunting.  I have lived in the library for full days for the past months except for the occasional brain meltdown which meant that I needed a break.  I even made kayaking a second priority to this studying, frustrating my training partners and coaches.  But it all ended yesterday at 5pm.  And I celebrated!

Once I get rid of the remnants of my celebrations it is time to train and reprioritize again.

Full Seam

I have been remiss in my blogging.  I am sorry.  Life has been a little bit crazy, but I am hoping that it will soon get even crazier.

Tuesday of this week was the last day of whitewater at the USNWC.  Earlier this season I broke my boat in several different places, but chose to put off fixing them until the end of the season when I would have more time and when the boat would not proceed to be beaten against cement and possibly broken again.  My plan did not quite work out, per usual.  One of the breaks began to get worse and needed to be fixed immediately.  In an attempt to catch the last water of the season I began vigorously working on the breaks.

The first repair involved the stern, which bottom drop had decided to claim since I refuse to get outrightly thrashed there anymore.  In order to make this happen I needed to remove all of the seam tape holding the bow and deck of the boat together.  Doing this however meant that I would be exposing a previous repair.  I decided that while I was fixing the stern I should seam the entire boat.  A wise tactical decision.  But a poor life choice.  Because I did not have much time each day to devote to this project I did it in stages.  I first ground everything down.  Then I patched the stern.  Then came the day for the grandiose seaming project.  I wanted one continuous seam up to the bow where it would meet a section of tape that was in great shape and had no reason for coming off.  Long story short, in a process of trial and error I managed to develop a system for seaming the boat that was rather ingenious, if I do say so myself.  However I was greatly aided by the fact that there was no sun and that it was roughly 60 degrees at the high that afternoon.  What then proceeded to hurt me was that with the low temperatures I could not get the resin to kick (or rather for the chemical reaction that makes the resin hard and stiff to take place).  In an attempt to not use a heat gun, which makes the resin brittle, I kept working the resin slowly.  However the resin just would not kick, which meant that I could not get the seams to stay in place.  Several people gave me ideas and tried to help - Thank you Paul Manning-Hunter, John Hastings, and Marian Davidson.  Finally, I decided to very carefully bring the boat inside and work from there.  Thank goodness I finally decided to go to bed because when I woke up I had a dry boat with brand new seams to paddle for the last two days of whitewater.

Normally I love to do boat repair.  It is a meticulous process with many different answers to a problem.  Everyone has their own way and little tricks that are extremely interesting and when all put together create an awesome knowledge of how to use power tools - or not.  Having raked peoples' brains about repairs each time I have to do one myself I believe I can safely say that I repair boats infinitely better than I paddle them.  Which might also be a result of all the practice I have been getting in repairing my boats. Regardless, I wish the process of seaming an entire boat on no one.  Moral of the story: Appreciate your seams.  Keep them in tact.

Fall

It is officially fall.  When I say officially I do not mean that we are long past Labor Day or that Halloween is right around the corner.  I mean that I now have to think about what layers I am going to wear paddling, when the whitewater is going to be on, and when it is going to be light and warm enough to get effective work in.  It also means the birth of creativity and technical perfectionism.  So begins the cycle again...

This fall, this video is my inspiration!
2010 World Champ Canoe Slalom Daniele Molmenti

North Carolina Fall. PC Marian Davidson

Home Sweet Home

A few days after the US National Championships I flew home to Colorado: my home sweet home.  I came home to not only see my family, but also to reevaluate and refresh.

Both photos were captured just outside of Lake City, Colorado.  My heaven on Earth.

When I got here my Mom gave me the biggest hug ever: I LOVE you Mom!  The first thing I did after being smothered was take a big, long, deep breath of air.  Not the city, east coast, humid air.  But the good, clean, fresh western mountain air.  I was home.  Finally.  For the first time in a year.  Mom and I definitely had our bonding time: working out, reading, running errands, and seeing all of the people that I haven't seen for the past year.  It was wonderful.

I have found that it is extremely important for me to take a couple of weeks throughout the year to get out of my boat and enjoy other things.  These breaks allow me to unwind both mentally and physically.  This year was especially important.  I came home fresh off a race and having taken the GMAT.  I am also regearing to take the CFA (I will fill you in on that a little later) and head into winter training.  For now though, coming home was enough.  I loved it and can't believe I'm not staying.  Such is life, but I will come home again to stay one day.