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For the next two weeks I'll be in San Diego, California training at the US Olympic Training Center. The air quality is improving, now that the fires are mostly under control. I'm training mostly with Jeff Smoke and Rami Zur, we went out paddling on the ocean on paddleboards and surfskis for something different yesterday, which was awesome. Training at the OTC here in Chula Vista is always an awesome experience, with so many world class athletes from other sports, the excellent facilities and gourmet unlimited food. The Americans know how to treat their athletes...
I had the distinct pleasure of speaking to Crescent School on behalf of Right to Play this past Monday. The men of Crescent School are kicking off a program called "Make Your Goals Count", where they will collect pledges of donations to Right to Play as they accomplish their athletic goals. This is an inspiring initiative, one that I can tell is truly important to these guys. Crescent School generously provided Right to Play with a donation after I spoke, and presented me with a journal. I'm planning to bring the journal along with me to Liberia, and I'll go back to Crescent School in January to share a few stories. Crescent School has a Global Outreach program; every year a group of students travels to a disadvantaged nation in an effort to develop as more caring and contributing members of our global society. Way to go Crescent School!
The first Gold Medal Plates event was in Toronto yesterday. I was paired with World Famous Toronto based Chef Jamie Kennedy. Our plate was a delicious Duck Liver Parfait, prepared by Jamie's team (he let me sprinkle the salt... I once worked a double shift). Other athletes in attendance included Tamas Buday Jr., Marnie McBean, Jenn Heil, Curt Harnett, Simon Whitfield, Kyle Shewfelt, Perdita Felicien, and lots more. Oakville's Ron Maclean helped make the evening a huge success by playing host for the evening. I'm attending three more Plates of Golden Medals dinners this fall in Halifax, Vancouver, and Calgary.
Turkey Bowl 2007 was up in Ottawa over Thanksgiving, this past weekend. It's the 4th year in a row I've attended the training camp and fun long distance race, it's always a great time. A lot of the National Team guys and girls took part, which was awesome for the younger paddlers, we enjoyed going out in K2's (photo, click to enlarge) with all of them, we hope they enjoyed the experience too! Got in some great biking (road and mountain) as well up in Gatineau Park with the whole gang which was super fun and a nice change from all the paddling. Thanks to all the coaches and athletes who made it happen!BIG FALL PLANS
I've got a very busy couple of weeks ahead of me. Starting this weekend I'm off to Halifax for the Canadian Coaching Conference, then a few Gold Medal Plates events in Toronto, Halifax, Vancouver and Calgary, as well as a two week training camp in San Diego with Anders Gustafsson, Rami Zur, and Jeff Smoke, followed by a week in Monrovia, Liberia with Right to Play as an Athlete Ambassador. Right to Play is an athlete driven, humanitarian organization which uses specially designed programs to foster peace and teach life skills to kids in countries affected by war, poverty and disease. This year at the Worlds I raced in a specially designed Right to Play boat to help spread awareness. Please visit their site, and consider what you can do as an athlete, or as an individual to make a difference for those less fortunate than ourselves. Once I'm home from Africa, I'll head to Florida to join our team for a month of training before Christmas. Check back to the site for updates on everything!
NEW CONTACT SECTION
Check out the sweet new contact section. This is the best way to contact me with feedback for the site, a quick "what's up?!", or to inquire about speaking engagements, booking an appearance or a school visit. Thanks to Geoff from Burloak for setting that up!
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