Pickering Dragonboat Regatta 2009

This weekend, my team competed in the Pickering Dragonboat Regatta. There were a few moments in the morning where I thought we were going to have another rainy day of racing. However it quickly cleared up and in the end the day turned out to be beautiful. In fact, I ended up getting quite a bit burnt on my face. I had totally forgotten to put sunscreen on my face and never even realized I was getting burned until the end of the day when my BF mentioned to me that my face was all red.  It’s a good thing that I tan very easily. The next day the redness disappeared. Although, now my skin is feeling the after effects of a burn. UGH.

Our first race of the day was at 10:34 AM. Originally we had registered under the Sport Division. However, when our team got there they informed us we weren’t allowed to be in the Sport Division because we weren’t members of Dragonboat Canada. Apparently, those that are registered under Dragonboat Canada were the only ones allowed to race under Sport Division. It was a little amusing to see some of the other teams’ faces when they saw us being marshalled up to the races and wondering who was this team wearing lifejackets? (Sports Division were not allowed to wear life jackets while it was mandatory for teams in Recreation Division. Go figure.) The organizers allowed us to race against the Sports Division teams and then used our time to seed us accordingly in the Recreation Division. I didn’t race the first race and ended up drumming. Which was fine for me as I haven’t been feeling very well all season. The night before I barely slept and my coughing kept me up most of the night. I was a little nervous because I hadn’t sat on the drum very much before and I am always a little nervous as to what to say during a race. The drummer’s responsibility is to relay to the front of the boat what the Cox is saying as well as motivate the team during a race. We generally don’t do so well during our first race. However, we have always performed well when we know we have very stiff competition.

Looking at our results, I personally feel that we still have a lot of work to do if we want to perform well this season. In our second race, which was the semi-final, I was asked if I wanted to race in it or if I wanted to drum. There was some concern because of my “coughing”. Basically,  my asthma has not been the greatest and it’s probably been noted that I have missed a few practices already this early in the season. I told them that I haven’t been feeling well and if they want to put me on the drum I am fine with it. In fact, I wouldn’t be upset if I drummed all day. But if I had to choose which race to paddle in I’d rather paddle in the semi than in the final. In the end I didn’t paddle and drummed the entire time. As the day progressed it was noted that my drumming “skills” improved. They particularly liked it when I screamed during the final, “SHOW ME YOU WANT IT!” It was then that I heard the Roar from the engine room and felt that kick in the boat.

In the end, my team placed 2nd in the A Consolation Division or about 8th overall in the Recreation Division. I was generally happy because we beat the team I wanted to beat. Other than that, it was a beautiful day of racing. I just wished I was able to contribute to the team paddling wise. Although I do realize drumming is important in a race, it’s just not the same when you are not paddling . After a few days of thinking about my participation in this sport this year, I’ve concluded that I will probably be doing a lot of drumming. As well, it will be a sort of “rebuilding” year for me as I will need to do a lot of work in the gym to get back at the state I was in last year. Last year I was in such good shape. Sigh. The good news is that I think I may finally have found a gym that suits my needs. I’m hoping it works out and I’ll let all know about it. Hopefully by then, I’ll be able to track my athletic progress online.

Absent Coach

Monday night Coach, AB sent out an email to the team regarding our workouts. He noticed that teammates haven’t exactly been putting in 100% effort in them. People are either coming late and only arriving just in time to get on the water or are doing only half the workout. I was a bit surprised as I had originally thought this coach might have been “too soft” since he was always giving us positive reinforcements during the practices. While it was a nice change from last year’s coach, I questioned whether that was such a good thing. I know that if my team has a chance to “relax” they will wholeheartedly do it.

The scolding we got from Coach AB in the email made me reconsider if he really was a “softie” after all. He informed us that the 2 on water practices a week we have is not enough if we want to improve our overall performance. The workouts are a key component in improving our overall performance. Not to mention our own efforts at maintaining fitness like working out regularly in the gym or in some other form. Personally, I try to do the entire workout. The only time I am not able to complete it is when health issue, like my asthma or an old injury crops up. Unfortunately, I know that has happened a few times this year. Not a good sign for me. I know that I’ve definitely had a bad off season and it has affected my overall health as I am definitely not in the same shape I was in last year. I know it’s going to affect my performance this year and I’m quite mad at myself about it. That fall down the stairs affected me more than I realized. But, I am determined to get back to where I was before. With that little rant aside, I was quite surprised to find out that Coach AB didn’t show up for practice today. Especially his mention of people showing up late I thought he would be here. Later in the boat, I discovered that he wasn’t going to come to practice because his day job needed him to work late. Hmmm…. Needless to say, I wasn’t suprised to detect a bit of displeasure or disappointment from the Team Manager/Assistant Coach. In any case I still think we did a decent work out and practice. This time the work out was more manageable for me as I found I was able to do the runs. It always surprises me how much your body hurts when it has not done cardio in a while.

WORKOUT

Run 400 meters

Pushups until failure

Repeat for 20 minutes

Record number of sets

I can’t remember how many sets I did. But, I do remember that I was not able to do as many push-ups as I did last year. I was disappointed but not surprised. The push-ups wasn’t what killed me, it was the run. Even running 400 meters repeatedly my asthma started to act up. Although, I noticed it was acting up even before I got to practice.  Sigh….Smog season is upon us.

The on water practice was interesting and I could tell that the “active rest” that we all hate is here to stay for good. We started off at a good pace once we got on the water. I think we still did a bit of a warm up for about 5 or 10 minutes of just straight paddling at 70 or 80%.  Then we got right into our practice.

ON WATER PRACTICE

30 seconds at 90%

1 minute of active rest

Repeat 5 times

Rest 2 minutes

Repeat until end of practice

I can’t remember how many sets we did but it felt like it was taking forever. My body was really not into this practice. I would say that the majority of the time, I was paddling at 70-80%. I definitely was not pulling my full weight. Perhaps it was the fact that I had not eaten much during the day and it was a factor in my general fatigue. However, near the end of the practice, call it my second wind or what not, I think I got some of my energy and I was able to pull my full weight at the requested effort. It was a good practice in general. But not exactly something that should be done 2 practices before a competition. This Saturday we have our first competition, thePickering Regatta. I honestly have no idea as to how we will do as this is one  of the more competitive regattas. There will be many strong teams, including the top team in Canada. In fact, I think we actually race against them in our first race. I don’t expect us to do well or medal. I  just hope we do decently! Although it is still early in the season, I think we will still have to put in a lot more hard work if we want to improve from last year.

Active Rest

Today was my second day of on water practice. I was a little unsure about our new coach as he seemed very laid back. His coaching style is very different from last year’s in the sense that I felt he was much more approachable. Sometimes this can work against a coach because teammates may become too “relaxed” and then not take the coach seriously. However, whatever doubts I had about the training level of intensity this year have certainly been dispelled after today’s practice.

Two minutes at 80% pace

30 seconds of active rest

30 seconds of 100% or sprint

30 seconds of active rest

That was one set and we had to do five sets this practice in an hour. I can only recall one or two moments of rest for one minute. It was a pretty good workout but God, do I ever hate Active Rest now. Although for our sake, Coach AB called it “lily dip” which basically is a nicer or easier way of saying, Active Rest. I had to admit, I did stop a couple of times because my asthma was starting to act up again. Even when we did our warm up, I was not able to finish it because of my asthma. It’s still a little too cold for my asthma and truth be told, I think because I have not been as diligent with my personal training schedule. That fall back in December really threw things off schedule for me.

Warm up

400 meter sprint X 4

My body feels fine now but I know that tomorrow all those muscles worked will be sore.  Hopefully when our first regatta comes up in June we will be roaring to go. The boat doesn’t quite feel there yet but it will be. I can only hope and pray that I will be able to keep up with my team. It feels like I will be trying to play catch up again like I did in my first year with them. I really need to figure out what to do with my own personal training schedule.

Trying Not to Burnout

Just finished my Chemistry and Psychology course today. Hopefully I’ve passed them. I still have to hand in one more assignment for my Psychology course and then I’ll be done with it. I’ve decided that I can’t continue on like this anymore and I really don’t want to burn out. Plus, I can’t afford all of my books for my next courses, Human Anatomy & Physiology and Preventative Health. I’ll be dropping one of my courses, Preventative Health and switching to part time temporarily. I think it will be for the best or else I’ll really crash. After I finish Anatomy I’ll switch back to full time. I think I just need the break and hopefully it will help. This will mean that I’ll have Mondays and Wednesdays off. I’ll see if I can get a part time job and hopefully bring in some money as I really don’t want to be borrowing money off the BF again. Sigh. Anyways, this might give me a chance to start getting back into a training schedule again. I seriously need to get back on track again with my working out. Sigh. I really hate living here.

Increasing Levels of Stress

It’s been a while since I last  posted. A few things have happened. Unfortunately, not such great news for me. My financial situation isn’t exactly the greatest right now and it’s obvious, to me at least, that it is affecting my health. The money I was counting on each month to help me out, although small, has ended. I’m very disappointed by the decision but this puts me in a very desperate situation of looking for money to pay for what little and simple bills I have. I have no idea of how I am going to find the money to pay for this other than looking for a part time job (yes, I have been looking but no luck so far). It’s not been easy and the only thing left I can do is pray. Next  month my text books are going to cost me more than I thought so that puts another strain on things.

I haven’t been working out at all since I fell down the stairs in December and I have noticed a definite increase in weight. This is making me very depressed because I know how hard I had worked to get to where I was. It was not an easy journey. To be honest, I’ve noticed that I have been more unhappy ever since I moved back to my parents place. I know this is significant in more ways than one. I am hoping, praying that I will be able to get a job, a GOOD job too so I can move out eventually. While I do appreciate the support I am getting from my parents and family, I need to remind myself that this is only temporary. If only for my sanity’s sake.  I apologize if I seem out of it. But, it’s what I am feeling these days.  Stressed, depressed and unhappy.