Friday, December 25, 2009

OKC Blizzard

Oklahoma city was hit by a massive blizzard on Christmas Eve stranding many people on the roads and in the airport for the holiday.
I left work around 11:30am and made it to my apartment and hour later (its a 20min drive). All flights out were canceled so Jen and I spent the Holiday snowed in in Oklahoma. We did get to have a Christmas dinner at a friends house today which was really nice.
The weather and snow conditions today would have been perfect for skiing alas my skies are in ME.
Hope everyone had a very happy holiday!

Friday, December 11, 2009

ICE

The river had a thin coat of ice on it the other day so we were forced indoors to the pool. Now I love the water with a passion but its a bit more specific then that, I should say I love being ON the water. Notice the emphasis on the ON not the in. Well this morning I was in the water swimming laps in a pool, I have a rather difficult issue with swimming because I get motion sick, don't laugh its true. I solved that today by popping a few Dramamine before practice and it worked I didn't feel sick! While this did nothing to improve the quality of my session I felt much better and will live to tackle the pool again another day.

Saturday, December 5, 2009

K2

I am getting ready to head out for my first K2 practice with Jen Burke we have 8x500m lined up for a practice. I am really excited and a bit nervous to get into a K2 its always such a great unknown or a least to me. Wish us luck but hopefully it will be all skill!

Friday, December 4, 2009

Strength Training

As a nordic skier I was considered fairly strong as a kayaker I have a long way to go. Recently it feels like each time I hit the weight room my butt gets kicked, the funny thing is I don't mind. I keep thing well if I feel like death it must mean that I will get stronger and therefore faster its a little bit of a long convoluted mental process but it seems to be working for me.
We did a brief max testing in bench press and bench pull 135, and 140 respectively which is more then my body weight so I feel that that's an ok place to start the winter season.

Wednesday, December 2, 2009

Twitter

I' m now on twitter Username: Kaitie_Mcelroy. I am working on getting my tweets to go to my blog site hopefully I will have that running in the next few days.

Coffee conversations and communication

Today has been a whirlwind of activity. I had the opportunity to meet with Joe Jacobi (executive director of USACK), Coach Caven (current coach) and Jen Burke( future k2 partner) to discuss the promotion of canoe/kayak in the USA. I think the meeting was great and gave all of us a lot to think about and expand upon.
After that I grabbed my Phone and had a conversation with Dan from Canoe & Kayak Racing magazine about writing an article form them. Now I am catching up on emails having dinner and heading off to a OKC thunder Basketball game.
Plus I got a California girl out on the water in 33degrees for a rather productive workout oh yeah !!!!
What a day, I love it.

Friday, November 20, 2009

Windy City

If people think Chicago is windy it doesn't hold a candle to OKC! The wind is crazy but somehow it doesn't interfere with training sure there are big rollers and surfable waves but because its in a canal that dumps out into a protected area its kinda fun and is teaching me better balance. You have fun for 1.5km in blustery conditions then get your workout in go back to the canal and hammer your butt back to the dock through the gale force blowing in your face. While this may not instictively sound enjoyable, its actually kind of fun and if nothing else you feel tougher then nails by the end!

Saturday, November 7, 2009

Edmond, OK

Today is my first full day in Oklahoma City. So far so good, I have a nice 4bed room apt. at the University of Central Oklahoma which has been provided for the athletes by the OKCBF. The canoe/kayak portion of OKCBF is based out of the Route 66 boat house on lake Overholser. The lake/estuary we paddle on is awesome there is a 3km straight canal like section then kilometers of narrow whinding river which is protected by woods.
Pictures will be coming soon!

Tuesday, November 3, 2009

On the Move

I ' m on the move again. The first leg of my journey out to OKC has started, I am at the airport and ready to get a move on to California where I will pack up my stuff tomorrow morning and then start the drive out to Oklahoma by mid day.

Saturday, October 24, 2009

OKC

Its official I am moving to Oklahoma City, OK to kayak with the new water sport development center which has been built in the area. I will be flying out to CA to pick up my stuff on Nov. 3rd and then driving out to the big city on the 4th.
If anyone is interested in driving from CA to OK with me I would love the company.....

Tuesday, October 13, 2009

Fall Training in Bethel, ME

The early mornings are becoming increasingly brisk in Bethel, ME making it harder and harder to get out of bed and train before work.
This morning I woke to the sight of big fluffy flakes falling from the sky and a blanket of white on the ground. I quickly decided I was going to pretend that it was a dream, rolled over buried myself under the covers and went back to sleep. When I woke for "real" I had to face the facts it was snowing (as a skier I was excited as a kayaker I was very unhappy and I believe I kept muttering something about how the world was out to get me etc..). No matter the weather, I was determined to paddle today. An hour later I arrived at Songo pond to dreary, foggy and damp conditions but no wind, as I took the boat off the car and got ready to paddle I kept repeating to myself "I love to paddle, I love to paddle". Once I was off and kayaking the 1.20hr workout I had planed flu by. Focusing on the workout and not the conditions made a big difference in how I felt and the overall quality of the workout, I doubt the weather is going to get much better as Nov. rolls around but I will keep getting on the water and enjoy those moments where I feel I have conquered the elements.

Friday, September 25, 2009

Marathon Worlds

The Marathon World Championships in Crestuma, Portugal, was a fabulous event. The organizing committee did a great job on all fronts, the event was well run, races went off on time, there was live event coverage online, the food was great, and the bus ride to and from the course provided us with an up close look at Porto and the surrounding area/countryside ....wow that was a mouthful.
The durou river on which the event was held runs through the small hillside town of Crestuma and is a beautiful and active(ferries, wine boats etc..) tidal river with 12ft tides!
The K2 event in which Anne and I competed took place last Sunday. The race went well, we had a great start staying in the mix, riding wash and fighting with the other teams to grab the best position. The field contained several athletes who had medal in the Sprint World Championships in August and athletes who competed at the 2008 Olympic games! Anne and I were knocked off the pack by a feisty Italian team who decided they did not want us to be riding wash with their "group" one minute we were on the wave and the next we were spun off to the side. We didn't let that bother us and kept on plugging finishing the race with a sprint to edge out Argentina.
We still have lots of things to work on, such as portaging and being more aggressive at the start but we came a long way since last year and fixed what we had set out to fix which was our start. Now we have a world class start and can work on figuring out the next part of the puzzle

Tuesday, September 15, 2009

Portugal

Anne and I arrived in Porto, Portugal Sunday afternoon. We were completely jet lagged because we were unable to sleep on the plane ride over, its actually close to a miracle that we were able to get through security in Madrid and transfer planes but as always we pulled through.
After arriving at the hotel we took a 4hr nap then preceded to locate diner this was much harder then anticipated . We followed the map which lead us to the waterfront beach area about a 30min walk away, still no food siting. The beach was beautiful and we walked along the boardwalk aways then low and behold the golden arches appeared. In our half starved state we succumbed to the urge to go towards them and find food. We ended up eating our lovely mc'ds over looking the ocean and watching a beautiful sunset.

Wednesday, September 9, 2009

All around the world!

Plane to plane, one city to the next, race series after race series, add in friends a few national championship and world championship medals and you have the makings of one cool experience. The past month has been fun and tough, that much travel can rec havoc with your body combine it with racing and your in for a whole new meaning for the word fatigue. My immune system gave out fairly early in my travels but somehow my body kept doing what I had trained it to do and I placed in the top 3 in 9 out of 11 races plus managed to do a little poking around each place I traveled too.
I am in MA training for a few days before I head out with my K2 partner Anne Blanchard for my last race of the season at Marathon Worlds, Crestuma, Portugal.

Friday, September 4, 2009

Premier women rocked at dragon boat worlds

The title tells it all the premier women's team dominated at Dragon Boat World championships coming away with 2 silver and 2 bronze, four medals four races!

Friday, August 21, 2009

Nationals

Hailing from Atlanta GA, or rather Gainsville. The USA sprint national championships started off yesterday with the 1000m events, today was the 500m and tomorrow distance and 200m knockouts. The races have been going great, I placed second in the 1000m K1, 3rd in the 1000m K2, 3rd in the 500m K1 and 1st in the 500m K4. Unfortunately I caught a really evil cold when I was leaving Canada and it has put me in bed for the rest of the day. I am hoping to feel better tomorrow so I can race the 200ms but I have to be smart since I still have a month left on the road.

Tuesday, August 18, 2009

Sprint Worlds

62 countries, 4days of racing, loads of spectators and perfect weather = one amazing experience.
I just arrived back in the USA after 7days in Halifax, NS at the World Sprint Canoe Championships. The competition was fierce and we were a young and inexperienced team but we learned a lot which we can utilize in training and racing for the upcoming quad.
I will start with a world champs recap and a preview of nationals tomorrow.

Monday, August 17, 2009

Sprint Canoe Worlds consisted of non-stop action from the minute we arrived off the plan on the 10th til the day we left on the 17th. THE EVENT WAS INCREDIBLE there were 62 countries who took part in the event.
I will fill in more details tomorrow when i am no longer on the road.

Sunday, August 9, 2009

Off to Worlds

On the Road Again....you all know the words so sing along... On the road again, finally ! The USA canoe/kayak team hits the open road or in this case the air in approximately 1hr, arriving in Halifax, NS tomorrow morning after a red eye flight.
Everyone is stoked to be leaving for the World Championships after a season of really hard training on and off the water, while I still have another 1.5months of racing after Sprint Worlds, for many this is the finale event.
I'm incredibly excited to be lining up at the start with the best in the World this week and just as excited that my mom and aunt will be able to be there to watch!
Off to catch a plane
-K

Thursday, August 6, 2009

We are all tired ...but coming together

Well the pre-competition tapper started a little later then we thought, leaving us with a few extra days of hard work. The whole team is really tired right now but somehow we are pulling off some really good quality workouts together, we may not feel like we have the power but we are keeping focused and listening to feedback from each other and the coach which is the most important thing for us as a Team.
We all leave on red-eyes Sunday arriving in Halifax on Monday morning. So far we have heard that the weather there is cold and rainy, which I am surprisingly looking forward to after months of sun and heat .....go figure.

Sunday, August 2, 2009

Last week

The last hard practice of the year/season for sprint kayaking was on Saturday, this next week will be a tapper week before we leave for worlds on Sunday. Then I will be on the road for 1.5months for Races, after which I will take 2 weeks of active/fun recovery before beginning to build my strength/endurance base for next session.
Before then there will be lots of exciting racing and travel all over the world!!!

Thursday, July 30, 2009

Video

Check out the first 2 video clips on the video bar I just added they are from Tuesday nights practice 4x300m , 4x200m on 8min intervals.

Thursday, July 23, 2009

Team Boat Therapy

Team boat therapy...... the interpersonal dynamic in the boat hit the tipping point we needed professional help. As a team we decided to see if the Olympic Training Center sports psychologist could straighten us out.
Today at 1pm we arrived at our therapy session, 50min later we walked out a very different group of girls, ready to communicate and work hard with each other. One of the many ideas we got from the therapy was to do dry land synchronization drills so that we could be more in tune with each other.
We agreed to meet 40min before our 5pm K4 practice, at 4.20pm we arrived at the boat house with a mission, we sat in a line in front of the wall length mirrors and practiced stroking, counting each stroke and discussing what needed to be changed etc... We then sat around and went through our warm up plan for the day and who was going to call the drills and transitions through out the practice.
The start of the practice was a bit shaky but we turn it 180degrees around during our last 2 sets and turning it into the best practice by far we have had as a team!
-K

Monday, July 20, 2009

K4, K4 and some more K4

4 girls... 2 sisters, 2 alpha girls and one girl who is not quit in sync......oooooohhhhhh yes.....now say it with me DRAMA, major drama. After several days of rather unsuccessful practices in the K4 it was obvious we were heading for disaster. People were visibly angry or upset and making the girl who was at the root of the boats disjointedness feel awful. I decided it was time to break from my joking (trying to ease the tension in the boat) and lay some ground rules: 1. no bickering between sisters. 2. no finger pointing. 3. If you cant figure out a way to say something so that its constructive don't say anything. 4. No scowling after practice. 5. No talking about people behind their back. 6. Stay positive and focused in the boat, vent later. Remarkably today went much better! Team boats in canoe/kayak a very difficult every movement of your body needs to be in sync with every other person in that boat. In the top level boats peoples breathing is even in sync. Hostility and tension is easily transferred into the movement of the boat making it difficult to paddle. If one persons movements aren't smooth of slightly lopsided it can cause the boat to lean making it actually painful for everyone else in the crew.
Team boats are amazing when you get them to work and they're well worth putting in the hours on and off the water to get to that point.
I believe we are now off to a better start now that we have laid forth a set of ground rules and I look forward to the steady improvements we will be making.

Tuesday, July 14, 2009

New coach, and the death of the forearm

Yep you say the title right. New coach, and the death of the forearm while it may not make sense initially it will once I explain to you the new dynamic at the training center.
It all started with Nathan(head coach) hiring a new coach for the woman's K4/K2 team leading up to worlds. She's a really nice woman from Bulgaria and incidentally an ex Bulgarian national team member who placed 6th at the Athens Olympics in K2. Today was her first practice as our coach.....now we get to the death of the forearm and the shaking of limbs. First practice: 5x10min/1 off L2, normally this isnt so bad. Well, lets put it this way within 4min of the first piece we heard a soft voice eminating from the motorboat " your stroke rates are to low and you need more power behind each stroke". We complied with her request bring our stroke rate up and putting more ummph behind it, these "small" changes brought our heart rates up to L3. AM practice 2: weights. The new coach took one look at them and said "oh no this wont do" this is what we ended upwith
Bench press 27kg 30 reps
Russian twists 15kg 50reps each side
decline weighted crunch 25lbs 20reps
full dips 12reps
pull ups 10reps
single arm kayak pull 50lbs 50reps each side
pull downs 60lbs 30reps
straight leg sit ups 30reps
bench pull 30kgs 30reps
no rest between exercises and 3 sets
Now that combined with a kayak workout constitutes the death of the forearm.
This afternoon we have our first team boat workout which will be awesome .

Monday, July 13, 2009

surprises

Well in an odd twist of events it looks like I will be nominated to the sprint kayak world championship team!!!!

Sunday, July 12, 2009

2nd Team Trials

Hi All,
Second team trials were this weekend. Day one was the 500m k1 races, day 2 was seat racing for the k4.
It was a good experience racing both days, there was significant wind and motorboat waves during the k1 500m finals in which I placed 8th I was very close to 6th, 7th showing significant improvement from the trials in May. I wasn't thrilled with my race because I have been doing extremely well in practice putting down fast times and being in the top of the pack, but I have a lack of race experience in sprint which showed this weekend.
Day 2: today we completed 4 seat races to fill out the K4 unfortunately since I was 8th I was put in the B boat as a domestic ie someone who has to put out a tremendous amount of effort in 4 head to head races against the A boat, while other people are swapped in and out of the A and B boats. The final crew is determined by the combination of people that were able to create the largest time gap between A&B over 500m.
This racing experience was extremely valuable for future race performance. While I did not make the Sprint Kayak team for worlds I qualified for the sprint canoe team so I will be competing with my C2 partner for top honors at worlds August 12-16th, from Nova Scotia I will be hopping on a plane to Alanta, GA for sprint Nationals where I plan on improving my US ranking of 8th. From Sprint Nationals I will be going to prague, czech for dragon boat world championships ( I was asked to compete by the US Dragon Boat association) from here its the east coast then a trip to Marathon World Champs in Portugal with Anne Blanchard (we have both decided to focus on the K2 and maybe break top 5).
I have recieved funding for about 1/2 of all my expences which is huge and I am very greatful for this however the rest will be coming out of pocket (not so good for a barista working at $8/hr.)
I would like to do some fund raising or locate some sponsorships to help cover the rest of the cost. With the economy in turmoil it is the worst time to do either so I am asking people for ideas. if you know a company which would like some international publicity etc..or anything else.. anyway please comment, any thoughts/epiphanies are welcome.
cheers
Kaitlyn

Friday, July 3, 2009

One More Hard Week

Yep, one more hard week down ....almost.
The woman's team started the day with a 4x15min L2 workout and ended the day with rousing game of Ultimate Frisbee with the men and Coach Luce. So today wasn't to bad but the rest of the week was really tough.
Next week should be a tapering week since we will have 2nd Team Trials on Friday, Sat, Sunday!
cheers
K

Thursday, June 25, 2009

Another 500m day

Oh yes, to day was another day of 500m pieces. It is a workout that has you pleading with your body and mind to stay together and stay focused.
Today was not just an ordinary day on the water..... our coach was upset because of another series of poor performances on the world cup circuit. In addition to a mad coach we had two volunteers from sports medicine observing our practice. The pressure was on.
I think a combination of things lead me to feel "inspired" to push the limits today, including watching the USA soccer team go against all odds to find their way into the Confederation cup final yesterday by beating out number 1 ranked Spain !
The workout started out great and kept getting better. I hopped on Maggie's wash and hung in there for 500m after 500m trying to focus on each individual stroke and not get carried away.
We still have two more workouts and a team meeting but I couldn't ask for a better start to my day!

Tuesday, June 23, 2009

you know you've had a hard day of training when......

You know you've had a hard day of training when...... you pick up a comic book and it seems tooooo heavy to hold up and read. Well that may be the accumulative effect of a few hard days of quality workouts. While this lack of function may seem a annoying I find, like many athletes, something oddly fulfilling and satisfying about this state when induced by strenuous activity.
cheers
k

Tuesday, June 16, 2009

sweet

Training is going very well, my times in each practice are becoming faster and more consistent. My stroke is technically much better, but I still find that my shoulder will fatigue during the last 1/3 of my workout. This is incredibly frustrating and done right annoying however I am listening to my body. When my shoulder stops functioning I stop. I find this much less aggravating then I used to because the quality of my workouts is so much better, it feels like something has really been accomplished during the first part of the workout therefore "making it ok to get off the water early".
Our morning practice today was interrupted briefly by a visit from USADA (us anti-doping association). Representatives from USADA come around randomly to check athletes to make sure we are in compliance with the anti-doping regulations. We are actually required to fill out Where Abouts filling Forms which list where we live, train, eat , work and go to school and what our schedule will be, additionally we have to list an hour everyday when we can make ourselves available for testing. They may or may not come by and test us but we need to stay put reguardless.
Cheers
Kaitlyn

Sunday, June 14, 2009

Breather

Finally a few minutes to breath, chill and soak up the sun which was out today for the first time in 2 weeks. Ok so I was at work and I only saw the sun through the window but it was still nice and maybe the only reason I had a few seconds to breath was because it was really slow at the Coffee shop but it all counts in my book. I feel slightly rejuvenated and ready to rock for practice tomorrow which has been moved back to 8:30am which means sleep a leisurely coffee and some time to read beforehand.

Thursday, June 11, 2009

Training Hard, and Harder

6:05am the alarm went off. Laying in bed listening to my phone alarm I felt a distinctive urge to roll over and sleep. This desire was not fueled by fatigue but by the thought of the mornings workout 10x500m on 6min @ max average time (meaning as had as you can go and still keep going). I forced myself out of bed with the thought of a few extra minutes to sip a cup of coffee and read my book before hitting the water for practice it worked and 5min later I was out the door and on my way.
7am we were on the water and starting a slow warm up gradually preparing the brain for the workout to come (in workouts like these, the mind has just as great an impact on if the body fails as the body does, if that makes any sense. )
20min later we were cranking out the 500m pieces at 2:10pace which was a good 5seconds faster per 500 then I had ever done for this workout. The first piece I clocked in at 2:10 then the next, my stroke rate was low but I had good power and focused on technique keeping steady through the whole thing. By the end of the workout my brain and body turned to toast or mush or some combination but I had stayed consistent throughout focusing in on each 500m and not letting the work out get ahead of me.
Now at 3pm my brain and body are still mush as I prepare for the next workout of the day, and I suspect I wont have a lot of umf. But it is workouts like this morning that push you beyond your comfort zone which make the next work out no matter how uncomfortable worth doing.
(ok since I am still mush this post may not make a lot of sense but I will come back and check it tomorrow) till then
K

Tuesday, June 9, 2009

Marathon K2 time trial

26km, 6 portages, 5barking dogs, 4children, several oblivious adults holding balls (and throwing them), and 2+hrs later Anne Blanchard and myself completed the a K2 marathon time trial in the allotted time earning us a slot on the US Marathon team. The team will be heading to Crestuma, Portugal for the 2009 Marathon Canoe/Kayak World Championships Sept 17-18.
Our time trial was done on a 6 lap 4.3km course with 6 150m portages through a picnic area, when I designed the said course this picnic area was people and pet free this was not the case on the beautiful sunny Sunday on which the race was completed.
The first lap and portage went off with out a hitch our boat speed was awesome and it felt effortless, the start of lap two was still feeling good, as we rounded the buoy to head in to the portage a second time I saw a few people gathered by the water with 2dogs "no big deal I thought when they see us coming they will move, or at least not throw the ball it to the water for the dogs to chase right?" no such luck. We shouted excuse me, excuse me, followed by a short explanation of what we were doing and that we would be back around. Ok that should cover it, we hopped back into the K2 and brought the boat up to speed setting out for the rest of the lap, a boat full of fishermen cheered us on and a loan kayaker or two looked at us slightly confused as we passed bye for the second time, wasnt one lap enough?
On to lap three and the 3rd portage, it seemed as if the crowed on shore had grown and it also appeared from a distance that several more dogs and a few small humans commonly referred to as toddlers were amoung the group hanging out at our put in and take out, "ok" I thought "they should move a little they know whats going on now" oh no was I mistaken. As we rounded the buoy a humanoid threw a ball into the water directly at us, the shore surged as 4 dogs lept into motion to follow the ball, converging on our location..... A few hard strokes a quick turn of the rudder and a brace brought us safely around the dogs and in striking distance of the toddlers, in the end all were safely avoided and the portage completed this little dance remained the norm for the rest of the time trial it seems that repetition did not help these souls figure out that we would be back. In the end all was well we made time standard, no one was injured and a new level of team work emerged for Anne and I.
We both look foreward to many more marathons together and a great showing at Worlds!

Friday, May 29, 2009

Crazy Summer

The past month has been a blur, team trials, training, work, shoulder rehab and the flu. I will start with Team Trials, in spite of being fairly injured I managed to match my PR in both my first heat and the semifinal, by the time the final came around my shoulder and ribs were to fatigued to really bust out a good time but I made the final and was pretty happy about that. The Canoe races went well, with Hannah and I winning both the C2 200m and 500m. These results secured us a spot at the world championships in August!
I still have another opportunity to qualify a kayak slot for at the worlds. The second set of team trials is coming up in July location and date TBA lol.
In the mean time I am making significant progress in my technique and am working hard to move my whole body as a single unit in the kayak with a strong catch and quick exit. Its really tiring to work on all these technical changes. The proper tech. forces you to use so many muscles it tuckers you out in no time at all.
The shoulder rehab is going very well, it turns out that all the problems I was having with my ribs were associated with a multilateral instability in my shoulder. Now that we actually know whats going on I have been able to start getting everything squared away so I will be at my best by the Worlds and Nationals .
Ok that's enough filling in and updating etc....
cheers
K

Thursday, April 16, 2009

gggrrrh

Athletes are the most hard headed people on the planet. I was talking about injuries in the locker room today with some of the girls and a common theme popped up. NO one was willing to give an inch of training up for an injury unless they literally could not move! They could all give great advice to others on the subject but could never take any of it themselves. The conversation came up because I knocked my rib out of place again on Tuesday, I could feel something was going wrong on Saturday but I pushed through it til Tuesday. On the bright side there has been a doctor/chiropractor and extra massage therapist on site all week, so I have received excellent care. Today the Chiro was able to slip my rib back in place , the massage therapist was able to take down the muscle spasm and the Doc gave me a shot of lydocane for inflammation and scare tissue yeah!!!! The result is I am going to be back on the water tomorrow morning for an easy session!

Sunday, April 12, 2009

PS

Feel free to pass this blog on to friends, also if you like it become a follower:)
cheers
K

Happy Easter

Happy Easter everyone,
This week has been crazy like always. As trials approach our training volume went down and our quality intensity went up, producing some very painful but satisfying workouts.
Midweek we had a time control 500m which went poorly I felt slow and went slow it was demoralizing but it started to shake the cobb webs out of the body and mind. after the TC we did a bunch of very fast paced intervals which were awesome I felt so much better during that portion of the work out it was great so I feel the day was a wash part good part bad. The rest of the week has progressed about the same some great work outs and some bad ones, this is the first time that I am doing this kind of intensity so it will take an adjustment period. The same for the increased training load my body has adjusted to it but it will take time to take hold and make me faster.
cheers
K

Monday, April 6, 2009

Hola

Hola, (the only Spanish I know) Its another warm, bright sunny day on the west coast. The water was glass this morning and the temperature couldn't have been better for our L2 90min workout!
The German/American girl whose joining the team arrived today, she seems really nice and should be a great addition to the group. She will help us fill out the 2 k4 boats and give me a k2 partner!
Training is going well and I am finally healthy so I am stoked for the next few training weeks until trials.
cheers
K

Wednesday, April 1, 2009

Back to the Blog

Finally, I've kicked my back side in to gear, fired up the "little gray cells" and have my fingers flexed ready to type out my next blog entry..... ?.....
Mmmmm maybe I should start at the beginning of this week. The final count down to team trials has started as we began the first week of our last micro cycle before the event. My nerves and others are running high because we will not receive team boat assignments until after the K1 500m race. Meaning I have know idea whether I will even get to race in a team boat which is my best shot for racing world cups!
However todays practice felt significantly better then the one yesterday so I am feeling a bit better about everything :)
With this week being a rest week its important to have lots of sleep and not let your focus slip on any of the workouts even short works when done right can have a strong impact on race performance, if your just doing a throw away work out its better just not to do it!

Thursday, March 26, 2009

The land of the Rattlers

Morning practice was tough mentally and physically. 9x750m hard with the Czech and Slovakian girls, yep I was hanging on to there wash for dear life so I wouldn't drop off the pace. I made it and even had a good job from our coach for staying strong through the whole workout! I flew off to work for a few hours came back lifted (felt good) then proceeded to walk down to the boat house. The boat house is down the hill and across the road from the main campus of the OTC. Like normal I started to meander down to the boat house for our third session. About halfway down i glanced over to the bushes on my right, there curled up and intently staring at some prey was the glistening black form of the local rattle snake, I managed not to scream but I started to hyperventilate and almost past out, by the time I arrived at the boat house I was shaking and almost past out again, yes apparently me... who is not afraid of bears, mountain lions, dissecting dead things and performing brain surgery on rats.... has a severe snake phobia.
Well I managed to calm down after about half an hour and go out to practice with a few of the Slovaks. Its really fun to train with the other national teams which are here it mixes it up and pushes you further then you thought you could go!
cheers
K

Monday, March 23, 2009

Daily Life

One more load to go in the washing machine, two more things left on my to do list, 5 already checked off . Yep today was my make shift catch up day ie no work and only 3 training sessions. It feels great to have caught up with most of what I needed to get done and it sets me up for an awesome week.
Training is going well, I am getting over my cold and feel stronger by the day. Unfortunately many of the girls on the team are getting sick and a few other have had injuries in the past few days making it a small crew out on the water. There is only a few weeks left until team trials so hopefully folks will start feeling better soon!
cheers
K

Saturday, March 21, 2009

Back out West

For the past few weeks part of the Czech team has been training at the OTC, its been awesome to see them paddle and even nicer to have company out on the water. Normally we train separately but this week we have had several sessions together. This tends to produce a high speed workout no matter what the tempo or speed is supposed to be. Thursday we went out K1 with the Czech team and ripped out 9x750m repeats, the end result was all the girls docking up together because we were to shaky to actually paddle anymore! Today we took out the K4s for a quality workout against their K4 it went well. The boat I was in was the "light weight boat" and we kicked butt, the other USA boat was a "heavy weight boat". It was broken up like this because we only had 2 (M) boats 1 for the Czech team and one for us, leaving the second USA team to use the men's (L) K4, which incidentally I don't fit into at all.
The work out was very focused and our boat improved steadily through out the practice and by the end we were neck and neck with the Czech team!
Tomorrow is a rest day which I am looking forward to a lot.

Sunday, March 15, 2009

Yak4AStack

Yak4AStack was the coolest event I have ever seen. 300 + paddles from around the world descended on the Pines in Melbourne FL, for an event which promotes craziness, fun and international relations. Many of these kayakers/canoers have been training hard every day multiple times a day for the past month or 2 using the Pines as their home base. Today was now the test of all that training, it was the big race, the main event to put to test the hours spent between practices. That's right between practices, who out of these athletes reached the exhaustion point that brought them to the Nirvana of figuring out the craziest most out landish and creative costume for this race. The athletes were assembled into 85+ teams of 4, the goal go from the dock, make it around a buoy and hand off the boat(a scupper) to your two team mates then have them go around the buoy in the other direction and back to the first dock as fast as they can all with costumes on. Olympians and medalists participated in this event and were paired just as randomly with other paddlers. I should mention that the scuppers were 2 person boats. giving them the golden opportunity to try out new partners for the next Olympics (grin).
Hannah and I went out to hunt for the perfect costume on Friday night, we came up with Xena warrior princess and her side kick Gabrielle as our respective alter egos. After a run to walmart and the thrift store we had everything we needed. Debbie(the women we are staying with) managed to pull many rabbits out of her hat "closets" to help with the assemble of the outfits. She had a sewing machine and various other implements which we desperately needed to pull it off. We successfully put the costumes together by late Friday evening and were ready to go for the races the next day.
people were dressed in elaborate and simple costumes some came by water others by land and it proved to be exceedingly entertaining on all fronts .
I highly recommend that if you are in the area for this event that you join the festivities or at least come to watch.
cheers
K

Thursday, March 12, 2009

Surfing

Hannah and I tried are hands at surfing today. Lets just say we shouldn't give up paddling just yet, but we had a lot of fun and I will definitely go again.
The paddling down here is great, we walk out Debbie's back door and put the boats into the canal and head off.
While we were out paddling a dolphin popped up near by it was really cool I never expected to see one in the canals but there it was.

Wednesday, March 11, 2009

Florida

I made it down to Florida without incident and am now situated at Debbie Pages house approx 6.25km from the Pines via the canal system. The weather is perfect and water calm so great paddling conditions.
This morning we passed several members of the Italian team on the water, my g*d they were sooo strong, fast , and all around intimidating but it was really cool to see them paddle. It really gave me something to shoot for.

Sunday, March 8, 2009

long cycle over

Wow the past few weeks of training took there toll on me both mentally and physically. Everyone on the team handles the stress differently some giggle alot, others have emotional breakdowns, some get snippy and short tempered its all a normal part of a hard cycle. I was assured of this by the strength coach who apparently doubles as everyones therapist during the hard weeks. Through all this I was working 4nights a week leaving me with approximately 5-6hrs of sleep which did not help matters any, but yet again I servived and cant imagine my like anyother way.
I love training but I am happy to have a week to lay low and have a change of scenery ie my trip to Florida for 6 days of ...... Training lol!!!!

Wednesday, March 4, 2009

Half way

The Brain begins to shut down after 1 day of hard workouts (lack of oxygen and fatigue), by day three brain activity ceases all together. We are on day 3. There is very little going on upstairs and I think I am operating in the negative, on the upside by body is feeling better and better each day. I am trying hard to stay focused on technique and not speed right now, once my body adjusts after a few weeks of proper tech. the speed will come. Constantly modifying and monitoring all the components of a good stroke is tiring. You change one thing and another body part goes out of whack, slowly but surely pieces are starting to click into place and I can feel a big difference when it falls into place, even if its just briefly!

Sunday, March 1, 2009

Upcoming Week

Great news a fisherman at the tournament last weekend on Otay Lake found my paddle! Granted he brought it home with him to New Port Beach and waited a week to call the training center about it, but at least I was able to get it back and in this case better late then never!
Next week should be awesome Coach wants us on the water 3 times a day and in the gym once a day. Its going to be tough but I think my body should handle it fine. The ribs are feeling better a few twinges here and there but nothing sports med cant help me with. We think my issues came about do to some technique deficiencies, I tend to paddle with my shoulders by my ears which exposes my intercostal muscles to a lot of strain. I am working on fixing my hunched shoulders on and off the water which will make me a better paddler!

Wednesday, February 25, 2009

ramping up

Training has ramped up this week with increased volume and some massive intensity ie 50x30s on/30s off, and some long weight room sessions (upwards of 2hrs). It went well for 1.5days before my intercostal muscles decided enough was enough and gave out. So I am currently sitting on the side lines pulling my hair out because I want to train at full speed like everyone else. I have finally learned that its better to take 3 days off or low volume/intensity now then have it effect weeks to months of training by pushing through. Knowing this doesn't make it any easier for us competitive types to comply with that bit of wisdom ....aaahhhh. But I have to remember its not just me that's affected by my injury its my canoeing partner as well so I have to play it smart or we both loose.
I am writing this after 2 attempted training sessions and work so it my be incoherent.
cheers
K

Thursday, February 19, 2009

Testing week

Testing week, produces an oxymoron of emotions, you dread it but at the same time your completely stoked about the whole thing. Starting on Tuesday morning we had 2km time trials, and in the afternoon max strength testing on bench pull, bench press, and weighted pull ups. On Wednesday we had a double session in the morning and the afternoon off. To day we had a K4 workout in the morning then endurance strength testing in the afternoon. This consisted of lifting 60% of your body weight for 90sec and going for max number of reps. I was really happy with my results all week showing substantial improvement since I was last tested in mid November. and by substantial I mean I could do twice as many bench rows in 90sec and 5 more pull ups(19), plus added 20lbs to my max for bench press and 10lbs to my weighted pull ups (3 with 45lbs).
cheers
K

Tuesday, February 17, 2009

WInd & Waves and lots of Rain

Monday morning broke with the conditions from hell, blustery with driving rain and cool temps. The lake had whitecaps but it looked manageable if you went across the main bay over to the east bay. Everyone threw on their spray skirts and cold gear and headed over with out incident. The work out was 8x6min @ level 2 with 20sec pickups at the 3min mark. I felt great, smooth in the water, stable and fast despite the conditions. I even managed to surf some of the waves during the pieces it was sooo much fun. By the end of the workout I have to admit I was feeling cocky the workout had gone well and the waves posed no problem and were actually fun! This is when my instincts and common sense left me. The wind had picked up alot making large white capped waves on the main bay, everyone except yours truly headed up wind and were going to tack across the bay. I decided that I could handle the waves and would go straight across to the dock, this meant I would be broadsided the entire way, undaunted by this thought I took off across the bay. I had little problem with the balance however the wind and waves were making it impossible for me to stir using the rudder forcing me to brace and paddle on one side in order to steer. With 200m to go I was battered with a strong gust of wind pushing me into an even worse angle with the waves I braced to stir but my blade was caught by the waves and I flipped over. I righted the boat as quickly as I could but lots of water had already poured in, I managed to turn the boat so I was no longer broadside to the waves, the boat paddle and I were tossed around as I watched for the coach to come get me. Waves were causing problems for the motor boat as well and it seemed like forever before he could get near to me. "leave the boat and paddle, just get on board, I'll pick them up." I was beginning to get nervous with the weather so I did as he said and swam over to the boat and climbed in. The back end of my boat was underwater at this point and we couldn't maneuver the motor boat to a good angle to reach it, time went into slow motion, waves crashing, wind blow, rain driving, the motor boat being tossed around and my boat sinking. By some miracle Nathan was able to grab the stern of the boat as the whole thing disappeared under the water from there he slowly brought it up, meanwhile no one was at the controls of the launch. "Can you drive the launch in while I get your boat up?" there really was little choice in the matter if we tried to switch we would have lost the boat. I fumbled around with the controls I had know idea what to do. Nathan was yelling through the wind trying to explain, it took a minute and then I figured it out. we were bounced around fairly good as I tried to head us into the dock, once we were closer to shore Nathan was able to empty most of the water from my boat and get it up onto the launch, at this point we needed to change places. I tried to move around the boat at the same time as Nathan this proved to be a bad idea when he knocked the boat trying to get over it the action knocked me out of the launch, I smacked my face against the boat but barely noticed I had to get to shore. Nathan couldn't help he had one hand on the boat and the other trying to control the launch so both wouldn't end up smacking into the dock and other boats.
Everything ended up well the boat was fine and so was I except a bruise on my face unfortunately my paddle is M.I.A but there is still hope I will find it.
I realized from this experience that it is better to use caution against the elements then just relying on skill because stuff can happen very quickly.

Sunday, February 15, 2009

Happy V Day

Well this is the end of recovery week. I cant say I am sad to see it go either, I am really eager to get back to training hard for a while. The week was spent getting all those necessary things done like laundry, work, and boat maintenance. I was able to make a new full foot board for my kayak and rig up a new strap it should be great and I cant wait til Monday to try it!
V-day was spent relaxing then off to downtown San Diego for my friends B-day party at the airport lounge. It was a lot of fun but I realized I really need to learn spanish because all my friends there were from Mexico or Peru !
cheers
K

Thursday, February 12, 2009

Resting and working

The rest week is progressing as normal, meaning the fatigue from the other weeks has set in and people are fighting off colds etc... The rest week or unload week as some call it always produces these symptoms. People feel worse then the tough weeks but after its over the body will reward you by assimilating all the training from the previous cycle and then letting you move to the next level.
This week has been really tough for me I am fighting off an ear infection, struggling with low blood pressure all while training and starting a new job at night working in a cafe. I shouldn't complain because the sports med staff has been taking great care of me and I am sure by next week I will be in tip top shape.
Today the morning practice went well, I did 10x 2'/2' in the K2 with Maggie Hogan and it felt OK for our first time in a boat together. I really think the team boat work will really help me with technique and power also they're a lot of fun!
til next time
K

Monday, February 9, 2009

Rest Week

This week is a rest week, only 2 workouts a day with decreased intensity across the board. Since I have only been out here for a week I don't quit feel ready for a rest week. I want to keep pushing it. However I was assured that it would be a wise choice for me to take it easy. For example I wanted to run instead of stationary bike, the trainer almost laughed at me and said I would highly recommend you just spin and take it really easy this week.
Today was another windy rainy day with a cold chill to the air so not the best training conditions but we worked through it with the knowledge of a hot shower and breakfast once we where done.
cheers
K

Saturday, February 7, 2009

Off to the OC

The rain was coming down heavy as the women's kayak team left the training center and headed off to the Newport Beach area in the OC for a surfski, outrigger and kayak race. As we headed north on the 805 patches of sun poked through the clouds, shortly a small section of a rainbow was spotted within another minute or so the full rainbow emerged. The appropriate leprechaun jokes were made and we briefly considered calling the coach to tell him we would not be racing and were heading off to chase rainbows instead.
Later on the 805 I was roused from a nap or rather my brief attempt to go back to bed by Emily asking me to hand her the "to go" box with the directions written on top. The scenery had changed significantly from when I had dosed off, tall snow covered peaks were in the distance to my right and the ocean to my left. Signs for Porches, BMW, Mercedes and other high end cars were also visible from the highway and it was evident that we were entering a very wealthy area, everything was pristine.
It was still chilly and raining with the occasional glimpse of sun when we arrived at the Newport aquatic club. Katie Hagler and myself were going to race together in a K2, which i thought would be fun but i was also a bit nervous it had been 2months since I had been in a team boat and i wasn't sure how my balance would be.
When Katie and I got down to the start the water was squirrelly and moving fast, it didn't take long to figure out the times were going to be quick!
The race started with out a hitch we were posting 1km times were under 3.20m and even down to 3.05 at one point. My forearms were the first to go making it difficult to keep a good stroke going which therefore affected our balance, but we held it together making it through to the end.
We both have had better races but all in all I think it was ok I learned a lot today which was important. By making sure I take one thing out of every workout or race I will keep up my sharp learning curve!

Friday, February 6, 2009

Race

Tomorrow the team is heading to Newport Beach to race and promote USACK. It should be a fun event, the girls are all going to due the 8km short course in K2's and the boys in K1. I have never been to this part of CA and look forward to being able to see more of the state.
Today was awesome, as usual I started the day at 6.10am with a small cup of Java and a few pages of my book. Then headed off to the training center for a speed workout, the wind was blowing and it was raining making it even harder, but we stayed focused and toughed it out. Your not always going to get perfect conditions on race day so it makes days like this even more important. After the morning practice I cashed in on a double massage session =1hr in sports med! By this point in the week my shoulders, neck and back had turned into a giant knot and were completely locked up, the therapist worked his magic turning me into a new women. I walked around the rest of the day with a grin on my face flying from one task and workout to another with renewed energy.
I am now staring blankly at my computer screen so I think that's a sign to call it a night.
cheers
K

Thursday, February 5, 2009

long day

Wow long day, gone from 6:15am -9:30pm! Right now I am so happy to be crawling into bed, paddle 4x(10x30s/30s rest), run 4mi, lift endurance circuit, paddle with the boys and eat wash. All in all a good day done on under 3 cups of coffee!

Wednesday, February 4, 2009

wonderful weather

The weather in San Diego, CA is perfect not just some of the time but every day! 50degrees at 6am, warming to a clear sunny 74-80 then back down to 50ish when the sun goes down. All you want to do is be outside every minute of the day, this is good since that is essentially what I am supposed to be doing with canoe/kayak training. I am sure I will eventually miss the seasons but for now it ROCKS.
This morning we hammered out a session of 10x750m that shut my body completely down after only 1. Unfortunately there are going to be days when your body will not go fast no matter how much you want it to. Today was one of them for me, it felt like being in one of those dreams with quick sand your trying to run but you go now where. Suffering through them builds lots of character though. I know that days like this are all part of the process of getting faster and adjusting my body to the training load. You check the workout off as complete then move on, a day or a week of bad workouts does not make or break a season unless you let it get you mentally.

Tuesday, February 3, 2009

7x2kms

Coach brought the motor up next to us as we lined up for our next 2km piece."Your times are to slow pick it up, your barely moving". "Put some power behind the stroke on the next piece". "go in 30sec". Everyone surged forward building up speed then dropping back to pace, I jumped onto the wash of the fastest girl and held on for dear life, I had to stay focused otherwise I would drop back or feel the exhaustion and start to give up. We all came through at the 500m, 1000 and 1500m at a great clip, and I could hear Coach start yelling great job, good power,excellent stroke rate, pushing the envelope that's what I like to see. Wow 4 down, 3 to go!
The last few days we have been really focusing on technique, its so important to involve the whole body fluidly in the stroke in order to produce the most wattage. I have so many thing to think about in terms of my mechanics that i can only concentrate on 1 or 2 effectively per session.
After the morning session we ran and in the afternoon we lifted and swam. My swimming skills are entirely lacking and some rib injuries make it even more difficult for me to do any type of workout, this is incredibly frustrating each time i get in the water, but i am learning that its ok to take things slow so you don't get injured (it only took 23yrs to figure out)!
The pool is actually really cool though, its out side and looks like it was taken out of a James Bond movie. There are columns, arches and cast iron fences, water cascades down portions of the walls and into small channels and if you climb up to the next tear of the building there is a hot tub sooo cool even to a none swimmer.

Monday, February 2, 2009

3 workouts to bed...

Sipping my coffee I stood looking out of the boathouse, a warm breeze was whipping up the lake and the soft morning sun was starting to hit the mountains. I couldn't help but think that there was no better way to start a morning then this. Within minutes the peaceful morning turned into a whirlwind as the rest of the girls arrived. Amidst the chatter of 9 girls ages 20-30, boats and paddles were readied for practice and the appropriate attire determined for the morning temps. 20min later we were on the water. I was rearing to go with it being my first full day of practice as a resident of the OTC .... 2 on the water workouts, a weights session and 12.5hrs later I have finished the day and keeled over onto my bed where I intend on remaining until tomorrow mornings practice at 7am.

Sunday, February 1, 2009

Official

Kaitlyn McElroy..............Participants signature: Kaitlyn McElroy. Flipping through a few more pages my eyes kept honing in on those key words PARTICIPANTS SIGNATURE. By the time I finished with the paperwork my signature was illegible but it was official I was now an off site resident of the Olympic training center!
Sundays are the down days at the USOTC most people have the day off from training and use it for important things such as homework, housework and sun bathing. Even though its our off day I decided to go for a brief 40min jog after I moved my gear/clothing into about 4 or 5 lockers in the boat house. I thought it was necessary in order to keep working out the kinks I had accumulated during my drive.
Now I am going to go and do something I never do WATCH FOOTBALL...hey afterall its a new start for me I may as well try something new.

Saturday, January 31, 2009

The Trip

ME, NH, NY, NJ, DE, VA, Maryland, DC, NC, SC, GA, Alabama, Louisiana, Texas, New Mexico, AZ, and finally Southern California my destination.
The boat, car and I arrived in one piece last night to the Olympic Training Center in Chula Vista, CA. This morning was a typical SoCal one with warm temps, and clear skys. At 8am I unloaded the boat and headed out for a paddle with the team. After a few shaky strokes I found my rythme and headed off down the lake for an easy 1.40hr paddle.
cheers
Kmac