And while we're on the topic of "happy"....

Happiness

Oh my.  I am so glad I am on Facebook just for this!

Smile. Laugh. Dance.  Be happy!

Connecting With Nature is Good For You!

It was a blustery, rainy day today.  But my friend and I went ahead with our plans to visit White River Provincial Park west of Sayward, BC.  It's a very small park with a cool story.  It's home to old growth Douglas Fir, and it houses a great salmon stream!  What we didn't count on was snow, so we did have to detour a smidge.  And, technically, it wasn't a huge amount of exercise.  But we spent some quality time in the woods with the ancient trees and the wild elk herd.  

Edward O. Wilson, a Harvard University entomologist, coined the term "biophilia", referring to humans' "love of living things" - our innate affinity with nature.  I sure felt that today!  Love the outdoors!!!!

Get outside at least once this week.  You'll feel better because of it.

Yin Yoga - My Favourite So Far!

A friend suggested we meet for yoga yesterday.  I needed it.  I was completely fatigued from intense rowing training and feel quite stiff.  It turns out the class was a Yin Restorative class.  We spent a great deal of the class with our feet up the wall and held the poses for long periods of time.

The room at the Salt Spring Centre of Yoga was warmed by the wood stove in the corner.  The room was peaceful and bright.  The class was just what I needed.

Here's a peek at what Yin Yoga is like.  I highly recommend it!

Sleep!

I posted an info-graphic on recovery of high performance athletes and the need for lots and lots of sleep.  Here's a graphic journal of a workshop where sleep was emphasized to improve creativity.  (Plug here for the graphic artist, Deb LeFrank)  It turns out that sleeping in is encouraged!

The Huff Post has a bunch of articles about the importance of sleep.

Why have I spent my life getting up at 5am to row?  It is gorgeous to be on the water and watch the sun rise - but I'm rethinking the balance of doing that every day.  I'm building more sleep into my routine!

Hiking on a Beautiful March Day

The sun came up this morning on Discovery Passage with a morning temperature of -1.  But by 10am the sun had warmed up the air enough to make it a t-shirt and light hoodie hike day.

Ripple Rock in Campbell River is a great hike!  8km round trip.  3.5 to 4 hours - depending on how often you stop at the spectacular view points along the way.  Diverse, moderate hiking trail.  Some big uphills.  And the view at the end of it is amazing.

Hiking.  What a great way to get fit, get outdoors, and feel great.

Back at Training Camp

Okay.  So I'm back at spring break training camp to train specifically for a race in early April.  I've rowed 3 times in the last two days, and I am fatigued!  So I went looking for information about fatigue and training and found this great info graphic about sleep.

Turns out that sleep is our best training tool!

Another Inspiring Athlete

Peter Dreissigacker is 62 years old.  He is best known for his rowing oars and his Concept II rowing machines.

The World Indoor Rowing championships were held recently.  They are also known as the Crash B's. Basically a whole gymnasium of Concept II rowing machines is set up and wired together so they can be monitored and measured.  And then a bunch of rowers get on and row 2000 meters in the shortest time they can.

I've rowed a long time.  I'm a strong woman!  At 52, I can row 2000m in very close to 8 minutes.  People are impressed with that.  It would have put me in 8th place at the World event.  Nice!

The very fastest YOUNG men - national team calibre - row 2000m in about 5:30.  But back to Peter.  At 62 he rowed his 2000m in 6:55.  Pretty good!

I hope we can all find it in ourselves to put in our personal best at the highest level for years to come.

Get Off Your Rocking Chair

I row at Elk Lake.  I have some friends there who are my inspiration.  We call them the J Pod.

Rowing names its age groups alphabetically.  At 52, I am a D category rower.  It's a tough category - actually faster than A, B or C many times!  So I am really looking forward to getting older and moving to E and beyond.  But J?  Wow!  I hope I am still out there when I hit J.  These rowers are over 80 years old!

http://www.cheknews.ca/?bckey=AQ~~,AAAA4mHNTzE~,ejlzBnGUUKY1gXVPwEwEepl35Y795rND&bclid=975107450001&bctid=3153270969001

I Love Rowing!!!

Yesterday marked my return to on-the-water training after my three month winter hiatus.  Some people row 12 months a year, but I find I am more interested and committed if I take some time off.  So I race until the end of October and take a winter break.

Yesterday reminded me how much I love this sport.

I started rowing at university thirty years ago.  I rowed five years as a varsity athlete, traveling across Canada and as far south as San Diego to race.  I have a raft of medals and experience with national training camps under my belt.  And, thirty years later, I am still learning.

For me, it's the ultimate sport.  Individual and team at the same time.  Every second you're in the boat your brain is learning about how to do the next stroke better.  Your mind is pushing your body to work harder.  Your body is stretching to its limits.  Every. Single. Stroke.  It can't be any other way or you would be letting your team down.  So you work harder and harder.

And it doesn't hurt that you're out on the water at sunrise.