Long time

Hey everyone

Yes it has been far too long since the last post.

My life has been a bit of a whirlwind since I moved back to Calgary. Trying to adjust to the full time job and full time training has been more of a challenge then I originally planned for.

On top of all that I also start school in January! Woot!

As stoked as I am to be going back to school it also makes me sad.

I can't see myself working this amazing job, going to school, and training all at once. It obviously comes down to balance.

But as Dad has always said, "I always try to maintain balance in my life. Between being a father, my job, a good husband, and a good friend. No matter what though, you will always be doing a shitty job at one of those. The trick is, is to not mess up the same one too many times"

This passed fall has definitely opened my eyes and has given me some insight on how to properly balance everything.

But man is it ever tough!

I guess its something to get used to!

Back to the whole school thing.

The newest plan is to upgrade my Math and Chemistry for the winter and spring semesters. Then come fall I will be starting my Bachleor of Science degree. From there, who knows!

Physiotherapy, Athletic therapy, Med School, Law school etc.

The world will be at my finger tips.

As for training. Its all the same. Go to the erg, punish myself for the cookies I ate earlier then hit the gym in the afternoon. Working those two sessions around work then coming home and passing out.

I cherish my days off. The days I do manage to get off I spend most of my time reading, sleeping, and catching up with friends. You know, all the good stuff ;)

I know some of you are probably asking, "Aj? What ever happened to pursuing Video and Movie Productions?"

Well the answer my friends is this. Lately I haven't really put any movies out. I have footage from our Las Vegas trip which I haven't even touched yet and some kayaking footage I haven't looked at either.

I have simply lost inspiration. So I decided that maybe keeping it as a hobby for now is my best bet. Who knows, maybe tomorrow I will wake up and crush out two or three videos.

That isn't for me to decide though. It'll happen when it happens.

Something else thats new!

At work I have met a variety of new, interesting, and amazing people.

One of them is so amazing she did a free photoshoot for me! yahoo!

Here are a couple shots from the shoot! Enjoy!

I hope all is well

Aj

Photographer: Erin Molly

It's been too long

As I sit here typing this, I am reflecting on what I have lost and gained this summer. So far the only things I can think of losing are two teeth that are causing me a bit of pain. Yet I don't feel less wise which is good news.

The summer was filled with adventure, excitement, sadness, happiness, and unfortunately a bit of depression.
Not literal depression but I had a good two weeks where I knew I wasn't acting like myself.

I fell in love, I crashed and burned. I became closer with my two closest friends and now miss the crap out of them. I went in with four extra teeth and am leaving with only two extra teeth.
I raced, I trained, and I coached. I watched and I learned.

It was a different summer then the regular.
I had thought to myself that this summer sucked compared to last. But when I truly thought about it, I was living a bit of a dream life last year and this summer was more of a slap in the face.
I have learned that things don't come to you. The only way to gain anything in life is to work your ass off, and never look back because it will be all worth it in the end, regardless of the result.


Back to the depression.

Don't worry! It wasn't because of the love.
Well in some fashion it was.

In a matter of seconds, the sport that I love doing the most was taken away from me yet again. But hopefully for a shorter period of time.

Sometimes things happen for a reason. As corny as that sounds. But I am sick of sitting on the bench.
This year my goal is to be at every training session, weather I am there for moral support for my team mates, or weather I am sacrificing my body right beside them
It is my job this year to make sure my team mates and I can reach our absolute best.

It's a big year. 319 days until London.

319 days.
We have some work to do.



Thanks everyone


PS Ribs are good, teeth hurt, and I apologize for lack of postings this summer.


Hope everyone else's summer has been as good and filled with adventure as mine has.

Take care.


Aj

Race

Well so far the race has been delayed as a large storm is inbound.
We are so far unsure on when we will start but they will be giving us a half hour warning when we do start.

So keep your fingers crossed as we all hope to get on the water ASAP!!


Aj

Race Day

Race day here today in Wausau at the Junior Pre World Championships.
The course that was set was fairly open with one tricky maneuver from gate 10-13 through the main drop but other then that it was fairly flat and the times were blazing fast for 20 gates.
With a good Qualification run day under my belt, I am looking forward to a more challenging course for the Semi-Finals.

I was consistent on both runs. I laid down a 115.16 on the first and a 115.76.
At the end of the run I knew I had not improved and that it was going to be a fairly equal time. That doesn't bother me though. Sometimes having two consistent runs can be the safest way to finish a race.

The goal for today was to keep my negative emotion's out of the question and only focus on what went well and how I can make the small mistakes better.

As Michael T-Pec's Tayler said today, "When you play with fire your going to get burned", after his second run. Beforehand he said, "Well, I'm just going to go for it. I'll either get a 95 and beat Michal Smolen, or I'll get a 195."

Those are truly wise words from truly, a wise paddler.



It turned out to be a day full of smiles and good paddling.

I am unsure of the final results for today but I will post those later tonight hopefully.


Take care everyone!
Make sure you have your shirts ready to go for tomorrow as well!!!


Aj

AMERICA

Hey Everyone!

We made our 27 hour journey and even got to hit up Sturgeon Falls! Sturgeon falls is a large rapid that is created between one lake running into another. What does this do for us?
It creates the perfect playground.
We spent probably close to 2 hours on some of the largest waves in the west and enjoyed a morning of carving, slalom boat cartwheels, and even a pourawhet or two from Chris.

After a long drive on day one, we definitely deserved the great surf.

Now that we have arrived in this wonderful town, we have discovered a fantastic course, great people, and beautiful weather. This sounds like a perfect combo to make into an amazing trip.
The best part?
No girls.

All bro's!

The internet is too slow to upload photo's but they will be up when I return to the motherland!
Take care everyone

For Marissa

NTT

Canadian National Team Trials is always a weekend filled with; hope, excitement, and happiness.
Unfortunately, it is also carried along with disappointment, sadness, and high expectations.
It is one of the most pressure filled weekends the sport has to offer in the country. It realizes peoples dreams, and makes people realize how hard it is to do what we do.

If anything there is only lessons to be learned. Losing, winning, and of course being content.
Accepting the fact that maybe you didn't make it because of a lack of training due to injury or maybe you forgot the main target goal during the year. Their is a number of excuses or happenings that could cause failure, but only one element can contribute to winning.

Hard work.

It all starts in September, after World Championships. The racing season is over. An athlete is filled with joy, regret, contentment, happiness, etc. I could go on forever.
Like a bear preparing for hibernation, athletes need to prepare their aerobic and anaerobic systems for the next racing season. Once they have put as much as they had time for into the reserves they restart at the team trials and see what they can do. Its a viscous circle of success and failure. But without failure their would be no success.

The weekend for myself was a zero pressure smiling fest. Without the 6 months of aerobic and anaerobic pump, I didn't have much to bring to the course other then the technique I have learned from Youtube, and stroke technique.
But, I brought what other people could not.
The lack of pressure on me for the weekend was probably the single reason why I managed to get through the week and weekend without quitting in the middle of a workout and managing to get through a race without screaming at myself during my cool down.

The weekend consisted of two runs on the first day and two on the second. I had two touches on the first three out of four then my last run I managed to do what I thought was a clean run but was given, what I thought to be, a controversial touch. Again. But due to the fact that this was not a high pressure race for me; their was no need to protest.

I guess it turned out to be a pretty successful race for me.

It was a great weekend. Although it pains me to see an Albertan athlete who deserves to be on the team to miss it this year I am happy to see another make the Senior team for the first time in their paddling career.

It seems like Team Trials is always a win lose situation. But, that's life I guess.

Here I am in the Quebec City airport at 2:46 am local time awaiting to return to my kingdom. Its pouring rain but I couldn't be happier sitting exactly where I am, right now.



Well I'll be home soon and I'll be seeing you all soon.



Hope all is well


Aj

Valleyfield it is!

Here I am in Salaberry-da-Valleyfield Quebec!

Originally Team Trials was suppose to be help in Jonquierre, but due to unreal flooding they were forced to change venues. With a quick response, Mike managed to change accommodations and rental cars for everyone. Unfortunately changing flights was not an option so we had to drive from Quebec City (initially driving east 4 hours to JQ) to Valleyfield (still 4 hours but opposite direction)

Despite the change up, Team Alberta and boats have arrived safely! I also managed to snag a legal helmet and I am hoping my new Duem PFD arrives in time to race with. Levi got his and it looks sweet!

The accommodations aren't stellar but the view of Lac St. Martin is unreal. The sun always sets right over top of it so I'll hopefully get some photo's up for all of you to see one of our planets most beautiful scenes.


The goal for this race isn't to go hard. It isn't the same as last year. Their is zero pressure and it feels great. I am here to learn and have a good time. I feel its a great way to open a season full of learning. With a bit of a rough provincials due to things on and off the water I am hoping this weekend's races will help me forget about it. The goal is to keep a smile on all week and keep it together in that good ol' brain.

Well I guess that's all to report for now!

I hope everyone is still going to have those T-Shirts ready for the weekend even though I'm not shooting for team!


Hope all is well

Aj

No Name

I was not sure what too call this post.

We never really know what life is going to throw at us.

"Jenny, I don't know if Momma was right or if, if it's Lieutenant Dan. I don't know if we each have a destiny, or if we're all just floating around accidental-like on a breeze, but I, I think maybe it's both. Maybe both is happening at the same time."

That's some Forrest Gump for you. A fan told me I was getting lazy with my quotes so there yeah go.

Well I hurt the good ol' trusty ribs again so here I am sitting at the courses Cafe with my cappuccino typing away, but this post isn't about my little sob story about how much pain I am.

This post is about something that happened last night.

Last night for dinner, Mike, Lina, Jessica, myself and of course little baby Erik all went to this place in Penrith called the Stone Grill. Its an excellent little place.

It wasn't about the food though even though it was fantastic. It's about the conversations we were having, the smiles, the laughs, the whispers. It all seemed to good.

It made me sad that yet another adventure is coming to end. But with every ending, a new beginning.

It's a little hard to explain but its one of those you had to be there moments.

I always hear stories from Mike, Paul, Jess, Cam, just everyone. I am always jealous because I don't have any cool fun stories too tell the group but it doesn't matter because my adventures have only just begun, and I am looking forward to the journey ahead.

A short story movie producer on Vimeo once said in one of his movies, called The Dark Side of the Lens, said "I may not make much of a living, but at least it's a living worth scraping"

Hope all is well

Aj

Aus

Looks like I might be back on the sidelines everyone.

Last night during a technique session I hate a hole sideways and got tossed around pretty good. I ended up tweaking my ribs and they are in a bit of pain this morning. Plan is to ice all day today and see how I feel tomorrow. If its bad tomorrow still, maybe its time to just come home.

Anyway,

I hope all is well,

Aj

Raceing

As the legendary Michael Jordan once said "I can accept failure. Everyone fails at something. But I cannot accept not trying."

I basically lived this quote yesterday as I paddled the race I went into with high expectations and equally high hopes. I was felling good and thought that today was going to be the second of a few good races.

Unfortunately it was not. I ended up having one of the greatest learning experiences of my life.

But the funny thing was it wasn't from my failure.

Here's the story;

At the end of the day, Mike and I were walking back to the car, not really saying much when one of Mike's old coaches, Shaun Pierce, ran into us. Shaun and Mike had a quick chat and I stopped to hear the chat. Mike asked how the day went for Great Britain, and Shaun's answer was quite positive. Except he said they lost one man. The sad thing was an unnamed paddler had missed out on Semi Finals by two seconds. That two seconds was a touch penalty.

I then thought to myself, I had a lot of penalties, I mean a lot. But I wasn't shooting for finals. I was simply shooting for a good race and I was putting myself down because of a race that didn't go the way I wanted it to. I then took the words my mom had earlier said to me, I was out for a good 2 and half or three months from injury. It wasn't because I was being a lazy bum. I had legitimately lost three months. I was putting to much pressure on myself when really I just needed to relax and race the race I could.

My mind was in the wrong place but thats just learning.

Hope you are all still fans after this little bump!

Hope all is well

Aj

Funny Story

Hey everyone!

I have arrived safely to Australia.

With the blistering 40+ degree weather, the jet leg, the 6 am run every morning on top of two more work outs is running me down already. So much for youth being invincible

Unfortunately I have come down with a bit of a cold. Oh well. I am in Australia and that is all that matters.

Now for the funny story

I am unsure with how up to date you all are with the cyclone that just hit the Eastern Coast of Australia but it hit hard. The good news is no one died just severe damage done to infrastructure.
The source of Australia's Banana's is actually local. Unfortunately the largest banana plantation's got hit and totally destroyed. The supply of bananas might be out by the end of the month. On top of this, banana prices are expected to triple in the next week.
Now for the funny stuff.

The other day when Mike and I were driving back from the course we heard a couple of jokes on the radio about the banana situation.

"Bananas have become so valuable that Ke$ha is going to start spelling her name with a banana instead of a dollar sign"

"Bruno Mars wants to be a bananaaire"

Say it with an Aussie accent and its ten times better.

Anyways,
I hope you guys are freezing in the great white north!


Aj

The Mind

The first stroke is always the most awkward.

It takes two before the paddles can generate enough force to create the momentum for the boat to travel forwards.

It all starts from your abs. The wind up in the abs is the source from which the force then goes through your pectorals to the bicep, triceps, forearms, then your hand pulls back against the paddle, like a trigger to a gun, that pulls the water away from you and moves the boat forward.

Repeat.

After so many repetitions lactic acid starts to set in. The feeling of my forearms ready to explode is the feeling of success. I know I am pushing myself hard enough. I need more.

I paddle until my muscles burn and my veins pump battery acid; then I paddle some more.

All I can think about is the next stroke, the next move.

A flat boat is what truly keeps it all together.

It's more of an art really.

The animosity my mind has towards my muscles for wanting to quit on me is what keeps me going through a work out.

Some people ask how I stay motivated. It's the simple destruction of every single muscle fibre I use. The stiffness, the soreness, the exhaustion.

I love getting in amongst the aerobic pain every fall and winter. Its almost as good as the easy technical sessions all summer.

It's the purpose that drives us. It's the challenge of beating yourself.

Ask any real athlete and the true nemesis is the mind.

Some people say the battle is on the field of play. That is a very small part of it. It's behind the scenes where the battle takes place.

I call them the three F's: Fatigue, failure, and fear. Every athlete has faced them, and the best have over come them. That's what separates the champions from the competitors.

The mind is the final battle.

Plans

As of now, I am unsure of what is going to happen in my life.

All I know is this Sunday I am leaving to Australia for a given amount of time which is still not an assigned number.

I am also unsure of what I am will do myself without school. Probably just train my butt off and work on that guitar of mine.

There's an update for you guys!

Aj

Milestones

The first thing that came to your mind when you read Milestones, well for some of you at least, you thought I was talking about the major chain restaurant. Well if thats what you thought your wrong. When I say Milestone I mean a momentous time in life at a certain place and time frame during your life. For some people its birthdays, driver license, car, first job etc. I could go on forever. I have narrowed down my small life into three Milestones.

1. My acceptance to NSS

2. First World Championships in France

3. My birthday, as it was the greatest day in history.

(just kidding)

3. Tomorrow

Tomorrow is the day I write my last high-school test. Scary huh?

A lot of things are running through my mind and unfortunately one of them isn't math. My mind is racing with University, Australia, growing up, and the washer that just clicked letting me know my laundry needs to be dried.

It's a cray feeling. When something for twelve years (for me twelve and a half) has been something you did in a five on two off shift work manner. Somedays it drove me crazy and somedays it made me happy. I have a feeling tomorrow will be a sad day though. I have finally made some concrete friendships at this school since September, and it all went by so fast.

I probably won't get invited to grad which sucks to but thats beyond the point I have come to realize. What I have come to realize is that high school went by in a blink of an eye.

You can almost say it was a thing of beauty.

An anonymous poet said "You can catch or miss beauty in the blink of an eye, thats what makes it beautiful"

This quote has helped me realize how important this twelve and a half years has been.

I have learned, succeeded, failed, and even worked my butt off even though some people think I didn't.

These years have been the years that I will probably forget someday's and others I will treasure each and everyday for the rest of my life.

Tomorrow will be the end of one chapter and a beginning of a new one. I hope that my new friends will be in this next chapter as some of them, I have a feeling, will be friends that I will still know in the next five years.

Life is like a growing plant, if you don't grow with it your gonna fall behind.

Well I guess thats what new with me. I will post more new and exciting things tomorrow!

And as always, I'm goin with it :)

Hope all is well

Aj

Change is inevitable - except from a vending machine. ~Robert C. Gallagher