About two weeks ago, I was in Mexico at the International Sailing Academy for a Crossfit/Sailing hybrid camp coached by Anna Tunnicliffe and her personal trainer Brad. The camp was truly eye-opening and I learned a lot during the week. We would wake up early (well, early for me) every morning to be at the crossfit gym by 8, where we would go through a series of different workouts designed by Anna and brad for a hour and a half everyday. Each morning brought new exercises and a new round of sore muscles, yet there was something so sweet about finishing those WOD's (workout of the day in crossfit jargon). Maybe it was the fact that I felt like I was pushing my body harder than I ever have before. After crossfit, we would head back to the sail loft where Donita (the ISA chef) would prepare breakfast for us in the morning and dinner when we got off the water, and Mike (owner of the sail loft) would fill us in on the likely weather for the day. We would have our daily brief as we finished eating and then it was down to the boat compound to rig up and hit the water. Most days, we would be on the water for 12.30 and would sail right through to 4 or 4.30, putting in some solid hours on the water. The conditions were mostly light and variable with the wind picking up a little bit on the last 2 days, we were at the end of a weather system that had brought a lot of rain, wiping out most of the breeze right before our camp started. All in all, it was an amazing experience, getting to learn from Brad and Anna, and having the opportunity to train with sailors from all over that I would otherwise not get a chance to do much training or sailing with.
Another incredible opportunity came last weekend when I went to the Ontario Sailing Association Annual General Meeting. I had been invited as a member of the Canada Summer Games team and our efforts this summer were honoured with the GAM on Yachting Award of Excellence. It was awesome to have all our hard work from earlier in the summer acknowledge in front of so many. Afterwards, I had the opportunity to walk around to boat show and talk to some of the people and organizations that have helped me get to where I am today.
Currently, I am in Miami having just finished up my second day of training leading in to Miami Olympic Classes Regatta. This year there will be 50 boats instead of the 35 from last year, a bigger fleet just means more opportunities to move up through the fleet and hopefully post my best result to date. I have a couple more days of training before measurement and then the regatta starts on the 27th. It's great to be back in Miami training with the girls!
Hope everyone is staying warm back home in the snow!
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