Tag Archives: dragon boat racing

Race Day, Port Moody Style

29 Apr

Ok so yes, race day was two days ago but hey, I’ve been busy, and tired, so it took a while to write about it lol

We competed at the Inlet Spring Regatta in Port Moody this past Saturday. It is the second year of the festival, and the second year we have competed in it. Both years have been great!

inlet spring regatta

https://www.inletspringregatta.com/  – here’s the Regatta’s website if you want to check it out.

You know those jokes about Canada where people tease about how you can experience all possible weather patterns in one day? That was what Saturday was like.

There was wind, sunshine, more wind, cloud coverage, even more wind, rain, hail, did I mention wind, then sunny…with a side of wind. 😉

Each team was supposed to race 4 times but the water conditions became too dangerous and they cancelled the last two races of the day. Doesn’t happen often, so you know it is  bad when!

What I found slightly amusing is that after they declared races 3 and 4 cancelled, did the math to figure out who placed where (based on Races 1 and 2’s results) and the medals were handed out, the wind calmed a bit and the sun came back out. So personally, I think we could’ve kept going, but it was too late at that point. Can you imagine trying to get all the teams to return their medals so they can go race again and hopefully still win them? Not a thing that would go over well lol

For this festival they don’t hand out medals, they hand out woodals, because they make their medals from wood. They are really nice, and unique, oh, and did I mention yet that my team won one? 😉

We won Gold in Division B, were ranked 5th for the entire festival, definitely not a bad way to start the race season!

 

port moody 2019 3

My team being goofy 🙂

 

port moody 2019 4

The day after at work, yes I know I look tired! The filter couldn’t save me this time lol

 

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0.317

16 Aug

Last weekend my dragon boat team and I competed at the Victoria Dragon Boat Festival. So many things happen at these away races and I always struggle on how to write about them. Do I focus on the races? The food? The general merriment? The travel? Sometimes there is one huge thing that stands out, so it becomes obvious what story I want to tell, other times the entire weekend is fun and I wish I could find a way to talk about everything.

I thought I’d try breaking things down in to categories…maybe that will help?

So, the food!

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This isn’t all the food I ate over the course of the trip, there was dinner on the ferry ride home, and a random banana or slices of toast here and there, but the best food deserved to be photographed and shared.

Pictures of Victoria!

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I took some random, kinda touristy, pictures of Victoria while there. I can’t really tell you all that much about them lol I just took them because I liked how they looked.

General hi-jinks!

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So yeah, I realized I didn’t ask anybody if I could put their pictures on my blog and it is late at night right now so I’m not going to wake them up with texts asking, which means you’re stuck with pictures of me. Sorry!

Last, but definitely not least, is the actual racing!

Each team raced twice on Saturday and twice on Sunday. We had the option to race in something called Guts & Glory but it happens later in the day on Sunday and we wanted to be on as early of a ferry as possible so we opted out. It was nice to qualify though. 🙂

We won Bronze in Division A, or as this festival calls it, Diamond Division!

You may be wondering about the title of this post, 0.317.

0.317 is how far behind we were from the team that won Silver. So we were thiiiiiiis close to winning silver. Which for some people might make the bronze seem less special, or might make winning the Bronze sad, because instead of thinking we Won bronze the thought becomes we Lost silver. I get it, I do! So many races are won and lost by hundredths of a second and when you are on the losing side of that number it can hurt. To know that you were so close and didn’t make it sucks. It doesn’t help that when you tell people you won Bronze they dismiss it, or joke about you not winning silver or gold, or make any number of comments that I guess they think are funny. Weirdos.

It happens when you win silver, people comment about you getting gold next time, things like that. *rolls eyes*

Instead of celebrating the medal we earned, the time we got, it becomes about being apologetic we didn’t do better. To that, I am calling bullshit. That’s right, you heard me.

We have been training for months, since February in case you were curious. We train in cold, in rain, in wind, in polluted waters, in poor air quality, in blistering heat, in hail. We train when we are tired, sick, injured, sad. We have been working our butts off for the better part of a year, and we’ll keep training because it is what we do. We train on the water, we compete in other sports, we go to the gym, hike trails, do all sorts of things to stay strong and keep fit, in part so we can bring a strong and useful version of ourselves to the boat.

All of that counts for something, at least to me it does, and I’m proud of our Bronze medal. We worked hard for that, we earned it! My team accomplished something in Victoria, we came together and showed that we could work as a team and earn some hardware. I am proud of all of them. 🙂

The Twisted Hips, Victoria 2018 Roster

Ok so I didn’t actually get permission from any of them yet to show the team picture so I’m just gonna cross my fingers none of them mind! lol

That in a nutshell is my Victoria weekend. We went. We ate a lot of food. We raced. We won bronze. I bought a hat that is over priced but looks so good on me. None of us got sunburned (that’s mostly a concern for me, the pale one in the group lol). We had a fun time. 😀

 

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A Little Recap

26 Apr

Now you may be thinking because I haven’t posted in a little bit I have fallen off the wagon in regards to the fitness challenge I am in, you my friends would be wrong!

It’s so nice to be able to write that cause let’s be honest, it is so easy to say yes to a challenge and after a week kinda slack off. I think in part I am sticking with it because (1) I made up the challenge, and (2) there is an end goal of looking good in that bridesmaid’s dress…vanity can be a great motivator! 😉

Since I last wrote my team (I compete in dragon boating) won bronze in Division A at a regatta. 🙂  It was this particular regattas first year and it went really well. I don’t mean it went well because we won a medal *rolls eyes* but that the regatta was run well. It went smoothly, no real glitches to be had…that I know of anyways lol They were rushing the races to get as many of them done before the afternoon as possible because afternoon water conditions were less than ideal due to lower tide levels than normal for this time of year. Our last race of the day was in choppier water but I kinda liked it, made it more fun! And yes, I know I’m a bit of an odd ball lol

apr 22 2018 race day 8

The Twisted Hips, 2018 Roster

The medals are definitely original. Normally they are made of metal but this regatta, in honour of the races being held on Earth Day, hand crafted the medals out of three types of wood. So one person made all the medals, by hand, in his basement…we know this because he was reminding everyone all day lol

Then it was back to normal life for a couple days before a little overnight trip to Whistler. Yay for it being late enough in the season it is no longer law to need snow tires to drive up there! 🙂

I went with a bunch of friends, we all went up at different times based on our schedules. So I got there about a half hour before two people had to leave, which kinda sucked, but the majority of the group was still there so it all worked out in the end.

My FitBit was very happy on Wednesday, with all the walking to the Village and around the Village (twice!) and my quick gym session, I got a hella lot of steps. And we all know FitBit owners live to make their FitBit’s happy lol Proof that even when in Whistler you can keep to a fitness challenge!

It was a pretty chill trip, one of our group is moving away (lame!) so we did this trip to give us all a chance to hang out before she leaves. It was mostly spent playing board games, lounging by the pool (that part didn’t include me since I’d burn in a stupid short amount of time, sigh), going to the Village to shop and eat dinner, and I dunno, just being in each other’s company.

Both the bear and the scenic picture were taken on the walk to the Village. The sign the bear is holding basically says please don’t feed me, or my cubs, and keep your dog on a leash..just ya know, in a cuter way lol It was so sunny and summery and lovely, I took a picture of the river? Creek? The water, I’ll just call it water, but my picture doesn’t do it justice. There are chairs set up on both sides so you can just sit and enjoy being there…which I actually didn’t do because well, we were on our way to the Village so we were going somewhere and also, I don’t voluntarily sit out in the sun, that would be the equivalent of me putting a target on my back and daring the UV rays to come get me. 😛

whistler apr 25 2018 3

The sheep are too cute!

This is purely a picture of cuteness…especially the sheep on the right side. They are bombs, which I don’t actually know what that is, some sort of chocolate something or other, I just wanted to share the cute. 🙂

And lastly, a picture of me touching snow, who’d of thought you’d see the day! 😉

whistler apr 25 2018 4

In case you’re thinking it mush be sort of chilly because I am wearing a long sleeve top, no-no, I am wearing long sleeves as sun protection…hence the hat! It is easier to wear long sleeves than reapply sunscreen every hour and a half, and less messy, so I spend a lot of the sunny months in long sleeves. But forget the clothes, look at the snow! It was so odd, the snow ends right at the cement, it is on the hills for the snowboarders and skiers but nowhere else. Kind of a random thing to see…I’m used to seeing snow covering everything – when I do see it that is.

Besides my fun random days I’ve been going to dragon boat practice, hitting up the gym, taking walks, all sorts of things to keep up with the 44 Day Fitness Challenge. There are only 30 days left!…not that I’m panicking about that or anything… 😉

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Knockout Race Bragging Rights

13 May

Last Saturday (yeah, yeah, I know I am late writing this!) my dragon boat team The Twisted Hips competed in a Knockout Race Festival.

What is a Knockout Festival you ask? It is a festival that after your first three normal races that are used to determine your division you compete in up to four back-to-back races.

There are 7 boats at the start of the heat, you race, the last boat is knocked out and everyone else promptly returns to the start line to re-race without having a rest period. You race twice more, each time more teams are knocked out, until you have three teams remaining.

The last three teams race one final time and there is a winner and two losers. That’s right my friends, there is no first, second and third place. Nuh-uh, there is First Place and people who didn’t get first place. A little harsh but hey, it’s Knockout racing!

My oh-so-awesome team got in to B Division, so we ranked fairly high up there, and in our Knockout rounds we went all the way to the final three, then we won the final race, meaning, We Won! First Place in B Division! wOOt! wOOt! 😀

It was an amazing day! We had early morning races so we were at the race site by 7:30am, which means I started my day off getting tea and a breakfast sandwich from Tim Horton’s lol We had our first two races fairly close together, then what felt like a ridiculously long wait time for our third race. After that there was another bit of a wait until we went for our Knockout rounds. The day didn’t end until around 4pm or so. A looooooong day!

Not only a long day but also a sunny and hot day which meant I was hiding in the shade whenever possible, covering myself in sunscreen and long sleeves and in between races wearing the most ridiculous looking big floppy hat you have ever seen! Everyone kept saying I looked like I belonged at the Kentucky Derby lol 😛 But hey, all that effort and guess what I achieved? A super long day, spent outside, and no sunburn! It is practically a miracle! I count that as my second win of the day lol 😉

Here are some pictures of our final race in the Knockout rounds, we are the middle boat…

Knockout May 9 2015 Pic 1

Knockout May 9 2015 Pic 2

Knockout May 9 2015 Pic 3

We Won!

We Won!

I know from the angle the pics were taken at it doesn’t look like we won. You have to keep in mind that finish lines on water are not a straight line like they are on land, they get all messed up looking to the people on shore because of the current and wakes. But hey, that is what judges are for! lol

When the race finished we didn’t know who had won, we knew we were either first or second but it is so loud that we couldn’t hear the announcer. The boat to our right (the one closest in the picture) started cheering at one point so we thought maybe they knew something we didn’t and they had won but nope, it was us! We heard the repeat announcement when we were getting out of the boat and then we started cheering like crazy people, exhausted crazy people lol 🙂

Here is a team pic…I’m the only one wearing long sleeves lol

Knockout May 9 2015 Team Pic

We actually aren’t all in the picture, some people had to rush off after we got off the water to make it to work on time, but that is a chunk of us. 🙂

If what I am attempting worked there is a video below of the final race, it is a bit long (the video not the race) because the person who recorded it kept recording after the race was finished, maybe they were waiting until we got off the boat, I’m not sure what their plan was, shrug. I’m just grateful they took the video so we could see the race!

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Insanity: Day 5, 6 and 7

24 Jul

Ok, now don’t freak out at me, I’ve been busy and haven’t been able to update about my Insanity workouts and foods but I’m back so all is good again. lol. 😉

I do that!

I do that!

Day 5 (Friday):

Was supposed to be a Pure Cardio day buuuuuut I was so busy getting ready for my trip that even though I got up earlier than normal that day I just didn’t have time to fit in the workout. Bummer. 😦 I followed the eating plan as best as I could – we all know so far I have been sucking in that area lol 😛 I had all my meals planned out, ate fairly close to schedule before going to work and at the beginning of work was doing well but then I got so busy I just didn’t have time to eat, hey, it happens! After my shift was over (at 9pm) I had to go buy some stuff for the trip that I of course forgot *rolls eyes* then hightail it home to get my gear and hug the cat then I had to hightail it over to where one of my team mates was waiting so I could pick him up and we could head on out. We got to Harrison around 11:30pm-ish, met up with the team and of course by that time I was hungry and wishing I had one of my missed meals from when I was at work earlier lol. I didn’t have them, duh, so I drank some water and crashed…don’t go thinking I’m lazy, the whole team crashed lol we had to be up early Saturday!

Day 6 (Saturday):

Saturday was RACE DAY!! wOOt!! 😀 It started early, at 7am, and went till about 2am Sunday lol. No, the racing wasn’t that long, just the day! We had four races that day and we killed it! We qualified for A Division, which is awesome, normally we are B Division, and we got offered a spot in the Hong Kong dragon boat festival in 2014!! Holy crapola dude! How amazing is that?!?! 😀 We missed out on a medal by 3/100th of a second but we aren’t bummed about it. I mean sure, we wanted a medal, but we earned a spot in A Division and we were sooooo close to getting a medal that obviously we deserved our spot in that medal race. It would have been so embarrassing to qualify for A Division then be way far behind the other boats in the race, eek! Races were done around 6pm or so, after everyone had a chance to shower (it was so windy that day we were all covered, literally covered, in sand!) we all ate then partied. 🙂 What else would we have done? lol That day I didn’t do my Insanity workout (case you hadn’t already figured that out lol) and I also didn’t follow the eating plan. On race day we eat little bits that are high protein high sugar between races but you can’t eat a lot because racing when full is not pleasant, or advisable. When I finally got to eat a meal I had a personal sized pizza topped with a mixture of super yummie veggies but I regretted ordering it because I really wanted some protein. My team mates got burgers and I was so jealous of them lol Oh, I also had an ice cream cone, in a waffle cone!…a waffle cone dipped in chocolate and skor pieces! omg sooooo good! I drank my share of alcohol after the ice cream but didn’t get ridiculously drunk…I’m pretending the amount of racing and the sheer energy used during the day is helping to offset the ice cream and alcohol lol 😉

Day 7 (Sunday):

The day started off in Harrison where the team went to this little place that had been recommended to me and had brekkie. I got the french toast, it also came with two eggs and two sausages, a ridiculous amount of food if you ask me. I gave the sausage away since I don’t eat pork but I ate the eggs (over easy) and the french toast, which uh, had caramel drizzled over top and sliced banana. It was quite tasty. 🙂 By the time I got home I was exhausted. I had intended to exercise when I got home, or soon after getting home but ha! like that happened?? Nuh-uh! I unpacked, partially, sat my butt down and immediately wanted a nap. I actually did end up napping, oh the shame! 😉 I ate Insanity approved meals after that, as well as a bit of fudge I brought back from the trip lol so the day wasn’t a total loss. It sucks I didn’t manage to get off my lazy ass and exercise but it just wasn’t happening. sigh, so lazy. 😦

So, let’s recap shall we?

Out of three days I followed the food portion of the plan 1.5 days and the exercise part of the plan 0 days. Not exactly a great way to finish off my first week of the Insanity Program huh?

I’m mad at myself for messing up so badly so early on in the program but at the same time I knew something like this would happen. I was so uncertain when to start the Insanity Program because I knew I had trips that would be happening during the 60 day program that would mess with my ability to follow the eating plan and would most likely cause trouble with the exercise portion as well. I decided to start anyways because I didn’t want to put the new phase of my healthy lifestyle on hold because of life. I mean, even if I had waited, and had 60 days where I wasn’t going anywhere there will always be things that pop up and have the potential to throw a program off track, right? I have to learn to make Insanity fit in to my life, not completely alter my life to work around the program. If I can’t make it fit in to my life then (in my opinion) the Insanity Program takes on the qualities of a fad and fads are no good, you may have success when on a fad program but as soon as you finish the fad you lose all your progress because you can’t live your life long term following the rules. What would  be the point of that? I don’t want to lose what I manage to accomplish, does anybody? I’m thinking no! 😛

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1:00:98

6 May
Grr! I am dragon, hear me roar!

Grr! I am dragon, hear me roar!

Yesterday was the first dragon boat race festival of our season! 🙂 Soooooo much fun! I love race days! I mean yeah, I love practices too but it’s nice to go as a team and put all your hard work to the test ya know?

For this festival instead of the regular 20 person boats all teams were split in to two and raced in 10 person boats. So even though our team was still our team for this one day we split in to Team Blue and Team Black, not the most original granted but whatever, it’s one day! 😛

I was on Team Black which pleased me immensely since I look better in black, it’s oh-so-slimming 😉 lol

Each team had three races. Our first race didn’t go all that well due to technical difficulties with the boat. We finished…but that’s all I can say about it. *downcast eyes* We didn’t wallow though, we got back to the tent, had a debriefing and decided to forget about it, move on, make the next race count! And oh man did we ev-ah!

Our second race we came in first place with a time of 1:02 or 1:04, I can’t remember which…just focus on me saying the words “First Place” 😀 then picture a happy dance cause even though I am sitting and typing in my head I am so doing one teehee

Our third race we came in, *dun*dun*dun*…First Place!!!! wOOt! with a time of 1:00:98! Not only did we come in first place but we beat the boat that came in second place by a boat length (or so I am told, you can’t really tell when you are racing, you’re too focused on your boat). Aaaaaand, the other half of our team was watching and cheering us on (which fyi totally helps you push even harder) and one of the girls said a person standing near them who was also watching the race said something along the lines of “look at the team that’s in the lead, they look like a machine” O.M.G!! That’s so awesome! That is quite possibly one of the best compliments you can give cause it means we were all in time, we had a good paddling rate, good paddling strength and all of that combines to make us something to look at. 😀 *even crazier happy dance*

Talk about making a comeback, redeeming ourselves, showing we aren’t a team to be ignored! Can you tell I am still high from the excitement of yesterday? lol

It was such a great way to start the season. Sure, the first race didn’t go as planned but we regrouped, came together as a team, moved past it, and proved to others (but more importantly to ourselves) that we are a strong team. 🙂

We don’t have another race festival until June and that kinda makes me sad, it seems sooooo far away but we will use that time to get even better and who knows what we will accomplish there?!

After, the team did pizza and beer and chilled, the weather was gorgeous so we took advantage of it and stayed outside. We have a huge team tent so we had shade thank goodness. I was a sunscreen nut-job all day, applying and re-applying throughout the day. I was all proud of myself of not getting burned…then I got home and saw my scalp, ouch! Totally burned my scalp where my hair was parted, this is especially annoying (and painful) since I burned that same hairline two weeks ago and it hadn’t finished healing yet, oh dear. I’m a tad annoyed with Coppertone since I sunscreened the part in my hair multiple times throughout the day with their product and it apparently did nothing. Grr to Coppertone! Grr!

Minus the sunburn it was a perfect day – can’t wait for the next one! 🙂

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