::LONG OVERDUE::
Monday, September 19, 2011 
Hi, as usual, my post begins with an apology. Actually no, scratch that. No sorries. I've been busy and I needed time to digest. So here is my post-worlds blog update, late as it may be. It's what I have to share.
A month ago today I once again had the sincere privilege and honour to line up against the best kayakers in the world, to contest a 9-man race over a distance of one kilometre. Preparations went very well. They began over 15 years ago, but I will concentrate only on the previous 12 months or so leading up to that August the 19th of 2011 in Szeged, Hungary. A year previous I failed to qualify for the World Championship final, I won the B and came in 10th. I was disappointed, and my bronze in K1 500 offered very little in terms of consolation. I was, as we are as good sportsmen, pleased for my friends, colleagues, and competitors. I wrote this blog to express my feelings at that time. It was those guys, the guys I race against, the men I have to beat to win, the men who beat me when I lose, who helped me stay on task. Kind words of encouragement after that bad race kept me believing in myself. We win together, we lose together. The sports best are united in a quest for the perfect race.
I refocused last September. I decided I'd keep doing what I knew was making me fast. I had to change those things that were holding me back. With my coach Scott Oldershaw, I sorted those things out into boxes. Bad things out, more good things in. More energy was to be devoted to paddling fast. Things not directly related to moving my boat quickly in a straight line were weaned out and limited. We did not need to rewrite the book, but a few amendments were made to improve how it read.
A solid fall training camp in Florida with the usual suspects, a killer ski camp in January, a very focused spring training back at the Pines; all provided the foundation for a potentially rewarding season on the water. My World Cup season was good but not great, I was on track - but not as fast as I knew I had to be, or as fast as I knew I could be.
A month in training camp with the Aussies and Anders helped me tune up and focus, thanks to AG79 and Team Australia for making that camp truly World Class.
My final days of preparation were marked by enthusiasm and enjoyment. Never have I enjoyed and embraced the tuning-up process more than in the 2 weeks prior to Szeged. Angus Mortimer was my sparring partner for these couple of weeks, he provided a consistent standard and reliable barometer of performance which ensured I maintained every aspect of my stroke and speed. Thank you Angus, for your hard work, and for keeping me honest over the past 6 years on the water.
I thought about how many times I had done a 1000. Maybe 1000. It should be perfect by now. I should know. I have it somewhere, deep within me to produce a perfect 1000m effort. I'd have to be totally calm, but the millisecond my paddle touched the water, maybe 360 times over the course of three minutes and thirty-odd seconds, a series of muscle contractions had to happen in precisely the correct order and in perfect unison. Left, and Right. Breathe, move the boat, relax, breathe, take perfect strokes. Only perfect strokes. Not too many, not too few.
300m before the finish line I had no idea where I was sitting. I was in Szeged, in lane 3, I knew that. Was I first, second, eighth? I hadn't a clue, it didn't matter. I felt great; heart pounding, lungs out of air, throat and mouth dry (everyone noticed), head throbbing a bit, muscles hot with lactic acid. Still, my paddle was crisp, hands were relaxed, my legs had gas. Turn up the volume.
I didn't look over once in the last 300m, or at all over the 1000m. I could sense Anders in lane 1, but maybe it was Fernando, I didn't know. The announcer kept saying "Verås Larsen", where was he? The camera wasn't in front of me the way it was when I won my prelims, why not? Where was it? (It turns out it was malfunctioning). None of that matters, move the boat. Just push this boat to the finish line faster.
Crossing the finish line, I had a quick look left, and a longer look right, lean back. I was all alone, it wasn't a dream, I was finally crossing the finish line first at the World Championships in the 1000m K1. I lead the thing, and I finished the thing, the only way I know how.
It tasted sweet, still does. And the same guys who offered kind words of encouragement to me when I was down, lauded me with sincere words of congratulations, the kind that can really only truly mean that much when they come from your peers. Thank you, gentlemen, you are all World Class Sportsmen.
Thank you to my friends, my family, the Burloak Canoe Club and every kid I see on the creek everyday that reminds me why I paddle (it's actually FUN!!). Thank you Scott Oldershaw. Thank you to my sponsors, ROOTS, Procter and Gamble, NELO, Petrobakken, Mazda. Thanks to Oakley, Asics, 7Systems, to Waterstreet Financial and the Running Company in Oakville. Thanks CANADA, Own the Podium, Canadian Olympic Committee, and thanks Canoe-Kayak Canada. Thanks to everyone who makes what I do possible, this victory is ours.
London is around the corner, and I am so excited to train, to prepare, to be my very best. Thanks for checking in... you're alright.
av
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