::General Mills & National Cereal day::

If you're anything like me, then you've probably spent the last few hours (since breakfast, at least) totally stressed out about what to make for breakfast tomorrow.  Stress no further friends!  In celebration of National Cereal day (ok, I can't lie to my vankayak readers, this was totally a coincidence) my awesome sponsor General Mills has sent a care package to relieve that stress, and to answer your question, and many other existential and philosphical queries regarding the most important meal of the day.  Answer: you will be having Cheerios or Oatmeal Crisp for breakfast tomorrow morning. There, you can relax now. If you paddle a canoe or a kayak then you can come by my apartment at the Pines and I will give you a box of cereal and a box of granola bars for free.  If I am here.  If I am not here then please do not steal any cereal or anything else or I will call the police.  Once the great wall of Cereal is gone you can't get any free cereal here so don't wait until it's all gone.  

So now that General Mills and I have solved all of your problems, you can participate in a totally unecessary and fun survey.  In the comments section of this blog entry or on facebook please indicate whether you prefer the "Milk before Cereal" or "Cereal before Milk" method of preparation.  If you prefer a different kind of milk, beverage or fluid in your cereal, please indicate that as well.  If you want top points, then include your favourite General Mills cereal.  Write it like this:

I'm Adam and I prefer Cereal before milk and I use Almond milk because I am not a baby cow (or a baby almond but whatever, you know what I mean?), and my favourite cereal is Cheerios (Gold-Multigrain, Silver-Regular yellow box, Bronze-Honey Nut).

(I know my bed is unmade and I'm a slob, but I don't care because I was busy  DESIGNING AND BUILDING A WHOLE GRAIN WALL OF CEREAL TODAY...)

Behold, the great wall of Cereal.  Legend has it that this wall was constructed over a painstaking 7minute period by Adam himself and it is held together by gravity, maple syrup and the Power of Love. Now do yourself a favour and click that link.

::March on::

Well spring training camp has been ticking along nicely.  Plenty of high quality kilometers have passed under my butt.  My legs and torso and shoulders and back and arms have been getting stronger and more resilient to this kind of abuse, my paddle is starting to feel like the familiar tool I remember from 2011, my boat is reacting more swiftly to every strong stroke I execute, and every stroke seems to be just a little better than the one I took just a moment prior.  I haven't been worrying myself with times and speeds and specifics. My focus has been very simple: perfect paddling, lots of it.  I don't worry as much about my work in the gym now that I'm a 1000m-only paddler.  At least I'm not as concerned with pushing huge weights around anymore, not that the weights I ever pushed were terribly huge by any stretch of the imagination.  This is all to say that I am satisfied where my strength is currently at.  I am starting to run more, and I'm excited about that. 

I needed a refresher this weekend.  I felt that I should hit the road with my kayak on the roof of my car and paddle somewhere else for a change.  And there was a comic in Miami that I really wanted to see. His name was, and continues to be, Rob Delaney. On Friday, after a good morning session on the water and tough gym workout I threw my boat on the roof of my Mazda and hit the I-95 for a road trip.  The drive was quick, I went straight to Miami Beach Rowing Club. My boat and I were engaged in a kind of amazing-race style 24hr adventure.  Dodging the stares of some running-shoe-clad high school rowing champions I borrowed the MBRC dock for a split second, pushed off in any direction and punished their waterways for an hour.  I thrashed on it's salty hide with everything I had for 60 minutes.  It fought back with waves and surface tension.  I pushed my boat through the Miami intercostals for 30minutes, close to 7kms in any direction, the sun dropped below the horizon with an equatorial haste, I turned my skinny craft 180 degrees, and retraced my strokes in the dark.  The waters provided me with what I required, and I took very little in return.  I found myself back at the MBRC dock, I used their hose to wash the salt from my boat, paddle, hair and body, dried off and changed in the parking lot beside my car.  I mounted the boat, and drove directly to the Fillmore Theatre to catch the show.  

Rob was very funny, he's filthy, foul-mouthed, human and kind.  His conscience and compassion somehow pervade his perversion.  I left the show and got some really good Mexican food.  I checked into a fine Hotel that my sponsor, Roots, was generous enough to book for me.  The Soho Beach House proved to be a fine host, with a very comfortable bed.  There are few things in life that I appreciate more than a really good hotel breakfast.  The Soho knocked it out of the park.  Once I was full of fruit, coffee and croissant I grabbed my car and hit up the MBRC, once again in renegade style. I get some strange satisfaction from entering a moderately familiar city, using their facilities as if they were my own, pummelling their water into submission and leaving without anyone really noticing.  It's like espionage-exercise, I feel like an international agent athlete. Back on the water I felt a small sense of renewal.  I had some tough work to do in the hot morning Miami sun.  I welcomed every hard-gripping stroke with the same curious novelty I paid the refreshing, but deteriorating art-deco landscape before me.  Sometimes, a change is as good as a break. 

Adios South Beach... windows down and Rock n Roll loud, I drove north for 3hrs to Melbourne, my southern home every spring since 1997.  I'm mentally and physically prepared for another few weeks of work here.  I just hope the water can handle it.

::Feb 29th - International Rare Disease Day::

Today is a very unique day. Not only because there are 4 times fewer Feb 29ths than Feb 28ths or Oct 3rds every century, but also because of the way that my good friend, Simon Ibell, has decided to celebrate this Feb 29th.

I always thought that since leap years only happen in Summer Olympic Years, Feb 29th was always meant to be an extra training day.  You know, in case you get behind or need an extra day to get fit or whatever. Turns out Feb 29th was destined for greatness.  Feb 29th, the rarest day of all days, is INTERNATIONAL RARE DISEASE DAY.  Simon Ibell started "Be Fair 2 Rare" in 2011 to raise Rare Disease awareness, and encourage Canadians to learn more!  It turns out that Rare Diseases aren't even that rare, 1 in 12 Canadians suffer from one of over 7000 Rare Diseases.  Below is some more information on Rare Disease, since we're all about awareness today.  If you want to get involved, donate a little money, or just tweet/share one of the shocking true facts about Rare Disease, read on below.  Thanks for your support, and thanks to Simon for being such an incredible spokesperson and advocate for this very important cause.

Did you know that...

Canada is the only developed country in the world WITHOUT a Federal Healthcare policy to support the research into cures for this community?

         Most rare diseases are life-threatening or debilitating; about 80% are genetic, and 75% affect infants and children. 

Our antiquated healthcare doesn't even support rare disease therapies that DO exist, meaning over 1 in 12 Canadians can't get access to lifesaving therapies that can dramatically improve the quality of their lives?

We think it’s about time to “BE FAIR 2 RARE!”

ABOUT "BE FAIR 2 RARE" 

        BE FAIR 2 RARE is a public outreach campaign founded by the iBellieve Foundation and launched with the Canadian Organization for Rare Disorders (CORD). It is aimed at raising awareness, funds, and advocacy for the rare disease community in Canada.

           Launched on International Rare Disease Day 2011, the campaign highlights the fact that despite 1 in 12 Canadians suffer from of approximately 7000 different rare diseases; Canada is the only country in the developed world WITHOUT a Federal Healthcare policy for the rare disease community.

 Our efforts are in pursuit of a singular goal: to call on the Canadian government to adopt a Federal Healthcare policy that supports the rare disease community in this country. 

HOW YOU CAN HELP:

There are several ways you can participate and help on February 29 and after:

1. PLEASE make a donation and sign the petition to support the adoption of a federal rare disease policy via our website at  WWW.BEFAIR2RARE.COM

2. SPREAD the Word - tell your family, friends, colleagues, teammates, and your network to "BE FAIR TO RARE"

3. PURCHASE a Roots Be Fair 2 Rare scarf and wear it on February 29 and after to support rare diseases. Visit  WWW.BEFAIR2RARE.COM to buy your scarf

• In addition to online, every Roots store across Canada will be promoting BE FAIR 2 RARE in store on February 29

3. Faceboook, Twitter and/or blog the following to offer your support:

• Canada: It's Rare Disease Day, so support  @BeFair2Rare at www.BeFair2Rare.com #rarediseases 

Follow us and talk about us on Twitter at www.twitter.com/befair2rare or @BeFair2Rare.

winter blog

Oh hi folks sorry for the delay I've been skiing in the beautiful mountains of British Columbia and I forgot about the internet.

That's me getting some decent airtime on a split board that splits into two skis so as to not require a chairlift for a wicked time in the snowy mountains.  It was a good break from kayaking, and although I posted a snowboarding picture we did WAY more cross country than alpine.  More cross country that I have ever done in 3 weeks in fact.  I feel like my lungs and heart are big and strong, and my legs are surely the fittest they have ever been.  Whistler treated us very nicely, hardly ever pointing out that we aren't actually from there (since it's obvious because we don't have Australian accents... half kidding!!). The Whistler Athlete Centre and the Whistler Olympic Park continue, in true legacy style, to be serving Canada's athlete population with the facility and infrastructure we require to compete at our very best.

Thanks to all the supporters and helpers and the snow for being great most days, and the sun for coming out!  Thanks to @B2Ten and Own the Podium and Canoe Kayak Canada and Whistler Legacies, and MAZDA for your huge support of our squad and our winter training camp!

I'm getting ready to get back on the water soon.  Plugging away at a last ditch effort to gain a little strength and mass, doing some paddle machine and pool (even though it's 6 degrees outside)... getting my affairs in order here in Toronto before migrating down to Florida like a Canadian Goose for the next few months to paddle my kayak in straight lines with very perfect technique at extremely top speeds until I can't everyday... with  "So much determination though..." "Childsplay..."

until next time...