The start of Grand Cayman

For the last three months my partner and I have been training indoors in Toronto with the beach national team program. I moved here in the middle of January to fulfill my duties with the team and focus my entirety on winning on in sand boxes around the world. With months of training and focus behind us, the Grand Cayman is officially the first international competition of the year where we can try out new strategies, offences and judge our advancement. It is a highly anticipated trip in my personal calendar as the sun, people and venue are so magnificent. I can honestly say I was looking forward to this event more than any other in my life because I was DYING to get out of the old airport hanger where we train in Toronto! I welcomed the thought of sun, beach sand, turquoise water and excellent people I met the following year while playing and winning the event with Ray!

We purchased some CHEAP direct flights from West Jet and within 4 hours of leaving Toronto, we had landed and passed immigration! Waiting for us was our local hero and solid friend Carl Brenton. I was actually expecting his wife to be there to pick us up but she was nearly popping with her pregnancy so I guess Carl switched up the roster! 

After such a quick and easy flight we were dinning on tacos and burgers a few blocks from the beach before we knew it! We got to hang on a great pool patio while I informed Chaim that Carl has been a driving force for the NORCECA beach event as well as a few other international beach ideas. He hosted Ray and I last year and adopted us like family before and after the event. Such a great memory and he certainly picked up where we left off the year before! We filled our faces with foodies and then rolled to the beach. Here is our first look

Not bad, not bad at all!!! After caught a few beams of sun on our albino bodies we then went to Duncan and Dipisha's place to drop our stuff off and hang with them. Turns out we had a full bedroom at their place with two queen size beds! Chaim volunteered to take the air mattress (thanks bro) and I got the actual bed. It was a perfect room and the fan on the ceiling was icing on the cake cause it was far hotter than we were accustomed to. We were happy to be in a great spot with such core people. Duncan and Dipisha even volunteered to let us use their vehicles while they were at work so we had soooo much freedom!!!

After we unpacked a bit we went and hit up happy hour at one of the special beer places on the island. We shared some laughs and got to know our roomies a little better over some tasty exotic ales and a beautiful view. Then I am pretty sure we retired and went to bed under our thin sheets and a fan but clearly not before swimming in their pool! Such a wonderful first day on the Island.

Avocado yogurt recipe for Duncan's Paleo ROD (recipe of the day)

During our stay on Grand Cayman we stayed with a wonderful couple believe in the Paleo diet. The Paleo diet is essentially an ancient "hunter gatherer" nutrition plan where the focus is lean protein, vegetables, fruit and healthy fats.

One of the amazing recipes we were exposed to is described in the following video. It consists of an Avocado, a piece of fruit, almonds, water, cinnamon and we added some Kaizen protein powder for extra power.

It is such a delicious recipe and one that provides quickly absorbed nutrients for immediate use. It is tasty, high in fat and a wonderful addition to breakfast or any meal of the day, especially pre or post workout!

Give it a try and let me know what you think!

A Day in my life for the kids at UHill Elementary school

In my last email with the class that has Adopted me for fundraising, they asked me a few questions about my life. I decided to put together a little video describing what I do every day! I take them through a few of my routines, workouts and let them in on a few secrets about my nutrition and planning.

Enjoy what my pre-season life looks like!

Win vs Turkey #1 in Holland

Here is the highlight video of Chaim and I playing Turkey #1 in the second round of the CEV Satellite in Aalsmeer, Holland.

It was a great game with loads of rallies and we took the match 15-13 in the third. Chaim and I really connected after not training together for 4 months and we were pleasantly surprised at our sideout and transition games!

Winning this match took us to the winner semi-final where we played Schuill/Steikma from Holland who were the eventual winners of the event.

Our fashion show in Chennai, India

A little video summary of our trip to Chennai, India

Skinnies in Sweden

After our match we hung out a bit longer in Finland. There were a few good evening dinners and one rockin dance party in the Casino that was FANTASTIC! The DJ's were called "Two Big DJ's"and they played some amazing music that really got our crew jumping, I think I danced for 3 hours straight!

We then returned to the mainland with a few Canadians and the Kiwi team. The Kiwi team consists of Kirk and Jason who are the players and this year they brought a younger guy on tour who was a riot. His name is Mike but he was given the nickname "Slash" because he was a coach slash trainer slash physio slash party boy! A funny character who complimented Jason and Kirk perfectly.

Kacie napping in the cruise station

We all took the ferry back and planned to stay two nights in Sweden. The voyage was full of fun card games, candy and silliness. We were a super fun group and our madness didn't end when we got off the boat. We got to the our hotel, had a quick nap and then prepared for an evening of mayhem downtown Stockholm.

Chaim rolling up his J-orts!

Our pre-beverage party happened in the Kiwi's room and we played loads of their games. They has some hilariously interactive ways to drink socially and we struggled to move downtown because we were having so much fun! With the arrival of the taxi we were forced to move the festivities to an official establishment and one of the Swedish players lined up a nice dance place to start the evening. We got there and it was dead but the DJ was HAPPENING! We all were alone on the dance floor but it didn't matter cause we were jamming. Good tunes, hilarious dancing and the lighting was a trip. After some athletic shaking we decided to move the gang along to another location where we wound up waiting in line for 30 minutes. I tried bargaining with the head bouncer saying we were pro athletes and what not but the place was so packed they couldn't do anything for us.

With no luck there and dwindling patience we cruised along the streets looking for another party. We wound up not being allowed into one of the other recommended locations so we hopped next door cause we heard some good music. Slash wound up chatting the bouncer and said "The other place wouldn't let us in cause they are gay." and much to our surprise the place we were trying to get into was a gay club! HAHAHAH!!! He swallowed his words and wound up stuttering for a bit but we moved on before any harm came of it!

By 2 we hadn't entered any place and we were tuckered from starting around 8. We decided to head back and get a good nights rest. Fun times roaming the streets with the Kiwis!
The following day a few of us went downtown to shop. The style and store selection in Stockholm is unreal and we feasted on the incredible fashion. Chaim wound up buying some skinnies (I chickened out) but I purchased a few beauty v-necks to bring back some euro style to Canada. We caught a movie, chilled for another day and returned to Canada on Tuesday for the National Championships.

Rolled up Skinnies

Perfect fit

Chaim's new flexibility in his stretchy skinnies

A fun time in Scandinavia for sure and regardless of the insane cost of living in Stockholm, I will return.

Travelling to Aland, Finland

To reach Aland, Finland we had to fly to Stockholm, Sweden and then take a ferry across the Swedish border to the the small town of Mariehamn, Finland. This venture didn't seem all that complicated on paper, however, the rush of summer travellers put an interesting twist in our plans.

We flew out of Kristiansand early Saturday morning and wound up taking the voyage with Gabethuler/Schneider who are friends from Switzerland. We flew to Copenhagen and had a long layover there. We then took off to Stockholm and hopped on the cheap and convenient train to downtown. We hadn't made any reservations for the evening because we didn't know wether we would take an evening boat or one the following morning.

Once downtown we decided to stay the night in Stockholm but after contacting 16 hotels we realized there wasn't a room available anywhere in the city! Left with pretty much no options, I scrambled to locate some form of boat ride to Finland. I wound up finding a bedding solution but it involved an extra 12 hours on a boat in a cozy little room.

We made the ferry in perfect timing and then rolled immediately to our tiny bunk. There were 4 beds in a puny room on the bottom floor at the head of the ship. We took a little rest, feet hanging off the ends of the beds and then headed up for a dinner of Swedish meat balls and mashed potatoes. We then chilled on the deck and caught a lovely sunset as we pondered the landscape and likeness of the Swedish/Finnish islands to that of Vancouver Island and the Georgia Straight. Once darkness had fallen we roamed the boat looking for amusement and then watched some HILARIOUS traditional Finnish women sing kareoke in vintage costumes.

Our passage to Mariehamn should have been a direct 6 hour voyage from Stockholm. We wound up taking a long overnight trip from Stockholm to Turku and then from Turku to Mariehamn the following morning. It was actually a fantastic deal because for 70 euros we got 12 hours of amazing sleep and traveled passively at the same time! It was perfect.

It was a potentially troublesome trip due to the lack of available lodging in Stockholm, however, we were able to find an alternate option that worked out even better and gave us some time to get to further acquaint ourselves with some other guys on tour.

We then headed to our hostel and began mentally preparing for our last FIVB competition of the year. us!

Scandinavia

To start, here is a photo of Chaim's afro. Just take a second to appreciate this amazing hair do!

From the COG I went to Toronto for a week in preparation for our trip to Kristiansand, Norway for and FIVB Open. We left Toronto on Saturday and arrived with plenty of time on Sunday for a nap and a good heart sleep that night!

Scandinavia is expensive. I am sure you already new that but in all honesty it is the most expensive place on earth. Chaim and I stayed in the Qualification hotel which was supposed to be a deal and we wound up spending just over $100 each PER NIGHT!!! Unfortunately there is no way around it (the cheapest place was $120 a night and it was no better than a dumpster) so we maximized our food intake at breakfast! We made sure we went to breakfast as early as possible, ate as much as we could and then returned to bed for a quick digestion. We then would train and return to the hotel for the last few minutes of breakfast where we would eat again and then pack a few big sandwiches for lunch! All in all it was a fabulous program and it must have saved us close to $40 a day!

The tiny little city of Kristiansand is a delight and is situated right on the southern most tip of Norway. It is a gorgeous place with a tiny city centre that makes more noise at night than you could imagine for a town its size. We wound up getting caught in a beer garden one night and it was epic! The adults were having a BLAST dancing on tables and doing summersaults while a below average cover band rocked out their unfortunate renditions of famous international tunes. It was an enjoyable evening and truly exposed the Norwegians as fun outgoing people, after they have had a few!

It is a surprise the tournament is held there but with exponential oil money and a small population of people who love beach volley anything can happen. I swear every citizen volunteers for the event and security is air tight in a place with no hooligans or crime. The tournament site is lovely and takes place right on a harbour with plenty of swimming entries looking south to Denmark.

We were in the qualification tournament and ranked high enough that our match up was bound to be a top seed in the qualifier. Sure enough we drew Benjamin/Bruno of Brazil as our entry round but had to get through Greece to even think about Brazil. No matter the challenge we knew we had to play great ball to make it to the main draw so we sucked it up and thought one match at a time.

We faced Greece on centre court at 10 AM under a surprisingly powerful scandinavian sun. We connected on all fronts and with an effective serving and defensive plan and the ability to hold our sideout, we took the match in 2. There was a little scare in the second set when we lost 3 points in a row when we were leading 19-15 but we pulled it out when we push came to shove. Off to meed the Brazilians.

Benjamin and Bruno had just come off a few solid finishes at Grand Slams but were the 4th ranked Brazilian team in the world. Event though their point ranking was top 16, since there were already 3 brazilians in the main draw, they had to play country quota on Tuesday vs 2 lower ranked Brazilian team to earn the right to play in the qualifier and then possible the main draw! This is the way it goes for Brazil and we knew deep down after watching them the day before that this was our time to beat them.

The game happened on a side court but some dedicated Canadian fan's working in the oil industry in Norway were there with their flags and clappers! We started the match off quick and took a 12-9 lead. We kept that lead until 19-17 where we proceeded to let the other team back in the game and win 22-20. I don't know how to describe it other than when you are beating a team that is better than you on paper, you over think it. You think you have to change something when continuing what you were doing to get you there would suffice! Either way we lost too many points in a row and let the game slip out of reach. We played unreal until 19-17 and then didn't close, largely due to the fact that Bruno played amazing defence. The second set was strong until mid way through when they pulled ahead. We stopped earning points and they pulled ahead for a strong finish.

A frustrating match where we had control and momentum but we just weren't able to seal the deal. A learning experience for sure and it was hard not being really disappointed in losing to a higher ranked team. Sometimes you just know in your heart that it was possible to win (even against great odds) and this was one of those times.

We then chilled in the nice weather and hung out with the abundance of Canadian athletes who were there competing. We cheered on Marie and Annie as they pushed to a 9th place result! So much fun and I really enjoyed being a tiny part of their success!

Now off to Finland for the Otera FIVB Open in Aland.