One of my favourite places to go in the world is my family cottage. We have owned the cottage for 6 years and it keeps getting more and more fun to go to. There are many things to do up at the cottage like fishing, hunting and enjoying nature at its finest. Spring fishing is one of my favourite times to get on the river. The river is totally different in the spring than it is in the summer because there is so much more water flowing down stream from all the snow melting and spring rain. Last weekend I went fishing on the Saugeen River that is about 35 minutes away from my cottage. It was a lot of fun. I was lucky enough to land 4 rainbow trout throughout the day. Unfortunately, I had the line break 8 times while there was a fish on the hook. After fishing my Dad and I decided to take a walk through the bush with our shotgun to see if we could get a glimpse of any turkeys. After about 45 minutes of quietly staking our prey we turned around without ever seeing any signs of turkeys. As we left the cottage to go home we went past a field to take a look to see if there were any turkeys in it and there was. I guess we should head to that field next time! When I'm not fishing or hunting, I enjoy being outside in the fresh air. There is something about being out of the city and not hearing cars every moment that is a great way to let go of stress. Some of the coolest things I`ve seen in nature at the cottage are a black bear, bald eagles and other rare species of animals.
These questions just keep getting crazier and crazier.... Would I rather have my face on a basketball backboard or my face in the middle of a hockey net.
I would rather get hit in the face with a bunch a basket balls that get hit is the face with a rubber puck flying through the air at 100 kilometers per hour. It would for sure hurt a lot to repeatedly get hit with a basketball for an entire game but being hit in the face with a puck could cause serious injury or even be fatal. A normal score for a basket ball game is about 100-100. That means that about 50 shots from each team go in the basket but not every shot they take actually becomes a basket. Therefore, I would guess that in an average I would be hit in the face 75 times with a basketball, 50 times when they get a basket and 25 times when they shoot but miss. In a hockey game the score are quite a bit lower. The average number of goals in a game would be about 3 per team. The chances of being hit are much lower but if you do get hit your life could be on the line. Would you (and your lover) rather get your collar bone broken every 3 years or take a pill that make you hear Alice in Chains every time you listen any song.
This is one of the strangest questions I`ve ever been asked. Both of these options are mentally insane. Going through the pain and agony of breaking my collar bone every three years would be awful. Also, breaking your collar bone could cause internal damage that would leave you in discomfort for the rest of your life. On the other hand, I think I would go completely crazy if I have to listen to the same songs of a band I don`t like over and over again. Even when I would sing Happy Birthday I would have to hear Alice in Chains. To answer the question, I would rather take the pill that makes me hear Alice in Chains every time I listened to any song. What I would do is make it so that music is not part of my life at all. I wouldn`t listen to the radio, wouldn`t have songs on my phone and wouldn`t go to concerts. On the positive side, not listening to music would make me get out of the house more and try new things that don`t have anything to do with music. For example, I might take up mediation because when you meditate it is important that it be absolutely quiet. Another activity that might be cool to try would be skydiving since there is no way that you would listen to or hear music while doing this hobby. The peacefulness of the wind speeding past my ears would be my equivalent of music if I had to take this pill. To day I got asked a question. Would I rather go to Europe for a year and get $2000 per month or go to the moon for 10 minutes. I said that I would l choose to go to Europe. Both Europe and Moon are unique places but having only ten minutes on the moon hardly makes it worth the 10 day return trip. One reason why I choose to go to Europe is because I have family in Germany that I have never met before. My relatives live in Husum which is close to the ocean. I remember hearing my Opa talk about how he used to take his friend`s sailboat out for day trips. Since fishing is a long standing tradition in my family, I would ask my uncle to take me deep water fishing in the ocean. I would be very curious to see the town where my Opa grew up. It would also be an experience to drive really fast on the Autobahn! Another reason I picked Europe over the Moon is because I would like to go and have the privilege to skate with some European skaters. Holland is the number one country in the world where speed skating products are produced. I would go and see the factories and outlet stores for speed skating and would hopefully be able to buy lots of gear for cheaper that it would cost in Canada. Finally, Europe has lots of interesting cultural and natural attractions. The Alps have always been on my to do list and it would be interesting to go see them. There is also so much more history in Europe than here in North America, so I would spend lots of time checking that out too.
This winter has been the longest, coldest, snowiest winter I can remember. This winter`s first snow storm was on October 26th, two days before my birthday. Today, at the beginning of April, there is still a good blanket of snow covering people`s yards. In total, we have had five solid months of winter. I only went snowboarding once this winter and it was so cold we could only make it down the hill three or four times before we had to head to the chalet to warm up. With the late arrival of spring, I will finally get a chance to go hunting and fishing. Since we have been getting some warmer weather, the shelf of snow on the edge of the river is slowly melting which means that the rivers will soon be fishable. My Dad and I are looking forward to hunting and turkey season opens on April 25th. I am looking forward to getting my new compound bow out. This bow was given to me at Christmas by my Oma and Opa. I would like to have the chance to shoot a turkey before my Dad does! Finally, we are going to be opening our cottage as soon as the snow has melted. My cottage not winterized so it`s closed for the winter. BY this time last year, the cottage was already open and we were heading there on as many weekends as we could. Over the winter I feel like I am cooped up in the house. I can`t wait to get to the cottage to enjoy nature`s beauty, some relaxing and quality time with my parents.
It has been a great year for speed skating. There have been lots of great moments and I can't believe that it's over already. I will miss my club and all my skating buddies and coaches. I think that all of the skaters at the KW Sertoma Speed Skating Club have done a great job this year and I hope they had a lot of fun. We all traveled across Ontario for our meets and now some of the provincial level skaters get to go to Riviere-du-Loup, Quebec and skate for Team Ontario in the Eastern National Speed Skating Championships. I didn't officially make the team but was named the first alternate skater. It was only a week before the competition when I got word that the team was going to take the top five skaters instead of the top three. I couldn't believe that I was going to have the opportunity to represent Team Ontario at such a high profile event. I hope that it will be a great experience for all of us. At the beginning of the year I set some goals and now that the season is over I can honestly say that I exceeded these goals by a lot. My main goal for next year is to be able to skate 500m in 44 seconds or faster. If I can achieve this goal, the rest of the season should fall into place.
My 30 day challenge is going to involve speed skating. Since skating has come to an end, as of March 31st, I am going to have to stay in shape by myself. This will be a lot harder than if I was with my team. My goal for these 30 days and beyond is to do some kind of workout every Wednesday, Friday and Sunday. On workout days I plan to either jog for 5 km, inline skate for 20 km, or road bike for 60 km. In addition to my tree times a week workout, I plan on improving my skating technique by doing exercises with bands. Prior to my workout routines, eating a well balanced and nutritious diet will be very important. My ultimate goal for the 30 day challenge is to be in even better shape at the beginning of dry land training as I was at the end of the competitive season.
Everybody needs food. However, food is especially important for an athlete since it provides us with the energy we need to reach our peak performance potential. The most important nutrients we get from food are protein and simple sugars. My favourite sources of protein are fish, protein shakes and steak. I try to eat a high protein diet the day before a meet to build muscle and give me long lasting energy. I also try to consume lots of protein after a meet because that is the time when your body builds even more muscle. My favourite source for simple sugars on race day is grapes. Simple sugars are important because they give you immediate energy for you to use during the race. One of the important things for athletes to remember is to not eat immediately before a race. If you don't give your body enough time to digest your food you might get cramping towards the end of the race. I try to eat at least an hour to an hour and a half before my first race. After a long day of racing there is nothing more I crave than a box of candy and some chocolates. It's okay to treat yourself every once in awhile. My coach says so.
I am going to be in the Ontario Winter Games this weekend for speed skating. The games are being held in Huntsville. This meet happens once every two years and only the top 30 skaters in Ontario are invited. The government and sponsors pay for everything including the hotel and special accessories. I am looking forward to this weekend because it is going to be an adventure. There are a lot of good skaters that are going to be competing. Some of them will be from the Olympic Oval in Calgary. I would like to get a metal but the skaters there are really fast so my goal is to get some good times and maybe a metal in relay. One unique things is that this meet will be broadcast on the internet. I think that I am going to enjoy this weekend. It's going to be the highlight of my month.Moms and Dads are hard to live with. They try to figure out everything about your life. They will go to the end of the Earth just to figure out what is wrong and they usually know. My mom always worries about me weather it's on the ice skating or something to do with my social life. My dad on the other hand is a pretty chilled out guy and likes to have fun but does worry from time to time. I think that sometimes they could just lay back and relax for a bit but in the end they are always there for me. They often help me out with things that are a little confusing or lend me a hand if I am having a tough time with life. They support me 100% of the time. I love my family for who they are even if they are super crazy. |