Friday, April 8, 2011

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.


Tuesday, April 5, 2011

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!