In-flight Comforts?

I know how New Zealand sounds so far away to most people and really it is pretty far. However, I feel it is all a matter of perspective. To me, the long flights are not bad as long as you provide yourself with lots of entertainment.

In example, I always travel with my Vaio, Play Station Portable, e-book and a set of noise canceling headphones (I find myself constantly seated by the screaming baby). That way I can watch movies, play games, read and do it all in my own little world. Although, I do like to talk to the people around me from time to time, lately I have not sat beside anyone of interest but I try. Most people are content with sitting in their undersized seat and watch the in-flight movies.

Ugh, seating. I am lucky in the fact that I scored with the tiny Asian gene, I fit in any seat with room to spare. I am very grateful for this when I see bigger people stuffed in those small seats with only 32cms of space separating the rows and they are almost completely stuck for 14 hours. Seems like legal torture that we pay for.

Aside from the miniature seats, baggage is something that really annoys me. I am always trying to dodge the luggage weigh stations, especially for my snowboard bag. It’s hard to pack your career into one bag that is less than 50lbs. Tickets should include a total weight limit that includes your body weight and baggage weight. I guess that’s one more step to a more perfect world that won’t be taken for a long time.

Still, transportation has come a long way over the past 100 years. People get stressed about sitting on a plane for a long time; well imagine if that was a boat or a wagon. Now imagine you have to cross rough open ocean seas or a barely marked bumpy road with dangerous people down it. Even though that flight may not always cater to our first world comforts, it’s still leaps and bounds better then travel as close as 20 years ago.

Thinking about these things always makes me feel better about the long haul down there to the other side of the world. Particularly because I just got home a few days ago but I will be going back down under for a camp in just ten days (it worked out to be the same cost to stay there while I took a break or to come home and take a break. Sleeping in my own bed is almost priceless at this time). I also try to enjoy the travel as much as possible because I know my life will never be like this again. I try my best to savor moments and preserve the memories.

Goals into Success

Nothing feels better than accomplishing the tasks which I set out to accomplish. I have found this is much easier when I set daily goals that correspond to the bigger picture, just like splitting up a pie into smaller slices to eat it. Another help is having someone to hold you to those small goals so you don’t get side tracked, which is something that I do too easily. However, over the last two weeks I have worked with my coach to really get work done.

Goal setting should take a lot of credit to my accomplishments. Even though it is hard to set daily goals in the snowboarding environment because there are many unpredictable factors, like weather and snow conditions, having a good idea is a start. In the morning I have been talking over what I want to do with my coach, and we make sure our plans are flexible so we can change them to accommodate the conditions of the snow and pipe. We even have a back-up plan in case I am not feeling on point or undesirable weather rolls in. These goals and plans are paramount to fast progression and consistency in my training.

The past week my day consists of waking up at 6:45a and being out the door by 7:30a. It’s about 45 min to the lodge and another 15 – 20mins to get ready, and I am usually on the lift by 8:45a. I train until around 10:30a and then break for a snack, after which I resume training until noon then snack again. I keep riding until 1:30p or when I feel tired. The pipe here has been a hiking pipe so I get tired after about three hours of hiking an eighteen degree slope. All of the training time includes small goals which all contribute to my full tick runs. This regiment has done well for me, but I really have to thank my current coach for helping me set it up and making me follow it.

Roberto Marfia has been coaching me for the past two weeks and I feel that my riding has come together. When I am on my own I get excited and keep switching my concentration, now that I am with him he has been grounding me. Roberto has been setting up my training days/goals and holds me to them. That helps to keep me calm and focused, but most of all it boosts my confidence. Making me stick to the tasks at hand and giving me feed back in a positive manner has been a major factor in the success over the past two weeks. I am so grateful to have a coach like that in my career at this time.

It really is a great feeling when things finally start to flow and ideal situations are met. I only have a week left of training until I take a break from the snow and head back to Canada. Yet I know the week that is left will be productive because I have these two things working for me, goals and a good coach. Then I add my talent, determination and heart and presto! I have recipe for flourishing training days.

Out Numbered

It was glorious when our little car made it safely down to Wanaka and I found that my coach was here. I finally made it on snow and I am loving life again. So much that bloging has slowed; therefore I am happy to make this entry. Now, I am living in a house with four guys and back to playing mom. Nonetheless this is okay because I love the simpler life with out the drama that sometimes follows females.

Yes, we made the 450km journey from Christchurch down to Wanaka without further problems. We were stoked to have the top down for part of the way; it left a good feeling after the repair fiasco the days before. Ryan drove most of the way while I prayed that we would not break down. Although now we have been driving up the scary dirt roads in the car and it seems to be fine. The best is when we have four people and boards in the car; it reminds me of a clown car. We used our ankle and toe ratchet straps to fasten down the back of the boards while a leather skipping rope holds down the front to the roof racks. It’s a little Macgyver style but definitely works. One more reason to be thankful we ride snowboards; you could never pull that with skis.

Having a coach on snow is a luxury and I was stoked to arrange for one to be with me over the next few weeks to train together. Coaches make tasks like goal setting and sticking to those goals much easier. Having eyes on you is important to progression, there are other ways to get what you want, but coaches are instantaneous feed back which acts as a great tool. However, it does push the testosterone content in the house up one more notch and leaves me out numbered 4 to 1.

I really don’t mind being the minority, I did grow up in a boarding school where boys out numbered girls 4 to 1. Still it’s just that I often slip in to the mom role, a curse for being somewhat organized and punctual. I find myself tidying, organizing dinners, riding times, and the general going ons in the house. They don’t ask me to do those things but someone has to do it for the flow of the house. I really don’t mind, I guess it’s the common differences between women and men that I am noticing more as I mature. There is one thing I honestly don’t know, what it is about men and socks? Every where I turn there are random pairs, or singles, of socks hanging around on the floor or in the couch. I don’t really understand how one loses track of such things constantly. The worst part is that they never remember taking them off in the first place.

Still I will take the mother role and mystery socks any time over the drama that is built up in living with women. Men don’t have to gossip, if they do then it is about that hot chick that was in the cafeteria, lasts for about ten minutes and is over with. They don’t take forever in the bathroom and can venture there quite fine on their own. I know that right now it is perfect for me; this uncomplicated lifestyle for my complicated task.

Not worth the stress

The saying “if it sounds too good it’s probably true” has more meaning to me today than ever. So, my friend and I were presented with a sweet deal. A 1989 Mazda 121 fun top and we had bargained the price down to $500NZD from $1000NZD. There were only 200,000kms and the soft top still retracted. This deal was cheaper then renting a car for the month while we are in New Zealand. We test drove it for four days, taking it around the city and for hill climbs to make sure it was mountain safe, I installed a new stereo head unit, we just got roof racks and changed the oil, it was a dream. That is until we were leaving Christchurch this morning.

About 30kms from where we were staying we were driving around a round about; clutch in, gear down to second, clutch out and instant squealing noise. It was so loud and abrupt that we stopped the car immediately. With a quick diagnostics our conclusion was that the clutch had burned out, the car seemed to scream when we let out the clutch but was fine when the clutch was in. Two things were for sure, we needed a mechanic to take a look at the car and we were not going to make it back down to Wanaka today.

My wingman, Ryan, went on a reconnaissance mission to find that nearest garage and shortly returned with the information of a garage about 2km from our location. As we are both athletes we decided that pushing the car for that distance was no big deal, there was also the fact that a tow truck would be at least $100. We pushed that car for about 4kms before we were rescued by my good friend and host, Graham.

Graham, being the good soul that he is, got a tow strap, called his mechanic and towed us with his Honda Legend to the shop. Alistair at Summit 4WD was awesome. He had that car up on a lift and was ripping it apart within an hour. When we got back to Waikuku he was already calling us. “Katie” he said “I’ve got two pieces of news…it’s not the clutch, that is fine. It’s actually the gearbox. Now we don’t have one, but we are looking for a second hand one now. I’m just going to warn you, we might not find one until tomorrow”. Just hearing that made my heart sink, what was suppose to be an easier route was turning out to be a nightmare. The problem was that we were already paying for a place in Wanaka, my coach was flying in tomorrow and I was suppose to meet with the realtor today to work out details for the place. This was costing time and money we were not comfortable spending. My stress levels were on the rise.

I had to stop, take a few breaths, think of a clam blue ocean and remind myself that these stresses are minimal to those who are starving or dying out there in the world; you know to put things into perspective. I did feel a bit better. The mechanic called back 30mins later to tell me that they had found one for $300, he could do the labor for $350 and we could be on the road for tomorrow morning. I felt so much better.

Now we will see how the Fun Top runs with the new gearbox and if we can sell it at the end of our stay here for some of the money we dumped into the car. I feel so tired tonight, like I had a huge workout at the gym, although pushing a car for 4km might do that to you. The worst part was the stress I was causing myself but it was a good reminder that stress is self inflected and not worth the ware on my body and mind. As a result, today I am taking on the new saying of “don’t sweat the petty, pet the sweaty”, realizing that there are many factors out of my control, stressing about these is redundant.

Tomorrow is a new day, things will come together and I get to go snowboarding soon.

Friends and beach and rest

Friends and beach and rest

True friendships are rare in this world. To me, real friendships pick up where they left off not matter how much time goes by. I value these friendships above all else especially because I travel so much. Right now I am visiting two friends who I know from my home province of Ontario. Graham has been in my life since I was the ripe age sixteen, we wakeboarded together for my whole career in that sport and we have kept our friendship running since. While he was at Lakehead University he met Lori and when I saw them together, as I was passing though Thunder Bay one summer, I knew they were great together. I was lucky Lori was so inviting and accepted me as a friend almost instantly. We too grew close over the years and when they finally got married last year I was asked to be a part of their special day as a Bride’s maid.

Today I am visiting with them at Waikuku beach just outside of Christchurch in the South Island of New Zealand. They are finishing up their Ph.Ds and have been living here for the past four years. I visit them almost every time I come down to New Zealand which I am very grateful for. This year I have met their new edition to the family, Tazman. He is literally a bundle of joy, always laughing and smiling at the world and people around him. He is defiantly one of the best babies I have spent time with and I am sure Graham and Lori feel fortunate to have a happy baby; it makes it a lot easier when you are trying to complete an important thesis. My two friends are model parents in my eyes with their hands on approach to parenting and abundant love that floats around their home. I feel so welcomed here as it is a very relaxing place to be and helps balance me out between the snowboarding world and the real world out there.

Yesterday I went for a run on the beach where I felt so free with the sea breeze on my face and the feeling of my feet sinking into the sand with every push off the ground. I loved the liberty of running where ever I wanted to and hearing the waves crashing on the beach. I can’t believe people run on treadmills around here, what a waste.

Needless to say, I am enjoying my time away from the mountains. I have amazing friends here who love me and I am surrounded by an environment full of natural beauty; probably the reason why it took me so long to make a blog entry. This time here gives me a chance to recharge my body and mind and mounts my hunger for the snow again, both vital pieces for staying focused and in the game.