I have two weeks to fill you in on.

Where should I start?

Last week was the first official week that we kick started our new program. We had a full schedule from 7-12. If you had massage, treatment or video, you were probably on the go until about 3pm. The days have been jam packed with a gym session, some sort of sprint/tempo/conditioning session, and a skill/team session. We work within our Forwards or Backs groups.  So depending on the day or week, some days are much earlier than others. which means we alternate the earlier starts just to make it fair to each other. That being said, it doesn't work so well in the way of trying to fall into a routine!

Leading into the weekend, we had our very own Barbara Mervin (follow her on twitter @APTOELLA Fashion designer in the way of women's rugby wear. Her most requested Attack-hers Shoulder pads are a hit!) organized a professional photographer to come in and shoot 3 days worth of photos for the up coming NSWT Calendar. It was nothing but fun! The experience was very professional. Photographer Darryl Humphrey, and most of us would agree, made us feel like supermodels! Put it this way, walking into the studio with an idea in mind, and before you know it, you're in the spotlight, crouching tiger hidden dragon, and done. Everyone looked so beautiful au naturel. This calendar is definitely something to look forward to come April.


The training week following the shoot was labeled medium to high volume, and that it was. Most would question the first weeks training being low to medium volume. Hmm. What our girls don't lack is intensity, so every training week will probably feel like medium to high volume. That competitive edge, and iron will to commit yourself to the program is what will carry us through to our first tournament of 2012.
Las Vegas 7s is being held next weekend, February 10, 11, and 12. There will be two pools in this tournament. Pool 1 contains Netherlands, Brazil, Canada Red and the USA. Pool 2 contains France, Spain, Canada Black and USA. Two very well balanced pools I would say! We are looking forward to this opportunity as two Canadian teams top our pools and take it to the final.

Finishing off the training week I feel that we all had a TGIF moment. It was amazing. I could not have felt better knowing it was the weekend! Although trying to complete a 30 min "chit chat" paced jog, Saturday morning felt almost impossible. It felt more like I was shuffling down Dallas road. Actually, now that I think about it, I didn't feel very athletic at all. The one thing that kept me the most motivated during that whole 30 minutes was that along Dallas road to the left of me was nothing but ocean, blue skies, and clouds with mountains peaking up over top. I would say it was breath taking, but at the time I wouldn't have been able to tell if it was the scenery or the fact that I felt lifeless.
Saturday was one of the best days I think Victoria has had to offer thus far. The sun was shining, the only clouds the sky could offer us were off in the distance. 8 of us girls got together for a dog walk, with 7 dogs. That was something else on its own. The dogs were a mish mash of dogs borrowed and owned by the girls. I would like to say that I am good with animals, but I would be lying. All but one of us got to take a dog. I was given the timid dog with no name. Not really no name, but we couldn't figure out if he/she was called Ruby, or Rudy. So by default, we called the dog Rubdy. It was definitely one of the funnier moments of that dog walk. Well Funny for me and Julianne Zussman. Rubdy tried to escape on more than one occasion, so Rubdy and I parted ways half way into the walk. Some would argue I actually lost the dog, I say that dogs pick their people. I was not Rubdys people. Two socially awkwards don't make a right. I feel the parting was for the best. Rubdy slowly warmed up to the group, and had a great experience over all.

The day ended with a 3 hours lunch in the harbour.
Well the day actually ended having a pound of wings with my roommate Gibbs, and our couch potato for the evening Marlene.
Finishing off Sunday with a Super Bowl Party at Shangrala Belmont ave with all our teammates was icing on the cake. We had great food, and it was an easy clean up. The company was a nice touch to the weekends end.

The weeks are full of focus and hard work and the weekends are something we look forward to. I was saying today to one of the girls that if there was one thing that I was truly excited for about centralizing, it was that I had the opportunity to hang out with 20 of some of my closest friends. Through all of this we will be going through a lot of laughs, and a lot of tears. I have some of the most amazing people who have my back and I have theirs, who support me and I support them. Yes it's competitive, but not one of the girls on this team would ever hesitate to help another out, or push them that extra mile. This program is promising. We are all very thankful for everything that has been done and given to us. But I must say that we will be successful due to personnel. We have a strong organization, a brilliant support staff, the best supporters in the world, but most importantly passionate and hard working athletes.

If any of you are interested  I suggest you Follow some of the girls on Twitter. We have Julianne Zussman @JZussman, Barbara Mervin @APTOELLA. Barbara Mervin also has a website for her company http://lollyperformance.com/. Kayla Mack @kaylamack0, and Julia Greensheilds @julsiegreen.
Check it out!
Just a shout out to some of the hardest working trainers I know at level10fitness.com, follow them @level10fitness. These guys exceed excellence with their athletes everyday. They love their job and wouldn't settle for anything less then extraordinary. Thanks for everything.