Old Rowing Photos = Hero's and Dear Friends

I thought this would put you all in the mood

seeing that the OLYMPICS are right around the corner.

Ohhhh Vinnie & Mark! Love hairdos in this boat!

Wow - look at those sexy legs ;-)

Frrrrrrred!

(OUAIS -OUAIS!)

*sigh

*double sigh 

(the hills are alive with the sound of music - just saying)

Typique Jérémy - always thinking of his tummy.

Intense winter training camp!

Two of the most positive people I know.

Both inside and OUTSIDE the boat...except when lightweights

cut them off, then they start yelling! And so of course, in turn 

who responds with an aggressive

"screw you" Italian gesture?

 (throw one arm up while the other one hold the bicep)

 Yup - that was me.

(we kissed, laughed and made up quickly)  

Had a few too many...? 

No idea what I was doing in this one...neither does the coach.

When I first saw that pink I thought "That will never be me..."

But gosh, I looked good in pink ;-)

Oh my little gingy - Jago...where is your other half? 

BIG RED?!?

Tonia, you are an angel for rowing behind me and that

MOP of hair :-)

Some of my favourite times where getting SOAKED in that boat!

Who else could that be?

Why it's Amesbury rowing on the Ottawa River...

...OUTSTANDING.

This kid never even saw the buoy coming...

CUTE Bums....I'd like to think that was my biggest contribution to the boat.

(Always tuck everything into you BUTT or BRA - ha!)

Best partner any girl could ask for :-)

Arnoooooo!

BAH - HAHAHAHAH look at that face!

(stroke of course!)

Pictures like this make me think of all the athletes who trained so hard this 

winter and are now going to the FREAKING Olympics...

...no big deal.

So yeah...rowers rock!

Getting excited for London 2012

Breakfast of Champions; Just saying.

Can you SEE HOW MUCH OF THAT 

CREAMY DELICIOUSNESS IS HOLDING UP THAT

DELIGHTFUL PUFFED PASTRY???

I keep drooling on myself.

Opps, just drooled on myself again - ugh!

Looking forward to the day AFTER TINA'S WEDDING when we 

can both eat desserts....cuz that's what Maids of Honors do.

SUPPORT THEIR BRIDES TO BE!
(no desserts until the wedding day)

Now that's COMMITMENT - ha!

Yay, it's Friday.

Would YOU eat this Peter?

So yeah...who the hell is this guy?

Well, I will tell you.

Meet Peter McClelland, he is a good friend of mine and has been for years.

No ladies, not that kind of friend.

(Pete stop shuttering and shaking your head at the thought)

Peter and I have a lot in common...can't think of anything off the top of my head but we do.

At least one or two things.

However, when it comes to FOOD we have always disagreed.

He doesn't like kale for example. I don't think he even knows

what a rutabaga is...unlike most normal people.

But because his opinion is so

 important to me and I cherish our friendship dearly,

I have come up with a new idea.

Food that I make, especially new recipes or creative dishes, as well as, new foods 

that I discover next year in Bangladesh will be 

PUT TO THE PETER TEST! 

I will do my best to try and take pictures of the foods

I eat and describe their ingredients (if I can).

Then ask the expert

(this is you Peter)

a simple question: would you eat this?

An example you say? 

This delicious chickpea salad that I made the other day.

Sun dried tomatoes, feta cheese, purple onion, red pepper, broccoli, etc.

Served cold on a hot summer day.

WOULD YOU EAT THIS PETE?

What does my sister Rhiannon say to all this?

 Well because my sister can't really talk and most of the time 

will eat anything when it comes to food....it's more fun to pick on someone like Pete who is 

a SUPER FUSSY eater, right?

(no hard feelings Rhi)

Ohhh and perhaps I should ask Peter if he is feeling up to this?

Sure he is, he loves talking about food.

So.....yeah.

That's my idea.

Is this a weed? Errrr HELP!

I have a question...what is this?

I have been watering this "thing" for so long and errr...just wanted to make 

sure this actually a beautiful flower and not a weed.

IT would really SUCK if this thing has been stealing all the 

good water for the real plants.

Just saying.

Top 10 Marathons in the WORLD;Ummm yes, PLEASE!

I am no marathon guru, in fact I have only completed two real marathons

in my little lifetime.

But do you know why I like it?

 There not much to do but run & think.

YOU ARE LAUGHING BUT HEY - I MEAN IT! 

How often do YOU take time out of YOUR day to just think?

This is what I do when I run, it's like catching up on sleep but I catch up on my thinking.

If that doesn't work for you?

Put on a podcast, maybe two, run slowly, grandma pace...heck skip or stop to walk

 every 15 minutes if you need a break.

For me, fours hours is the perfect amount of time to just think. 

Piece of cake.

HOWEVER

Did I mention that during the Ottawa marathon (the only one I have ever participated in)

they feed you all the time? Water stations are everywhere (coming from someone who

never wears a water belt thingy this is gRRReat)!

People are cheering constantly, live bands fill the air, wet 

sponges are thrown at you when hot and TONES of free gobs of vaseline are handed out! 

(vaseline is not for lips people - learnt that the hard way)

LAST YEAR THE OTTAWA MARATHON HAD BELLY DANCERS!

Not to mention the view of the river, the parliment buildings, I mean could

go on and on...

WHAT I'M TRYING TO SAY ?

If you can't just think for hours then just watch the SHOW that is all around you!

I swear time will just slip away.

More INCENTIVE YOU SAY?

Okay-okay, let's take it up a notch.
Then why not try being in a different country?
That's right, run a marathon on the
GREAT WALL OF CHINA.

Can you do that? INEED YOU CAN!!!

It's said to be the #1 best marathon in the world 

because it's soooo physical.

(5164 steps to go up and down - yikes!)

The 2nd most popular marathon in the world is Tokyo.

Over 35 000 participants.

Can we say claustrophobic? 

(The Ottawa marathon that had just under 5000 participants in 

the full marathon alone and I remember not being able to move for the 

first 5 minutes once OVER the line - no to Tokyo for me)

3rd best marathon in the world is in Athens Greece, because it's one of the

oldest & longest cities and traditions in the world.

4th is in Scotland, close to where the Loch Ness Monster Nessie lives.

Mmmm.

Guess that would keep me busy, looking the whole time...

Although I'm bound to develop and eye twitch from watching the waters

for Nessie. Or better yet, I would trip and fall and well, game over.

Nope, not gonna run that one.

5th best place (which of course I agree)

is in Switzerland.

The HILLS are alive, with the sound of people short

of breath as they huff and puff up the mountains.

Ahhhh, definitely would love to run 

the marathon in ZERMATT one time in my life.

6th place is in Nice, France.

Too snob...just kidding DORO!

7th is in Rome - WHOA!

(I wouldn't trust the drivers: no driving zone in Italy 

due to marathon....yeah right)

Just saying.

8th is in one of my favourite cities; BUDA-PEST!

Hah!

I have seen this marathon live in person and although done in the 

summer when it's hot-hot-HOT the course is flat and follows 

parts of the Danube and you run from Buda to Pest....

(I didn't know it either but it's two different parts of the city divided by 

a HUGE river in the middle)

COOL!

9th Can you believe it?  THE BOSTON IS NINTH!

And here I was dreaming that the Boston marathon would be top in the world.

Again, I am just a rookie who knows very little about 

all this running business.

Clearly I need to get more informed.

(I also think it's time for a running belt too!)

10th is SAN FRANCISCO

Supposedly you start outside of San Francisco and run towards LA.

Sea breeze and warm hot sun?

WHY NOT!

This being said, I'm getting pretty excited about all these 

fun races and all the RUNNING you can do around the WORLD!

But which one to start with first?

You're right, do the toughest one first!

I CONCUR!

Great Wall of China, here I come...bring it on all you 

bloody stairs you!

Nawww to Nice....to fancy for me.

They'd kick me out of there for sure - 

one snot ball out the nose and I'd be disqualified.

*sigh

Maybe Zermatt in July?

The world of marathon races is my little oyster.

I should probably pick one and start training?

So....yeah.

Somebody That I Used To Know = Olympian

This is the Augustin Maillefer that I remember.

Or lovingly "Gut" for short.

(the tall-skinny kid in the white T-shirt on the right)

Can't even lift himself on the monkey bars...poor little Gut ;-)

How cute was he, right?

This is the current "Gut" who will be soon competing in the Swiss

men's heavyweight quad in London this summer, his first Olympics.

He is only 19 years old.

Where the hell did that cute, little, monkey bars, Gut go? 

  

This is another picture of Gut, he is the one on the right.

I know right? Hubba-hubba ;-)

The other guy in the picture is his big brother, Jérémy Maillefer.

Why heck is his brother in the picture?

Interesting story.

Jérémy was in the Swiss men's heavyweight quad (which Gut is now replacing)

up until several months ago. Around Christmas time Jérémy was forced to 

train on and off due to an un-identified injury that took months to diagnose.

In fact, last year it was Jérémy (the only Maillefer in the boat at the time) who

had helped qualify the boat for London 2012.

The first time Jer had ever helped qualify an Olympic boat for Switzerland.

An amazing accomplishment and exciting opportunity.

So naturally Jérémy was upset when his injury prevented him from training properly,

keeping up with his crew mates and eventually officially preventing him from being in the boat 

and thus, competing at the Olympics.

While all this was happening, Gut had made a name for himself 

on the junior level, twice. Once in a crew boat and another time in the single.
He skipped the stage of World U23 all together - went right to senior level.
(although you can always go back down and compete at that level)

And still little (how HUGE) Gut just kept getting stronger.

Like his older brother, he was a monster on the erg and his scores were improving. 

Over the winter the Swiss coaches decided to allow 

this young, strong, rower to train with the other heavy weight men.

How could they not? He was freaking keeping up...amazing!

And then naturally, his strength and talent earned him a chance to seat race into the boat 

and the rest is history.

I don't think either or them could have predicted the situation that did unfold, 

but astonishingly enough, they have both handled it like professionals; 

supporting each other consistently while respecting each one's situation.

Hold on a second, back that TRUCK UP!

NOT BEING ABLE TO GO TO THE OLYMPICS BECAUSE OF AN INJRUY IS ONE THING: BUT TO HAVE YOUR LITTLE

BROTHER TAKE YOUR PLACE IN THE BOAT? 

THAT YOU HELPED QUALIFY THE YEAR BEFORE?

Really?!?!

I don't know if I'd sucker punch him once once just to make myself feel better or grab

the closest bottle of tequila and drown my sorrows away...

Clearly I don't have the maturity level that both these brothers possess.

 Nor can I say with confidence that I would  

go and watch my brother at the Olympics.

I would like to think I would do the right thing but

 actually "saying" you would do the right thing and actually "doing" the right thing

 are two separate things.

HOW DOES THIS STORY END? 

Jérémy will go to London and proudly watch his little brother compete at the Olympics.

And Gut? How has all of this affected him?

I don't know exactly.

What I do know is that he respects his brother dearly and has always looked up to him.

The Gut I remember was silly and charming and just so sweet. I RARELY ever heard him complain. Even now...when someone posts an old & embarrassing video of him 

I am sure he will just smile and say YOUPEEE!

(he has a good sense of humor)

I don't think I've ever seen a more supportive partnership

and bond between family.

When I look at these two people, 

I have nothing but a tremendous amount of respect and admiration.

Plus it's helps that they aren't THAT BAD to look at - ha!

;-)

But that is just a cherry on top.

Lauren's NEW Blogging System

As some of you know, I am moving to Dhaka Bangladesh in a month.

And if you didn't already know.

I am moving to Dhaka Bangladesh in a month.

Well to teach at an IB International School called ISD of course!

(smile)

But perhaps what most of you DON'T know if that I want to keep blogging.

In fact, I want to keep blogging with cooler equipment and well...

...here are some of the toys I am looking to purchase before my travels begin.

All very important items...especially the last one.

However, the one BAD thing is sometimes the internet isn't always reliable!

BAAAAAH - HUMBUG!

Guess it's kinda like having Bell?

Ohhhhhhhh SNAP!

It's early, throw me a bone.

Hope you guys are excited as me about all this - BOOM!

:-)