Beyond...

First off, Happy Summer!

Told you I would be back. It was a tough day yesterday, I suffered through that night for some reason tossing and turning in my bed until 4 a.m. and was up 3 hours later for weights. But I got a better sleep last night.

I would like to take the time to give a shout out to the Barcelona Transit system. Unlike the manipulative and greasy Calgary Transit, you actually get money back when you don't have exact change... Calgary take note, if you want people to pay 3 bucks, just do it already or give me back my change!

Here is a wide shot of Barcelona taken from Park Gael, you can see the Sagrada Familia there in the middle. You're going to have to take my word for it but you can also see the Mediterranean Sea from here. I apologize for my iPhone 3Gs low quality photos.

Here are a couple more photos of Park Gael, a lot of Goudi structures.

Busy place.

Guillaume and Frank, I think there was something significant about this photo... Something about a movie but I can't remember.

After the park we jumped on the nearest metro and headed to the beach. The whole group was there and we spent close to 4 hours in the sun, unfortunately I have no pictures to show. Of course even if I had, they probably wouldn't have been very appropriate for this blog... Ha. It was cram packed full of people, nothing like the night before.

A few members of the team came back with very bad burns. I'm super glad I didn't take off my shirt and extremely happy that I caked on layers of sun screen periodically throughout that day. It was painful watching them put on their skin suits the next day at ice.

Speaking of ice here is a picture of the rink.

We share it with the French short track teams and the Mens French hockey team. It's a rough session when we skate right after the mens hockey team, fortunately their stay was short in comparison to ours.

I spend a large portion of the evenings playing Euchre with Michael, Jess and Jess. For a long time now, maybe 5 to 6 years, it's been Michael and I versus the Jess squared. For this camp, we have an ongoing tally of wins and currently it is 11 to 8 for Michael and I. The girls are catching up... But there's only a few days left to the camp!

The rest of the time is spent with my roommates, Remi and Francois-Louis either playing Jenga or watching An Idiot Abroad. Very funny show.

Louis, focused hard on the task at hand... Heh...

The following weekend (this past one) a few of us went and visited Villefranche de Conflent. This is a photo taken in the upper fortress which overlooks the main fortress below. We had a garrison style meal after a quick guided tour. I wish I had taken a photo of the platter of meat they gave us, consisting of pork chops, sausage and blood sausage.

I'll post a video soon of something I climbed just outside the fortress. It may be too large of file to post, especially with how slow and inconsistent the internet has been.

Here is an outer view of the upper fortress with the sign just out side the main fortress.

We had a chance to spend an hour in Villefranche de Conflent. Very beautiful streets which mostly consisted of souvenir shops. A highlight from this part of the trip was seeing Michael consume 9 euros worth of candy in as little of an hour! In his defense, the candy was a little expensive... But hats off Michael!

Here is a photo that I took inside the walls, Jess Gregg is just walking ahead in the crowd.

After that, we got back on the bus and took a short trip to a natural hot springs. I'm not a fan of water or even hot springs, especially when it's already hot out, so I opted out and took a short hike by myself. Here is a nice view from a couple hundred metres above the hot springs. Again, you'll have to take my word for it but on the left cliff top there are remnants of a very old structure.

We just finished our last hard practice of the camp and only one day of training remains before we head home on Friday morning. It's been a great trip and every moment has been worthwhile. But I am looking forward to getting home and having some free time to relax. Every day here has been go, go, go and it will be nice to shut down for a day or two.

Oh, and Congratulations to Jon and Veronick on their new little addition to their family!

Anyways, I'll try my best to get the video up next.

In the meantime, Enjoy!

Interlude

Completely random post, but those who know me well enough won't be that surprised. I'll finish updating Barcelona in a bit.

A link on refereeing in ancient times. And we thought we had it rough these days... ;)

http://io9.com/5813526/gladiators-tombstone-complains-about-bad-refs-1800-years-ago

Enjoy!

Barcelona and Beyond

Well it's 12:42 a.m. here in Font-Romeu and despite how ridiculously hard today's training was I cannot sleep... Cruddy insomnia. Just kidding... But seriously, this isn't the first time this has happened this camp. I've had a number of nights where I can barely sleep a wink. Lucky for you, I will sit here and write a blog post while chilling to the soothing melodies of the xx.

On the bright side, I'm slowly catching back up to the rest of the group. Leading into the camp I was a little behind on on-ice volume but I'm starting to feel a lot more comfortable and smooth. Every day is a challenge but it is very rewarding.

For "recovery" last weekend (not this past weekend but the one before) we went down to Barcelona. Ha...

I don't think much of us got much recovery, apart from a very good sleep down at sea level we did a ton of walking and sitting in the sun. Both of which are very draining, especially considering we were not used to either of those activities up in Font-Romeu!

Olivier Jean had already been to Barcelona a couple times and because we were only going to be there less than 24 hours total, he mapped out an awesome root for us to maximize our time there.

As soon as we touched ground we broke up into small groups and toured. First we (Frank, Alex, Guillaume, Francois-Louis and I) hit a bunch of Gaudi architecture, here are two pictures of some of the structures we saw below.

The world famous Sagrada Familia, under construction...

And Casa Mila.

Afterwards we took a long walk down one of Barcelona's more famous touristy streets, La Rambla. It wasn't particularly interesting beyond it being very busy so we veered off pretty quickly down a side street in search for a place to get some food. We found a decent place for some beer and tapas.

The random side street, believe it or not significantly less busy than La Rambla.

A little more walking and we found ourselves at the beach, where all the team managed to reunite.

Voila, the Mediterranean!

Ok, I think I'm finally getting tired so I will stop now. I will leave you with a cool picture of a random street when we got lost getting back to our hotel that night. I will try and get more in soon!

Enjoy!

A few Photos

I'll post more as the weeks go by, we head to Barcelona tomorrow afternoon, so I should have plenty then. Unless I forget to take pictures.

Gabs leg after wearing compression socks for the past 24+ hours of traveling. The stuff we put ourselves through...

An abandoned old hotel that Michael had come across the day before. Time for some further investigation!

Such beautiful decor in these rooms...

And what a view this hotel provides! That is ours the closest on the right there (doesn't offer as good of view).

Another great view from a different room.

The terrace leading up to the main entrance archway.

Like I said, the awesome view from our first floor apartment (taken this morning). We've been told that Font-Romeu provides at least 300 days of sun a year, but based on experience those claims lack credibility.

Font-Romeu

Hello from Font-Romeu, France!

The rain seems to follow me everywhere these days. Not that I'm really complaining though, since I actually really like rain, but it would be nice for a switch up. It rained a lot in Calgary before we left for Penticton, and then the entire Penticton camp it rained every day. Don't worry though, I don't like rain because I'm depressed or anything. When you grow up in a city like Medicine Hat where it is dry and you're almost guaranteed sun for 300 days out of the year you kind of start looking forward to clouds and rain! Plus, Medicine Hat was always nice and warm when it rained; when you went outside you enjoyed it.

It was a rough trip here, as usual, because I am incapable of sleeping on planes. I managed to survive 36 hours without sleep which would finally culminate into a 9 hour coma last night. Remi literally had to punch me this morning to wake me up.

Last night we made a 20 minute quick trip into Spain for dinner. It was a very nice five course meal! Ha ha. It was actually only four for me as one was seafood related (allergies). I have a funny video involving some wine and a baby but that will have to wait for now.

First training was good and rough today. I am physically fit right now, but I am a little behind when it comes to skating shape. The team from Montreal has spent more time on ice doing lap volume than I have, so I right now I am playing a little catch. It won't be long though.

Anyways, that is enough for now. I will update more AND WITH PICTURES (when I finally take some) soon.

Meanwhile, enjoy!

From Penticton to France

Well I am off to Font-Romeu, France today. Gabby and I are killing time in the Montreal airport right now. We arrived around 1:30 p.m. local time and our next flight isn't until later tonight. As well, we have to wait for the rest of our teammates to show up before we can head through security.

So I guess I have no good excuse not to write an entry today.

We are in Font-Romeu until June 24th, where we will be skating at a very high altitude. From what I hear, this is where the French team spends are large part of their season training, it has been producing excellent results for them.

Both Gabby and I have experienced skating at high elevation before. This past season, we were in Erzurum, Turkey for the World University Games, and it was even higher. The first day, it felt like I had been punch in the face couple with a swift round house kick to the stomach. Two laps felt like forty, and a relay of 8 by 2 laps was almost unbearable. But we managed to skate well considering and I know I got some really good conditioning while I was there. We were only in Erzurum for four and a half days, so I'm very excited for what THREE full weeks can accomplish.

I think we also have a team trip to Barcelona, Spain planned. Just a weekend trip to bring us back down to sea level for a couple days. That should be exciting as well. I should also mention that I have never been to Europe before. I've somehow managed to float around it each time, only lay overs, which I don't count. So it is very exciting for me.

I haven't had much time for recovery yet, it's been a very busy season so far. We just got back from a bike camp in Penticton, BC. Despite the fact that I'm not big into long rides, I managed to enjoy myself. Unfortunately though, I spent a large amount of my free time studying, as I had a final Wednesday. Throw in a few molds for Apex Racing Skates, it proved to be a busy camp!

I am taking a course through Athabasca University, which couldn't have been a worse decision...

I remember having a rough time last year taking courses from them, but I managed to push through it and got some really good marks. I naturally assumed I could do the same again, but this year proved different.

You would think that when you write quizzes for a class they would be a good indication of what material will be covered on the final (especially when there is 10 of them consisting of 120 MC total and 50 long/short answers). Evidently, I was wrong.

I'm no slouch when it comes to doing things on my own either, so my recommendation: Steer clear!

Anyways, needless to say it's been a busy few weeks. I hope everyone is enjoying the sun now that it's out in Alberta! I will update as much as I can throughout my travels in France.

Back from Montreal

First off, happy late easter everyone!

It was a fairly uneventful week in Montreal. We underwent a number of tests designed to analyze our current physical condition leading into the new season. I was poked, prodded, inoculated, questioned (Oh god, the questionaires...!), slave driven through physically exhausting and demanding experiments, thrown in test "pods" and even my blood harvested.

Results: Out Of Shape

Beyond what we've done on our own, our small Calgary group have done little so far for organized training. I took a number of trips out to the mountains where I either skied, boarded or hiked (where I rekindling my love for the slopes), but nothing to keep me in skating shape.

Start Monday though, we are on ice at Centennial and will continue skating there until the Oval opens back up at the beginning of August.

Last weekend, for the first time in years, I had an easter egg hunt. It was Michele's idea to see who was the better hunter or hider between the two of us. Turns out she's better than me at both... Sigh... I have no bragging rights. While placing the eggs for her, I came to the conclusion that I had purchased way to many easter treats for her consume alone. So I packed up the remainder and brought them with me to Montreal.

When we arrived Paul Hunter, our team physiotherapist, had to leave right away for a meeting with the Montreal support staff and Michael, Gabby and Jess wanted to go for a walk downtown. Perfect, I thought. Conveniently, I excused myself from the excursion as I needed to "study" leaving me alone to perform some mischief.

After a good ten minutes of pleading with the front desk I managed to convince them that I would be of no harm to my teammates rooms and they leant me the keys.

I caught up with Michael, Jess and Gabs afterwards and we found a place for supper down in China town. When we returned Michael walked straight to his computer and remained completely unaware of the hidden eggs surrounding him. I half expected him to do that when I placed them, so I made sure there were enough obvious ones around his computer area. No dice.

Fortunately, no more than five minutes had passed by before there was a knock at our door. I chuckled to myself, "that is so the girls..." I thought. Sure enough both Gabs and Jess barge in and frantically start looking around giggling to themselves and snatching up Michaels eggs... Michael, slightly shaken by their energy and enthusiasm finally clues in and starts hunting them himself, allowing me to relax on the bed, laughing and enjoying the chaos unfold.

One Year

I am sorry... I had the full intention of continuing my blog as soon as I returned from South America last year, but looking back now, the last thing I wanted to do was write about skating.

So, SURPRISE!

To be perfectly honest, a year ago I didn't even want to think about skating. I had to finish my classes and the previous summer's disappointment was still very fresh in my mind.

I was glued to my TV in February 2010, where I experienced a tidal wave of emotions. It was two extremely eventful and inspirational weeks and Canada dominated! As a Nation we had not only won the Olympics (Yes, we did, I don't care count the golds), but it had turned out to be pretty awesome Olympic Winter Games too.

Though for me, with the closing of the games, I was left hurt and confused about how to approach the coming two months to the end of my season. Still bruised and broken from the summer I had to push through to the last trials.

So I needed time away from it all. I thought the trip to South America would help refresh myself and reignite my convictions in continuing on for another four more years. But alas, I still needed more time.

I pushed the problem down deep and finished my classes (straight A's thank you very much) and inevitably fell back into the routine of things (mainly summer training).

It turned out to be your typical every year short track season, a roller coaster ride to say the very least. I skated two World Cups in China, coming 4th, 7th and 9th in my 500 m distances as well as 15th in the 1500 m. Both World Cups I skated the relay where we got a Gold and Silver. Later on in the season, I participated in the University Games in Erzurum, Turkey. I was 5th in both my 1000 m and 1500 m distances and brought back two Silvers, one in the 500 m and the other in the 5000 m relay. I don't think I would ever go back to China for a vacation, but as for Turkey... I can't wait! I was only there for four and a half days (three of those competing), but it was enough to leave me wanting more. Next time though, I'm visiting during the summer... ha ha.

I'll leave you with that for now, hopefully I'll have more news in the coming few months. We are heading to Montreal next week for a preseason camp and then I believe to Font-Romeu, France for the month of June to train on ice at elevation.

Killing Time

Hola everyone,

Yes it's been a while since I've posted anything. Partly because I've been keeping myself busy, but partly because I just didn't feel like writing anything.

I had planned keeping my blog updated during the Olympic games, but I found myself glued to the television. As I knew I would be, even though I would have never admitted it leading into the games. After the Olympics was done, school and skating took priority. I wanted to finish the season strong.

Trials went alright, I won the 500 m.

But that's all behind me.

All that matters from here on is where I am now, and where I'm going.

Currently, I find myself sitting in beautiful downtown Mendoza, Argentina. My Calgary Team's Vancouver theme song is blaring in the background, "I've Gotta Felling".

My girlfriend Michele came down to South America just over three months ago and I decided to come catch up with her for the final part of her trip. We're on our way back to Santiago, Chile where we'll be heading home to Canada Wednesday evening. It's been unbelievable. I almost forgot how great is to just travel, compared to travelling somewhere to skate and compete. If you ever want a taste of something truely magnicent, book a flight to Bariloche, Argentina! It's too amazing to even describe.

That's what camera's are for.

I'll be posting pictures when I can snag some off Michele. I've posted a bunch via my iPhone to facebook whenever I can leech off of some good WiFi. But my iPhone only does alright for pictures, nothing compared to Michele's camera. For the meantime, you can catch up on her activities and any pictures she posts by going to:

http://mmbourgo.blogspot.com/

Moving on, I'll admit this much... I plan on skating the next four year cycle leading into the next Olympic Games in Sochi, Russia. My sites are set on those Sochi Games.

I'm trying not to think about that too much though. I have a little time left before we start training hard again, so I'm going to spend it doing things I normally can't do during our season. One being school... Oye... Ha ha. ;)

Anyways, stay frosty!

PS: I have no clue how to read those characters and translators just don't cut it... Ha ha.

Igniting Hearts

It was an experience of a lifetime. Thinking about it now still sends shivers down my spine.

Yesterday morning felt really long; everyone in the house was busy getting ready for the day's events. But me being me, I just wanted to relax and cruise through the morning stress free. I approached the day no differently than I did when I competed at Olympic trials - remain calm and don't panic.

Shortly after lunch I took off to the Family Leisure Centre where I met with a few members of the Medicine Hat Speed Skating Club. They are all knew faces, but very welcoming. I'm still a member of the club but it's hard for me to get down and see them while I train full time in Calgary.

I did a presentation in front of approximately 40 members of the community, talking about Speed Skating, my experiences in the sport and everything it's given me.

Afterwards, I strapped on my gear and headed onto the rink for a demonstration with a few members of the club. I got them to do some drills with me, and we had some fun mock races. Man, I love doing that stuff; the kids have so much energy and they really open up to me. I think they just see me as a big kid! We had about one hundred spectators watching the demo and a few even built up enough courage to come out and try.

Here is an article from the Globe and Mail on the event:

http://www.ctvolympics.ca/torch/news/newsid=26398.html#2014+olympic+hopeful+will+carry+torch

When that was done I went home to get a quick bite before heading over to get briefed for carrying the torch. When I got there I could feel the anxiety building. I shrugged it off as best I could and spent some time familiarizing myself with some of the other torch bearers.

We dropped the first four torch bearers off in Redcliff and then carried on to Medicine Hat.

As we inched closer and closer to the Medicine Hat Teepee I could see the lights coming from the evening's festivities. When we were about 800 m's from the stage, it was finally my turn to step off the bus - I was the last. As soon as I stepped off though, I could hear the crowd - it was loud. I spent some time getting pictures taken with people, some even handed me their babies! Ha Ha. There I was, baby in one hand, torch in the other.

Then came the flame.

I knew the torchbearer who would be handing the flame off to me, he is the father of a guy I went to school with. As soon as my torch was lit, emotions flowed through me; I'm sorry but they are beyond description.

The guy that was directing me asked if I'd like to get a picture with my family and friends before I took off with the flame; but I pointed out that they were not in the nearby crowd of people. I knew that they had been given front row spots to the lighting of the cauldron.

At this point we were running ahead of schedule; they were recommending me to walk the torch in. I almost laughed at him. First of all I am an athlete, and second I was very, very cold and needed to warm up. So, I started to fake jog. They were walking at the same pace I was "jogging". As I got nearer and nearer to the stage, people started to swarm and the crowd was getting very thick.

My entry with the flame was announced and the crowd went wild. Something popped into throat and I was fighting back tears. My jog was real now. I have honestly never felt a shudder like that before. I remember one similar when we were at Canada Winter Games back in 2003, but this was more intense.

It was for the Olympic flame and it was for me.

I was no longer cold, but a shiver went through my body.

Soon I arrived at the media area. I had to stand with the flame for a few moments before proceeding to the stage. I turned and found my Aunt, Uncle, Cousin, Baba and Gido standing there. They treated my family like celebrities. I didn't see my parents or my sister yet though.

The media moved aside and I ran a few more steps to where I saw my Mother, my Sister and my Dad all in tears. At this point, all I thought, "That's it, I'm going to cry". I grabbed my mom's hand as I went by and walked up the stage, carefully.

I made it this far without messing up!

When I got to the top of the steps I turned around and raised the flame. I could finally see how many people there were now. It was massive! Like, no joke, there were tens of thousands there. Medicine Hat had an amazing turn out!

So I turned and walked to the cauldron. I looked to the crowd and raised my arms initiating a huge cheer. Then I put both hands on the torch and lit the cauldron, which sent a ripple of cheering through the crowd.

On stage there were a couple presentation and a few interviews; including one with me.

Later, after all the interviews with the media were done, I stepped out from behind the yellow security tape. Immediately, I was swarmed by people wanting a picture taken with me and the torch. I made sure as many people got to hold it as possible. One volunteer even wanted a picture of me on his trike!

The night went later than expected due to all the people wanting pictures. I didn't mind though; it's a once in a lifetime opportunity, even to just touch the torch.

When I finally got into the car I collapsed. I was on such a high, it was time to come down.

All in all it's an experience I will always cherish, it's already propelling my thoughts forward to the 2014 games in Sochi, Russia. I'm so unbelievably grateful to the Community of Medicine Hat for giving me this wonderful opportunity! I am truly honoured.

The flame unites communities, it unites countries, and it ignites hearts all around the world!

It sure ignites mine.

(I would like to thank my family for their amazing support, as well, my Sister, my Uncle Len, my Dad and my cousin Katrina for the pictures)

Here is the video of me bringing in the Olympic Flame courtesy of my former teacher Mr. John Laing!

Some Days...

Still in Montreal, I will be here until Friday. Training is going well, but my body is feeling very tired right now.

I had an interesting evening, on my return to the hotel tonight I noticed a couple of fire trucks lined outside. Being us, Michael and I joked about having left the pot on while we were at training. When we came into the lobby there was an abnormally large number of people in the waiting area, they didn't look very happy. We asked at the front desk what was wrong and they replied casually, "Oh, there is just some water in peoples rooms, no worries."

I shrugged it off, I was very tired from training and not putting two and two together very well. Training had gone late and I was looking to get some food in me. We got up to our room and found the entire place covered in water. Like I mean "two inch deep, pipe bursting, water fall from the ceiling" covered in water. Most of my stuff was soaked.

Still is.

"No worries" my butt.

Normally, I put my computer in my suitcase and just cover it up with clothes, but today I was running late so I just threw it on the middle of my bed. HA, guess what!? Fortunately, that was the one part of my room that wasn't super soaked with water... Oye.

After a few loud words, cough cough... we went downstairs and they said that we would be switching rooms. This meant us going back upstairs and packing everything up.

Wet, tired, and hungry, I packed my soaked luggage. Yes, I was wet, in order for me to pack I had to frequently go between different waterfalls in my room.

In the midst of packing I noticed a number of people frantically waving at me from the window across the courtyard. I was thrown aback for a second until I recognized one of them, it was the Korean team! They had been staying across from us for a couple of days and we didn't even know!

So I ran over to them to see if they were swimming in a pool of water as well. Turns out they weren't, but they came and splashed around in ours. They are super nice, they ended up cooking dinner for Michael and I! So we sat around eating Korean food and made best of what English they knew for the better part of an hour and a half.

Now I'm sitting on the 11th floor typing and with a much nicer view of the city! I've strategically placed my luggage behind me so I don't have to look at it.

I will see if I can get pictures up of us and the Koreans tomorrow. May be tough though!

The Olympic Torch

So here's the news, back in July I got an unusual call from the City of Medicine Hat. Unusual in the sense that I never get a call from the City of Medicine Hat. Turns out, they submitted my name to be a torch bearer in Medicine Hat this coming January 16th! But wait a minute that's not all, I will be the final torch bearer that evening and will be lighting the cauldron in Medicine Hat. The Olypmic flame will be staying there over night.

I was told back in July them to keep it a secret, which I did, I was completely focused on other things. Particularly, the upcoming Olympic trials! Needless to say, I am honoured to have been given this wonderful opportunity. I am proud to represent Medicine Hat and Canada.

So Medicine Hat... I will be seeing you all very soon!