At least for me.
What about you?
My official 100% Spring allergy free day is normally July 1st. But when I travel to Idaho before that date, the symptoms are pretty much GONE.
And we drive to Coeur d’Alene today. This will be my 6th annual HPTC gymnastics camp there. This year a heap of Canadian gymnasts are going for the first time.
Just picked up my ticket.
I am being sent as a volunteer to lead a gymnastics coaching course in Phnom Penh July 7th – 17th.
This after being named an “expert” by the International Gymnastics Federation who coordinates my trip. The program is called Olympic Solidarity — with funding coming originally from IOC television revenue.
I’ve done similar volunteer assignments in Trinidad, Sri Lanka and Australia for other organizations.
Cambodia – Wikipedia
I loved Cambodia the only other time I was there. (1998)
I could stay longer (as usual). But Asia is HOT in July. Will return home via Vancouver.
I returned to Athens, Georgia to watch the NCAA Women’s Gymnastics Championships.
This is another small American College town. Beautiful.
One highlight, some unexpected statues on the grounds:
Thanks to Dave and Lisa who hosted me over the past week, once again, in North Idaho.
We stayed a few days at the famous resort.
original – flickr – Coeur d’Alene Resort
The view from the penthouse was … OK.
More resort photos.
I was volunteering at their annual gymnastics competition, the Great West Gym Fest.
Today travelling with their club on to the next competition, the Battle in Seattle.
How will the old men running China react to this kind of scrutiny leading up to the Olympic Games next year?
I expect them to make concessions to democratic reform.
In this innovative ad, Amnesty International comes dangerously close to violating the heavily protected Olympic Rings trademark. At the same time, they get their point powerfully across.
The ad text reads, “In the name of ensuring stability and harmony in the country during the 2008 Olympic Games, the Chinese Government continues to detain and harass political activists, journalists, lawyers and human rights workers.” …
Beijing Olympic Rings of Torture – Amnesty International’s Shock Campaign
Bill, Warren and Elaine have done some team Adventure Races over the past few years.
I’ve managed to avoid joining them.
Dundurn Navigation Marathon 2007 set – flickr – Warren Long
But it seems I’ve made a commitment to start-up with a bunch of newbies (mostly gymnastics coaches) from Idaho. We’re already pencilling-in a “sprint” for 2008.
A sprint is often 4 disciplines: mountain biking, trekking, kayaking and climbing over a total of 12-30 miles over inhospitable terrain. Races may include mystery challenges, such as archery, orienteering, Cauldron Crawl, Tyrolean Traverse, swimming, knot tying, rock wall climbing and puzzles.
It’s a bit intimidating looking at the recommended training regime:
Many of your races will start out with a run that turns into a hike or scramble, so you’d better be ready on all counts. Hiking and running muscles are very different, so you need to train both — and practicing scrambling (on as many different types of terrain as you can find, including wet, slippery stuff) is the key to gaining that competitive advantage on the roadies.
Training:
• For a race of 12 hours or less, you should follow a half marathon training plan, but do most of your runs on trails, if possible.
• For a race of more than 12 hours, you should follow a full marathon training plan and use the same guidelines.
• Start doing hill repeats (i.e. four to six sets of 80 percent effort on a hill that takes three to four minutes to run) and interval training (two-three-four-five minutes “on” with an equal amount of rest in the “off” phase) twice per week in the final month of training leading up to the race.Tips:
• Race and train in trail running shoes versus regular road running shoes. (Better grip, more stability, fewer stone bruises and fewer blisters.)
• Practice running/hiking with a 10-15 pound pack several times before your race, both for the strength benefits and the knowledge of your equipment (i.e. how are you going to get to your water? Food? Where is the most efficient place to store required gear for easy access? Does the pack grate you like cheese on your neck, back, arms?) …
GOD! It goes on and on: Paddling, Navigation, Mountain Biking, Climbing: Active.com – Adventure racing 101: A quick-start guide
Bottom line:
8 Essential Elements of Human Synergy
T Total commitment
E Empathy and awareness of teammates
A Adversity management
M Mutual respect
W “We” versus “I” thinking
O Ownership of the project
R Relinquishment of ego
K Kinetic leadership
Looks like FUN, at least.
source – flickr
This was my 5th year helping out with Dave and Lisa Adlard’s FUNtastic gymnastics camp in Coeur d’Alene. (I spell that name differently every time.)
As usual, I posted photos of the kids and coaches.
This was my 5th year at Adlard’s High Performance Training Camp. Another great event!
After the competition some of us headed out to the new lake cabin just purchased by Barbara Anne and Michael.
Here’s the view from the deck:
BEFORE the tree was chopped down
AFTER the tree was chopped down
Later we headed out to camp at a reservoir in Montana in celebration of the 4th of July.
more photos on flickr
I heard an audiocast interview with celebrity CEO Barry Diller.
He was being interviewed because his firm — IAC/InterActiveCorp — had been named America’s #1 Most Admired Company in the Internet Services and Retailing Industry by Fortune Magazine.
I’m supposed to be following what’s happening on the internet. And I’d never even heard of IAC.
Some of their websites are familiar:
* Bloglines.com
* Excite.com
* Ticketmaster.com
* Match.com
And, of course, their Ask.com search engine:
It’s “pretty“. But search results are TERRIBLE compared with Google. (Try it yourself on a search term you know well.)
So far as I can see, Google continues to draw away from the rest of the field when it comes to search. (Thought Microsoft has improved from worst-of-all to 3rd best.)
IAC is getting good press as Google’s up-and-coming rival.
Competition is good. Go IAC!
But Google is my most admired brand when it comes to search.
You will save a lot of time if you use Google to search over any other engine, especially Ask.
One of my favourite movies is the first Wayne’s World. Mike Myers and his nerdy pal Garth (Dana Carvey) are “teens who live at home and have their own low-rent cable-access TV show in Aurora, Illinios, in which they celebrate their favorite female movie stars and heavy-metal bands.”
This past week-end I lived Rick’s World.
One minute I was a volunteer Floor Manager at the Canadian Gymnastics Championships in Regina — the next, called up to the VIP mezzanine, suddenly moderating a live-to-tape 3hr broadcast of the Finals.
(Pretty boys like Bart Conner and myself are often asked to be TV sport commentators.)
I had a number of expert assistants in each of the gymnastics disciplines. Even Olympic Floor Champion Kyle Shewfelt stopped by for a chat.
What I like about cable TV is that it’s unscripted and irreverent. The more blatantly amateur and “real” the coverage, the more I appreciate it compared with professional Network TV.
Now that I am a celebrity of the Canadian gymnastics media elite, I’d like to thank the little people: athletes, coaches, judges and volunteers without whom there would be no local cable TV coverage.
Bad on those jealous few who complained I disappeared completely from the Floor after being called upstairs.
more random photos from Nationals 2007 – flickr
Rick McCharles 
