I began to train Goltis's exercises in October 2009. They consist of exercises focus on a different set of muscle groups for four days then from 1 to 3 days of rest, until I feel fully recovered. Before I began the exercises I was only training freediving, which I did 3 -4 times per week. This is sufficient if I am training dynamic in the pool, but if I am training deep diving, I start to gain weight and fat because I love to eat.

At this point I am doing 3 sets of each exercise. Today I was quads, by far the most difficult of all days for me, and I had a very interesting experience. I was feeling tired when I began training maybe because of my long day yesterday, but once I start there is no turning back. I was one set into the first exercise when I started to feel like I was burning up. I was paying very close attention to my technique and being sure to include the glut muscles more then I ever have before.

As my exercising continued my skin turned red all over my body, like I was very badly sun burned or like I drank too much Red bull. When I finished the work out I had to lie on the floor in complete silence to recover my energy, I was exhausted. I started to think about why my skin got so hot, my theory my body released major toxins that were stored deep inside my tissues, maybe some of the Cheesecake from the Bahamas is going?

I know that I am losing weight because my bobs are getting smaller, unfortunately they are always the first thing to shrink. They are the first thing to grow too, when I am putting on weight, so really it is a double edged sword. I am a person who likes instant gratification, I want to work out hard one day then have a perfect 6 pack the next, although it doesn't work like that for me.

This past 6 months I had felt my body changing because of these exercises, I am able to pull up a dive line on my own now and things seem lighter when I carry them. I am excited for further changes and the releasing of more toxins!

I wasn't expecting much for Valentines day , but I was pleasantly surprised with a fun filled day of adventure and romance. The day began with snowboarding in the morning at a local ski hill. You pay per time you take the lift, which I thought was very interesting since all of the ski hills I have ever been to in Canada you pay for a day pass.

Alexey is great at snowboarding and I think he had some good laughs watching me try to figure it out. He patiently watched me and stayed with me, even though I encouraged him to go off and enjoy the slopes on his own. Apparently I did very well for my first time back on the slopes in at least 10 years. Most sports feel uncomfortable when first learning them and snowboarding is the same.

After snowboarding we went into Moscow to train in the pool. Today was much more quiet then most because there were not any kayakers. Then to a party at a friends work, at Moscow's best equestrian center. It is decorated in old Russian style.

We had a tour of the stables and I got to pet and kiss many horses. Did you know that horses get jealous? I didn't sometimes we would be petting one horse and another would kick the stable because of wanting attention. I saw some very big horses that are specifically for jumping, the horses back was almost as tall as me! I think that I might go take a lesson before I leave for fun. After the tour of the stables we went upstairs for a wonderful 5 course meal.

Today was a wonderful day!

A friend suggested that I start blogging about all of my travels. I usually write large blogs, but I think I will try and write a little something everyday. Did you all see Julie and Julia? What a great movie. I was suddenly inspired about cooking and thought about undertaking a similar challenge. The only problem is I spend so little time in one place that culinary perfection does require having the right equipment. Most of the time when traveling I am just happy when there is a sharp knife in the kitchen.

Maybe if I decide to take a break from freediving I would be interested in enrolling in culinary school somewhere, but currently there is just no time in the day. I actually haven't been online very much. Currently I am staying North of Moscow, which means we have at least 2 hours in the car each day I need to go into town for pool training or exploring the city. Between my dry land training, my pool training, exploring Moscow, listening and trying to understand a foreign language everyday, I am exhausted by the time the evening rolls around.

My plan os to deliver regular blogs, today is the first day of this adventure.


The entrance to the world famous Red Square

Sorry a bit late, I am still very tired from last night's after party. I was the first to be thrown in the pool by my good friend Debby and I had to work very hard to detach her from Johan's leg and throw her in. I would not have been able to if I did not have help from Alexey. THANK YOU!!!

In the beginning of the struggle I was able to move the two of them about 2.5 M, then because I was I was soaking wet I slipped and fell on the tile. I won, that was the point, haha.

Later my body was very sore and tired and I was stretching at the party to relief the pain, anyway more details to come later once I recover....

There are no world records announced, but it should be a very exciting day regardless.

The women's category we see some very safe announcements from Natalia and Sara, fighting for a bronze medal, Misuzu, Klara and Jarmila are all within one meter of each other. Misuzu is announcing just one meter more then her current national record, Klara has added 11 M to her dive from the qualifications, and I believe Jarmila's personal best is 70M.

The men on the other hand have some very big announcements, all are deeper then they have ever done in competition except Herbert. It will be nice to see all white cards in their category, however I anticipate seeing some big fights on the surface. I believe all of their announcements are within their individual capacity, however with competition stress that may not be the case. We will see tomorrow...