R.I.P. Cody Preston

Cody Preston passed away on Sunday night. It was really unexpected and a truly sad loss. Cody was so bright, intelligent, and happy. He was always up for anything and wanted to be involved in all the action.

Cody was truly a great friend and he will be missed by the whole family. My Dad has posted some wonderful pics Here.

Godspeed Cody, we'll miss you!

Back Home

Whew, what a crazy busy couple of weeks. Back home in Dublin now and back to work. The Games were great, even though we didn't win anything. It was still a great experience and we earned a whole lot of respect from the best players in the world. I for one am so very proud of all the lads. Everyone gave 100% for every second of every game, never giving up.

Unfortunately for me, my thumb injury was a bit worse than initially thought. It was nearly impossible for me to hold a stick, and checking people was very painful. Lots and lots of tape helped to immobilize and reinforce it, but each game just made it worse. Chris got sick while I was gone, and J's chicken pox weren't making things easier, so I headed home a few days early to take care of them and heal up a bit. Drove me nearly insane to have to watch the last games from afar, but family first ya know?

J's chicken pox have cleared up and he got the all-clear to head back to school last Thursday. He's been the happiest little boy since, as he was bouncing off the walls not being able to get out of the house for over a week. :-) I've had my thumb taped up since the injury, but am now able to move it a bit more and almost grasp things properly. I'll be heading to a specialist in the next week or so to see if I'll need surgery to fix it properly. If I'm lucky it'll just scar up and heal on it's own.

Back to the grind now and sorting through a few hundred emails and catching up things, so apologies if I'm slow to respond to emails and such.

Lastly, I wanted to thank everyone for all their contributions and assistance the last couple of months. Without your help I never would have been able to take advantage of this once in a lifetime opportunity!

Getting Started

Alright so, been in training twice a day the last couple of days. Well sore, but learning a whole lot. I've been put on Defense, which I've never played before as I'm a Forward in box. I was a tad disappointed at first, but our D coach Dan Lidl has shown me a lot about what I can contribute on the D side.

This all came to a head tonight when we squared up for our first game as a team (and a few of the guys first ever Box game) against Team Nova Scotia. It took us a bit to settle in on Offense, with a flurry of goals in the last couple of minutes to end at 10-6, Nova Scotia. A loss yes, but the first two quarters really were just us getting sorted out playing with each other. Once we settled in, we won both the 3rd and 4th quarters. A very good result for a bunch of guys who just met a couple of days ago. For myself, I had probably the best game I've ever had. I felt really comfortable on D and especially on Man-Down Defense. I dunno, I've never played D before, but tonight I felt like I really belonged there. Our entire D line was amazing, to tell the truth. We all communicated really well and made it very very difficult for the NS boys. The 'big' guys went down hard when I popped them, and I was even able to snag two shots right off my man (caught the ball in my stick when he tried to shoot) :-) I got a lot of comments from the lads afterwards that they'd never seen me play so hard, fast and aggressive. Although it was a loss, I really felt that I and my team really accomplished something amazing.

Injuries:
Yep, already a couple for this old boy. Yesterday I jammed my wrist pretty good, so have been icing it and wrapping it up before sessions which has helped a good bit (our local physio Tara is Awesome). Then in today's game, in the second quarter I forced a turnover and while going after the ground ball was pushed from behind. Unfortunately, I stuck my hand out and my thumb bent straight back under the weight of my body, popping out and then back in.

After I finished banging on the back wall in pain, I was able to ice it up and tape the heck out of it and get back into the game. Tara took a look and says I've torn some tendons, but should be alright with some ice and a good taping before matches.

Kid's clinic:
We had a kid's clinic before the game tonight, and about 50+ kids showed up, boys and girls. They've all only played a year at most, and from what the parents were telling us they'd been looking forward to coming to the camp for months. There was one real little guy, Colin, who's 8 years old and has been playing Ice Hockey and Box lacrosse for about a year now. He was so into it, having so much fun (every kid was having a brilliant time really) He reminded me a lot of Jaidon. I so wish Chris and J could be here with me.

After the clinic we had a photo session with all the kids and did a whole lot of autograph signing: papers, t-shirts, hats, you name it. It was really sweet how a few of the kids I had taken aside to coach a bit came up to ask for a one on one photo. The best though was seeing all the kids that night at the game, behind the boards cheering us on. They were really going mental! :-) Also, when I came off with my thumb injury, a whole group of them came running up to make sure I was okay. It was surreal...

Wired

Mmmmmmm... Maple Syrup.. Sacralicious...

Well, made it to Halifax safe 'n sound. Up at St. Francis Xavier University at the moment where we'll be training all week. After a bit of investigation last night, found that the dorm room I'm in has a cat5 jack, and I just so happen to bring a cable with me. :-) So, I'll have internet access all this week. Don't know about next week though, but I'm more concerned with playing lacrosse at the moment than checking email. ;-)

Only light training today as the last of the team and coaches arrive on campus and we get settled in. I'll snap a few pics of the campus and such today. Updates to follow!

Outta Here

Last night had a nice dinner up at the Purty Kitchen with the other national team lads and a few of the club boys. My mate James from work and his family watched Jaidon last night so Chris could come out with us. Only problem is, J woke up this morning with a bad case of Chicken Pox. :-(

J's spots got worse all day, and we picked up some Calamine lotion and oatmeal bath mix to try and help him out a bit. Had a nice scare tonight when putting the lotion on his back. The bottle slipped out of my hand and when it hit the floor a bit splashed up and got me in the eye. After 30 min or so flushing my eye out I think I got it all, though it still stings pretty good. Really hope there's no long-term effects.

J's really really itchy, but has been a real trooper. Hopefully it won't get any worse and he'll get through it pretty quick. Feeling pretty guilty to be heading out tomorrow morning, leaving Chris to take care of him all alone. :-(

Heading to the airport bright and early tomorrow morning. Both excited to be going, but bummed to be leaving the family behind. I'm told the campus facilities we'll be at this first week will have internet access in the rooms, so I should be able to keep in touch with Chris and J. I'll try and keep the blog updated as well.

Before I head out the door though, a HUGE THANK YOU to all of you! Without your help and support, I wouldn't be getting on that plane tomorrow morning. You ROCK!

Getting Amp'd!

Just finishing up some last emails and setting my OOF. Can't wait for Monday!!

Last night hit the gym just before they closed up: CF Warmup & 5km Row (no footstraps, lev 6).
Felt real good afterward. The shoulder is still giving a bit of trouble, but should be good to go by monday. Taking today off as I'll have practice this weekend, then off to Halifax on Monday.

Only one thing to dampen the mood. The Monster died on me this morning.. :-( No lights, no power, nothing. Thankfully I was already off the motorway and near enough (barely) to the office to be able to push it into the parking garage. All the fuses look fine, so I'm thinking there must be a short or ground somewhere. Either way, I'll have to come back tonight and see if I can figure it out and get it home. Can't leave it here at work for 2 weeks...

Quick update

Really really busy today, so only have a few minutes to post up an update:

Last night's WO:

CF Warm-up
5km Run (approx. 20 min)

This morning's WO:

CF Warm-up
Back Squat 5 sets of 5 reps (5x5) - 100kg
Push-press 3 sets of 5 reps (3x5) - 50kg
My right bicep and shoulder are still bothering, with some impingement happening (also lots of popping when rotating the cuff), so lowered the weight to a more manageable (barely) 50kg on the Push-Press.

Riggers on the Web

Sharon found a link and article on the Riggers Prague Tourney

Burnsie's famous! (in Canada) :-)