Flying Pigs - 2nd Place PNW Women's Tourney?!

Time for that annual pink ritual where I don my all-time favorite jersey and play for The Big Fat Flying Pigs at the annual Pac NW Women's Tournament at Canlan Ice in North Vancouver, British Columbia. One thing that is ALWAYS guaranteed is good times with my pals from NoCal (many who I met through the Northern California Women's Hockey League) sprinkled with some ladies I brought on from the Seattle Women's Hockey Club to complete the roster. This year, something very magical happened - the Pigs won a game....again, and again, and again. Once we caught our breath, we found ourselves playing in the Championship game. Here's a brief wrap-up of how we got there.

Game 1 vs. Eugene Extreme: Wish I could tell you about this game, but KT and I were a *little* late after a passport snafu ("uh....KT, you packed your passport, right?") But, we were determined to get up there for some ice time and made it in time to play the 3rd period. Our roster was already short with only 9 skaters so for the first two periods, the Pigs were down to 7. We got to the rink and I saw the score 3-0 and assumed the other team was winning. But, we got to the bench and to our amazement, the Pigs were ahead. We got there just in time and managed to help the team to a 5-1 win. Oink!

Game 2 vs. Stanley Cupcakes: This was a great team to play after Eugene Extreme because a lot were fresh novice players so it was a good recovery game for most of the Pigs after Game 1. It was an easy victory but we used the time to work on passing and puck handling. The final score was 5-1 and the realization that we were on a winning streak. Huh?!

Game 3 vs. Motherpuckers: I don't know what it is about our team - maybe it's the pink jerseys. But, we only got 2 penalty minutes the entire tournament and it was during this game. Generally, we thought the refs were letting the other team get away with a lot of chippy moves and it was a bit frustrating. Before the final game of the tourney, this was definitely the hardest game for us but we managed a 2-0 or 2-1 victory. I can't remember - the tournament extracurricular activities were starting to take effect on my memory :-)

Game 4 vs. Patriots: Sunday morning. Always the hardest game to play in a tournament and it was also our fourth game. One thing for sure about this tournament, you get your money's worth!! We figured if we won this game, we were in the finals and if we tied we were out. A lot of mixed feelings: on the one hand, we wanted to win since we had come this far and wanted to play in the finals; but on the other hand, it would mean we play our fifth game at 2:30 on a glorious Sunday afternoon. But, once that buzzer went off, our instinct kicked in and we skated hard and pulled out a win. Final score was either 2-0 or 2-1. I can't remember - again, memory is foggy and, I had just enough energy to focus on the task at hand (I keep asking myself "why?" when I feel like crap the next day). Woot! Victory and we were in 1st place - the PIGS UNDEFEATED!! Huh?! What was going on?

Game 5 vs. Eugene Extreme: Rematch of Friday night. And, what a game it was. Eugene went ahead 2-0 but with 4 minutes left in regulation, Superstar Shauna scored a goal and then another to tie the game with less than 2 minutes left in the game. Crazy!!!! For OT, we played a 4-4 sudden death but 2 minutes into it, Eugene scored on a breakaway goal. Nonetheless, it was good fun and probably my favorite tournament to date. Well, OK - maybe my co-ed tourney with the Mudflaps :-)) but that was my favorite for another reason (yummy). But, I would definitely recommend to any woman ice hockey player to participate in this tourney - one of the best out there!

Congratulations Big Fat Flying Pigs!! Nice bling!! See you next year! "Loving you, is easy 'cause you're beautiful. La la la la la. La la la la la. La la la la la la la la la la la. Dootin' dootin' doo doo. Aaaaaaahhhh!"

5 games in 3 days - "I'm fuckin' done!"

My First Outrigger Canoe Race(s)

Last Thursday, I showed up for practice with SOCC, and before I knew it, I was signed up for my first outrigger race. This past Saturday, at Lake Spanaway, was the first day of sprint races in the Pac NW. I was signed up for 4 races: 1 - 500m, 2 - 1000m, and the final race of the day...1500 m! I couldn't have asked for a more perfect day. After a week of rain and cool weather, the sun came out on Saturday in spectacular fashion with highs reaching about 75, though, sometimes it felt like 90! It wasn't Hawaii, but it was dang close - with ample spam musubis to nosh on in between races. Aaahh....love the island people.

I really had no idea what to expect other than a lot of hurry up and wait. And, in true Hawaiian fashion, we were running on island time. Had I known, I could've slept in a few hours. I showed up at 7:30 am, but my first race wasn't until close to noon. Oh well, it was a great time to take in the atmosphere, take in some much needed Vit D, and get to know the other club members. The day started off with a prayer and lei dedication - I wish I had taken a picture, but that's the time we all head to the beach with paddles in hand and raise it in the end of the prayer. The "proper" way to hold a paddle is with the blade up and the handle down - the idea is that if you point the blade down, then all the energy and power drains out. We also do a cheer while touching the kanu after each race (actually, after each session the boat is out on the water) for good luck and part of the outrigger tradition.

Unlike other sports I partake in, there's really no time to get out to warm up and practice your stroke. My first race, a 500 m sprint, was the warm-up. And, it was too short to really get a rhythm - my strokes had to be quicker and faster and by the time I really started to engage my full body and began to feel the proper rhythm, it was over. Oh well....more waiting time for my 1000 m races. I really enjoyed the 1000 m and 1500 m races because not only did I have more time to get my timing right, and full body into my strokes, we also got to do some turns which is hella-fun....each seat has their own responsibility on that turn and the steerman's calls. Being a novice, I was in seats 3, 4, or 5 so all I had to do was paddle, but one day I will be in seats 1 or 2, and, who knows, maybe a steerman because I love barking out commands and can't keep my mouth shut.

I wasn't in a boat that finished first, but managed a 3rd place finish in the OC-6 open - holy cow, it was amazing how fast we were going with 3 powerful men in the boat. My last event was the longest of the day which was an 0C-6 1500 m open women's race which meant we had 5 turns to do on the course. I can't remember how we finished (4th?), but after that event, as I had guessed, long-distance races are going to be my thing. I love digging in and finding that sweet rhythm where you have every muscle engaged in your movement and fine-tuning things to ensure you're not only going at maximum, but also moving your body in an efficient manner to ensure you're using your bigger muscles like your back and quads so you have enough to last the race and with enough reserves to make that final push. So friggin' fun and the good news is that I am not sore today!!

I'm going to miss next week's sprints at Green Lake because of a hockey tourney I had signed up for in N. Vancouver - sigh, it's that time of year again where there are so many things to do and just not enough time. I can't wait to get back out on the water and I am going to sign up for as many races as I can - maybe be in shape for the long distance/change-out races in Catalina later this summer. Sweet!! Here's a link to more pics from the races at Lake Spanaway. Aloha!