Double take!

Yesterday I went into Ueda. I took 2 juniors to Ueda station and picked Manami up at 5 pm. I had a hour of free time so I went to Donki Hote to buy a new brush bag. I also saw some Scotch for sale. I bought it thinking Takasawa San and I could sip it now and then. So happens he had the same idea and bought the same one. We are definitely not short of Scotch now.

Hina Doll Gift

I was very fortunate to receive a gift from Ishizaki San. A pair of Hina Dolls. Actually Tachibina! They are very Beautiful! Thank you very much. Makaiya and Tajanna will enjoy them very much!

Doug's core work out

After video we all did a work out together. Stomach back and legs. In my plank position Shohei made it harder on me by sitting on my back. Good work out though. Thanks Shohei

Congratulations To Kasumi

We are all very proud of Kasumi Ito for her performance at the All Japan Jr. high school race. 6th in SL, tied for 3rd in GS. Great Job!

I am very proud of all Accel customers pressing for new personal bests! Keep it up! Great race results will follow!

Bye for now.

Doug

Hi From Doug

Hi Everyone,

Sorry it has been a long time since my last update! Busy, Busy! I am grateful for that! So thank you all for your continual visits to train at Accel!

So far in the early races results have been solid. Great Job to all! From what I have seen in our training, all have been pushing hard for new personal bests! Perfect! That is all we can do is push for a new personal bests. No worry about any other racers. Focus on what we can do to improve in all areas of preparation.

I have been doing some basic drills mixed in with our normal gate training. From what I have seen, we definitely need to do more of those drills. Another weak point is strength and power in lacking. Ski racing is a power sport! If you can work hard in the summer to improve in that area you would have a big advantage over others!

Snow conditions are great up here. I look forward to seeing you soon!

Doug

First day at Tsubakuro

Hello Everyone!

It was our first day of free skiing at Tsubakuro! Only the short lift on the the flats is open. It was ok for doing some basic training. Tomorrow we are able to ski at Omatsu yama though. That will be better. Longer run and slightly steeper!! Tsubakuro and Omastsu yama have done a great job to prepare the man made snow.

I am looking forward to seeing you all soon!

Bye for now.

Doug

Arrival in Japan

Hi everybody,

I am happy to say I have arrived in Japan!!!!!!!! I am actually already in Sugadaira. It is cooling down. -2 Celsius! Hopefully the ski resorts will make snow tonight.

I look forward to seeing every one!

Bye for now!

Doug

Last Day in Canada with family

Hi !

It is always stressful this time of year. Leaving my family for 4 months. We spent the whole day with each other.

We went ice skating at a free city of Kelowna rink. We also made a ginger bread house and started to eat it. Chrissy and Makaiya just beat me in a game of soccer too.

See you soon.

Christmas decorating

Hi all!

The first of December! Chrissy, Makaiya , and I decorated our Christmas tree. Chrissy of course had to keep going with the Christmas spirit and dress the rest of the house up too. I think it looks great!

I am on my way to Japan soon. I am looking forward to seeing you all again! And watch you all ski well balanced and fast! It is going to be a great season! Remember to always come to the ski hill with your body warmed up before you start skiing. To have the best chance to ski your best and to prevent injury.

See you soon.

Doug

New DVD'S

Hi All,

This season new DVD's arrived today. They look good as usual.

Kelowna is getting a dump of snow. Around 6 cm in the city. Unusual for Kelowna. Great for the local ski hills.

Bye for now.

Doug

Happy Halloween!

Hi all!

Happy Halloween! Makaiya is out trick or treating now with Chrissy, Tajanna and some other friends. Free candy yum!

Makaiya dressed up as a Masquerade, ghost, princess ! Chrissy did a great job dressing here up.

She also got way too much candy!

Bye for now.

Doug

More at home work outs!

Hi again,

Getting closer to the season so it is good to do sport specific training. It is good to train your Anaerobic lactic muscle system. That is a work out in duration from 45 to 120 seconds, 3 times per week. Kind of like the length of a ski race. You could do 400m to 600m sprints. 3 to 5 sets. A good way to do it is always warm up jog and stretch first. Have a light sweat going. Then sprint one lap walk a lap to recover and repeat.

Another is try M 100's a great work out in your house again while watching tv. If you have the room to move safely that is. I tried them. Good wok out!

More!

Pulse ups 25 reps.

Back arches 25 reps.

Legs in and out 25 reps.

More !

Hips Roll and up 25 reps.

Scissor legs slowly 25 reps.

Side plank up and down both sides 25 reps.

Core work out pictures

Hi all,

Here area few core exercises I do. Usually while we are watching tv in the evening. It is important to do both sides of your core, stomach and back. Core is something you can train every day or every night. The reps you do will depend on your strength. Do at least 6 sets. More if possible. Push your self!

I do a plank on a wobble board first for 2 minutes to warm up my core.

Twisting side plank 25 reps each side.

Frog crunches 25.

At home work outs

Hi!

To find time to work out is challenging when we have our normal career. I some times do a work out in the am before work. Which includes interval running. ( a 40 minute run. 15 minutes slowly increasing intensity as my body warms up. I then run at 80% of full speed for One and a half minutes to two minutes. Jog till my heart rate drops then 80% again and alternate.

Another good time is after dinner. I do a core work out. I will share photos of what I do next time.

Bye for now.

Doug

Golf Frustration

Hello,

I would like to continue to share my progression in my pursuit of excellence in golf. I have been still practicing fairly often. Played 2 times recently. The first game was with an old ski racing friend of mine. I really wanted to score well and beat him. I ended up trying too hard and not swinging with lag from my shoulders and wrists. I released the club too quickly. I had a really bad game and shot a 90. My worst score of the season!! I was so down because I have been practicing so much. My focus was on the wrong thing though. Just like ski racing I need to focus on my own performance and not worry about my friend or other golfers or racers.

I played this afternoon and thought about a good pre hit set up, and a simple image of my shoulders, arms and wrists being rubbery or like loose hinges. ( so I would have more lag) The image and setup worked well. Solid shots all afternoon. Shot a 76! Best score of the season. I will try the same image when I play with better players. Mental preparation is key in any sport. The more preparation in as many areas as possible is key!!

Push to get strong for the up coming ski season!!!!! Running 800m sprints 6 sets things like that will jump start you.

Bye for now.

Doug

Sunday golf night!

I played a game of golf This Sunday afternoon. Another solid score of 78. Like I said before I have really put time in on the range. It is paying off in my scores.

Worked on my basic set up and grip. As well as the combined movements. Mental rehearsal and feeling has also been a key. Arm and wrist lag from arms and hands being relaxed. Same for skiing a good basic position is key. Upper body forward, Arms up, hips back, knees and ankles flexed forward. Strong core and legs are a must to maintain this through a ski run. Relaxed and grounded on the snow. Always contact on the snow.

Bye for now.

PS core work outs are easy to do at home. While watching tv at night! Time to really push!

My progression in golf! Better coach?

Hi all,

I would like to share in how I have progressed this summer in my pursuit to improve in the game of golf. I am very driven to improve in a new sport. To help me be a better coach in ski racing. Yes , feel what it is like to learn new movements. When learning a new movement how I felt tense and they were unnatural. Overall to feel how you all feel in moving ahead in ski racing.

The basic position, set up and movements were taught to me by different coaches and higher level players. Although there were many subtle differences between all. Some were the same. Because of our body structure, body strength and flexibility sometimes the setup is different. To have the best chance to perform continue to work on body strength and also flexibility. I see many players unable to setup properly because of weak core strength and flexibility. Same in Ski racing. We need a strong core to be in a athletic position on our skis. Strong legs to compact our shins on the tongue of our boots, to bend our skis. Strong upper body to pull out of the start quickly. If you are not strong in those areas you will have a huge disadvantage. YOU will not be able to even have the basic set up on your skis.

Oh, back to golf. I have put in hours on the driving range. I wish I would have used video more. When I did use it I always saw something new. I felt good but when I saw my video it was so depressing. I looked completely different than how I felt. Releasing the club too quickly, a short back swing for example. Video is a great tool.

Another point is that sometimes I sucked! It really was hard on me. I just kept going though. More time , more practice, more video. But, practice doing the right things. Just don't repeat the same wrong movement. Check video, check in with your coach.

As for my scores. I did not play a lot of golf games. More practice than any thing. At the beginning of the season I was shooting around 85. My last round I shot a 77. before that a few 9 hole rounds. a 39, 40 and a 39. I feel a have made a huge improvement.

It is getting closer to the ski season. The time to really push on body strength and flexibility. Do your best!

More later.

Doug

Home stay student from Japan

Last week we hosted a Japanese student from Sanno college, Tokyo. Yasuhara Risa is her name. She was very nice and enjoyed our time together very much. I believe we were able to show her kelowna's life style in the week she stayed here. I was able to practice Japanese with her too. Her English is quite good and was picked to speak for her class at the graduation.

Day on the lake

We were invited by my friends the Walthers to go boating with them on Okanagan lake. It was a great day. We thank the Walthers family very much for sharing their boat and time with us.

Hike to Pine needle rock

Hi All,

On my way back from Vancouver Tajanna, Seb, and I hiked to Pine needle rock from the high way. It was fun!

Score board!

Hi all,

The pictures are of the score board from the Kelowna Open. Looks like I finished around 40th out of 175 or so. I look forward to entering in more.

Bye for now.

Doug

My First Amateur golf tournament

Hi all,

This past weekend I played in the Kelowna Open. My first tournament. I was very nervous first day. I did have a game plan starting hours before, warming up, running, stretching, light core work out, driving range. I was unable to really follow through with my plan. I was so tight, so my body movements were not timed. I shot a gros score of 87. Net score of 76. Today I was much better. I did the same warm up. Off the first tee I was more relaxed. Gros score 82 ,net 71! I also hit the pin on a par 3 missing a hole in 1 by 10cm!!!!!! I would have won $5000, if it went in. Bummer. It was an easy birdy though.

Makaiya was my caddy! She cleaned my clubs after each shot, and ball on the greens. She also helped me align my putts after I picked the target. She was awesome. Helped me make a lot of putts!

A great experience! Helps me feel how you guys and girls feel when you go into race. I look forward to entering more next year.

Bye for now.

Douig

Iron Chef Chrissy vs Iron Chef Doug

Hi!

One night, last week Chrissy and I had some fresh Halibut fish. We could not agree how to cook it so we decided to split the fish and cook it separately. We had so much fun! Chrissy used a curry sauce. Iron Chef Doug a smokey flavored cream sauce. Both served over whole wheat pasta. Our cooking panel picked mine of course! Hee Hee! As many of you know Chrissy is an excellent cook so I maybe twisting the truth a little!

36 holes of golf

July has been great weather here in Kelowna. Sunny and hot! We have had many visitors stay with us. Last week Chrissy's sister and family arrived. They are still here. I took my brother in law to a golf course called The Rise. It is located out side of Vernon. From Monday to Thursday have offer unlimited golf with a cart for $75. We played 36 holes with no rest. We were tired but it was such a fun day!

Bye for now.

Doug

Day on Okanagan lake

Good morning,

Monday was a holiday for us in Canada. We were lucky because the weather was very nice! An old friend also invited us to go boating with them for the day. It was very relaxing. Chrissy and I were really surprised at some of the homes built lake side. Most impressive. I did manage to get a great sun burn on most of my body. Ouch!

Bye for now.

Doug