It is different to be in Europe without the rest of the team. The single is a lonely event, but even more so when you are the only Canadian at the World Cup. I would be totally lost without Allison.

The German signature collectors kept asking if I was the only Canadian and “Where is Terry Paul?”, they still want his autograph from the 92 Olympics!

I owe a big thanks to Norway for letting me be an unofficial teammate, also to Andreas for arranging a boat bay for my single.

Looking forward to seeing the rest of the team on Tuesday, maybe they can bring me some clean socks???

I had a nice relaxed Sunday away from rowing. We were pushing pretty hard in our training and it was good to get away from it all at the Tufte farm. The rowing is going well and I think I am finally starting to get some good feel in the single. Allison is happy with the progress I am making, and the workouts are going well with Olaf.

The Tufte dogs, Stella and Dorris, are a blast. Not as cool as Calvin, since they don’t come to the lake, but they do love to play fetch with a soccer ball. You throw the ball, they chase it, wrestle over it, and whoever wins brings the ball back.

I am off to Munich tomorrow. Racing starts Friday, I am looking forward to it..

On Monday, Olaf let me come along for his gymnastics and coordination training. His coach, Morten Bråten, is a former all-round gymnast who now works with many of Norway’s top Olympians.

It was the hardest core strength sessions I have ever done. My abs are still sore four days later. I did my best at all the exercises, but I could manage about half of what Olaf could do.

Olaf started working with Morten in the lead up to the Beijing games to improve his core strength. I was impressed by what Olaf could do, he has the strongest core of any rower I’ve ever seen.

I have been in Europe for three weeks. Finally had to do my laundry…

Norway is amazing. I am having a blast. The country is beautiful, and never gets dark. Cyclists must love it here, you could ride without lights until midnight.

Training is going really well. Olaf and I had two really good races over the weekend. My legs are now cooked.

I am looking forward to a hard week of training to get us ready for Munich.