I have been in Cape Town for the last 2 weeks on a training camp. It has been so awesome to be training with Mike and Marcus again after a long time apart over the festive season. Mike and I have been racing each other hard everyday which has been good fun and of coarse good training!!! Marcus has come up with some cool sessions especially in the gym and both Mike and I are really enjoying the training and improving nicely! We have had such awesome weather which has ensured that we have had some extremely high quality sessions. I am really enjoying being in Cape Town and everyday after training I realise that we have made such a good move! We are all very happy and motivation in the Cape amoungst us is super high.

I fly back to Joburg on Thursday to complete all my packing up and then I will drive down with Ruvenna on the weekend to complete my move to the Cape. I can’t wait to have Ruvenna down here with me. Even though the last 2 weeks have been cool, I have really missed Ruvenna and I can’t wait to be moved down here together!

After a couple weeks away on holiday in the Cape, I concluded our fantastic holiday by proposing to my beautiful girlfriend. Luckily she said yes We had an awesome day with all our friends and family that come down to Cape Town to be with us on our special day. Thanks to my family, Ruvenna’s family and Lee, Ruvenna’s best friend, for travelling down especially for the engagement and helping to make the 30th of December so awesome.

Training has been going well. I am really enjoying my paddling and I am so excited to get down to Cape Town and start training full time with Mike and Marcus. I am heading down to Cape Town on the 25th of this month to settle down. Ruvenna will follow a few days later and then we will be able to start setting up and furnishing our new home. Its all very exciting. For the nest 2 weeks I will tying up all my lose ends in Joburg and packing up all my belongings in preparation for the big move

The pic above was taken a few minutes after the proposal. For those of you with sharp eyes, her ring is still being set according to her choice!

Well its awesome to be able to relax and have some fun this week. Last week Mike and I were down in Cape Town for a training camp together. It was really cool to get back into the K2 together and feel some speed again. I am already excited to race again. This week I am having an easy week as Marcus has scheduled some tough sessions for the upcoming weeks. I am in Cape Town at the moment and I have done some really cool rides along the beach and through the forests.

I would like to wish everyone celebrating Christmas a really good time and that you have a great festive season. I will update again soon.

So December is upon us. That’s nuts. This year has absolutely flown by and its unbelievable that I am already well into my base phase of the 2010 season. The 2010 is going to be really exciting for me.  I am off to live and train in Cape Town.  Mike and Marcus are also moving down so that we can all train together and really focus on our Olympic preparations without much distraction. We were in Cape Town two weeks ago on a training camp and we took some time to set up a whole team of experts at the Sports Science Institute of South Africa, with whom we will work very closely with over the next 3 years. We will have specialist psychologists, nutritionist, physiologist, physiotherapist and sport scientists at our disposal to ensure that all aspects of our preparations are catered for. Probably the most exciting aspect of training at the Sport Science Institute is the opportunity that we will have to work with Prof. Tim Noakes and Dr Ross Tucker. They both have some fascinating ideas to help us improve and close the gap on the winning boats and us.

I am going to be in the Cape for the next 4 weeks, training with Mike and Marcus, and holidaying with my beautiful girlfriend J What a life !!!

Well exams are finally over and I am back in training. Exams were tough. I wrote 6 4hour exams so I had a fair share of thinking and writing to do but its such a relief to be finished. One thing is that I really missed training and it was great to be out on the water stress free this morning. I can’t wait to get fit and strong again Its the off season now so I will be doing all the long, hard training that will carry me through the racing season next year. Some exciting times for me this season and I can’t wait to get cracking at it.

Something that I am excited about is that I have started a small online coaching business. Quite a few guys have come up to me recently to ask me advice on training and racing and I have realised that there are so many paddlers out there that want to improve and take their paddling to a higher level but aren’t sure how. Unfortunately, not everyone can train full time so the trick about training in between all your other responsibilities is to train smart. I have some cool ideas to deliver an individualised training program to each client and I believe that with years of experience, training and racing and studying the science of sport, I can help you achieve results that are beyond expectations.

The cool thing with technology these days is that everything will be done virtually, from communication to heart rate and video analysis. This means that I am available to help train anyone from anywhere in South Africa or abroad. I have already started coaching some guys for the 2010 Dusi and would like to help you to get more out of your training and achieve amazing results. If you are interested you can contact me on shaun@e-coach.co.za or ruby@shaunrubenstein.com and we can discuss how to go forward.

Thats it for now. Going to rest up a bit before my afternoon training!