Monday, June 27, 2011

Olivia Lives

Today was an amazing day! Olivia Lives Foundation hosted a day at Clearwater Yacht Club for 20 children that have been inflicted with cancer or blood diseases. They are all in remission right now which is a true blessing and it made me so glad to hear it. This is the second year that Olivia Lives has hosted this event for the children.

If you do not know what Olivia Lives is then please check out the website or facebook page. www.olivialives.com. The Ceraolo family (Olivias family), my family, and the Widger family decided to start Olivia Lives in honor of my dear friend Olivia who died of a rare form of cancer at such a young age. We want to help other children out in any way we can. Along with cancer patients we work with the local homeless shelters. We believe strongly in aiding our community and other people in need. We are all very fortunate to be healthy, so I feel it is important to give back.

The day started off with taking them out for a ride on the motorboats. I took a group of girls out, while my friend Jackie took the boys out on his boat. For some of them it was the first time they were ever on a boat. I let all of the girls drive which they all enjoyed. Some went in a straight line and fast while others did so many circles that they made the others feel dizzy.

When we came back in it was lunch time so we all sat around and talked. This was where I learned how strong they all were. They were very open about their cancer stories. They all endured the most aggressive chemio and radiation therapies. It was so sad to hear about their struggles, but they were all so strong. They fought so hard. One girl I met was told that she was going to die four different times by her doctor and now she is in remission! It made me so grateful for my health and motivated me even more to want to help others. I respect the kids I met today and would love to one day be as great as a role model to others as they are to me.

After lunch we went fishing and swimming. Fishing was a blast because angler Zach was helping everyone to catch a fish. It was soo cool!!! We took more photos and then everyone headed home.

No matter what you do or where you live everyone can help. You can start by helping us with Olivia Lives or doing small things in your own community. Please check out our website or you can even write me. I am currently donating 10% of my bonuses to the National Sarcoma Foundation. If you would like to help then please let me know.

I have posted photos onto my facebook Paige Railey 2012 site...Please check them out.
http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.167994969933817.46547.134272439972737

Wednesday, June 22, 2011

Kieler Woche Conclusion

I set three goals and I accomplished them...

I am proud to say that I just won the Kieler Woche in Kiel, Germany and finished third in the ISAF World Cup. This is the third consecutive year for winning the regatta in Kiel. One of the coolest parts about winning this event is your name gets put up on a wall that shows all of the past winners. It's nice to be apart of history.

I have to say that I really wanted to win the ISAF World Cup this year, but after being ill at the last two events I had to change directions. I am very proud to of put together a good event here to bring my standings back up. It was hard to have two bad events in a row and see my standing drop from 1st to out of the top 5. It was a great learning experience because it taught me to change gears and get going on the new track. 

The regatta was very tough, because we were dealt trying conditions. Big breeze, cold water/temperature, rain, sun, etc. It seems we had it all. This had to of been one of the most fun events that I have sailed in this year. I roomed with my brother Zach and team mate Caleb Paine. We pretty much laughed the whole time. At the beginning the three of us were in complete shock that we were sailing another event. It didn't feel like we had any break. 

I thought that during the event I had great upwind speed/tactics, but I thought my downwinds were lacking. This is something that Luther and I will work on in the upcoming training. I noticed that I was never really in the right place for the oncoming puffs.

Tina Mihelic and Krystal Weir placed 3rd and 2nd in the event. It was very close amongst us three, the German and Belarussian team. I had a blast sailing against them all and noticed things that I need to work on such as my downwinds. I believe many of them are heading off to the Europeans in Helsinki, Finland. So good luck to them all and hopefully Tina can capture her third European title. 

Tomorrow I go home and I am sooooo excited. I can't wait to go back and relax...I'm pretty tired physically and mentally. It's time for a little break......but not from the gym! 

Friday, June 17, 2011

Kieler Woche

Time for last event of the ISAF Sailing World Cup. I'm here in Kiel, Germany getting ready for another windy event. Our meteorologist is predicting the wind to be 15-25 knots for the whole event. It has begun to rain on and off and the temperature is dropping.

Yesterday I had my first day off....it consisted of sleeping all day! I'm feeling a lot better and refreshed after the stomach bug. Zach and I are going to register our boats and get them ready for the event, but I don't think we are going to sail today. The weather looks a bit rough.

This event is big for me because I would like to qualify for funding for the US Sailing Team Alphagraphics and I would like to finish 3rd in the ISAF Sailing World Cup. AND honestly, I would like to redeem myself after my finishes/bloopers in Weymouth and Hyeres.  = )

You can view the results at:
http://www.kieler-woche.de/eng/englishdefault.php

Tuesday, June 14, 2011

A huge eye opener

I am writing this blog in a state of aggravation and disappointment that I feel towards myself.

I opened up Sail For Gold with a bang and positioned myself to make an attack in the Gold Fleet. All was going great until the third day into the event. I managed to get a stomach bug that made me extremely ill. I was up all night sick and was worried that I wasn't going to make it out for the fourth day of racing. I had my mom, dad, and brother up at 3 am trying to help me. We were worried that if I went to the ER that they wouldn't release me. So, I just toughed it out and forced myself to go sailing the next day. I had terrible results, but that was expected.

Luther helped me out a lot by rigging my boat and helping me take it to and from the ramp. I was so weak and tired. So a big thanks goes out to him. He went above and beyond for me at this event.

My goal for the last two days was strictly damage control. I wanted to do as best as I could to keep points on the talented Erika Reineke. This was the first part of my trials and knowing how good of a sailor Erika is I knew I had to keep going. I finished the event in 14 (30 positions ahead of Erika) thus giving me a comfortable lead on hopefully winning these trials.

I have achieved my goal at starting trials off good, but I am upset with my position. Luther and I saw huge improvements in my sailing, but the result doesn't show it. This regatta has been a huge awakening for me because this is the second event in a row that I have gotten a stomach bug. First it was the regatta in France and now in England. It has made me take a look at the things I am doing and reconsider. I am going to make some drastic changes because what I am doing now is not working. There is no point to do all of this training to then go get sick during the events.

Since I have a very sensitive stomach, I need to become more strict with what I eat along with many other things. Maybe this is what I needed...a little bit of shock to show me that I need to change. But, it's always disappointing when you have two events in a row go bad.

Okay, onto a more positive note. Tomorrow, I leave for Germany to sail the Kieler Woche. I want this to be my turn around event. I am going to try very hard to rest for now, get all my energy back (because I still feel very weak) and get ready to sail the event. I want this one to go well and I will do all I can to make it happen.

The regatta starts Saturday, I will write with more later on in the week.

Sunday, June 5, 2011

Trials Part 1

Hey Everyone!

The training here in Weymouth was back breaking. Luther and I did some quality sailing in big breeze. The second week of the training dealt with tactics. Our main focus was to figure out the different tactical situations that this venue has to offer. It's not easy here. I feel that I have learned a lot about the wind, but still need some work.

Tomorrow starts the Sail for Gold Regatta here. It is the first part of our trials to go the Olympics. Our trials is a point system based from two events: Sail for Gold and ISAF Worlds in Perth. Whatever place you finish is the number of points you get. So to make it easy if I got a 1, 1 at both events then I finish our trials with two points which would lead to me qualifying for the team.

So how do I feel now that trials is here? Im actually pretty relaxed. I'm not getting too stressed out about it. I learned a lot from my first trials in 2007 and will apply that knowledge to this event. I am going to take it one race at a time and keep fighting to the end.  My main goal is to not get too wrapped up in the thought process that this is the trials! this is the Olympic venue! etc. I'm going to keeps things basic and focus on the here and now.

I will be sending twitter updates and hopefully I can write a blog during the event. If you don't have my twitter then it's PaigeSailor or you can also view updates on my facebook page: Paige Railey 2012. The website to the event is: http://www.skandiasailforgoldregatta.co.uk/

Talk soon!