SD Digest 8/31

Space Dragons,

1.  PRACTICE-Dude, did you realize how fast this year is flashing by?  Only 2 weekends left before TI!  Now you know what that means, don't ya? Get yo' buttocks out to Mother's Beach and ratchet it up a notch or two! Because you know what time it is, right? Yes kids, it's GRIND TIME.  Now who's with me?!

-Don't forget to vote on the poll for practice (closes at 7 PM every Monday and Wednesday)!
-Reminder that Sunday practices are back to 9:00 AM (yay!).
-Enhanced Tardy Rule is now in place, so when are practices?  Saturday 7:30 AM, Sunday 9:00 AM, these are times to be at practice site


2.  SAN FRANCISCOHave you signed up?  Check out the Evite NOW!  Do it before Emily calls you out on Spacebook! Oh noes!

IMPORTANT ACTION ITEMS

(A)  Already signed up? Sign the SF Waiver!  Print it and give it to Galen at practice this weekend. Yes, this weekend. Because we all know you, Mister/Miss SF Paddler, will be attending as many practices as humanly possible before the big SF Tournament, right?!  Oh look, here's the link again, in case you missed it: http://www.cdba.org/documents/waivers/cdba_waiver.pdf. 

(B)  Pay $35 in tournament fees. Check payable to Space Dragons.  Pay $5 for food costs, cash only please, payable to the lovely Zina!

(C)  Saturday night Team Dinner.  Sign up to join us for dinner on the Evite.  Do it now so we can make proper reservations!

Transportation: You're on your own. Might we recommend Virgina America, JetBlue or Southwest... each of which has had sale fares to SFO recently?
Lodging: We have some rooms on reserve, but you need to email Galen right now.  Like now-now, not later-now.  As in, click the "New mail" button on your email client and write an email to Galen right now.  Otherwise, you'll be staying in a cardboard box.
NO FLAKE DATE: Sunday 8/28 (3 days ago!)

3.  SAN DIEGO
Can't get enough action? Then come on down to the San Diego Tournament!  Like Lake Gregory, this is an "unofficial" tournament that we encourage paddlers to do just for fun.  But fun aside, it's also the USDBF West Regionals qualifier tournament.  Simply put, the best team will earn a berth to compete in Hong Kong next year with the world's top teams.


4.  BEACH CLEAN-UP 9/10

Last one of the year!  Immediately following practice on Saturday 9/10 (guess what? there's no land workout due to SF Tournament!).  Last time we had a record turn-out at 18 people. Can we beat it? I don't know.. but I do know we need YOUR help! ... And don't forget to wear your Space Dragons Jersey!


5.  A MESSAGE FROM STEP

I'm extending the school supply drive for School on Wheels, which provides one-on-one tutoring for homeless children, though the end of SEPTEMBER.

Please bring your donations to practices, and they will be put into backpacks and distributed by School on Wheels to needy kids in the Long Beach area.

For a full list of needed supplies, please see the Student Wish List. They especially need flash drives and backpacks. You can also email Stephanie for more details of the drive. Thanks!


6.  YEAR END DINNER -- Sat 12/3WHO: You and the Space Dragons

WHAT: Year-end dinner to celebrate the 2011 season and all of our paddlers.

WHEN: The evening of Saturday, December 3, 2011.

WHERE: Bliss525 in Long Beach.

WHY: Because it'll be an awesomely awesome time.

STUFF: Food, drink, DJ, debauchery. What else can you ask for? So mark your calendar now, because you know this is an event you do not want to miss. RSVP on Evite, $35/person payable to Space Dragons (yes, you may combine all your Space Dragons payments in a single check)
If you have any auction/raffle items to offer, please let Janet know (see Evite for example items)

PS., if you haven't paid your annual dues or tournament fees (incl. SF), expect a "call-out" in next week's Digest. So we recommend you pay up this weekend! Don't know if or what you owe? Email us. You've been warned! :)


-- Your Captains

Grind Time

Another video by our very talented James.

"A little over TWO weeks to San Francisco. It's GRIND TIME now folks. Hopefully this helps server as a tiny bit of a motivation boost."

SD Digest 8-24-11

Space Dragons,

3 more weeks till TI, PRACTICE, PRACTICE, PRACTICE!  Oh, did you remember to fill out the attendance poll?

1.  LAKE GREGORY

• Congratulations, Gregory crew for a fun and successful tournament, great showing!
• Also, excellent way of representing and helping out, mystery helper, see below note from the race organizer:

I just wanted to thank the young man that stayed behind and helped us break down the event site on Sunday. 

I don't know who he was, he just jumped in and started helping. All's I know is that he was wearing a Space Dragon uniform. 

It was truly appreciated, we were all pretty tired by then. We thank him from the bottom of our hearts.

• Who is our mystery man? None other than our very own Mr. Badass himself, Eric!  Someone buy him a beer!

2.  SAN FRANCISCO

• Yup, it's right around the corner, so ask yourself these questions:
• Have you RSVP'd?  Check out the Evite now
• Have you settled your lodging and transportation?  Update your Evite response with info
• If you don't have a hotel room/need a room/need a roommate, email Galen now and he'll see what he can do
• Have you paid your fees?  $35 payable to Space Dragons
• Have you been keeping up with your training?  Practice, land workout, core workout, your personal workout...  NO INJURIES!
• No Flake Date is this Sunday 8/28
• There will be a team dinner Saturday night, details TBD
• Get out to practices! There's only a handful of practices left before SF!

3.  SAN DIEGO -- Oct 22, 23

•  Want more after TI?  Respond on the Evite so we can see if we have enough interest to go

4.  YEAR END DINNER -- Dec 3

• You've heard all the stories, now you can experience it in person!
• RSVP on the Evite now
• $35/person payable to Space Dragons (what an awesome price for dinner in a private room, video, games, our own DJ Bakasan)
• No Flake Date: 11/20

5.  SCHOOL SUPPLY DRIVE EXTENDED

• Stephanie is extending the school supply drive for School on Wheels, which provides one-on-one tutoring for homeless children, though the end of SEPTEMBER. 

  Please bring your donations to practices, and they will be put into backpacks and distributed by School on Wheels to needy kids in the Long Beach area.
  For a full list of needed supplies, please see the Student Wish List. They especially need flash drives and backpacks. You can also email Stephanie for more details of the drive. Thanks!"

--  Your Captains

Paddler Spotlight -- Eric!!

 

Dunking day (Birthday): 

March 23

Favorite place to grub with your SD familia after practice?

I don't really care where we go; I just enjoy the bonding after a hard practice.

How long have you been paddling and what were you thinking when you first got into Space?

After two years paddling for Dragonauts, I began looking for a more, let's say, "mature" team. After paddling with Space in Baby Long Beach 2011, I realized, "Dang, these guys know how to have fun." 

Any advice for newbie paddlers? 

Do not call it rowing.

Who or what got you into paddling and why do you do it week in and week out?

My brother, Craig, first got me into paddling. I love how it keeps me in shape while doing something I actually enjoy.

 

Favorite or notable Space Dragon moment(s)?

Partying in the streets of Vacouver during the Stanley Cup Finals.

 

 

How do you prep yourself for a race?

I nap until someone tells me our heat is approaching.

What do you do when you're not paddling? Hobbies, activities, interests?
I have no hobbies, activities, or interests. Outside of this context, I would probably reply with dragon boating.

 

Paddling-wise, what particular goals do you have for yourself and for the team this 2011 season?

I definitely want to keep up the workouts and retain all the muscle I've gained this summer. I would also like to qualify for a more advanced boat by the end of the year.

What makes a champion? 

Eating Wheaties

If you could change one thing about the Team what would it be?

People need to live closer to Long Beach. It would just make everything easier for everyone.

 

Best thing about being a Space Dragon?

Duh, winning.

If you were to trade an SD teammate for any celebrity, who would you trade?

Anyone for Gary Coleman circa 1980.

Our team has got some straight-up characters. Name two most interesting or intriguing characters you've met through the team.

Galen - I have never seen a human being sweat more than that man.

Davin - He's the most Chinese non-Chinese guy I've ever met. Fascinating.

If you were to be stranded on an island with any 3 SD paddlers, who would you choose to get-by and pass the time with?

James N - He would be my 4chan away from 4chan.

AJ - It was once mentioned that awesome should be measured in "AJ"s. I agree.

Vanessa - She always has something to say and I've found her to be a really good person to talk to. It'd also be a total sausage fest otherwise.

First thing that comes to mind when you hear the word(s):

1. adorable - adorable
2. hilarious - hilarious
3. predator - predator
4. prey - prey
5. handsome - Jake Gyllenhaal
6. Space Dragons - SPAAACCCEEEEE Dragons Dragons Dragons Dragons

Name something that our readers don't already know about you.

I'm a meningitis survivor!

Big Long Beach '11 -- "We Got Ourselves a Game!"

Here’s the thing about this recap. There’s clearly too much to say. Though at the same time, Spacebook’s already covered a lot and nothing I say can change the incredibly amazing weekend we had. So, pressure off, here’s my recap:

WE WON!!

The end.

Just kidding, there’s more! And of course we’re graceful winners. And it’s not about winning. Oh, wait, it’s a competitive sport… It’s not JUST about winning. Fortunately, it’s also not about new jerseys that weren’t ready in time. But it is about showing up.

We showed up bright and early Saturday morning, ready to greet and feed our sister team Ripple Effect and our new friend team Bulldogs. In the shade of our seven boats’ worth of tent, we set up our sandy gallery of chairs and passed around tattoos, mustaches, and smurf hats. Like you do.

Saturday races kicked off with the OPEN heats. In a classic Long Beach “Oh, [shoot]!” start, the buzzer half sounded the men into action, signaling the start of our fantastic weekend. Even still, our OPEN boat (The one that just happened to only have male paddlers (unless Brian knows something we don’t…?)) finished 2^nd, positioning themselves squarely and directly into the finals heats.

Results like these don't happen on accident as our fierce SD ladies raced soon after, with a luxuriously audible start. Having pulled in a strong respectful 1^st place "DUB," the SD LADIES boat had just like that (I swear its not as simple as I'm stating it now), landed automatic pushes into the finals race (but more on this later!).

 
Like all great moments in life and in sport, they are born of great opportunity. And with fresh momentum at their backs from Baby LB and Alcan--like a freight train barreling down the track, SD boats RED, BLUE, and WHITE were poised as one team ready to seize upon it.

SD RED took the stage guns blazing (see Rod's arms, or Em's triceps for a literal definition) as they commanded themselves as contenders in Sunday's div. 1A finals races. As coach BK eloquently stated in Baby LB, "we didn't decide to just show up and paddle division 1, we didn't do that. EARN IT!" From then on, SD BLUE (SMURFS) didn't look back either as they barreled in a head-to-head for division 1(B). To have both boats move into division 1 shows great strength in our depth as a team. Its the result of our combined and continued efforts to push each other on land, the water, and Spacebook in order to make ourselves better for each other. Be proud Space Dragons, you did that!

With hardly enough time to eat, shower, and sleep a few hours, the Space Dragons were back on the beach Sunday morning, ready to finish stronger than they started.

Men. Or is it OPEN? Emily help me out here!

Our masculine OPEN paddlers, traditionally shirtless, placed 3^rd in the OPEN A final. There are rumors that Pearl’s shirt weighed them down, but I don’t want to get involved.

On a similar note, complete with our shiny tutu clad bench ornament (or otherwise a type of motivation), Devant called the SD LADIES in a tight finish just 0.66 seconds behind LARD. Such a race can't be recapped with justice as they stepped off that boat leaving everything out there (I know I did)!

Led by Papa Smurf Ceez, our feisty, awe-inspiring MASTERS moved on to place 2^nd in the finals, a mere 0.32 seconds behind DW BAD.

WHITE celebrated their newbie spirit they stepped off of every heat after having put in everything they had while managing to come in 6^th in the Division IIIB finals. They are all heart and grit!

The BLUE Smurfs finished out their bold adventure in a  head-to-head against stout teams  as Galileo Celestial Dragons, Cal (Bears), and Dieselfish. They rocked to the finish complete with smurf hats in Division 1 and placed 6^th in the IB final. GO SMURFS!!

Red swallowed their nerves and stayed focused, running around the parking lot to stay warm pre-finals. At the risk of misquoting, I remember Coach Brian essentially saying, 

“This is our chance to finally take Big Long Beach. I might get choked up…”

And so the legend goes that Red tiked rass. Not just sum rass, but a great deal of rass.

Want one? EARN IT!

We gathered as one team to await the final results. Coach Emily started talking but I don’t think she got very far. I don’t even remember anyone announcing anything, I just remember a sudden group shouting and hugging. Official! GOLD! The sky opened up and showered us with a surreal victory drizzle. We returned to our victory tent to eat some victory sandwiches and get ready for the 200m races. How did we do? I think you know, but if you want it stated here...Big Long Beach? Yeah, we took that.

One of these smurfs is unlike the rest.

Favorite story from the weekend? Blue paddling quickly to our tent on the way to the 200m start line, in a pre-race scramble to get Papa Smurf Ceez a PFD. The smurf boat, hats and all, yelled out to Ripple. Ripple was apparently too busy plotting to dunk coach Aaron, but eventually noticed the boat yelling “Vest! Vest! We need a vest!” to which they naturally replied “Yeah!! You’re the best!” Jill finally caught on to the crazy charades and managed to fling a PFD at the boat, saving Papa Smurf…who then went on to drop his paddle just past the finish line, forcing the boat to back paddle to retrieve it.

And of course the weekend was topped off with a hot awards ceremony, our circle of medaling, team photos, and chaotic dunking. Somehow even though Pearl managed to stay away there were a few too many injuries. And the dunked soon became the un-dunked, crawling out from the water to feed on the dry.

And so, with much celebration to come, I think I can safely say we walked off the beach feeling proud to have poured our hearts out on the water and given everything we’ve been practicing and training for. Now that we’ve shown what we can do, it’s time to prove that we’re going to keep doing it. This is a milestone on our way to fiercer competition and pushing ourselves more, always building. We don’t slow down, we don’t gain a complex. We gain hunger and incentive. We practice and train, keeping our hearts full of team love and passion for our sport. Time to wrap up an amazing 10^th anniversary season with a steel bow of aggression and grace. See you at Treasure Island!

~Brianne

THANKS TO:

Pearl for excellent tourney managing--logistics, set-up, waivers, she does it all!

Team mom, DENISE for helping with food, hauling equipment, and just being plain AWESOME!

Dr. Chen, the association, & all the volunteers! 

All the helping hands who helped with site set-up and break down

Kmak, T. Loeser, DJ Bakasan, and all other paparazzi pirates with stalker lenses and providing media coverage!

Pimpin' still ain't easy, and neither is steering! SPECIAL THANKS to Emily, Brian, AJ, Pearl, and VOLUNTEER Jason for keeping it tight and right!

:

Lil (David) Lui, Arlene, Esmer, Kat "Dub", Robert, and Deej for boat CAPTAINING!

Still think pimpin' is easy? Try calling! Special THANKS to Jackie, Tran, Emily, Devant and Sammi for baller shot CALLING!

SPECIAL SHOUT OUT to first time BLB Space NEWBIES: Ping, e-Claire, Jim, Eric, Humprey, Christine, Jay-Z, Vanessa, DJ "James" Bakasan, Lesley, and Emilio! Holla for more (see TI, recap coming soon to a blog near you)!!

SPECIAL THANKS to Michelle from Dragonauts for guest paddling with us on WHITE!!

...and always most importantly, YOU! Because...you know.

Finally, let me leave you with this quoted echo of thought as we go into our last races in TI. 

"The other guy may in fact be the favorite, the odds maybe stacked against you, fair enough. But what the odds don't know is this isn't a math test. This is a completely different kind of test. One where PASSION has a funny way of trumping logic. So before you step up to the starting line, before the whistle blows, and the clock starts ticking. Just remember out here the results don't always add up. No matter what [they] say, when the race is on, all bets are OFF. And then suddenly, as the old saying goes...'we've got ourselves a game'" <<<<(HINT HINT: BAKASAN'S BLB VIDEO RECAP HERE!!)

SD Digest 8/17/11

Space Dragons,

1.  PRACTICE
Only 4.5 weeks until TI.  We can't rest on our laurels now! Competition will be super-tough and you KNOW everyone will be bringing their A game!
Don't forget to vote on the poll for practice (closes at 7 PM every Monday and Wednesday)!  We need to know how many people are coming to reserve the proper number of boats for practice, especially for this Sunday (Lake Gregory).

Reminder that Sunday practices are back to 9:00 AM
Enhanced Tardy Rule is now in place, so when are practices?  Saturday 7:30 AM, Sunday 9:00 AM, these are times to be at practice site

2.  LAKE GREGORY
Two boats representing Space Dragons will be at Lake Gregory on Sunday.  If you're a Lake Gregory paddler, keep your eyes peeled for the Logistics email.  If you're not a Lake Gregory paddlers, vote on the poll to let us know if you'll be at practice!

Still need a carpool? Email Robert, let him know where you live and he will help set up a carpool for you.
Fees TBD, please bring monies to pay up. Out of the kindness and generosity of his heart, Robert has fronted all tournament fees. And let me tell ya, that burden ain't light.

3.  SAN FRANCISCO
Have you signed up?  Check the Evite NOW!  Do it before Emily calls you out on Spacebook! Oh noes!
Transportation: You're on your own. Might we recommend Virgina America, JetBlue or Southwest... each of which has had sale fares to SFO recently?

Lodging: We have some rooms on reserve, but you need to email Galen right now.  Like now-now, not later-now.  As in, click the "New mail" button on your email client and write an email to Galen right now.  Otherwise, you'll be staying in a cardboard box.
Tournament fee: $35 payable to Space Dragons
NO FLAKE DATE: Sunday 8/28

4.  SCHOOL SUPPLY DRIVE
Stephanie is at it again!  Another opportunity to help support the local community.
It's that time again, when students start heading back to school. But do you know that many families cannot afford even basic classroom supplies? School on Wheels provides one-on-one tutoring for homeless children and they run entirely on volunteer support and donations.

Stephanie will be collecting school supplies for for the month of August. Your donations will be put into backpacks and distributed by School on Wheels to kids in need in the Long Beach area. So the next time you go to Target or Office Supply, please pick up a pack of pencils or notebook paper!
For a full list of needed supplies, please see the Student Wish List. You can also email Stephanie for more details of the drive. Thanks!
Pearl's side note: School on Wheels is a great organization, I've been a volunteer tutor for 4-5 years and I can totally vouch for the work it provides to those in need.  Somethings (in addition to the usual pens, pencils, paper, notebooks, etc)  I'd suggest that students could use: USB flash drive, calculator, tech things that schools use.

5.  YEAR END DINNER -- Sat 12/3
Thanks to the awesome work of the YE dinner committee (Janet, Denise, Marina, Jackie, James), we have booked our venue: Bliss525 in Long Beach.
It has great ambience, delicious food, a cash bar to buy juice (so you stay hydrated), and like last year, we've got our very own DJ Bakasan on the one's-and-two's.
So mark your calendar now, because you know this is an event you do not want to miss.
RSVP on Evite, $35/person payable to Space Dragons (yes, you may combine all your Space Dragons payments in a single check)
If you have any auction/raffle items to offer, please let Janet know (see Evite for example items) 

6.  VISORS -- 8/18 deadline

Have you ever thought to yourself, "hmm.. how can I be more like the wonderful Pearl?"  Well, now you can! Order a visor and you'll be one step closer!

Email Jackie for your very own visor ($10)!  Note the deadline is tomorrow (Thursday) night! The visors will come in Space Dragons blue and once you get it, you'll have to get it embroidered by Ceez to get the full effect with the Space Dragons logo. 

7.  SPACE DRAGONS INVOLVEMENT

Enjoy paddling? Enjoy the comradarie of the team?  Ever think to yourself that you want to get more involved?  Let us know!  No special talents required (that's what she said!).

-- Your Captains

Aug '11 OC-2 Testing Results!

Great job today everyone! A couple things to keep in mind:

1. Testing is important, but it's not everything. You know how people say that your SAT score just shows how good you are at taking the SATs? Same is true for the time trials. It is a measure of your fitness level and effectiveness at moving a boat through water, but there are many other factors that play into how much you contribute in a dragon boat (experience, technique, timing, etc).

2. Don't sweat it if your time didn't improve. Conditions change from day to day (and even within the day). Or, sometimes you just have a bad run. If you examine the results, you'll see that most people (including myself!) have seen an increase in their time at least once through the series of tests. Trust your training and know that if you've been training right, you're going to be better, faster, stronger by the time Treasure Island comes around.

3. Remember the big picture. The goal is not to kill it on a time trial. The goal is for us all to work together and train for each other. Let's finish the season strong and go into TI with no expectations other than to work our asses off at home and see what we can do as a team. Only one more month..

Results are here.

SD Digest 8-10-11

Space Dragons,

 

So it begins again!  Practice resumes tonight.

If you have NOT RSVP'd via the poll for this weekend's practice, please do so by 7 PM tonight.

 

1.  PRACTICE

• Only 5 weeks till TI, time to kick it up a notch, competition will be stiffer up north
• OC-2 testing this Sunday, sign up for your time slot.  Remember it is REQUIRED for consideration for seating on Red (but that doesn't mean you shouldn't test if you don't care about being on Red), email coaches if you need a make up date
• Sunday practice is option due to OC-2 testing but HIGHLY encouraged, remember every practice is important!
  
• Reminder that Sunday practices are back to 9:00 AM
• Modified Tardy Rule is now in place, so when are practices?  Saturday 7:30 AM, Sunday 9:00 AM, these are times to be at practice site

 

2.  JERSEYS

• Reminder that if you would like to trade your 10th year jersey for a larger size and/or to try on a larger size, please bring it CLEANED to practice this Saturday
• This will be a good opportunity to see if you want to change your size for the regular jersey as well
• See what you like but didn't get in on it last time?  You can still get a 10th year jersey (but may be a slightly higher price depending on final number), email Galen to place your order

 

3.  LAKE GREGORY

• We're going!  No Flake rule enforced Aug 14
• Fees TBD

 

4.  SAN FRANCISCO

• Have you signed up?  Check the Evite NOW!
• We are holding some rooms now but you MUST let Galen know NOW if you need a room or these will be released back to the public (that means you'll need to find yourself a place to stay elsewhere!)

 

5.  SCHOOL SUPPLY DRIVE

• Stephanie is at it again!  Another opportunity to help support the local community.
• It's that time again, when students start heading back to school. But do you know that many families cannot afford even basic classroom supplies? School on Wheels provides one-on-one tutoring for homeless children and they run entirely on volunteer support and donations.
  
  Stephanie will be collecting school supplies for for the month of August. Your donations will be put into backpacks and distributed by School on Wheels to kids in need in the Long Beach area. So the next time you go to Target or Office Supply, please pick up a pack of pens or notebook paper!
  
  For a full list of needed supplies, please see the Student Wish List. You can also email Stephanie for more details of the drive. Thanks!
• Pearl's side note: School on Wheels is a great organization, I've been a volunteer tutor for 4-5 years and I can totally vouch for the work it provides to those in need.  Somethings (in addition to the usual pens, pencils, paper, notebooks, etc)  I'd suggest that students could use: thumb drive, calculator, tech things that schools use.
  

6.  YEAR END DINNER -- Sat 12/3

• Thanks to the awesome work of the YE dinner committee (Janet, Denise, Marina, Jackie, James), we have booked our venue: Bliss525 in Long Beach
• We've heard it's got excellent ambience and great food and like last year, we've got our very own DJ Bakasan
• So mark your calendar now, Evite coming soon, price will be $35/person

  

-- Your Captains

Carbs, Insulin and the Paddler

Hello to all my SD teammates! The old saying goes: “Knowledge is power”. This is no more true than in the area of nutrition. So I would like to empower you with knowledge that will enable you to make wiser and healthier decisions when it comes to fueling your paddling machine. If you are like me then most likely you struggle on a daily basis with making the “right” choices about what to eat. I believe the more you educate yourself the easier it becomes to make these right choices since you will not only know WHAT choice to make but you will also know WHY you should make it. Please note that I am not formally educated in the area of nutrition and never claimed to be. I am simply relaying what I have learned through my informal research. I will never tell you what to do. I tell you what I know and you are left to take what you want from this information.


Today I want to discuss what I personally believe is the single most important dietary topic everyone should understand. This is especially true if he or she is interested in effective weight loss/management diets. This of course carbohydrate digestion. We all know that low-carb diets are becoming more and more popular for effective weight loss/maintenance. After reading this you will better know why this is. It all has to do with a little enzyme called insulin.

When you consume carbohydrates, you body quickly breaks these molecules down into glucose molecules and releases them into the blood stream for use as energy for most of your cells (sometimes referred to as a blood sugar spike). This signals the pancreas to produce insulin (referred to as an insulin spike). Insulin is extremely important in making use of the glucose. Four major things occur when insulin is released, two of which are good and two that are detrimental to weight loss/maintenance. First, it replenishes the energy stores in your muscles (good). Second, it replenishes the energy stores in your liver to fuel your brain (good). Third, it signals the body to stop burning fat for energy (bad) and finally it signals your body to store any and all remaining glucose not used by your muscles and liver into body fat (bad).

So now that we know what happens when insulin is released into the blood, we can see the big problem with over consumption of carbohydrates. The average human body can only hold about 400 grams of glucose in the muscles (Rod can store about a gazillion grams) and the liver can store about 90 grams. So once the muscles and liver are full, any additional carbs consumed will be directly converted into body fat because insulin tells the body to do that. So for someone not using their muscle regularly and not using their brain (me) but who is eating loads of carbs, all he or she is doing is packing on more and more body fat. Our bodies are designed to survive famine and do not waste food, which is unfortunate in modern society where food is plentiful. As long as you over eat carbs your body will happily pack on the fat!

Another sad truth about the metabolism of carbs is that it begins a vicious cycle. Your body is in constant struggle to maintain a balance in the body. When carbs are digested, a blood sugar spike occurs, the body releases insulin to bring the blood sugar down. Insulin drops the blood sugar down to real low levels. In an attempt to prevent blood sugar from dropping too far, the brain signals a response known as hunger to tell you to eat more carbs to bring the blood sugar back up. You crave carbs so you eat more. This starts the cycle over again.




So even though your muscles and liver are completely full and you have all the nutrients you need, your brain still tells you you’re “hungry” for more carbs! This is disastrous if you are trying to lose or maintain your weight. This is very unfortunate but it is just something we have to deal with. So the trick is to be strategic about carb consumption. You want to eat enough to keep your muscles and liver full but no more. This keeps the blood sugar and blood insulin levels stable and balanced and you don’t get the carb cravings. Magically, you are hungry only when you need more nutrients to replenish your body...the perfect scenario. So what’s the perfect amount of carbs to eat? Well there is no easy answer for that. All that can be said is stick with natural foods with low insulin response (aka low-glycemic foods) and your body will naturally let you know when and how much to eat.

So now you hopefully know a little bit more about why low-carb diets are effective and why things can go awry on high-carb diets.
One last thing, vegetables are technically carbs, but never avoid eating them. Eat loads and loads of veggies all the time. They have a very low insulin response when metabolized and are packed full of micro-nutrients (vitamins and minerals) that keep your body running in tip-top shape. This is also true but to a less extent for fruits since fruits do have a little higher insulin response.

Thanks for reading and hope you now have something in your back pocket to help you make healthier food choices.

-CJ

OC-2 Testing, Aug 14

Sign up for a testing slot!
http://doodle.com/af58vvcnevzb4nnx


Need a reminder why?
http://spacedragonsblog.blogspot.com/2011/06/oc-2-testing-june-19-2011.html

SD Digest 8/3/11

Mighty Champions,

My oh my, what can I say except CONGRATULATIONS!  If you did not attend Big Long Beach, live in a cave and somehow have not yet heard or seen, we mighty Space Dragons, took Gold in Division 1A (top o' the heap) for both 500m and 200m! 'Round these parts, we call it a sweep.  Full results here.

 

Exciting action abounded with all of the Space Dragon crews... keep an eye out on the Blog for the recap!

 

Victory tastes sweet, doesn't it?  Big thanks goes out to Pearl and Denise for tournament management.  Big thanks also goes out to all of the nutcase teammates we have who kept everyone accountable for on- and off-water training that helped get us to where we are today.  Many thanks to the boat captains for making sure we're all on time for marshalling for the correct heats and properly warmed up.  And thanks to EVERYONE for helping out, bringing food, and most importantly worked so hard this year.

1.  PRACTICESunday practices are moved back to the 9:00am time.  Wednesdays are still at 6:30pm.  Saturdays are still at 7:30am.

New tardy rule in effect. But I don't have to explain the new rules to you because (a) you're never tardy, and (b) you pay attention during after-practice announcements and you read the digests so you already know the new tardy rule, right?

 

NO PRACTICE Wednesday, 8/3 (tonight).

NO PRACTICE Saturday, 8/6.

NO PRACTICE Sunday, 8/7.

Practice resumes Wednesday, 8/10.

 

Everyone, take a well-deserved week off!  That doesn't mean get lazy and eat a gallon of cheesy poofs.  Keep up light work-outs and such.

Or join Coach BK for a light Sunday morning paddle session at 9:00am (followed by feasting at Beechwood BBQ).  This will not be an official practice so no newbies, please.  It'll be a light, easy session focusing on technique followed by traditional lunch feasting.  If you want to join, you MUST email Brian to let him know you are coming (spaces are limited to ONE boat only, first come first serve).  If too many people want to come out and there aren't enough coaches or steerspeople, Coach BK will let you know. That's why you need to email Brian. 

2. JERSEYS

A.  For those of you with a black 10th year jersey, if you thought the sizing was too small, we will be doing a jersey-swap at practice on Saturday, 8/13 so everyone can go up one size if needed.  Please bring CLEANED and WASHED jerseys.

B.  For those of you without a black 10th year jersey, yes.. you know they look awful slick.  Now I know you're beating your head on your desk at this very moment, wishing you got in on the order and get to wear the snazzy jersey in Saturday races.  Worry not, now you can! Hooray!  And, you can try on different sizes at Saturday, 8/13 practice during the jersey-swap.  Then Galen will be taking 2nd round of orders for the black 10th year jerseys, final pricing will depend on number of jerseys.

 

3.  LAKE GREGORY

The time to sign up is NOW.  Deadline for sign up is August 7.  That's only a few days away!  This is a one-day tournament.

Robert personally guarantees you will have an awesome time!  We just need a few more paddlers to fill one boat.  Last year we had two: "Brown Chicken" and "Brown Cow".  Don't understand the names? Come to Lake Gregory and you'll see!

No-flake date: August 14.

 

4.  SAN FRANCISCO

Defend your championship.  Go to SF Tournament.  Everyone will be looking to beat us, so we'll need all of you in SF!  Need I say more?

We have room availability so don't worry about lodging.  If you have not already done so, let Galen know if you have a room, need roommates/rooms.

5. 10 MEN RACE IN CHINA
Dr. Chen is looking for a team (max 14) to race in Shandong, China, 9/3-9/7, co-organized by the Hong Kong Freedom Dragon Boat Club and the Official Shandong Dong Ping Culture Bureau.  There will be 200m and 500m races. There is no restriction on participant ethnicity.  The race organizer will cover lodging and local transportation.  There will be price money for winning teams.  If interested, please let Pearl know ASAP.

-- Your Captains