Taking a Break - The Off Season

What does life look like when the curling season ends? Today on Rock Stars, we talk about the so-called off-season and how it rarely feels like a full break. In spite of nagging injuries, 5:30am wake ups to devote energy to our business, and the hustle and bustle of life with kids, we wouldn’t trade our lives for anything. Keep listening to hear about the things that matter most to us and how we recharge while staying devoted to our dreams and goals. 

Here’s what we get into:

• What the curling off-season actually looks like and why there’s rarely a true break for top athletes
• How we mentally transition from a high-pressure competition schedule to downtime and personal routines
• Balancing family life, parenting, and travel while staying connected to sport and business commitments
• Approaches to training, recovery, and planning for the next season without burning out
• Our off-season hobbies 

We hope we’ve inspired you to enjoy the moments that matter most no matter what you’ve got going on. Keep rocking the chaos, leave us a comment, and subscribe to the podcast for more inspiring conversations about life on and off the ice. 

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Transcript

SPEAKER_04 0:00

Welcome to Rockstars, the podcast where high performance meets real life.

SPEAKER_03 0:05

I'm Brent Lang, joined by my wife, Jennifer Jones, and this is where we talk about rocks, rings, and everything in between.

SPEAKER_04 0:11

It's about chasing dreams and asking, why not me?

SPEAKER_03 0:14

And figuring out how to keep going when things get hard or hilarious.

SPEAKER_04 0:18

Sometimes it's just us talking curling, business, family, and parenting.

SPEAKER_03 0:23

Sometimes it's bigger conversations about success, pressure, and believing that anything is possible.

SPEAKER_04 0:28

We keep it honest, uplifting, and fun.

SPEAKER_03 0:30

We might even make you laugh.

SPEAKER_04 0:32

Because this is about the wins, the losses, and real life in between. Rocks, rings, real life.

SPEAKER_03 0:38

This is Rockstars.

SPEAKER_04 0:44

Welcome back to Rockstars. Rocks, Rings, and Real Life, the podcast where a couple of dream chasers open up about chasing big goals, living in the moment, navigating life's highs and lows, and figuring out what comes next together. I'm Olympic champion Jennifer Jones, and as always, I'm joined by my husband and Olympian Brent Lang. Brent, what are we going to be talking about on today's episode?

SPEAKER_01 1:07

Well, Jen, today we're going to talk about life during the curling off season.

SPEAKER_04 1:11

Is there actually an off-season?

SPEAKER_01 1:12

I don't know. I retired. So yeah, there's a long off-season for me now. But uh but before we jump in, quick shout out to our listeners. If you're loving the show, hit that subscribe button and leave us a review. Follow us on our socials at Rockstars Curl on Insta and X and at B Lang99 on X and at J. Jones Curl on Insta. It does mean a lot to us. And uh that's a place where you can reach out, send in any questions or topics you want us to cover, or tell us we're terrible, or tell us we're great. I don't know. You can say whatever you want. It's social media, right? It's a free world, I think. Free country anyway. But uh we're gonna call this one life beyond the ice, life after the season. What do you want to call it?

SPEAKER_04 1:48

The off-season?

SPEAKER_01 1:49

Okay, that makes more sense.

SPEAKER_04 1:51

Yeah, I'm not even sure if there is an off-season. And I I think it's true in any sport. You you go so hard, you're competing, and then all of a sudden it's over, whether it's football or hockey or curling, or even you're working on a big uh project at work and all of a sudden that comes to an end. What do you do when that's over? It's a little bit of a letdown in curling. We can talk to that because there really isn't a lot of time in the off season. Curling goes essentially till the middle of April. It would be your last competition, depending on how well you do. It could actually end in December for some teams, competitive.

SPEAKER_02 2:24

Well, that's a different story. That's a different competition or different conversation.

SPEAKER_04 2:28

But it can go middle of April and and then you start up again. A l some events in Asia and Europe actually will start in in August. And actually, Asia and Europe, they continue, they have their Japanese in June and July. Yeah, Japanese national championships are happening, I believe, right now in June. So, you know, there really isn't that much of a season or an off season. Um so I guess the question is how do you how do you manage that? How do you figure out a way to recharge and refuel and get back at it in the in the fall?

SPEAKER_01 2:59

Well, for me, it was never really a challenge. I mean, when the season comes to an end, most people are ready to be done. I mean, only one team, one male and one female team really typically gets to win the last game of the year. That used to be the players' championship. What's the last game of the year now? Is it the world championship for most? I mean rock league.

SPEAKER_04 3:15

We'll be the world championship um in those events, and then in the professional league, it will be rock league. So for those players that play in the professional league, uh, it will be rock league, which is a great way to end the season, but middle of April, really.

SPEAKER_01 3:29

Yeah, so and and it's it is a different feeling when the season ends. I mean, you plan, you know, for years and you plan most of your life to to do what you're trying to do on the ice, and the season goes through, and all you're thinking about is what's next? What do I got to do to get ready for the next one? And when are we, you know, teams talk about periodization and peeking at specific events, whether that be the Olympic trials, whether that be Grand Slams, the World Championships, the National Championships, and then all of a sudden it's just kind of over, and it's definitely a different feeling. And you yes, you're looking forward to next year and you're already planning. And this year, specifically, you're you know, you're talking about did I get kicked off my team? Do I have a team? Am I looking for a team? Am I is curling quitting me? Like, am I am I out of options? And then once you get the team settled, then which happens before the season ends, whether it's announced then or not, it's that it happens well before the season ends. And then you get to kind of think about some other things like what am I going to do in the offseason? What do I need to do? Any nagging injuries? Is there things that I need to work on physically or mentally that I didn't have last year? But yeah, it's uh it's a big change, isn't it?

SPEAKER_04 4:29

No, yeah, for sure it is. And you when you're in the middle of the season, you think, oh, it's such a long season, and it really is, it lasts essentially nine to nine to ten months, depending on on when you would start. So you think it's gonna be a long time, but it actually does go by very fast. I mean, you're doing what you love to do. So our team, when we were when I was curling, not that long ago. Like not our team, not me and you, but my like my women's team, we would try to take off May. That was my mindset, is that May was a free month. May do whatever you want, go to the gym when you want, uh, try not to have a lot of team meetings or team communication, like really try to get a break from it all and just focus on other things. For us, it would have been the kids, and I don't know about any moms out there or any parents. May is one busy month.

SPEAKER_01 5:20

Is there a non-busy month for parents?

SPEAKER_04 5:22

Yeah, no, I would say not a non-busy month, but May is exceptionally busy. Like, it just feels like everything's wrapping up dance recitals, gymnastics competitions, school exams, school end-of-year parties. Like it just feels like everything is it's just May is just like so busy.

SPEAKER_01 5:40

Thank God it's over. Thank God it's June.

SPEAKER_04 5:42

Right? Yes, I am. I'm very excited for June. But anyway, so that would have been what we would have focused on when we were in our off season. That curling season comes to an end. And I can even relate when I was working on a big transaction as a lawyer, you're working on it for a month, so you're working very long hours, you're focused on this. Finally, it's over, which is kind of has a little bit of a you know, it's you're excited it's over, but you're also it's it's a change. Um, you would just try to take just a little bit of a reprieve, and I think it's good for you, a little bit of a, you know, kind of recovery, we call it.

SPEAKER_01 6:16

So, what's the first thing you'd look forward to at the end of the season then?

SPEAKER_04 6:19

Just not having a schedule, not having to be somewhere, not having to pack my suitcase, not having to fly anywhere. Actually, I do really like flying, but just being able to be at home, having a home cooked meal, having napkins at my meal because you don't have to go to a drive-thru and they don't give you napkins anymore. I don't know if you realize that, but that's really actually a really big irritant of mine. Um, my well, my car is a w uh driving restaurant, really, a tiny dining room table.

SPEAKER_02 6:46

Don't I know it? Every time I get in.

SPEAKER_04 6:48

You have to ask for napkins.

SPEAKER_02 6:49

Okay. Well, you do back on track.

SPEAKER_04 6:52

Anyway, so I think that's really what I looked forward to the most is sleeping in my own bed more, just having more of a of a home routine where you could just be grounded. You're not feeling like you're traveling anywhere, you could, you know, I could make homemade soup. I don't know. I just felt like you could just decompress. What about yourself? What did you look forward to most in in May?

SPEAKER_01 7:12

Golf season.

SPEAKER_04 7:13

That's it?

SPEAKER_01 7:14

Yeah, golf season.

SPEAKER_04 7:15

What about us?

SPEAKER_01 7:15

Yeah, golf season. Okay, no, of course, family time, time at home. But yeah, summer at Canada, as I'm getting older, I'm finding that the winters are worse and worse and longer and longer. And I ask more seriously every year, why do we live here? Great country. There's lots of things I love, but that the climate sucks. So yeah, I look forward to the spring and being outside, and golf's part of that. I mean, now we're we're back in the cottage world, which is super exciting. So now if I was still curling, I'd be looking forward to that. When we did have a cottage and we were playing for a lot of years, yeah, that was a big kind of escape for us. You know, it was boat access and to get away and not, like you said, not have a schedule. Although it was straight back to work and there was an overlap there, especially the seasons where I was still involved at at Weedman. It's yeah, what do you look forward to? I guess getting up at 5:30 and getting to the office and working 12-hour days for all of May. You say May is busy, and I think in our life, part of that is lawn care season starts, and that adds to dance season and you know, curling's over, but we're here and we're running on yeah, mosquitoes.

SPEAKER_04 8:15

Well, they're starting now, and well, and ticks, ticks are so bad. I grew up with ticks.

SPEAKER_01 8:19

You brought them from Manitoba because we didn't have them as a kid, but anyway, but yeah, that's that's really what I look forward to, just kind of being away from the ice. I didn't I didn't miss it immediately. Like, I I like the off-season. Some people I think different times of your career, you're like, no, I'm ready to get back on the ice. And I was ready by September, but it wasn't like a lot of years, especially the last maybe 10 years of my career, where it was like, it's only July. I wish it was, you know, late August or September and we're back on the ice. I don't remember those feelings.

SPEAKER_04 8:45

Oh, I always had those before kids for sure. Um I never wanted the season to end. I could have been on the ice 12 months a year.

SPEAKER_01 8:53

Psycho. What about golf season?

SPEAKER_04 8:55

Oh, well, that wasn't as important to me as you. But then once we had when we had kids, then I then it was definitely a transition where I liked being, I just wanted to be grounded and be at home and just have like kind of that normal, whatever people call normal family time. Um, but May was busy, and then our team would always like come June, you'd really start back up again and and really, you know, at the gym a lot, trying to make sure that you're recovering. Well, May would be a recovering from injuries as well. Like that would always be a priority, but just making sure you're dealing with things and and then come July, our team would actually get back on the ice in July.

SPEAKER_01 9:32

Yeah, I remember that. That was foreign to me. And then we got together and you're like, Oh, yeah, we're we've got these team weekends in July. And at that point, my team was like, No, no, it's summer. We're not we're not trying to get on the ice. Like, first time we were on the ice most seasons was the first game at the Shorty Jenkins Classic in Brockville. That was the first time we touched the ice. September, third week, third week in September. We didn't have ice up here, and we didn't at that time didn't travel to go find it in you know, Edmonton or you know, lately it's been in Waterloo or where you know where the curling camps are, North Bay's had it. We didn't look for it. We off-season to us meant off season, you know. Golf season meant golf season.

SPEAKER_04 10:09

Yeah, and well, we didn't really we didn't have ice either. Back then, it was really only Edmonton that had ice, so we had to fly there and travel there. It was before kids, so you know, we would go four times this summer, somewhere around there, and and and so it never really felt like we were off the ice to me. Like it just felt like we could kind of continue in that groove. We used our off-season to try new things, make changes to our delivery because it really is with the season the way it is, it's hard to make those changes during the season. Would you agree?

SPEAKER_01 10:38

I never had to make any changes.

SPEAKER_04 10:39

Oh, you were always perfect?

SPEAKER_01 10:40

No, I just didn't care to make any changes. It was too hard. No, no, yeah, of course. Off season's the artist. I started off as a technician. I was, yeah, not that I didn't, I still think a lot about technical when when I'm playing and practicing and those types of things. I wouldn't say I'm a full-on artist, but at some point you just know how to make the shots and you know, you know what you need to do, you know where your body needs to be, and you know how to fix the. You've had most of the problems that can go wrong go wrong over 25-year career. So you know how to fix it. But did you ever have trouble mentally switching off, like after a season where you're you're really focused on it for that nine months and then all of a sudden it's over? Why are you smiling? I don't even know if that means because you you're gonna switch off or you can't.

SPEAKER_04 11:21

Well, yeah, we're married, you know. My brain never shuts off.

SPEAKER_02 11:26

I don't know what you're thinking about.

SPEAKER_04 11:27

Yeah, I'm constantly thinking, constantly. I was always trying to find ways. My first question was even if we would win the world championship, okay, what can we do to get better? So my mind was constantly going of trying to find ways to to be better the next time. And and but but I found that fun. So I think yeah, it would it would have been hard for me to shut it down. I was constantly thinking about curling, like I was so invested and just loved it and and wanted to be that, I guess, leader for my team and and kind of find ways for our team to be successful. So it was fun for me. So I don't know if I ever felt like I could never shut it off. Um it never wasn't there though. Like I was constantly thinking of it, but in the same breath, um, I did use May to I didn't want to have a lot of meetings in May, like just I needed a a break from trying to organize. I didn't want to organize in May, I was just organizing myself. So that was kind of May, but I loved it. So it was it never felt like I needed a mental break from it. I I I was a person who wanted to play every weekend, practice all the time, uh, be on the ice all the time. I just wanted to be better. And so this actually, this podcast is from a question we got from from one of our listeners. So that's kind of what spurred on this on this topic. But as far as like a club curler, how do you get ready for the season? It would be the same thing. If you could find practice ice before the season starts, work on those technical adjustments, maybe try to do a summer camp if you can, because it really is you need repetition, and you can get that in the summer where it is harder to do during the season or trying to do it during a game. That's what I would recommend. But no, I didn't, I so I don't know if I ever shut off. What about you? Did you shut your brain off?

SPEAKER_01 13:06

Oh, I I mean, I'm always thinking about curling, especially in the you know, in the middle of your career where you have all these big goals and you know, winning world championships, getting to the Olympics, winning the Olympics, all those different things. So no, you were always thinking about it and always thinking in the off-season with sponsor season too. That's when you got to do all the appearances, that's when you gotta, you know, if they're not already locked in for the next two, four years, you gotta make sure you're keeping them happy and you know, getting out to those events. And so curling, it never stops and it never leaves your mind. I mean, if you want to be the best at something, it's always top of mind. Uh, even even in the summer, even when I'm not on the ice or wasn't on the ice, it's still, but it's not hard for me to turn it off after the season and and focus on the the off-season things, which there's still plenty of, and sponsorship was a big part of that. And you know, getting back in the gym, not back, but getting into the gym more often and taking care of whatever it was that was bugging you that season, which I didn't have a lot of injuries. I had a few here or there. I used to have to get a couple of knee oil changes from time to time, the visco supplementation, but that usually happened in the middle of the year. Thankfully, it worked for me. It doesn't work for everybody, but I think I had to do that twice. But I'm just a little guy, I wasn't hard on the knees, really. I wasn't a toe tucker.

SPEAKER_04 14:14

We were lucky. We we really knock on we didn't have it uh very many injuries at all.

SPEAKER_01 14:19

Like your shoulder would bug you sometimes, but that was just muscles, and yeah, like that was massage fix. It wasn't like structural or you know, tended like nothing serious.

SPEAKER_04 14:27

I didn't you just couldn't lift your arm.

SPEAKER_01 14:29

Well, sometimes that's that happened in September. So the first day on the ice is the first game.

SPEAKER_04 14:33

That's why you practice in the summer, so you don't well it definitely helps.

SPEAKER_01 14:36

Yeah. I'm not saying practice in the summer is a bad idea. I'm just saying it wasn't wasn't something that I did very often until right at the end of my career we were on the ice and summer together. That that's why, yeah. Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 14:47

Well, I remember going with our team to Edmonton and Kevin Martin's there, and he would laugh at us and shake his head. Now most teams I would say practice in the summer.

SPEAKER_01 14:55

Well, it wasn't a thing, yeah. Even people who you know tried to get early ice and went anywhere to get on the ice in the summer. It's like, no, that was kind of not frowned upon, but you got made fun of. He's like, no, no, it's not curling season. Curling starts in September, and it doesn't really start until mid-October when everybody likes Thanksgiving's when the ice went in up here in you know God's country in Ontario, you know, up in Meford. Same with management.

SPEAKER_04 15:19

But it was always based on farming, like schedule, right? The farm farmers were off the fields, and then the curling ice would start. So that's why we traveled. Um, but I yeah, I I loved competition. I I but I I didn't really miss it. I I I just love life, I just enjoy living every day. Try to be where my feet are.

SPEAKER_00 15:37

There it is.

SPEAKER_04 15:38

But yeah, I know I I like the little combination of both, but I I never really shut it off. But is there anything you always promise yourself you'd do in the offseason? Like what's one thing you'd always promise yourself?

SPEAKER_01 15:49

That I was gonna get good at golf and then I would work on my short game, and I still have never done either.

SPEAKER_00 15:53

Oh boy.

SPEAKER_01 15:54

What that's that's one of the promises for the off-season. This is the year. I'm gonna uh get rid of the the yips around the greens and I'm gonna, you know, practice and maybe become good at golf. And but no, it hasn't happened yet. There's glimpses still, but no, nothing for me. You what what are you gonna promise yourself in the offseason?

SPEAKER_04 16:12

Well, uh, I didn't really promise myself curling stuff because I never really had to get motivated to do anything when it came to that. But for me, it was always try to read a certain number of books. I hadn't I always wanted to read like six books during the off-season because that is something I just never felt like I had time to do, and it it really is good for me. It kind of causes me to relax.

SPEAKER_01 16:30

Do you remember how easy that was the first year when we had no kids and had a cottage? How easy it was to read books?

SPEAKER_04 16:35

Yeah, before before kids, it was way easier. Now I might get one book a year in.

SPEAKER_02 16:40

Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 16:40

Yeah, maybe.

SPEAKER_02 16:41

I doubt it.

SPEAKER_04 16:42

Oh, I actually read more, but I read children's books with my children.

SPEAKER_02 16:46

Of course. Yeah, that doesn't count.

SPEAKER_04 16:48

No.

SPEAKER_01 16:49

Somebody asked if you look forward to in the off season getting caught up on sleep. And I when I read that, I was like, you don't understand. No, you get exact opposite.

SPEAKER_04 16:57

Well, if I don't know if we're gonna get there, but that is actually what I missed during the off-season is napping.

SPEAKER_01 17:02

Well, and just having less to do, like less responsibility. Once you get home in real life and work and kids and everything else, when you're curling, it you're curling. You're sleeping, you're eating, and you're playing. That's it.

SPEAKER_04 17:13

Yeah, they're they're busy days. Like it's not like you're doing nothing, but as Brent said, you just have less responsibilities. There's not you don't have to get anybody to gymnastics on time or school on time. You don't have to make lunches, you can just worry about yourself, which I used to have to worry about Craig too.

SPEAKER_01 17:30

I had to get him there on time, which was impossible. But there's not a lot. There's only four people you gotta worry about. There's four people on a team, and we all gotta get to the same place on time, ready to go, and that's pretty simple compared to regular life. That's why I liked it. That's a big reason why I liked it.

SPEAKER_04 17:44

But you also had to plan for your next season. So you do some planning, you have to enter events probably in around July, maybe even sooner.

SPEAKER_01 17:52

Yeah, depending on the event and depending on which team you are. Like some when Team Howard was rolling, the spots like they would contact you, you wouldn't miss it, and it would say, Are you guys, you know, Oh, you guys are big deals? No, I wasn't. Glenn was, but yeah, people wanted us to come back. We were good for the bar, we were good for the the the bond spiel.

SPEAKER_04 18:09

It used to be in way back when, like when I mean, probably with your team as well, they would almost pay your entry fee to have you come back.

SPEAKER_01 18:16

Sometimes that didn't happen very often. Over in Europe, they used to do that for the Briar and Briar winners. Like we got a couple of no, it's not a thing anymore. But sometimes you would get something like some hotels, if there was a sponsor, they wanted you to come back, or yeah, we did get that from time to time, but it got less and less as as the game kind of grew in popularity. The the opportunities for that were less and less, which doesn't seem to make sense. But maybe I got worse and worse.

SPEAKER_04 18:40

What about um one other thing I would say I would be excited about would be not having to pack a suitcase, although I always had a suitcase packed. Do you do the same thing? So I had double of everything, like in terms of like toiletry stuff, and and then I would just wash my clothes when I came home and I'd repack the same clothes. People probably thought I had the small smallest wardrobe ever, but it was always ready to go.

SPEAKER_02 19:07

No, I didn't do that.

SPEAKER_04 19:09

No, no, I didn't have that many clothes.

SPEAKER_01 19:12

I washed my clothes, but but no, I didn't do that. When packing was simple. I mean, packing for a a curling event takes eight minutes. Like it takes no time at all. You don't need anything special. And I have a toiletry kit that goes anywhere I go. It's got everything I need in there. I don't need much. So no, I did not do that. That seems crazy to me.

SPEAKER_04 19:32

Really? No, it's not right. I had a suitcase packed at all times.

SPEAKER_01 19:35

Ready to go. What do you like?

SPEAKER_04 19:37

I still think I have one upstairs packed.

SPEAKER_01 19:38

That's it. You got a go bag?

SPEAKER_04 19:39

It's a go bag, yeah, just in case.

SPEAKER_01 19:41

Well, that makes sense being married to me. You need a go bag.

SPEAKER_04 19:43

You never know what's gonna happen, but well, yeah, no, I definitely did that because I just found it easy. We were going three weekends a month. So you come home on a Monday and you leave again on a Thursday, and so it just seemed easier to just have it all in there. But I guess you don't need to straighten our my hair doesn't curl anymore.

SPEAKER_01 20:00

No.

SPEAKER_04 20:01

Weird what other things would you? I know golf, what else? Cottaging. We never really traveled. We did travel a little bit in the summer when you know you tr kind of travel in the off season. But and I would think that a lot of players, if they were gonna go on a holiday, that is the holiday they that's the time they would do it would be in May. You know, you kind of see on it on social media a lot of them are going on a trip, going on a holiday, trying to get away because it's a time, it's a chunk of time that you control. There's no competitions, there's no expectations, you can go away. So I would think I would think that that's what a lot of a lot of athletes would do is that's their time to have um some time away.

SPEAKER_01 20:36

Whether whether you're a curler, a hockey player, a who catching up with your friends and family, like you know, not all of them have kids on tour, and more not more and more, but lots do, but lots don't. So you catch up with your parents, you catch up with the friends you don't see during the season because you're traveling so much, and you get back to kind of uh, you know, your your hometown group a little bit.

SPEAKER_04 20:56

Are there any things that you would avoid in the offseason?

SPEAKER_01 20:59

Curling. I'd avoid being on the ice. No, not really.

SPEAKER_04 21:02

I would.

SPEAKER_01 21:03

You would what? What would you avoid?

SPEAKER_04 21:05

People.

SPEAKER_01 21:05

Oh.

SPEAKER_04 21:06

I just found like I'm introverted by nature. I am.

SPEAKER_02 21:10

Yeah, no, there's no doubt.

SPEAKER_04 21:11

Yeah, people don't believe that, but it's true. It's a true story. And our life was is very busy, very public in the curling season, which I love. And I love talking to the fans. I always love that, which is surprising given that I I like kind of quiet and um, but I really enjoyed those interactions. But then in the off season, I needed to not have very many. Like I liked quiet, I liked downtime.

SPEAKER_01 21:34

That doesn't change for me 12 months a year. I don't have a lot of interactions. I don't I don't seek people out very often. If you if I seek you out, you should feel special because I don't really like people that much.

SPEAKER_04 21:44

Oh.

SPEAKER_01 21:44

But I there's a handful of people.

SPEAKER_04 21:46

You like me. You like hanging out with me.

SPEAKER_01 21:47

Yeah, most of the time. Yeah. No, no, I th I'm serious. Like, I don't I don't feel super comfortable in, you know, those kind of curling social events where not where it's just the curlers, that's fine. Amongst the peer group, that's fine. But when you go Go to like the banquets and stuff, and no, no. Like, I walked into one of those two weeks ago and you weren't there, and I lasted like 15 minutes. What am I doing here? Like, I I'm here voluntarily, and I'm just not interested in any of this. And it wasn't that I didn't like anybody there, it was just this isn't my scene.

SPEAKER_04 22:17

No, you you actually did send me a text saying, I need you to be walk in, there's the bar, straight to the bar, buy a drink.

SPEAKER_01 22:24

And I'm like, Why did I buy a drink? I don't even want to be here. Look around, walk around a couple times, drinks gone, I'm gone.

SPEAKER_04 22:28

Yeah. So we, I mean, obviously, you have some like you try to catch up with friends and family, but generally speaking, we would try to avoid like big functions, just have some quiet time, kind of recharge that part of ourself because our life w was. I mean, now that we're retired, was quite public.

SPEAKER_01 22:47

Yours was very public.

SPEAKER_04 22:48

Yeah, so it was just nice to, I don't know, not put makeup on. Not that I actually wear makeup, but just kind of just leave the house and just do whatever. But I now that we're retired, do you find like we still have a curling season because obviously we're commentating, we're involved. Do you feel I I don't feel like it's much different in the sense that we own the weed man mosquito hero business. It's very busy and starting in basically end of March. So it doesn't, I feel like there's less of an off-season now for us than there wasn't there's no off-season in our life.

SPEAKER_01 23:19

Yeah. No, it's just a change in what we do. It used to be more of an off-season when curling, because curling was the focus. That was everything. Everything else fit in around curling. That was that was number one. That was kind of the the North Star, and then everything else you fit in around it. And now that's changed. Yeah, we still fit in around, you know, the slams and the commentating and stuff like that, but there's not as much commitment to the the team outside of that and other events and things. So we have more flexibility, but yeah, now it's committing to the 25 years of working for a living that we didn't make money, that we need to catch up.

SPEAKER_04 23:52

Yeah, so I find it's definitely busier, more commitments now than before.

SPEAKER_01 23:56

It's more real life, yeah. Less rock star, more more regular star. So uh speaking of uh Rockstar, Rockstar Rapid Fire, we're gonna do a rockstar rapid fire, rapid fire summer edition. Rapid fire.

SPEAKER_04 24:11

These are super easy though, but I like to explain my answers.

SPEAKER_01 24:14

Nope. Well, okay, we'll see how you go here. So I'm just gonna give you two options. You just gotta pick one, so there's no explanation. So summer we're talking about. Okay. The beach or the lake?

SPEAKER_04 24:23

I like the beach if I'm going for a stroll. Oh my god, he's the first one. But I like generally speaking, I like the I like a lake. I like seeing the water, I like going on the boat. I failed.

SPEAKER_01 24:36

Okay, next one.

SPEAKER_04 24:37

What about you, beach or lake?

SPEAKER_02 24:39

Lake. Okay.

SPEAKER_04 24:40

You don't I you don't like the sand.

SPEAKER_01 24:41

No, I don't I don't like the sand getting in the boat. No, sand gets everywhere. I like the beach in the winter when we go south. That's when I like the beach. Barbecue or restaurant? You can do it.

SPEAKER_04 24:51

Just I like both. Restaurant, I guess. We don't have to. Really?

SPEAKER_01 24:55

Barbecue.

SPEAKER_04 24:56

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 24:57

In the summer?

SPEAKER_04 24:58

Oh, summer, right. Yeah, probably. Summer edition. That's all we do, is yeah, actually, we don't go out, we just barbecue. So yeah.

SPEAKER_01 25:04

I feel like you're not listening to me when I'm in, you know, introducing these questions. Next, we already kind of talked about this, but book or a movie.

SPEAKER_04 25:10

I'm gonna go movie, which is weird because I just said Totally a movie. We always have movie night. I love going to a drive-in. One drive-in at least a summer. All set up, get popcorn and candy and snacks and watch a movie. Love it.

SPEAKER_01 25:24

I usually get a good nap in.

SPEAKER_04 25:26

You do. You've he falls asleep, he can fall asleep on a dime.

SPEAKER_01 25:28

How about speaking of sleep, early morning or sleep in? Sleep in. Yeah, definitely sleep in. And in the summer, this one is a little bit different as life evolves and we're not curling as much, but travel abroad or stay close to home?

SPEAKER_04 25:41

Both. Sorry. I can't know. I'm not gonna answer that one because we went to New Zealand in the summer and that was one of the most favorite things we've ever done. So that's travel abroad. But then I also like to stay close to home and go to the cottage.

SPEAKER_00 25:54

So both and that's not abroad, right?

SPEAKER_04 25:56

That is not abroad.

SPEAKER_00 25:57

Okay.

SPEAKER_04 25:58

No. So I like both. Can't answer that one.

SPEAKER_00 26:00

You're abroad that doesn't listen.

SPEAKER_04 26:02

No, I what would you say? Travel abroad or stay close to home? I'd say travel abroad if I had to choose.

SPEAKER_01 26:07

In the summer, close to home for me with the cottage now.

SPEAKER_04 26:10

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 26:10

Yeah. Yes, we went to New Zealand. It was awesome. But yeah, summer to me is time to be in kind of one place. Like I said, in Canada, we get three months where you really want to be here, and that's maybe four. I mean, June's usually pretty good. June, July, August. And September might be my favorite month around here, but school starts and curling starts and I like the leaves. Yeah, it's beautiful and the temperature and whatever. The lakes are still warm. But yeah, for me, I'm staying close to home now that the cottage is back.

SPEAKER_04 26:36

What's your favorite thing to do at the cottage?

SPEAKER_01 26:38

Golf.

SPEAKER_00 26:39

No. Hang out with you guys, of course.

SPEAKER_04 26:41

Yeah, I love being water. Yeah, just being at the cottage. I just love nature. I feel like nature's just really good for the soul. Like just being outside, seeing the trees blow, hearing the silence.

SPEAKER_01 26:54

I don't know if that's like going out there. Just away from the city, away from the hustle and bustle. Nothing. It goes back to nothing to do other than be where you want to be and enjoy yourself and spend time with people you want to spend time with in a beautiful place. And you got a boat there, the lake, you go for swim. I mean, we're fortunate there's a golf course there now, which is nice. For you, yeah, for sure. Well, it's nice for you too. Yeah. No? Yeah, no, because then you get rid of me every Saturday morning for well, the golf's four hours, then you gotta have lunch and six hours.

SPEAKER_04 27:22

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 27:24

Beautiful thing.

SPEAKER_04 27:24

So uh well, thank you very much for sending in this topic request. Uh, hopefully we answered the the questions that you had. And curling off season really isn't a whole lot. There's not much in the off-season, but uh there is probably four weeks where curlers will take some time off and then really start training hard. Um, you know, in the gym, trying to build that muscle. This is where you kind of build all your strength and then back on the ice, uh keeping everything, all the top teams are doing it. Teams in Scotland essentially train year-round. And if you want to be the very best, that's kind of that's what you have to do. But it's also, I know there's wrestling recovery is a big kind of topic in today's world. So it's kind of rest and recovery time and then planning for next year. But uh thanks everyone so much for tuning in.

SPEAKER_01 28:10

Keep rocking the chaos, chasing adventures, loving the ride, and never stop dreaming. We'll see you next time on Rockstars.