Winter Training

We are deep in winter training for the 2010-2011 season and it is a slug fest. My teammate, David Smith, summarized it best: "some programs focus on high intensity, others on high volume. [Coach] Conal does both at the same time!" We are gobbling up 150K a week between the erg and water, plus mileage running, biking, and time getting huge in the weight room. Video review is becoming more regular, and the presence of visiting athletes during the holiday season increases the competitive intensity of the boathouse.

We recently completed a battery of erg tests - everything from 60 minutes to 10 strokes - in order to find athletes' weaknesses and strengths. I am looking forward to several weeks focused on maximal power.

Next on our race agenda is Ergomania to cap off the winter season. After that we will undergo a long stretch to prepare for the NSR regattas which begin in late April.

In the mean time, the focus is on developing fundamentals and avoiding injuries.

Head of the Lake: Intro to Winter

I had and excellent Head of the Lake in the 1x this year; I finished second, my best performance ever. I beat out Meenk and Austin, both of whom had beaten me last year. Meenk finished 5th at Charles too, which leads me to believe that my race performances was not as superb as it felt. I was happy to also finish ahead of Van Bolt, a smaller UW rower who seems to be training at Pocock. Warren North was the only one to finish ahead of me. He continues to lead me in our on-the water encounters, having also beaten me at NSR I and Head of the Lake last season. My internal sense of my own race performance suggests that I had a lot of room for improvement by simply calming down and turning my focus inward. I became frantic during the race and lost a lot of time as I turned my attention to my opponents' performances rather than my own. I must learn to focus better.

Lindsay Meyer finished 10th at the World Championship Regatta. We are all very proud of her and wish her a well-deserved rest as she gathers herself for a return to Stanford in the Spring.

Sam and I now go into winter training until the next NSR I in late April. One of my goals is to make it through all of my workouts this winter and avoid any injuries that may inhibit my training. Already I have some agitation in my shoulder reminiscent of an injury I suffered my third year of college. But I persist. The goal is sub-6:20 by Ergomania and sub-20:12 for my 6k test. I would like to finish somewhere in the B final or better at NSR this year, which to me means breaking 7:15 on the Seattle 2K course. I am very excited for this season.

HoCR Photos

HoCR and Worlds

Fantastic showing at Head of the Charles for the Seattle Rowing Center. I finished 10th in the lightweight 1x with a time of 18:41. This was well within the 5% margin needed to automatically qualify for the 2011 Charles Regatta. The race was good for me: aggressive and thoughtful. There were a few boats ahead of me that I would have liked to take down, but I will press on and try to make a comeback at Head of the Lake. Our junior women's 2x finished 10th as well with a time of 19:54, also qualifying automatically for a return trip in 2011. Our club single entry, Sam McVeety finished 37th and unfortunately did not qualify for next year.

Lindsay will begin racing at the World Championship Regatta in New Zealand on Sunday! Her training has gone particularly well in the lead up to the prestigious competition. She has been joined by Coach Conal Groom. Our thoughts and prayers are with her on this momentous journey as the USA's youngest female single sculler ever!

Next on my race agenda is Head of the Lake, after which we will go into winter training until the National Selection Regattas in the spring. With the recent PR on my 6K, I am pumped for what this season has in store.

Grinding into Fall, Trials, and Head of the Charles

After a discussion with Conal, I decided that the best course of action for myself is to abandon my attempt at the 2010 Senior Team Trials and begin preparing for the 2011 season. I have not demonstrated sufficient speed to make a legitimate attempt at the lightweight men's single.

Lindsay Meyer continues her preparation for the open women's single and we on the elite team are all rooting for her and helping her to push in her training. I am very excited to watch her hard work put to use at the Trials in about four weeks.

Sam and I have our sights set on Head of the Charles in late October. We are working hard to build up our power and base and hope to make a drop on the rest of the field - much of which is still preparing for sprint races as we begin our head race training. Lots of endurance weights and moderate distance, moderate intensity power work on the water.

My new boat will be here in about a week. A special thanks to Greg Moga Productions. Without their support, I would not have been able to afford the new shell and oars that I will be using to compete this year.

The Seattle Rowing Center is looking very sharp these days. Conal and Carol have a superb operation in the works and it is impressive how far they have come in so little time. I think we will see a larger than expected contingent of junior athletes joining us this Fall. We have some beautiful new boats already on the racks and more on the way.

I am also very jazzed about preparing the HNA women for their fall season. We on the coaching staff are seeing some very impressive work being put in for the Head of the Charles selection process and other athletes looking further ahead to other races.

U23 and Seattle Rowing Center

First and foremost, a hardy congratulation to Lindsay Meyer. She recently finished 3rd at the Under-23 world championship regatta in Brest, Belarus. Once again, Lindsay is setting new first for the United States of America - she is the highest finishing US athlete in the women's open single EVER. This is already on top of her historic performances in the single as a junior, the women's U-23 quadrupole scull, and the Beijing quad. She is a continuing inspiration to her teammates and we all wish her the best as she continues to train for the 2010 US Senior Team Trials in September. She will be taking the fall off from school to make a bid for the open single and a trip to New Zealand for the World Championship Regatta.

I am also preparing for the 2010 US Team Trials in the lightweight men's single, and while I like to be optimistic, my goal is to simply beat some scullers who I lost to in the Spring. I have been doing very well during this last training cycle and have seen some big increases in my power and efficiency. I am using a heavier rig to emphasize the locked-on feeling all the way to the finish of my strokes.

I am also shopping for a new boat. I am trying to buy a brand new Fluidesign EL and sell my current Fluidesign Elite to help cover the costs. Very exciting for me. I have been using my new set of Dreher APEX sculls (to replace my 9 year old set) and have been very satisfied. I would be happy to accept Dreher and Fluid as sponsors ;)

Most importantly, I want to share Conal Groom's recent professional change. He has decided to leave Lake Union Crew and is starting a new rowing organization geared towards Junior, Development, Collegiate, and Elite athletes. The organization is called Seattle Rowing Center and at this point I believe has a lot of potential given the quality of its staff and wonderful location in the ship canal by Ballard Bridge. I encourage all eligible parties to check out this new organization - I, of course, will be going with Conal to continues my training.

Canada

Two weekends ago, I found myself in Victoria, BC for the BC championship regatta. This regatta is a race platform for Northwest elite and developing athletes. So I was happy to walk away with a 3rd place finish in the light 1x and 5th place finish in the open 2x. It was by far the most relaxed and logistically simple regatta for me as I stayed with the LUC coaching staff in a hotel. Our travel team included a number of Jr, collegiate, and master athletes as well, so it was not nearly as lonely as regattas earlier in the year.

My races in the 1x were my best yet. Fast pacing on the red-line the whole way down the course. In my final, we were mixed with some open weight entries and I just barely lost to my fat weight rival, Austin, who left us for Pocock's team. I guess if he's going to be 40 lbs heavier and 6 inches taller, he might as well be 3 seconds faster.

I will not be attending Canadian Henley as I missed the entry deadline. So my final sprint will be the US lightweight 1x trial in late September. Afterwards, I will be staying in Boston for a couple of weeks to compete in my first Head of the Charles if I do not win my trial.

This season has been transformative. After several injuries and new personal records, I have learned a lot about my body and limits. Most importantly, I know I have more to give. This morning, I was doing pieces against Wales and a bolt came off my rigger. Even with the loose equipment I still whooped him. I have picked up a lot of boat feel and power in my first 11 months as an Elite athlete.

ROOH,
Twist

Nationals Recap

While I did not come home with any national titles, my teammate Lindsey Meyer qualified for the U23 National Team in the 1x in a commanding fashion. LUC teammate Michael Wales also had a strong performance, though did not qualify for a post on the U23 team.

This regatta is being chalked up as another learning experience, though I wish I had learned to win. My performance was much stronger and more consistent than at NSR I, but I am still reaching for the grand final finish. I have also significantly exacerbated the tendinitis in my left arm and will begin a physical therapy process to address it.

The new strategy is to work me with more power-based training. We have increased the load on my boat in the hope of getting more run per stroke. While I have been told that I am rowing technically well at this point in the season, I just don't seem to be getting the same amount of run per stroke as my competitors. I wonder how much of this is a lack of horsepower. I am aware that I have lower erg scores than many others in my racing category, but I would not think the difference to be so large as to explain the deficit I had this last week.

Anyway, onward and upward. Next on my racing agenda is British Columbia Championships in a week and a half, then a month later out to St. Catharines, Ontario for Canadian Henley. Canadian Henley will be my next major regatta to check in on my training and how it affects my performance.

Pre-race

Nationals around the corner and new PRs

I have all of my logistics taken care of for the next trip out to Princeton - I will be flying out on the 22nd and returning on the 27th. I am staying with the Baran-Wagner family once again and will be using Michael Wales's new boat and oars for my racing. I think this will end up being cheaper than the NSR I trip thanks to better planning on my part (not taking more own oars, tools, or renting a boat).

Last weekend I set a new personal best on the 2K course through the Cut, clocking 7:23. I think that if conditions are fast in Princeton, I can expect to go under 7:15, maybe even 7:10. That puts me near the top of the lightweights. However, I will be competing as both a lightweight and heavyweight at Nationals. The entries for the lightweight event are so few that I would not be able to get very much good racing in. However, by racing as a heavyweight as well, I can potentially add three more races and compete for a more prestigious title.

This week is filled with solid, high-intensity work. I am being very careful with my body and minding all of my stretching, physical therapy, icing, and nutritional plans. I am feeling 10 times stronger than I did leading up to NSR I and look to show it on the water.

Off Cycle and 2Ks

This last 3 weeks have been a bit rough for me on the water. I have been feeling like I am relearning how to row, like I can't get more than 10 or 20 strokes in a row with consistent and effective application of power. The last three days, however, saw an abrupt about-face. On Friday, I threw down new 1-rep maxes in the weight room with 190 on the bench press and 265 on squats. I was pretty pumped about this, especially given my floundering workout earlier that morning. Then on Saturday, doing 250s with Lindsey, I started to see a return of some of that explosive power that I had in February that seemed to disappear for the last couple of months.

Today, we did a 2K and I lined up with another lightweight 1x and a lightweight Jr. 2x. On the warmup, as I took some power 10s and 20s, I stopped to double check my speed coach because I thought that someone may have tampered with it. Speed was just coming much more easily at lower stroke rates and I was caught off guard. I rolled with it and along with a renewed focus that I had been building up over the previous 24 hours, I made it down the course in 7:31. Not where I want to be, but leaps ahead of where I have been. It also marked my first 2k victory over my training partner, which will pay off in confidence at later races and training sessions.

I am looking forward to the next couple of weeks as we ramp up leading into the National Championship Regatta in Princeton at the end of the month. I will be rowing solo once again, focusing my energy on the 1x.

As the training group grows for the Summer, it is easier to stay pumped up as the workouts become more challenging.

1500s

I had a freakin' great morning workout today. We did 3x1500 with rate shifts every 500. Other than the first 1000 of the first piece, I was about as on fire as I have been since March. The first 1000 meters, the mental process was along the lines of 'concentrate on my technique, concentrate on my technique, wow I'm going faster, concentrate...' This evolved into 'freakin' go hard!' for the rest of the workout as I found my groove. The pieces were not blazing fast, but they were powerful and I found some solid aggression to help fuel the race. I was able to catch or pass Sam on all the pieces. I had a blast.

I think the anti-inflammatory early in the morning helps my workouts. It may not be good for me, but it lets me focus on power and technique and not on the little pains.

Strength

I threw up a new personal best on the leg press on Friday with a couple reps at 580 lbs. I was also able to get back into some of the more strenuous core exercises that I had been dodging for the sake of my back, which was very refreshing. By the time Friday evening hit, I was wiped out. Probably should have hit the ice bath to speed up recovery. Oh well.

I read an article suggesting the a mid-day 30-40 minute nap would increase my body's production of growth hormone. Something I might have to start scheduling into my routine.

I started to work with a physical therapist to address some of the underlying structural problems that may be causing me to be prone to chronic back pain. The issue seems to be a strength and flexibility imbalance between my left and right leg. Probable not perceptible to the untrained eye, but I can certainly feel it when I run or do squats.

Eyes are on the next regatta.

New Sponsor, New Diet, and Good Back Health

First, I would like to welcome our newest sponsor, Moga Jacobsen Productions. You can visit their website under our list of sponsors. As always, we appreciate our relationships with community entities and are always looking to build new partnerships.

I have started up on the Paleo Diet and already feel a world's difference. Some of the downsides include bonking on the longer, more intense workouts. I need to be cautious and always bring a sports drink with me in the boat, not just water. However, I am pretty sure that the increase in Omega 3s has helped to reduce irritation in my arm and low back. Also, I bought a blender so I can rock out with fruit smoothies now. I think that a fruit smoothie with peanut butter and protein powder will become one of my new staples. Unfortunately, this diet is a bit more expensive so I am looking around for new places to get good deals on groceries.

My back is so much better! I saw my doctor yesterday and we have decided that it was likely a rough bit of soft tissue damage. I still feel a little weak, but the pain has been significantly reduced. I am back on the training schedule now, with only a few modifications to the high-resistance components to allow my back to finish healing.

Today I did pieces with Michael Wales for the first time in a few months. Halfway through we switched boats. The difference in relative boat speed after we switched was huge. I went from being barely up or down to being up by open water. I look forward to some speed tests in the near future to see how much of the was the rig, the boat, and the oars.

Northwest Junior Regionals

I took the weekend off from training to travel to Vancouver, WA with the Holy Names Academy and Lake Union Crew junior crews for the Northwest Junior Regional Championship. As an HNA assistant coach, I was responsible for preparing 3 crews for the regatta, two of which brought home 1st place finishes. It was a good break from the hum drum of the boathouse while still being surrounded by the same community. I am almost as exhilarated to coach a winning crew as I am to be a part of a winning crew.

Back Injury

I aggravated my existing back injury last Friday/Saturday with back to back workouts that seem to have pushed my body more than it wanted. I had hurt my back in late March with some lifting and erging workouts that went together followed by some time at work bent over an 8+ for an hour. I rested but continued with as much of the training schedule as I could manage in the lead up to NSR I. The taper also helped it get better, but clearly it was not at 100%. So I am out of action on the water for the near future. I am spending monstrous amounts of time on the bike and in the pool, with some running and lifting to top it off. I feel like I am training for a triathlon! I had a CT scan this week and am going in to get the results tomorrow morning. I am hopeful - the pain responds well to anti-inflammatory medication and feels better when I warm up a bit.

When I am injured (which has happened a few times now), I tend to redouble my efforts in other parts of my life as a way of taking out some of my frustration. I plan out my diet more carefully, do a little more mental training, and try to get some more work in. I always find that working with the Holy Names crowd can take my mind off my own training frustrations as well. They are a good outlet for my desire to produce quality rowing.

I am starting to experiment with a modified Paleo diet to see how it can affect my training and weight management, if at all. I heard that Ann Cummins and Ursula Grobler both use it as a guide for their nutrition.

NSR II is right around the corner - I am curious to see how everything unfolds with the small team boats. Definitely looking to get my act together in the 1x before I aspire to the 2x.

NSR I and the Next Step

The first National Selection Regatta (NSR I) was an eye opener for me. It was my first 2K race in the 1x, my first head-to-head race against other development and elite athletes, and it was my first time at the Mercer Lake facility where the US National Team is headquartered for much of the year.

To say that I fell short of my goals and projections would be an understatement. I finished 22nd out of a field of 30 in the lightweight men's 1x. The goal had been to finish top 4. There were a number of athletes who finished ahead of me who spend less time on the water and have shown themselves to be slower on the erg. Even the top guys at the regatta are only a few seconds faster than me on the erg, with comparable time on the water. This left me a bit puzzled, but ultimately I was able to pinpoint my primary weakness at the regatta: inexperience.

My fly-and-die race strategy has proven to be less-than-optimal. It is a pretty novice race plan that I think illustrates my lack of knowledge regarding my own capabilities. The idea is to get ahead so I can track my competitors for the race rather than trying hold back and wait to move later. In the future I will aim to execute something a bit more conservative in nature, such as an even-split or negative-split race strategy. In order to do this, I need more time on the water simply practicing 2K races so that I will know what my limits feel like.

In this next training cycle, I am hoping to tend to some injuries and develop some more explosive power (my weakness). Conal has put together a pretty solid plan for the next month and we are all looking forward to the National Championship Regatta in June where I look to make a comeback in the 1x and perhaps try my hand in the 2x and 4x if I can find some teammates.

Thanking the Sponsors

I want to begin the blog by thanking those organization that have extended a hand to Lake Union Crew and me - without the support of members of the community it would not be possible to train full time. We keep a list of sponsors with links to their websites available. Currently, my team and I are supported by Cummin's Chiropractic and Wellness, Powerbar, and Ricochet Offroad armor. These are some fantastic businesses that are doing good work for others as well as providing quality products and services. We are always looking to forge new relationships with organizations at Lake Union Crew, so if you feel like you or your group could benefit from working with us, feel free to contact me or any staff member at Lake Union Crew.

Initial Post

This is me just testing out the new blog to see how it looks and reads before I get started with anything more in-depth.