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