Quiet Sunday

I biked over to the Devon Boathouse today with the intention of honing my sweep skills in the dynamic rowing tank, only to discover that it was not open. I will take it as a sign that I should take a day of rest.

Working on my feathering

Mad skills.

http://www.youtube.com/user/rowcoach24#p/u/1/8-zaIJ40EUI

Good Morning, Oklahoma

We ran out of coffee this morning, so I figured I would swing by Starbucks on the way to practice. However, Starbucks was not open at 6:00 AM. I was sad. But McDonald's was able to alleviate my caffeine addiction.

As much as I love Seattle and training there, it is awesome to have sunshine everyday for every practice. I am on a vitamin D binge. And it gets so warm so early, I am able to just hop out of my boat after practice and stretch right there on the dock, staring at the patchy clouds and blue sky. Today, there was just enough moisture in the sky that you could see rays from the sun as it rose.

I am getting very excited about heading to Dartmouth. I think there will be a few guys from OKC headed out there, and I have heard of a few from the East Coast so far. I think it will be an excellent experience for me to engage in some highly competitive sweep rowing and be tested against other lightweights.

I have been rowing with an open weight here, Andy Guiardini, a Cuban National who is in the process of gaining his US citizenship. He is very strong, and we are close in speed. He is the more powerful rower, but I am the more efficient. Once he figure out a couple of things, he is going to take off in the single. He a nice guy and a good training partner.

This is the first time since I was in middle school that I have been able to easily hold my weight below 150 lbs. I am hoping this gives me an edge at selection camp. On a related note, my aunt made some delicious carrot cake. Bless her.

Decent Racing and Dartmouth

Camp has been fun for the first week. Not as much coaching as I am used to, but I think the stuff that I do get along with the competition are good.

Did some 2ks today against other camp guys. I am definitely one of the faster lightweights in the development group, and faster than a a couple of the heavyweights as well. So I will be headed off to Dartmouth College in early July to participate in the lightweight 8+ selection. I've got my weight to a lean 150 lbs and am pumped up to do some seat racing in sweep boats. They are providing housing and coaching there for a low fee, but I will be scraping together the cash for my own food and transportation and, if I am successful, a trip to the World Championships in Bled, Slovenia. So I am pretty pumped up.

Here is a goony video of my rowing in the brown:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eWtfD2xnses

Couple of days into OKC

Nothing particularly interesting so far. The facility is very nice; there is more equipment than I know how to use. There is an altitude room, an ice pool, an 'endless' pool, and of course the weight room, erg room, and locker rooms are very nice. The dynamic tank is interesting, and I think I will try it out this afternoon.

The other athletes in my pre-elite group are pretty young. A few open men and women with less small boa experience. I did some pieces against guys in the development group this morning, which was nice to have some push. My coach here talked about getting into a Pan Am 2x with a fellow I raced this morning, but when I approached him, he said no. So, right now I am just doing workouts side by side other guys here. The coaching is good so far. I have my boat and oars, so I am at least cozy.

Living with my Aunt Teresa rocks. Her house is super nice, and she cooks very well. We also have two foreign students here: Abdul, a Saud who is here to study English and Carolina, a very nice Argentinian biochemistry post-doc who is here working on a research project pertaining to the retina. It is a fun and friendly home dynamic.

Like a Boss

Youth Nationals

A worthwhile weekend in Oak Ridge, TN for Youth Nationals. Seattle Rowing Center is going home with two medals - 1st in the LM2x and 2nd in the W2x. The W4x made a strong showing in the petite finals, finishing 7th overall.

Holy Names also had a solid regatta. I don't think everyone finished where they wanted to, but most folks are going home pretty content with the experience. Our LW8+ finished 11th overall, beating out Green Lake in the repechage, a team that had finished 4 seconds ahead of us at the Regional Championship. Our W8+ finished 15th overall, in a competitive race against a number of top talent crew from around the nation, and after a very close race in their repechage.

From my more personal experiences, I feel like I have come a long way with some of these kids and have learned a lot this year about how to help everyone get faster. I definitely want to move away from the erg even more, and continue to de-emphasize the earlier races in favor of more intense and voluminous training schedules. More seat racing all season long so kids know where they're at all the time, and more time in small boats (as always).

I am going to really miss my outgoing seniors with whom I have had a chance to work the most these last two years. A couple of solid rowers and a spectacular coxswain who have been with me since my first regatta with the experienced HNA team in San Diego are headed off to bigger and better things (college!). I have been shaped by my athletes, and will likely continue to be shaped in the years to come.

I am very excited about the youth on our team. We have a few very strong athletes who did not make the trip out to Oak Ridge, and there is enough youth on the lightweight squad to keep cranking out fast boats for the next couple of years. We always have to keep an eye on the future - it was right after my championship races that I did the loftiest planning for the year to come when I was in college. It is the same now on the other side of the fence.