The Torch

I feel like I have made it out of my cocoon of work related fatigue which culminated in a 9 hour drive to South Carolina to begin a 10 day training trip. Once I got down here at 2 am, I got a few hours of sleep and then was thrust into the mix of lifting fairly vigorously. While I was very happy to excercise and get the trip out of me, the S4b lift is a 90 minute fairly intense lift that is highlighted by several 90 rep bench pull bouts! We then did an easy 75 min paddle in the evening. This was more in my wheelhouse! I was itching to get on the water and it was everything I hoped it would be. I have logged many 75 min ergs this winter but words cannot describe how surreal it was to be doing this workout on a beautiful 2k course in my single. Not many things in this world are all that you expect them to be...this was an exception. I enjoyed every stroke of this "far from perfect" technical session! Needless to say, it was a blessing to get down here and begin my on water search for boat speed.
Sunday we did not have scheduled practice until 11 am so it was a perfect opportunity to catch up on sleep. I slept from 930 pm to 9 am. It was awesome. We then got blown off the water and instead ran for about an hour. In the evening, we did a speed workout. I did it with the other elite lightweights but obviously the main competition being Brian DeRegt(my cousin) and Jon Winter. They were the US LM2x last summer and were quite successfull. Workouts like these are never my strong suit so just not getting embarassed by these guys was the goal! Brian likes these pieces, haha. I had a good workout and finished ahead on the first 2k stretch and we all three finished pretty even on the final 2k set. I was pleased to just be in the game. I am very careful to reserve judgment because there are so many ups and downs, highs and lows, that go into being an elite athlete especially in rowing. There are so many unexpected variables that can be thrown at you at a given time that you just need to keep a level head and use the skills you have to deal with any situation. Bottom line, I just want to learn from everything. Experiences make me more prepared for the next challenge. I can only control what I can control and it is a waste of time to spend time thinking about things I cannot control. Speaking of which...
This morning we did a 6k and I ended up winning over some decent guys. Nothing to hang my hat on but a good start to the camp. There is a ton of work to do and a big mountain to climb but every small success is nice to keep you going hard and working towards the ultimate goal of representing the US well on the international level.  Ok, until next time!