The Torch

Just a few days away until our first race of the season. It will be in singles down at the Olympic Training Center in San Diego. For us, it is an opportunity to get experience on the course we will be racing the Olympic 2x trials on the second week in April. It's also a chance for us to see how we have progressed over the winter and learn from our shortcomings as we aim to perfect everything for the 2x trials. I think we are all getting pretty antsy to race other people and see how we stack up. For Brian and I, we will get a chance to see some of the other lightweights that are going for the lm2x- our goal will definitely be to send a message to them that we will be tough to beat in April. We have done well to stay under the radar this winter and many people probably think that we have not been training all that hard...next week we will get an opportunity to show what we've been up to. As we approach NSR 1, Brian and I are also dropping weight to get down to 70 kilos for Olympic Trials. We have had a huge training load this year so it has been important to not be too light so we could handle it. Now, as we get close to competition, we get rid of anything that is not helping us move the boat. The next 4 or 5 weeks we will be leading a pretty bleak existence only eating the essentials and finely tuning our bodies. So, racing starts on Thursday with a time trial to take the 40 mens singles down to 18. The winner of the event has the right to represent the US at a World Cup, where if they finish top 4, they will be the US Olympic single sculler. If not, there will be single trials in June. So even though we are not interested in the single spot, there is a lot at stake next week. That being said, once I get in my boat and out on the water, none of that matters. Once I make it in my lane, no one can touch me. My attention will be focused solely on being quick to the water and suspending my body weight every stroke.