The Torch

We are in full winter training mode up here in Vermont and I must say, it feels good! Dating back to my college days, November and December were months filled with eager transition from soccer to rowing. I still feel the same way going into this long period of preparation for the spring. It's a time when you take a good long look at yourself and decide what needs improving. Recently, I have been imagining myself at the start line of the A final of the Men's double at the Lucerne World Cup. I look around, look at my partner, look at the stake boat holder, the mountains, my oar handles, my stern, my feet. How did I get there? What got me through the semi final? What got me through the heats? How did I win the selection regatta to get here? What characteristic of my training and preparation got me here? Was it my sprint that I worked on all winter through heavy lifting or my third 500 speed that I worked on through endless volume. Doing this makes me think about what I need to work on to get there. It makes me realize that I have weaknesses to address in order to get there. But, it also makes it feel tangible with the right preparation. That is what I am working towards and beyond. So the months of dec, jan, and feb are about taking my engine apart and rebuilding it stronger. This winter will be a lot different than last year where I rowed year round. I will be relying a lot on being very fit, very strong, and well, very happy! Skiing has been an awesome training tool so far. It is an amazing workout. It pains me to say that Pepa has been right all of these years, but skiing is the full body workout. It is much more dynamic than rowing and forces you to use every part of your body. Yes, I know rowing kind of does also, but you can row in a way that you do not engage every muscle group, most notably the core. Skiing absolutely ruins your core and arms. For me, it is great, because it forces me to get stronger in the midsection which has always been a weakness for me. If I can show up in the spring with a new core, that alone will be worth a lot of speed. A week of training right now looks like a butt load of x-training with some erging and lifting in the middle. On Fridays we do a hard erg which normally is 3 x 1500 m/4 min rest. Last week was the first of such pieces and it was pretty fun to do them with Steve and the James Twins. As a small heavyweight, I strive to be close to the bigger guys on the erg. Steve definitely pulls a fast erg(5.55) so staying with him is tough. But I have been doing my best. Last friday, I was about a split off of him each piece and a little bit faster than the twins. It will be fun tracking the progress throughout the winter months.
The rowing machine numbers are definitely a big motivator but I am most excited about getting faster on skis this winter. As far as the rowers go, I am decently fast. In comparison to the skiers, I am way behind. I just really want to close the gap and earn some respect! Next week is the Eastern Cup here in Craftsbury which is a basically the equivalent of Club Nationals for rowing. It will be my first test of speed! Could be extremely humbling. Well, maybe not humbling because I know I am going to get ruined by these guys. I am excited to race nonetheless. I want to use skiing and ski racing as a way to keep my racing edge sharp throughout the winter. Too often I think I fall back into the doldrums of steady state throughout the winter and lose the competitive edge and speed. It is important that I continue to cultivate the sprinting instinct and racing mentality. I felt like that was something I improved on a lot this summer and fall, just going really really hard and enjoying it. Ski racing provides the perfect stage for rehearsing going really hard. No expectations just shear exertion.