Believe it or not, I am writing to you from Newport Beach, California!
I will be out here for about a week taking some strokes with my brother Peter in the 2x. There is a National Team lightweight camp going on down in Chula Vista this week. While Peter and I are not aspiring to be lightweights, we thought this would be a good opportunity to take the 2x down there and do some work on the buoyed course. We will go down there this weekend for a couple rows and get a good idea of what our speed is like. Last summer, Peter did a great body of work on the Chula Vista course while he was in selection for the M4x and then training for the Olympics. He knows what type of speed we will need to be competitive on the international level and that is what we are looking for. Obviously, I have not been rowing a whole lot in the last three months, but so far I have been happy with how easily I have slipped back into feeling comfortable in the boat. That being said, there are a lot of little things that I need to refocus on.
I arrived Thursday evening and so far it has been amazing how quickly I can slip right back into the training routine out here. It really is a wonderful place to train. Part of the ease in blending back in has to do with the fact that Peter and Tom set up such a great training infrastructure out here. Yesterday morning, we went over to NAC and lifted. Boy, that weight room brought back a lot of memories. It was great to be there. I think a part of my soul will remain in that weight room forever. So many reps. I am probably still reaping the benefit from those reps. I am just not sure I could ever knowingly put myself through it again. But maybe.
After the lift, Peter and I hopped in the 2x and cruised for a little bit. We were greeted by some nice California rain, wind, and HAIL. It was pretty wild. We rowed for about 20 min and went in....talk about fair weather rowers.
In the afternoon, I went up with the bros to Long Beach, where we coached last year and where Tom remains coaching. While work last year was probably too much stress for the amount of training we were doing, I genuinely miss those kids. Lot of great hard working kids that were inspired by having us around. The culture there has new expectations for what is good in rowing because of having us around and for continuing to have Tom around. Three JR. national teamers last year and the number will continue to grow. In that same vein, I got to do one of my favorite things yesterday before the Long beach practice started: Erg with Peter in front of the kids. Haha...it's just great. We got there early and sat down for a 20 k. It's great when the kids come in when we have about 10k to go and they watch us behind our ergs for the final 30 min or so. Peter and I kind of glance at each other, smile, and just start putting on a steady state show. There is a very small percentage of the world that could appreciate two idiots rowing at around 20 spm for an extended period of time to pop hits on the radio. But hey, we found them! It was a pretty meaningful piece for me actually. I distinctly remember last year, erging with Peter in the same setting, and just feeling weak. I remember he was thriving and just trashing the erg. He was on fire. His body could just flat out produce more energy than I could. I envied that. However, last year, I did not have the luxury of building my body up. I was actively tearing it down in order to make weight. So, yesterday, I felt that. Yesterday, I was thriving. Peter was putting up a fight, but I made sure everyone in that room knew that it was MY piece and that this is not the sorry lightweight you saw last year. This year, I am using everything I've got and enjoying every moment of it. Anyways, it was a total blast. The erging weather in california is wonderful!
I will be out here for about a week taking some strokes with my brother Peter in the 2x. There is a National Team lightweight camp going on down in Chula Vista this week. While Peter and I are not aspiring to be lightweights, we thought this would be a good opportunity to take the 2x down there and do some work on the buoyed course. We will go down there this weekend for a couple rows and get a good idea of what our speed is like. Last summer, Peter did a great body of work on the Chula Vista course while he was in selection for the M4x and then training for the Olympics. He knows what type of speed we will need to be competitive on the international level and that is what we are looking for. Obviously, I have not been rowing a whole lot in the last three months, but so far I have been happy with how easily I have slipped back into feeling comfortable in the boat. That being said, there are a lot of little things that I need to refocus on.
I arrived Thursday evening and so far it has been amazing how quickly I can slip right back into the training routine out here. It really is a wonderful place to train. Part of the ease in blending back in has to do with the fact that Peter and Tom set up such a great training infrastructure out here. Yesterday morning, we went over to NAC and lifted. Boy, that weight room brought back a lot of memories. It was great to be there. I think a part of my soul will remain in that weight room forever. So many reps. I am probably still reaping the benefit from those reps. I am just not sure I could ever knowingly put myself through it again. But maybe.
After the lift, Peter and I hopped in the 2x and cruised for a little bit. We were greeted by some nice California rain, wind, and HAIL. It was pretty wild. We rowed for about 20 min and went in....talk about fair weather rowers.
Rowing requires power. Producing power is fun.
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