Four more sleeps here in Craftsbury until I leave for Europe.
The heats of World Cup II in Eton begin next Friday. I am obviously really excited for this trip, but at the same time, I am trying to take a different approach to this bout of international racing than in the past.
So far this year, one of my strengths has been my insistence on just enjoying the racing no matter what the stage. It could be pieces in practice, a tues. night ski race in Craftsbury, the Eastern Cup ski races, a National selection race, World Cup, or Olympic Games. Any time I have gotten pre-race jitters or bad nerves, I have brought myself back to the root of it all: I love to race. That idea has helped me carry a child-like playfulness to the start line and brings my full attention to the moment--nothing else. I respect the importance of the other aspects of the sport and performance, but I also understand that this approach is my foundation and that it is within my control to let it support my performance or undermine it.
When I have raced overseas in the past, I have gotten very caught up in things other than the 2000m of racing right in front of my face. This go around, no matter what the result, I am committed to the moment and the stroke I am taking right now. One stroke at a time. The luxury of racing from the lead will be gone. I will need to get comfortable rowing my best from behind, in wake, and under pressure. Finding the peace amidst the chaos. If I can't do that, it will be a long month of racing.
All of that being said, I have been spending a little extra time in the boat messing around. My focus has been rowing 12-16 spm, getting my center of gravity into stern, connecting with no drama, equal press between feet and hands, then letting my center of gravity move down the slide.
Yesterday we did :40 pieces in quads. I was with the three lightweights. Dan referred to me as an Auxiliary lightweight. Haha. I like that. We raced Steve, Ben, Lenny, and Charlie. Right away our boat had a relaxed length to it. On the warm up the other 4x made a point of staying ahead of us. Something I used to care about. These days I see that as insecurity, plain and simple. When the first piece started, they were recovering from the warm up and we just left town. It was a very fun boat to row. I have a lot of confidence in Hugh, Kyle, and Phil. While Kyle and Phil haven't sculled a whole lot, they are great athletes who just understand how to move the boat. Anyways, this was a great workout for quickness. Not to mention it is a blast rowing in a good boat with other people. Something I will probably not get a chance to do a whole lot of for the next month. I love the single, but I could see how training in a 4x could be awesome.
Today is a low intensity distance day with no pieces. Tommorrow we will do another 4k stake race and Head of the Hosmer in the PM.
The heats of World Cup II in Eton begin next Friday. I am obviously really excited for this trip, but at the same time, I am trying to take a different approach to this bout of international racing than in the past.
So far this year, one of my strengths has been my insistence on just enjoying the racing no matter what the stage. It could be pieces in practice, a tues. night ski race in Craftsbury, the Eastern Cup ski races, a National selection race, World Cup, or Olympic Games. Any time I have gotten pre-race jitters or bad nerves, I have brought myself back to the root of it all: I love to race. That idea has helped me carry a child-like playfulness to the start line and brings my full attention to the moment--nothing else. I respect the importance of the other aspects of the sport and performance, but I also understand that this approach is my foundation and that it is within my control to let it support my performance or undermine it.
When I have raced overseas in the past, I have gotten very caught up in things other than the 2000m of racing right in front of my face. This go around, no matter what the result, I am committed to the moment and the stroke I am taking right now. One stroke at a time. The luxury of racing from the lead will be gone. I will need to get comfortable rowing my best from behind, in wake, and under pressure. Finding the peace amidst the chaos. If I can't do that, it will be a long month of racing.
All of that being said, I have been spending a little extra time in the boat messing around. My focus has been rowing 12-16 spm, getting my center of gravity into stern, connecting with no drama, equal press between feet and hands, then letting my center of gravity move down the slide.
Yesterday we did :40 pieces in quads. I was with the three lightweights. Dan referred to me as an Auxiliary lightweight. Haha. I like that. We raced Steve, Ben, Lenny, and Charlie. Right away our boat had a relaxed length to it. On the warm up the other 4x made a point of staying ahead of us. Something I used to care about. These days I see that as insecurity, plain and simple. When the first piece started, they were recovering from the warm up and we just left town. It was a very fun boat to row. I have a lot of confidence in Hugh, Kyle, and Phil. While Kyle and Phil haven't sculled a whole lot, they are great athletes who just understand how to move the boat. Anyways, this was a great workout for quickness. Not to mention it is a blast rowing in a good boat with other people. Something I will probably not get a chance to do a whole lot of for the next month. I love the single, but I could see how training in a 4x could be awesome.
Today is a low intensity distance day with no pieces. Tommorrow we will do another 4k stake race and Head of the Hosmer in the PM.
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