The last couple weeks have begun to feel particularly summer-like up here in Craftsbury. Marked by the arrival of the U23 Small Boat Training Center athletes, warmer weather, purposeful training, intense greenness, and the energy of the sculling camps, I am reminded why we train here. For 8-9 months of the year scullers don't want anything to do with this place; however, for the summer months, it turns into a sculling destination. It feels like a dream that nordic skiers from all over flocked to race here this winter.
It has been awesome the last few weeks to be able to throw ourselves at training without having to worry too much about cumulative fatigue. I feel like we have gotten some good work in and made a lot of progress since NSR 2. We have been taking the necessary time to iron things out and do them the right way. Especially in the 4x, I feel like its been really important that we establish the way in which we want to operate as a crew. We are no longer singles or doubles, we are day by day forming an identity as a crew. It's definitely exciting. As one might imagine, there are a lot of personalities in the boat and a lot of voices. We all have high standards and its been crucial to have an open line of communication as to what we are trying to achieve and how we are going to go about doing it. It's a unique group in the sense that Peter is the only guy in the boat who has not represented the US as a single sculler, and he is the most experienced out of us all, having rowed the 4x at the 2012 Olympics. The awareness of body, mind, and boat feel that comes with rowing the 1x at that level certainly makes for an evolved sensitivity to the way the boat is moving. A testament to that is the fact that all four guys row well together in doubles. We have rowed in every combination and they all feel good. Although Ben and I were fastest at NSR 2, all the combinations between the four of us are close to that speed and more importantly all share quite a bit of common technical ground. As a result, jumping in the 4x felt natural and easy from the beginning. Since hopping in, we have been trying to keep the natural speed and flow that was apparent right from the start and just refining it and trying to make it more repeatable. In addition to the 4x rowing, we have been doing a decent amount of cross training and rowing in singles. Last week, I raced in the weekly 5k trail running series and, believe it or not, emerged victorious! In fact, the most exciting part about that race was that I finally beat Zach, my archival in the winter ski races. So now the score stands at Zach 10 , John 1. As with the skiing races this winter, these 5k's are an incredibly enjoyable way to pin your HR at 185-190 and hold it for 20 min without thinking about it.
A few days later, we hopped into singles and did 4 x 1000 m against each other, Hugh, and the LM2-. It was encouraging to see that all four of us are moving decently in the singles even after just hopping in for a workout. That being said, I think we were all happy to be back in the quad after that workout. I was amazed how heavy and slow the single felt relatively. Unfortunately, I think covering 1000m in 3:20 has lost its appeal. 3.00 in the 2x was pretty nice, but 2:45 in the 4x is way more fun. There is something awesome about absolute raw speed.
This morning we were doing base rowing, 40 sec on, 20 sec off, just repeating our base rhythm. We welcomed a 8-10 mph cross tail/head (depending on the direction) that required the highest level of technical focus from us. Everything happens so fast in the quad that tailwind rowing can become extremely challenging. You have to stay very relaxed, trust the rhythm, and just be clean. In order to run with the fastest quads in the world, the rhythm cannot be fragile, it has to be capable of enduring any condition and any circumstance. When things go haywire, the rhythm needs to be where we find peace amidst the chaos. The uncertain water this morning was great for training the endurance of our rhythm. We did three lengths of the lake(9k total) of :40/:20 @ base.
So in two weeks we will be in Princeton racing it up for the right to represent the US in the M4x this summer in Amsterdam at the World Championships. We will likely be facing a very strong crew from California Rowing Club amongst others. While it would be easy to get caught up in who we are racing and what is probably a decent amount of discontent from some scullers out there about our decision to go for the 4x and not just stick with small boats, we are just trying to make this boat go as fast as possible. It's exciting to strip any preconceptions about how fast a quad should go, or how fast a US quad should go, and just try to make it fly. As we approach race day, we become more aware of the uncertainties and the things we don't control, but we seek solace in our rhythm--after all, it was designed to withstand anything.
It has been awesome the last few weeks to be able to throw ourselves at training without having to worry too much about cumulative fatigue. I feel like we have gotten some good work in and made a lot of progress since NSR 2. We have been taking the necessary time to iron things out and do them the right way. Especially in the 4x, I feel like its been really important that we establish the way in which we want to operate as a crew. We are no longer singles or doubles, we are day by day forming an identity as a crew. It's definitely exciting. As one might imagine, there are a lot of personalities in the boat and a lot of voices. We all have high standards and its been crucial to have an open line of communication as to what we are trying to achieve and how we are going to go about doing it. It's a unique group in the sense that Peter is the only guy in the boat who has not represented the US as a single sculler, and he is the most experienced out of us all, having rowed the 4x at the 2012 Olympics. The awareness of body, mind, and boat feel that comes with rowing the 1x at that level certainly makes for an evolved sensitivity to the way the boat is moving. A testament to that is the fact that all four guys row well together in doubles. We have rowed in every combination and they all feel good. Although Ben and I were fastest at NSR 2, all the combinations between the four of us are close to that speed and more importantly all share quite a bit of common technical ground. As a result, jumping in the 4x felt natural and easy from the beginning. Since hopping in, we have been trying to keep the natural speed and flow that was apparent right from the start and just refining it and trying to make it more repeatable. In addition to the 4x rowing, we have been doing a decent amount of cross training and rowing in singles. Last week, I raced in the weekly 5k trail running series and, believe it or not, emerged victorious! In fact, the most exciting part about that race was that I finally beat Zach, my archival in the winter ski races. So now the score stands at Zach 10 , John 1. As with the skiing races this winter, these 5k's are an incredibly enjoyable way to pin your HR at 185-190 and hold it for 20 min without thinking about it.
A few days later, we hopped into singles and did 4 x 1000 m against each other, Hugh, and the LM2-. It was encouraging to see that all four of us are moving decently in the singles even after just hopping in for a workout. That being said, I think we were all happy to be back in the quad after that workout. I was amazed how heavy and slow the single felt relatively. Unfortunately, I think covering 1000m in 3:20 has lost its appeal. 3.00 in the 2x was pretty nice, but 2:45 in the 4x is way more fun. There is something awesome about absolute raw speed.
This morning we were doing base rowing, 40 sec on, 20 sec off, just repeating our base rhythm. We welcomed a 8-10 mph cross tail/head (depending on the direction) that required the highest level of technical focus from us. Everything happens so fast in the quad that tailwind rowing can become extremely challenging. You have to stay very relaxed, trust the rhythm, and just be clean. In order to run with the fastest quads in the world, the rhythm cannot be fragile, it has to be capable of enduring any condition and any circumstance. When things go haywire, the rhythm needs to be where we find peace amidst the chaos. The uncertain water this morning was great for training the endurance of our rhythm. We did three lengths of the lake(9k total) of :40/:20 @ base.
So in two weeks we will be in Princeton racing it up for the right to represent the US in the M4x this summer in Amsterdam at the World Championships. We will likely be facing a very strong crew from California Rowing Club amongst others. While it would be easy to get caught up in who we are racing and what is probably a decent amount of discontent from some scullers out there about our decision to go for the 4x and not just stick with small boats, we are just trying to make this boat go as fast as possible. It's exciting to strip any preconceptions about how fast a quad should go, or how fast a US quad should go, and just try to make it fly. As we approach race day, we become more aware of the uncertainties and the things we don't control, but we seek solace in our rhythm--after all, it was designed to withstand anything.
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