Rowing speed is not owned

Obviously right now a lot of things are in flux. The Olympic programme is changing, USRowing will be making changes, people are retiring, and Craftsbury is still selecting who will lead the program over the next quadrennial. With so many moving parts, it's in my best interest and everyone's to just train generally, build base, have fun racing hard, and enjoy the Fall. I feel too close to 2016 to write about it, so I will save it for another time, for now it's just time to move forward and do some training. I don't really know where to begin, just that I need to begin somewhere. Anywhere!

 After  a couple months away from organized training, I'm pumped to be back, but I can't deny that things are pretty tough right now. What once was a very manageable training load is leaving me sore all over, incredibly hungry, and humbled. Thursday morning was my first training session back in the single. I have been keeping somewhat fit while traveling by running here and there but it was clear right away that my rowing was sloppy and I was struggling to finish a standard 16k row. The row was not a disaster by any means but I have a ways to go until I'm back hitting good speeds at the correct intensity. I can fake it for a few K by adding more energy but quickly pay for it. My guess is that I will improve pretty quickly once I begin stringing consistent rows together, lifting again, and cutting out the beers, but for now it's a struggle.  My morning row on Thursday consisted of 18k of 4 min on at 22 and 1 min easy paddle. This was a nice way to open up my system and reintroduce some hard work without accumulating too much fatigue but I would say that I accumulated plenty of it based on how hard I napped after practice. Clearly, just that one session shocked my system. In the afternoon, I rowed 12k at 17-18 spm, then logged another 16k in the morning before reintroducing myself to the weight room in the afternoon. For the next couple of weeks, I will be doing 10,7,5,3,5,7,10 Front squats, straight leg deadlift, bent over row, and pull ups as my main excercises with plenty of body balancing supplemental lifts. My focus will be on perfect technique and gradually producing as much power as possible within the framework of that motion. Having been away for a little bit, I can tell that my drive dynamics are not quite right and the way I'm applying power is disjointed in places. I woke up Saturday morning very sore from the lift but still excited to do something that wasn't steady state or lifting. That something would be a 5k piece that really put me in my place and showed me I have a tough road ahead of me  back to race fitness. Another reminder of how honest this sport is and how you cannot cheat it.  JJ Watt famously tweeted " rowing speed isn't owned, it's leased and rent is due every day." Or something like that.  Saturday evening, I dynamic erged for 75 min at recovery pace and then fueled up with a stack of meatloaf! In just a few days I feel like I have made a lot of progress  but the reality is that I will need every bit of the six weeks I have to be race ready in Boston.

As I have alluded to, my short term goal is the Head of the Charles. Right now, Drysdale is not entered, but I am confident that in the next couple days he and few handful of other international studs will be on the entry list. My guess is Mahe, Damir Martin, Kjetil Borch, Angel, and others. Not sure if Andrew or Ben Davison are going to race but they will obviously be really fast, if they do. Right now I am listed as bow number 1 but when Mahe enters I will be pushed to two by merit of the finishing order last year. I had thought for much of the summer that I would get a shot at contesting the Gold Cup this year as the American entry but looks like there won't be an American competing, which is a shame. They selected four amazing scullers so there is nothing to complain about but I was really hoping to get a chance to show that an American could hang with those guys. I know much of our goal in the quad this year was to show our country that sculling is not a lost cause and that there are scullers to be proud of. Falling short in Lucerne and not racing at the Olympics only furthered the notion that the US has no heavyweight men's scullers, despite the fact that on our day we could have fought for the medals in Rio. Not having an American Sculler at the Gold Cup feels adds more fuel to that fire and is a missed opportunity to reverse that notion. All it takes is one person, one suprisingly good result, to be the tipping point. I'm incredibly inspired by Gevvie's results this quadrennial and her silver medal at the Olympics because that is certainly a tipping point and has inspired many, myself included, that it's possible to scull at that level. I saw the Gold Cup as one such opportunity, but there will be others. Other opportunities to change the way US men's sculling is perceived and that is what I'm training for.