7/11/10

Hey all! Sorry about the delay, but on the plus side I have lots to talk about. So tuck yourself in and grab some milk and cookies: it's story time.
On friday morning we got up earlier than usual to row with the Development campers. We didn't actually race them head on but rather took out two waves of three eights mixed with both CamAmMex and Dev campers gin each boat. We pulled three 1:50 races (the reasoning behind that time being that it is the split necessary to achieve a 7:20 2k). The boatings were slightly uneven because they weren't handpicked but rather randomly selected by pulling names out of a hat. It was still a lot of fun though and it was an all around pleasant experience, if not necessarily overly rigorous.
Because we were to have Sunday practice, we had Friday afternoon and Saturday morning off. Saturday afternoon however, it was nose back to the grind. We went out in A boat and B boat lineups and did three ten minute pieces at low rates, as well as practice starts. There was a lot of experimentation and correction in order to get down the intricices of starts (for example, it's difficult for some people to train themselves not to swing thier body over) but by the end of the practice both boats felt much improved.
This morning, we went out in the same lineups as yesterday afternoon. It was a difficult practice: we did four eight minute pieces at low rates, but the closeness between the two boats on each piece added a level of intensity. The A boat won the first two races; the B boat the second. Something that is slightly frustrating is the fact that it is so easy for a boat to delve into "sloppy rowing" or to get frantic and indulge in reverse ratio and thus make the burning in one's legs all in vain. The row wasn't necessarily good for everyone (although the B boat was definitely pleased), but we left the water aware that we're capable of more and that everyone has off days. The key is to not let yourself over analyze or doubt yourself or the boat based on one bad row. It's difficult to push that voice aside sometimes, but having the discipline to train your mind on motivational lines of reasoning is about as important as having the discipline to not let up the pressure during a race. After all, what are you going to do when it's the third five hundred and you're being walked? Just roll over?
This afternoon we did a series of shorter pieces in the same line ups. We warmed up like we would before a race, then we did five pieces of forty seconds at race pace (about a 32-34) then up two for ten twice (so over all, the whole piece was about a minute and fifteen seconds). After those five we made a huge switch: The stroke of the B boat switched into the A boat, the bow of the A boat switched into stroke seat of the B boat, and the A boat stroke became the B boat bowperson. Definitely not what anyone was expecting. After this switch, both crews did three more pieces, this time only thirty seconds at race pace. After we landed we de-rigged the boats to get ready to leave for Tennessee tomorrow. We were informed that even though the boats hadn't yet reached thier full potential as a technical unit, as we have enough time and potential to work out the kinks the original line up we went out in would be the people in the boats, although there may be some inter-boat seat switching. We still are unaware as to the line-ups of the small boats, but everyone is super excited for Tennessee and our first race. Not to mention a change of scenery.