I realize it’s been a long time since my last post, so I
will do my best to start where I left off.
To begin, post Korea involved a glamorous two weeks holed away on my parent’s
farm. The days that were not spent on my
parents 180 odd acres were spent hiking, paddle boarding, and catching up with
friends and family. My visit ended with a trip back to London, Ontario and a great start to the training season.
October brought my first ever head of the Charles with teammate and friend Carling
Zeeman. We placed second. For some fun pics check out: http://scullingfool.smugmug.com/Rowing/Head-of-the-Charles-2013/Championship-Doubles-Women/i-Jq5VjkL.
Navigating the course was like
navigating rush hour in Toronto. Thank goodness I was in stroke seat!
After Head of the Charles came the 2013 Canadian National
Rowing Championships, where I placed third in the women’s heavyweight single
event. Gale force winds resulted in many cancelled races and a time trial style
final. A short wrap-up article can be found here http://rowingcanada.org/news/2013-national-rowing-championships-come-close-welland.
The fall training season was also marked by a number of erg
tests and my first ever V02 max test. The erg tests consisted of two team 6k’s
and a spur of the moment “on my own” 2k. All three were best times and my new “times
to beat” are 6:48.9 on the 2k and 21:50.0 on the 6k. All in all a very exciting
fall season for me. It is always so rewarding (and a huge confidence booster)
to see those training hours pay off.
Christmas break consisted of a wonderful two weeks at home spent
mostly on the x-country ski trails and on the computer, desperately finishing
off the third of my four online courses. The weather was unusually warm for a
Northern BC winter, and alternating rain and snow led to terrible road
conditions. One day the roads were so terrible that I couldn’t make it
into town (aka the gym and x-country ski trails) so I got creative and did my
interval workouts on a pair of my dad’s snowshoes. Success! Feel free to check
out my twitter page (@Antje_vs) for updates and winter break farm training
photos!
And suddenly 2013 was brought to a close. I spent new year’s
eve on an airplane traveling back to the training center, and two short days
after arriving, hopped on another plane to Florida for our first training camp of the season.
It was great to be back on the water and we spent most of the rows trying out
some different combinations with the quad. We had the luxury of working with
two fantastic biomechanists and learned a lot! It was a grueling two weeks of
hundreds of kilometers on the water and numerous core and strength workouts in
the weight room…. obviously accompanied by copious amounts of food consumed in
the Stetson University Cafeteria.
Ahhhh, and we’ve finally made it to the present time.
Yesterday we arrived back in London and today and tomorrow are mostly off
(aside from a short 90’ on your own cardio session today). Tomorrow I am hoping
to check out the x-country ski trails at Circle-R Ranch (http://www.circlerranch.ca/) with a
friend from the lightweight men’s team. Fingers crossed that they will have
enough snow! If they do I will do my best to post some pictures on twitter!
