I've definitely had some ups and downs within the last four months. I am still struggling with my injury, but things are slowly getting better (at least for the time being). The most frustrating part is that I don't know what is causing the pain. A small muscle tear is presumed, as the MRI came back negative. I have been logging many hours on the spin bike, and am cautiously stepping back into my rowing shell.  I really savor the 30-50 minutes a day that I am on the water. Being injured has really tested my commitment, but has also given me a chance to fall in love with rowing all over again. I am not allowed to pull hard on the water yet (this was a hard concept to grasp),  and have been taking my time working on balance and technique. As my time on the water is so limited, I really focus on making each stroke count. This is obviously easier said than done. The end of each row is usually spent doing 5-10 minutes of balance drills and "hand skills" drills in close proximity to the docks...... just in case I go for a swim, as the water is pretty darn cold this time of year!!
This weekend I am heading up to Mt. Washington for a much deserved break from the spin bike. Myself, my boyfriend, and another friend will spend this coming Friday, Saturday, and Sunday on the x-country ski trails for some serious cross training. Maybe I will finally get some pictures to post for you guys!

Good News in the New Year

The last two months were spent mostly on the stationary bike in the erg room on the upper floor of the Elk Lake boathouse. Usually two gruelling hours of category6 (zone1) at a time, and I say gruelling not for the intensity, but the monotony of making your legs go in circles two hours at a time while staring out the window into darkness. Every morning I would get up at 4:55am, arrive at the boathouse around 5:20, and start my workout around 5:30..... the first couple weeks I was alone, and got to watch the sun rise every morning as the cars pulled into the parking lot and other rowers slowly arrived. Then, as the days got darker I slowly started getting some company. The first to arrive were usually one or two early birds from the Victoria City Rowing Club, followed by the masters, the rest of the Victoria City Club, the young novices from the Camosun College, and finally the guys and gals in the Rowing Canada Talent Identification program. Day in day out I would sit on the bike and watch as people milled in, set up their ergs, warmed up, completed their workout, stretched, and left. I really got to know who was dedicated and who was not, who put on a big show after an erg test and who quietly rushed outside to spill there guts on the lawn. It was interesting to say the least.

Now it is dark out,  even after I have showered and finished my workout, and there is new company in the Spracklen room in the early hours. Every morning at precisely 7:30 the guys on the National team come into the erg room, set up their mats in a circle, and do half an hour of dynamic warm up. Now for those of you who haven't been around Elk lake, not once in the past five years have I seen such a phenomenon. Personally I think it is great, and I hate to admit it, but they put my 15min dynamic warm up to shame.  Things are changing for me as well, I slowly get to say adios to the spin bike and hello to my rowboat. The reason I was on the bike in the first place was because a re-occurring rib pain, but my MRI came back negative and I was just about as excited as a small kid on Christmas day.

Until next time!

NRC's Recap

What a successful weekend. I came fourth overall and second in the U23 category in the women's 1x in the A final. At first I was a little upset because the race didn't go exactly as planned (in other words I didn't have the perfect race), but there are so many things that went well this weekend that a minor setback didn't put a dent in my mood. One of the most significant differences in my race strategy was my recovery strategy. I bought a small runners water bottle (10oz) and filled it with recovery drink and brought it in the boat with me. As soon as I crossed the finish line I would make sure to drink my recovery drink and go for a good cool down row. I would follow this up with a light jog to flush out the legs and a solid roller session. By the time the final came around on Sunday, I hardly had any residual lactic acid build up in my legs and felt fresh and ready to go. This made a significant difference in my confidence levels. I will definitely continue trying to optimize my recovery routine, and maybe try adding a bit of running to my regular training program to help flush out some of the lactic acid build up that occurs in day to day training.
This weekend really got me wondering why rowers don't run? As my ex-biathlete boyfriend stated, it simply doesn't make sense.
Maybe once I am finished writing up this lab report I will do some research on the benefits of running and why you don't see a lot of it in the wonderful world of rowing.
Until next time...

NRC's day 1

It was good to get all the pre race jitters out of the way. It was three to go through to quarter finals, and I came second. One race down and three to go.
The set up for the women's 1x is as follows:

Friday am: Heats- top three advance to quarter finals A-D, bottom three go to the repêchage(reps)
Friday pm: Reps- top three from the reps go to quarter finals A-D, bottom three go to quarter finals E/F
Saturday am:Quarter finals- top three advance
Saturday pm:Semi finals- top three advance
Sunday: FINALS!!!

It is a little hard to lay out exactly how this works for those of you who are unfamiliar with the process (without writing an essay), as everyone actually ends up racing a final. I believe there are 7 finals (A-F) with A being ranked the top. If I wanted to make it to the A final, I would have to come top three in all my races.
For more information on results check out Regatta central. Next goal on the list to make it to the A/B semi.

Gearing up for Nationals

Its unbelievable how fast the time flies when you're training full time (nearly) and going to school. The past month and a half have been filled with long hours on the water, and equally long hours in the lab. I am taking a biochemistry/microbiology lab that takes up a substantial portion of my time, with 7 hours scheduled in the lab per week. Data analysis, report writing, and lab prep occur outside of these hours. Nonetheless, training has been regular and efficient, at times even gruelling. Tomorrow, and the following two days I will have a chance to see how I match up against the rest of Canada as I compete in the National Rowing Championships right here on Elk Lake, Victoria, BC. It has been a great fall, and I feel like I have made a number of positive changes, both mentally and physically.  This weekend will be both a chance to see the hard work pay off, and a chance to see where improvements can be made. I will post regularly over the weekend to let you know how my races go!

Training update

Before I begin, I would like to thank Rowing Canada, for providing me with a beautiful, bow mounted Hudson single (1x). Having my own boat to  train in makes a world of a difference, not only allowing me to be more efficient, but also enabling me to rig the boat to specifically fit me.

I couldn't have asked for a better first month of school or fall training.  The days have been beautiful and sunny, aside from the first hour of morning rows... which have been equally beautiful, only the sky is slightly darker an filled with stars.

The training sessions themselves have also been very productive, and therefor also very rewarding. I spent most of the last 6 weeks  in my 1x working on low rate endurance training and technique, in particular, balance, rhythm and catches. Making technical changes is quite difficult. There is nothing more frustrating than forcing your hands to tap down, trying to maintain that optimal blade height, and then crashing violently to port or starboard half way through the recovery. That being said, once you start to get a feel for balance and can feel the water gliding smoothly under the boat, all that frustration is 200% worth it.  I have been doing an endless amount and variation of pause drills, my goal: to be able to pause at half slide on the square on any stroke, on any day (when the water is relatively calm), and maintain it!

I am currently doing 13 training sessions a week, on top of my three classes at the University of Victoria (UVIC). The training sessions have this far consisted of ~20km on 6 mornings of the week,  another 10-12 km of intensive technique in the afternoon on 4 days of the week, and three sessions of weights and/or cross training on the bike. One of my favorite things to do towards the end of a training week is to take my boyfriends road bike, gatoraid, and some gels/snacks, and head out on a 2-4 hour ride anywhere on the Southern part of the peninsula.

I am looking into getting a road bike of my own, so I don't always have to steal my boyfriend's. The only thing standing in the way is my newly deceased laptop and my financial situation as a student athlete. I guess I'll have to get creative!

I'm going to end todays post with a quote from Pierre Lafontain, CEO and National coach, Swimming Canada. He recently spoke at the University of Victoria's "Vikes Championship Breakfast", and this quote really hit home:

" There are 1409 days until the next [summer] Olympics, which means there are 1409 different ways to get better"

Today it is 1408 days, and yesterday I got better by not getting frustrated with my shaky balance after a couple days off the water.

The world is full of opportunity!

I'm back

Well, where to begin......
Following the U23  World Championships, I flew to Bremen, Germany, to visit my grandfather for one week. While there, I trained with the Runderclub HANSA von 1898 ( http://www.rchd1898.de/ ), and had the opportunity to row in their 8+ for a training session. Following this short excursion, I flew back into London, Ontario, pulled a batch of tests on the ergometer for RADAR submissions (RADAR is a standardized week of testing on the ergometer, which includes a 60 minute test rate capped at 22 strokes per minute, a 6km erg test, a 2km erg test, a one minute erg test, and two max power tests at testing drag factor and max drag factor). RADAR allows Rowing Canada to rank athletes across the country, and is an important factor in determining invites to training camps and carding etc. There is also an on water time trail following the erg tests, which is an important factor in determining boat moving ability. For those of you who row, you probably understand how physically taxing this procedure is, for those of you who don't.... just take my word for it. Ask almost any athlete familiar with the system, and you will probably hear groans or complaints. There is something about getting on that erg and pounding out one test after the other, which often breaks people.... if not mentally, then physically. Regardless of your opinion (or mine), RADAR and other erg testing is something that most rowers encounter in their rowing career, which is why it is important to maintain a neutral attitude towards them. You don't have to love 'em, but hating them isn't going to get you very far either.
Whoops, I am getting off topic. Now where were we, oh yes, RADAR in London.... I managed to set personal records on all my tests, some of which were very marginal. They were best times nonetheless, so I was pleased.
I flew home to the small town of  Smithers, BC (population ~6000) the very next day (after testing finished), and had three beautiful weeks at home, spending time with family and friends, hiking, biking, and occasionally going on runs. For more information on my hometown check out http://www.hellobc.com/smithers.aspx?gclid=CMHxtuiQrrICFYeDQgodoRUAXQ  or http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Smithers,_British_Columbia . It was an amazing three weeks off, and gave me ample time to recover and reflect on the summer/re-evaluate my goals and figure out fall training plans.
Fast forward to August 20: I flew back to Victoria BC, to prep for the coming school semester and start up fall training. I was happily re-united with the 1x, time trialed on the 25th, started the fourth year of my microbiology bachelors degree, and am back into full time training for NRC's (the Canadian National Rowing Championships). I am only taking three courses this fall, to help with time management and stress reduction...... as training 20+ hours a week while working on school can be quite challenging.
...and the journey continues.....