Pictures from Saturday

Practice today was around ~16-17 k with plenty of 3' pieces.





This eight lineup made huge strides and took some risks in terms of pushing the limits of their current fitness. Adaptation grows out of challenge. They'll gain the benefits of this work leading into the next few weeks.


The whole novice team was down with the varsity for the first time this morning. It was very good to introduce the two groups of athletes. Here's the novice women, who looked pretty decent today.







Downtime between pieces-- good time for a joke. The four found the camera very funny.








Cooling down, headed for the dock.



Novice men on the dock.



All finished up, ready for Brunch.

Very good row today, fantastic water and perfect mid-50's weather. Early fall is a really nice time of year out here.

Quick Friday Update

Not a lot of posting the last few days; as the season has hit its stride things have been very busy.

The team has had a few good rows since the challenges of Tuesday's practice; we've done a lot of work on acceleration, connection, and posture. The goal is to build a foundation of set that we can then use to work on other, more detailed aspects of technique.

Looking to take a bunch of pictures at practice tomorrow; stay tuned.

Dealing with Challenges

The row this morning was . . . OK. Honestly, not our best work, and a step back from what we had from the end of last week. We spoke about it when we got in, and the key thing is to refocus on what we gain out of this situation.

Not every practice will be perfect, nor every race. The challenges today were to be found in timing, set, and getting flow. I was also less then 'on' today, and when the coach is feeling out of it while the crews are struggling it's hard to change the momentum of the practice.

The positive today is that despite the challenges we got a fairly effective workout in. It was also good to see that the team stayed focused and we did see improvement throughout; the rowing at the end of practice was significantly better then at the start. The goal we set for tomorrow is to come back and start off better then we finished today.

Most often success starts with a challenge.

Saturday 9-20

Saturday practice means longer rows, daylight, and racing pieces. The pictures can do the talking but this was a very nice session-- great weather, boats clicked well, and the racing showed off a good development of intensity from the beginning of the week.

Hello, Novice!

The sculling class rowed past the novice team out on their first day on the water.

They all said hello.



I'm very impressed with the athleticism of our novice this fall; this was my first opportunity to spend some time observing the group and they're looking fit and seem to be learning quickly. They're going to add a lot to the team over the coming weeks, months, and years.

12.5k

Three years ago, my first at Lewis & Clark, it took us three or four weeks into the fall season before I felt like we could do effective workouts.

The last two years have been a little bit better, but this year takes the cake by far. We did 32 minutes of solid work today, rowed a total of 12.5 kilometers, and accomplished a very challenging workout, all during just our third water practice.

The primary thing that's changed this year is the quality of our base technique; boats are set (mostly), catches are good (pretty good), and we're accelerating and sending the shells well. Having these basics down allows us to get work done instead of just teaching the stroke. By no means are we done with technical work-- we still have a lot of that to do as well-- but being able to develop the physical and the technical alongside each other is a huge asset and one which will serve us well in a short fall season.

The Novice team made their way down to the boathouse for the first time yesterday, carrying boats and learning all the basics (how to get in & out, how to set stretchers, how to hold the blade). I'm looking forward to seeing these guys get out in a boat today.

Practice #1 of 98

Day one on the water, impressions.



Several people (about half the group) swapped sides before the row today. We had a very nice improvement curve from the beginning to the end of practice

Good to see people making changes, and listening too and absorbing coaching. A thing to remember is that I only kind of know what I'm talking about; a big part of my job is helping the athletes to try something new and it's up to them to implement the change.

I love rowing and coaching on the Willamette. This time of year, early fall, it's fairly warm, still lush with life, and wonderful still water. A really excellent place to row.

Got to catch up with some other coaches today. The community was out in force on a Tuesday morning.

Women were out in an eight & four, men out in pairs today. The pairs looked great and I'm excited to get to use them more. One of our freshman only sculled in high school and he took his first sweep strokes today in a pair; by the end of practice it was pretty good.

Everyone, coaches included, is very happy to be back too it. Rowing is what we're here for; it's nice to see us out getting strokes in again.

We're not quite ready to take on the world, but we've taken the first steps.

T-Minus 9 hours. . .

First water practice in just a few hours. It's been very busy here. Launches went in this morning, spent the day doing paperwork and talking to athletes, then took the beginning rowing class down to the boathouse to teach them how to move boats.

Erg scores from the varsity workout today are trickling in. Some much improved on last year, some people took the summer easy. It's always a mixed blessing to start out of shape-- the first few weeks are harder but the improvement comes quickly. Fitness gains for the fit are harder to come by, but of course the peak to be reached is higher.

Novices went through their clearance today as well; tomorrow they start with learning the stroke.

Time for bed-- early morning tomorrow. After all the preparation that went into the year I'm very much looking forward to getting back to what all this is about.

Meetings

This is the week of meetings; the varsity women got together this morning (7 AM, testing everyone's ability to stay awake while talking about training systems) and the coaches are getting together this evening.

This morning's meeting was good; we started out by having everyone introduce themselves and talk about both why they are rowing and what their goals for this year are. I'm constantly reminded that everyone does this sport for a different reason; there is no one right answer. One of my favorite things about coaching this sport is working to create a common drive out of diverse motivations; when it comes together well it's a fantastic thing.

The sculling class actually practiced yesterday-- we rowed a grand total of 7k, I think. HUGE. Video of the quad below; for everyone in this boat this was either the first time sculling or the first time in many years.




Of the 8 people in the sculling class, 4 are on the team and 4 are not. It's about the enjoyment of rowing instead of rowing for competition. I've enjoyed the contrast to the intensity of our team workouts.

Sunburn!

When we annually travel to WIRA in Sacramento at the end of the year, I sometimes get tagged as the sunscreen nazi. Nothing saps an athletes energy faster then a good sunburn, and especially with our rowers coming from the Northwest, dillegince is required to prevent damage.

Ironically, I forgot the lesson myself yesterday at a bike race and I'm now suffering the consequences of 6+ hours in a mid-day sun. Remember: it's not worth it. Put on sunscreen and you'll have much better day #2. Lucky for me I'm not racing today.

Was on campus for quite a few hours today in the office & teaching the beginning rowing course. Had several conversations with varsity athletes about levels of commitment and what was required vs what is needed to move us forward. I've never liked the word 'required'-- to me a successful program is one that the athletes buy into. If I have to force athletes into a practice, we've lost already. At the same time the level of speed needed to be successful is known, and the amount of work to get there is a straightforward reality. I hope the talks I had today were successful in helping our athletes balance other parts of their lives (school, work, fun) with the work we need to put in to go as fast as we want to.

Success is easy, the work required for success is hard.

Pio Fair

Friday afternoon was Pio Fair, now in it's 3rd year. Campus shuts down around 4:30 PM and all the various clubs and organizations get themselves together, grab a table, and talk to students about the myriad options that await them on campus.



For rowing, we first strapped one of our new pairs on my car. I drove VERY carefully up to campus.



We set up shop near the middle of the chaos, with Meghann and Max deployed to talk to interested freshman. Met several of the novice who are already on board and made some excellent connections with a few more.



There were a couple of Newfoundland dogs present; the Newfie is our new mascot! Read all about why here.

A busy afternoon but a fun one.

Rowing has Happened

I got a great note today from someone saying she 'had lunched'. I only got to eat lunch. How do I upgrade?

First strokes of 2008-2009 are in the bag. The sculling class paddled around a bit in a quad as I got a feel for the experience level of that group. It's a fun group-- some people who row for the team, some who rowed in High School but not here at L&C. The common denominator is a strong enthusiasm to ROW MORE, which I can't help but enjoy.

The novice interest meeting was this evening; a great turnout and some excellent athletes looking into the team. Much like the beginning rowing class yesterday, lots of good enthusiasm that's infectious.

Pio Fair tomorrow-- stay tuned for a picture-heavy post.

First Day of Classes!

And the campus is hopping!

Office is busy too; many many athletes from the team stopping by to say hi and ask questions. . . everyone looks refreshed and ready to row. Two more weeks, though, before we get going proper. I'm getting excited.

The team is meeting tomorrow at 6 AM (set those alarms now!) to rig and wash and chat.