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.