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.