Spring has Sprung

Which is to say, going back to the beginning of the last post, rain, wind, and etc. Sloppy wet day this morning as we pounded through some chop to get in a few five minute race pieces. Having completed our first cycle of training we're moving into the phase I'd call "preparation"-- the key at this point is getting ready for racing. Weather, wind, current, what have you are all part of the situation and if we're going to be ready to race in those conditions we'd better be prepared to practice racing in them.

Friday of last week was our first 2k test; performances across the board were solid. Having an extra week of training time this year has allowed for a more deliberate buildup; what we saw in the test pieces reflected the consistent and steady nature of the training. As I mentioned above our focus now is turning to RACE preparation; our erg practices are adjusting accordingly. Monday we focused on threshold pieces (12' @ 24), tomorrow is 1500m pieces at around 6k pace. None of these are easy.

I talked to the team today about a quote I'd seen from the Canadian national team men's 8 (Olympic Champions): "We don't train this hard to win on a good day, we train this hard to win on a day when things don't go our way" (paraphrased). Rowing is a very simple sport: line up, race 2k, first one across takes the cake. It's being prepared for the different things that pop up on the course that puts you across the line first.