11/8 - Track - Easy

5 starts
Plyos (Butt-kicks, High-knees, Power skips, Bounds, Backpedal, Quick skips, Explosions).

11/8 - Road

Center St >> Broad >> Center St.
~2 miles?

~22min

Easy jog/run

11/7 - Track - Medium/Easy

3x300
6x150
Rest: Walk to start of next interval

Goal: 60-
57
55
54

Goal: 30-
27
25
27
25
27
24

Quick 150's with a quick start.

11/6 - Road

Turkey Trot run: ~2.5 miles
Time: ~18:00

Cool Down: Swim, 300-400.

11/6 - Track - Hard/Medium

/Medium because I didn't feel like death afterward.

6x400m
Rest: 4 min.

Goal: 70
70
70
71
70
70
72

11/6 - Pool

1400

10/31 - Track - Hard/Medium

This was actually just plain hard.
6-8 200s
Rest: Walk 200m

Goal: 30
28
28
29
30.03
29
30.4

10/31 - Pool

1200

200 Freestyle
100 Breaststroke
Repeat

10/29 - Track - Medium/Easy

3x2 mile
Rest: 10min

Goal: 14:00
13:38
13:50
13:49

10/27 - Track - Medium/Easy

2x600m
4x400m
3 laps of progressions

Goal: 2:00
2:05
1:56

Goal: 80
76
80
76
78

10/25 - Track - Hard

Ladder:
400: 62
300: 47
200: 28
100: 14

100: 14
200: 29
300: 47
400: 72

10/25 - Pool

1500m

10/24 - Track - Easy/Medium

4x300m
6x150m
400m

60-x4
30-x6
95

10/23 - Track - Medium/Easy

Mile repeats
5 Striders
Rest: Walk a lap

Goal: 6:30
6:32
6:30
6:30

10/23 - Pool

1000m

10/22 - Track - Medium

7 200s
Rest: Walk from finish to start ~1:45-2:00

32
32
32
32
32
32
All out - (missed time)

10/20 - Track - Hard

6x300m
1x400m
Rest: Walk 100 meters
Long rest between 3's and 4
Goal: 55
51
56
54
54
54
54

Goal: Don't throw up.
67

10/18 - Track - Medium

Ladder down:
1 Mile
800m
400m
Rest: ~Walk 200m

6:12
2:58
76

7/5/ - R - Session 1

2a, 60'. 2 rests. 1 every 20'. No longer then 2' each. 13468m, 147 watt, 19 SR. Rest shot the ave to crap.

12:00    2870    177    21
24:00    2495    117    18
36:00    2825    169    21
48:00    2508    118    19
60:00    2770    159    20

Bad. Didn't drink or eat right today. Muscles very sore from lifting. Abs, back, chest, legs. Data compromised. HR all over. ----- I'm slipping up. Losing focus & concentration in training. Eating terrible. Need to get off of vacation.

7/3 - T - Weights

10' erg. Warm up HR max 140
Bench Press: 4x20 @ 20kg +bar
Bench Pull: 3x40 @ 5kg
Squat: Jumpies, 4 every 10s, 6 minutes.
Core: 6 minutes of 6 second back ext. Crucifix: Circlesx5, reverse curl x5, pump up x5 repeat. Supermans: 3' 45s on 15s off.
10' on the cool down HR max 140

7/2 - M - Session 1

1a, 60'. 13921m, 162 watt, 20 SR.

12:00    2801    165    20
24:00    2804    165    20
36:00    2793    163    20
48:00    2759    158    21
60:00    2766    159    21

Today starts the new cycle. 1, lift, 2, lift, 3. Tomorrow will be my first time using the weights at the club. Bench pulls might turn into lifting free weights while lying on my chest on a bench. Went out consistent today, +10 watts on the last average watts of the same workout. Worked well. These mark the change in my workout plan from now on. 5x a week; 2 lifting sessions, 3 erging sessions. Consistent watts.

6/28 - R - Session 1

2a, 60'. 14195m, 172 watt, 21 SR

12:00    3004    203    21
24:00    2869    177    21
36:00    2798    164    21
48:00    2771    160    21
60:00    2753    157    22

The juniors were erging right beside me, quite a distraction w/ their 20 ons 10 offs. Hard to stop the body responding from the adrenaline around you. Watts real high to start off. I'll have to do some jumping jacks to get my HR up before I warm up on the erg. It takes at least 4 minutes for my watts to go down and my HR to go up. 100 open 100 closed w/ the eyes. It helps pass the time.

6/27 - W - Session 1

3b, 70'in z1 w/ pwr 20 every 7'. 16314m, 164 watt, 21 SR

14:00    3374    181    21
28:00    3282    167    21
42:00    3225    158    21
56:00    3216    157    21
70:00    3217    157    22

It's nice to see those watts leveling off at the end. I've taken to closing my eyes for 20 strokes while counting down from a hundred. Checking HR and split when I open my eyes for a few strokes every minute. This works out to be a 5 minute interval. It helps keep my HR down where I want it and my body does the rest. My splits end up being better than they usually would be.

6/26 - T - Session 1

1a, 60'. 13817m, 158 watt, 19 SR

12:00    2868    177    20
24:00    2755    157    19
36:00    2744    155    20
48:00    2736    154    20
60:00    2715    150    20

Need flexibility. Rowing extremely short but still coming up to vertical w/ the shins. Hips, groin, shins, ankles. Stiff.

6/22 - F - Session 1

2a, 60'. 14187m, 171 watt, 20 SR

12:00    2949    192    21
24:00    2861    176    21
36:00    2817    168    20
48:00    2776    160    20
60:00    2783    162    21

6/21 - R - Session 1

3b, 70' in z1 w/ pwr 20 every 7' at race pace. 15912m, 152 watt, 21 SR.

14:00    3303    170    21
28:00    3246    162    21
42:00    3161    149    22
56:00    3111    142    21
70:00    3091    140    22

Long burn. Really wish I'd brought my nice, cozy butt pad that Doc made me. Freaking erg seat. z1 wattages low. Race pace wattages low. Ugly all around but still decent. My back is so tired. My lats and middle back, from holding my shoulders back and my spine flat.

6/20 - W - Session 1

1a, 60'. 13705, 154 watt, 20 SR.

12:00    2871    178    20
24:00    2754    157    20
36:00    2717    150    20
48:00    2689    146    20
60:00    2674    143    20

HR, 138-142. 140/139 solid. Still looking around at different rowing clubs. Elbows locked, shoulders held back. Get that reach from the hips not the shoulder blades. Flexibility.

6/19 - T - Session 1

2a, 60'. 13937, 162 ave, 19SR.

12:00    2909    185    20
24:00    2825    169    20
36:00    2750    156    19
48:00    2736    154    20
60:00    2718    151    20

Erg. HR 145-150, mostly around 149/150. Cold out and rainy this morning. I was an ignored person around the club until I was leaving. No one knew who I was but no one confronted me. Once I mentioned I was an exchange student who rowed back home and was looking for a club to train at, everyone's suspicious attitude was dispelled. They're all juniors at the club I was at this morning. I'll find my way to the NUIG club soon enough.

6/15 - F - Session 2

20' body circuit. Could've, should've been longer. I guess it's good not to do anything too strenuous. The same circuit as before. Jumps, crunches, squats, planks, MCs, push-ups, back exts, reverse crunches, scullers, lunges. Took a dip in the pool afterwards. I leave for Ireland in 45 minutes. Travel day tomorrow, specing a regatta on Sunday, work starts on Monday...I can only be so hopeful.

6/15 - F - Session 1

4f, 70' w/ 3 x 10' in SR 24-26. 16328m, 2:08.6. HR 158-162 for body, SR 22-23. Starting off, then going on every alternating 10'. Pieces @ 10', 30', 50'. Very good spacing. 2 full loops then up through the train bridge and back down. Focus on keeping the rhythm and just letting my body row. Arms locked and hanging through the drive. Wasting too much energy if breaking the arms, only tiring yourself out. This is no game. Limped back to the dock afterwards. Lots of pain. It's good to get a solid workout in and know your body couldn't have done too much more (or at least your butt couldn't have). Washed and derigged the Sykes. It's strapped to the rack awaiting my return in August. I hope it remains safe and sound there.

6/14 - R - Session 2

1c, 2 x 45'. First: 9882m 2:16.7. Second: 9714m, 2:19.2. A lot of work out on the water today. 160', gahh. z1 is good for technique. Make sure you're sitting up, knees together, catch before you drive. This afternoon felt better than this morning. Must continue shifting the focuse to legs. 10' rest in between pieces. I got out of the shell in order to give my back/butt a reprieve. Gripping the oars after you've removed your hands is terrible. Hands seem to be getting better though, the new grips must be wearing in. Changed the rigging. Rigged up higher, feels pretty good. Helps me to stay tall. Speed coach says I rowed 34445m today. Whether it's calibrated exactly or not, that's still crazy. Maybe it's not, but at least it's getting me stronger/faster.

6/14 - R - Session 1

3b, 70' in z1 w/ pwr 20 every 7'. 14,849m, 2:21.0. Obviously not as much press as usual. Keeping it easy in the z1 work. My glutes hurt before I'm even halfway into the w.o.. It's a shame because I get off the water not particularly tired yet I can't seem to row any further. Taking it way too much w/ the arms. Film helped me see this. To much power application at the finish making my boat bounce a lot. Trying to shift drive back to the front-end. I'm pulling w/ my arms when I should only be hanging. Very bad. Messes w/ course, set, and the clean finish which means my run is not as good as it should be either. Gonna drop a spacer from the top to the bottom on both oarlocks to see if I can get a higher finish for a more pronounced down-and-away. My hands stay horizontal thoughout the drive and the recovery. It's as if they follow the same line/path. They need to go down, then up. Since I missed Tuesday and will probably miss Saturday due to travel I've made today Friday's workouts and will do Saturday's z4 tomorrow and maybe have time to go to the gym. If not, maybe a body circuit.

6/13 - W - Session 2

1a, 60'. 12945m, 2:19.2 ave. Chop, chop, chop. Very rough water to row in, it's good to try and get used to. The long burn in my glutes has moved up to where my glutes and lower back connect. I can only hope it doesn't keep climbing and give me back problems. I am a slave to the timer. Although I had this bad pain there was no way I could go in before my time was up. I must follow the clock until the end or death.

6/13 - W - Session 1

Paddle row. Nothing serious. Back felt and feels fine. I'll go out this afternoon and do some z1 work. Took yesterday completely off. A person's back is nothing to be toyed w/. Rowed w/ Doc this morning, just like old times. We chatted about lots of different things while rowing casually. Got some film done as well. Back and forth at a 20, 24, 28, 32 and then some starts. Should be interesting to look at.

6/11 - M - Light Weights

10' medium bike
Squat: 3 x 40 @ 95 lb (up rep)
Bnch Press: 4 x 20 @ 80 lb
Bnch Pull: 3 x 45 @ 20 lb (up rep)
Core
10' light bike

6/11 - M - Session 1

3b, 70' in z1 w/ pwr 20 each 7'. Didn't quite make it today. On the 8th power 20 I pinched something in my back and took it back to the dock at 56' in. Felt good to be back on the Lehigh. It's small but cozy and ridiculously flat. I hope my back recovers, it doesn't feel like it's too bad at all but you never know.

6/10 - S - Session 2

20' body circuit. 50-55 seconds on, switch. Needs to change to 55-59 seconds on. Nice quick little workout to do.
01: Jumpies
02: Crunches
03: Squats
04: Squats-pulse
05: Squats-pulse-pulse
06: Plank
07: Side Plank
08: Side Plank
09: Mountain Climbers
10: Push-ups
11: Kneeling back ext.
12: Kneeling back ext.
13: Kneeling reverse crunches
14: Kneeling reverse crunches
15: Lunges
16: Lunges
17: Scullers
18: Standing back ext.
19: Standing back ext.
20: Jumpies
Good stretch afterwards. Rig tomorrow and weights in the afternoon.

6/10 - S - Session 1

2a, 60'. 13548m, 2:12.9. That was definitely something I could get used to. The lake is beautiful and the fact that the launch ramp is 50 feet away from 1) bed, 2) food, 3) shower makes this quite the wondeful place to row. Even wet docking was nice. The water was cool but refreshing. As I woke up and got ready a certain glee came over me. The water was perfect and I had miles to row in almost any direction I wanted. Wonderful. It was interesting which made me distracted. I usually turned every 10 minutes simply because I could. 10' north, 10' west, 10' east, 10' south, 10' west, 10' east. It was great to just go all over the place. HR 152 for the first 20-25'. 145-150 and a bit erratic for the the rest. Felt fat, like actually felt it. My stomach was very full from all the food I ate yesterday and I could feel it on my body swing. I'm going to have to do a calorie workout sometime. Can't gain too much weight or I won't fit in my boat.

6/08 - F - Session 2

1a, 60'. 15 min on the water. 30 min on the erg. Friday afternoon a disaster, I will try to never go out at that time again. Erging again was strange, especially on a model C. 6742m 147.1 ave watts. I'm writing this up well after the workout. It's Saturday night at the lakehouse. Absolutely beautiful. Strong wind storm the night we got in. Winds been high ever since...hardly a chance to go out. It's supposed to die tonight and be flat tomorrow. It will. Switched Saturday's workouts w/ Sunday, but replaced weights w/ a body circuit. Gym closed on the weekends.

6/08 - F - Session 1

3c, 70' in z1 w/ pwr 15 each 7' (body in SR 18-22; pwr in race pace). Today: body at 20, pwr at 28. SpeedCoach on the fritz. Display, SR, and timer all fine but I couldn't get splits and it didn't keep track of my distance. Not a major difficulty as long as I have my HR and time. Focus was on catches and leg compression into my chest. Keep knees together coming up the slide and drive the boat away. Catches are now a major focus so I can have good lock-in every stroke simply out of habit. I need to see some video of how I'm packing up and what my upper body does as I approach the catch. My fear is that my body opens as my legs come up to my chest. This might or might not be happening. I had the same problem on the erg this past winter so I'm well familar w/ it. I'm going to Union Springs, NY w/ a bunch of friends after second session. Tomorrow morning I'll be rowing on a finger lake, Cayuga Lake to be exact. I hope the lake will prove as good to me as it did to Paul Enquist and Brad Lewis.

6/07 - R - Session 1

2a, 60'. 13294m, 2:15.4 ave. My glutes and my hands seem to be my largest inhibitors at the moment. Towards the end of the session I do tire, but when it's painful to hold the oar and it's painful to just sit there it becomes very hard to continue at the same pace. Today was 2 full loops and then up to the end of the houses, river all to myself if you don't count the geese. 'Twas a beautiful monring. Catching uneven/unequally or finishing uneven/unequally. I kept pulling myself to port. I'd like to blame it on my hands and the fact that I'm not tough enough but there was definitely a distinctive difference in my blade work and control today. Must ensure total focus, must not be distracted by own thoughts. There is the need to switch from every day thought to rowing thought, as though switching from Dr. Jeckyll and Mr. Hyde. Turn everything off and just think about the stroke. I continue to be amazed by the 3-second split drop when I get a proper catch in and focus on doing it. Thoughts of purchasing this shell swell in my mind. Coach Savell leaving our program and going to coach at Drexel. Where did this come from? My thoughts stray to the futre of our program. There is the chance for great good, but also for terrible evil.

6/06 - W - Light Weights

20' light bike
Squat: 3 x 40 @ 95lb - up rep (5)
Bench Press: 4 x 20 @ 75 lb - up weight (5)
Bench Pull: 3 x 40 @ 20 lb - up rep (5)
Core
20' light bike

6/06 - W - Session 1

4e, 70' with 2x10' in SR 26. 15955m, 2:11.6 ave. 10 minute's taken at 15' & 41' down river w/ stiff tailwind. First 10 at the 26 SR, sub 2:00 split for the most part. Second 10 much higher, very hard to keep low, 27-28-29 SR. Splits slower as well. Overall 2 full loops and then up to the train bridge and back. The last 10 minutes of the body were very difficult to control. For the body my rate was at 22-24, HR 160-164. For the 10's HR: first at 173, second closer to 168-170. Found myself up pretty high into the headwind and you just get pushed by the tailwind. Session was pretty good, by the end my glutes were in a lot of pain and my hands extremely tender as well. Focus on keeping knees together, not letting them bow out at the catch but keeping them straight and parallel to the shell. Bad habit developed of leaning through my legs at the catch while sweep rowing trying to get that extra length. Doc wanted to film but I was too spent. Have camera now, going to review previous film.

6/05 - T - Session 1

2a, 60'. 13175, 2:16.6 ave. Commandeered this SpeedCoach from Lehigh's boathouse, so now I carry a little bit of the Spirit of '74 w/ me. It's still calibrated to the 4-, but if I don't change it I'll be able to compare day to day just as well. 145-150 HR solid. This weekend I'll probably figure out where my HR is suppposed to be in each zone using the erg. Hands very sore making it hard to row well towards the end of the S.S.. Besides my hands and the long burn in my butt I'm sure my quads and back could easily have kept going. New grips on the new oars, I guess it's to be expected. I may need to drop my feet lower into the boat, my knees are pretty high. This afternoon is off, maybe I'll see what the spread on the Sykes is.

6/04 - M - Session 2

(1a, 60') This didn't happen. I went to rig the Sykes and found out that all the bolts are 10mm. Having done a fair amount while demoing the boat in Philly I decided not to make it an extremely long day by overexerting myself two days after 3 races. Tomorrow will be in the Sykes w/ my own blades. A first use of the blades and of the shell on the Lehigh. The boat is remarkably (to me) light and pretty stiff. It's in very good condition being only a year old.

6/04 - M - Equipment

HKC26 70kg Sykes Racing Shell. Demoed down in Philly, brought home to use my own sculls and get some longer training done in the boat. We'll see how it goes. Boat is white w/ blue & silver racing stripes

6/04 - M - Session 1

3b, 70' in z1 w/ pwr 20 each 7' (body in SR 18-22; pwr in race pace). First day back in the single. HR 142-144. HR came down to around 130 after power pieces. Hard to control HR after doing low volume high intensity work building up to IRAs. Long burn on my way back to the dock. Hurt real bad, it's been a long time since doing steady state. Light rain all throughout session. Getting on toward the end of the piece I started thunking my catches and really had to concentrate on that. 14348m, 2:26.5 ave, speed coach uncalibrated. Doc had to replace the battery so the stroke rating is back to normal.

6/2/07 - Saturday

Race Day: Pitiful, Pathetic, Disappointing. We did not rise to meet any challenge. The race might have been better than yesterday's but we were still 6th out of 6. I knew when we started our sprint why were in the position/place we were in. We lifted and the whole operation got smoother. I realized this was how the whole race was supposed to feel. I don't know what happened, we had been right there w/ Brown yesterday. Who knows? None of Lehigh's boats did well. The girls finished last like us & the four-w/ finished 3rd out of 7 in the E-final.
It didn't hit me until after we unloaded the trailer, disassembled the launches, and stored everything inside. Even then it was only when Phil and I had both sat down in his car and closed the doors that I knew it was over. My gut told me. There was a knot or a hole or a pit, whatever you want to call it, that had just developed. Even though I had considered my season over after Vails when I had started sculling, it wasn't really over. Now it is. It's final. It's over. There's something about IRAs that does this. It seals up your entire season, bringing it to an abrupt close. I hate it. I hate change. I would prefer to say in this season and just continue to row where I am forever. This season ending brings me closer to rowing in college being over. At the same time I know I can't live like that. The change is progress and growth. I may be happy now but it is nothing compared to what's in store for the future. I loved high school, my friends aand I were always having a good time, but if I had stayed there I would never have met certain people. I would never have found rowing and I would never have realized the capabilites of my body to train, recover, and grow. Stagnation is death. One can only hope and yearn and long for what's coming to be even more beautiful than what is being left behind.
The sun shines
And people forget.
The spray flies, as the speedboat glides
And people forget.
Forget they're hiding
...
Behind an eminence front.

6/1/07 - Friday

Race Day: 5th out of 5. We were back & forth w/ Brown in Lane 6, they were all the way across from us. One other boat tied their time & then we had the next fastest time. Us, Brown, BU, Temple, MIT, Michigan tomorrow in the 3rd level final. Today's race was a lot better than yesterday's but I still had few strokes actually locked in and connected. All boats way out on us by 30 strokes and then we started walking back. We took a 7 around the 700, after my 500 call. My calls were fine once again. Should've added another sit-up 10 in the third 500. The speed coach is a little off.
01: 44 1:37.1
02: 40 1:25.9
03: 34 1:31.3
04: 35 1:29.6
05: 35 1:29.6 1:30.8
06: 35 1:31.0
07: 35 1:30.2
08: 35 1:30.4
09: 35 1:29.1
10: 36 1:31.3 3:01.1
11: 35 1:34.6 3:20.1
12: 35 1:36.7
13: 35 1:35.5
14: 34 1:36.2
15: 35 1:34.3
16: 35 1:35.0
17: 35 1:32.7
18: 35 1:33.2
19: 35 1:34.2
20: 37 1:32.8
21: 37 1:32.8 6:28.9
22: 36 1:47.0 6:49.1
We better be seeing boats during our race tomorrow.

5/31/07 - Thursday

Race Day: 6th out of 6 in our heat. 2 seats to a length down on Georgetown the entire race until the last 400. We were in Lane 6. Course was all over the place and we weren't connected. Phil said we were at a 35, it did feel low. I felt like we should've been going faster and smoother. It was a "not good" race, but maybe that's only because I don't want to say it was bad. Calls were on, it was easy to see the buoys on the edge of the course. Should've called the sprint earlier but we wouldn't have moved anyway. Our splits got progressively slower as we went. Sam said, "1:33/1:34, second 1000 1:36/1:37, last 300 slower yet: 1:40/1:41. So bad. Coach said I was coming out like a second earlier than Sam. Terrible. Get long in the catch. Get long at the finish. Reps tomorrow at 10. 1st to Grands. 2nd/3rd petites. 4th/5th 3rd level

5/30 - W - IRAs 19

The final practice. Race day warm-up. Visual Heat down. Pause drills back up. Visual Grand Final down. Start and middle 20 move in the heat. Start, 500 10, and 1500 sit-up 10 in the grand. Today was a personal bad day. I thought our practice didn't go very well but the other guys were talking about our start being perfect. That lead me to believe it was just me. We derigged and put our boat on low slings. We're waiting on the little trailer to load. Phil and I might go out and clean the boat/help w/ trailer loading. Spending tonight at Phil's parents' house and getting to the course tomorrow at 9 to rig, et cetera. Race at 11:48. Heat sheet up for Thursday morning. Courtesy of row2k.

5/29 - T - IRAs 18

3 2-part 2ks. Only from below train bridge to flagpole(buoys). 1st part always the start, second part 400-600 meters representing some part of a 2k race. Everything else on the paddle. All in all it was a semi-visual day. Race day warm-up, slightly sharpened focus throughout. Starts felt okay, a little wobbly on the high 10s. Last start was really good. Smooth quick connected. No wobble, no extra, wasted, or unnecessary movements. Crisp. Last 500m good as well. Really lifting w/ the legs and driving them down together. Holding shoulders forward at the catch. This makes the last "2k" the best one. My legs were tired when I got out of bed this morning and I definitely felt tired during our second piece, which was the worst. It was start and then the rest of the first 500 w/ our move coming right at the end of it. First piece was start & middle 500. Felt alright. Bumped a spacer from the bottom of my oarlock to the top - feels great. I had been rigged up the same as Sam. He's only about half a foot taller than I am.... Coach said to try and be the first in and last out. Set issues when not on pressure. I'm sure it's catch & finish timing. Tomorrow at 5 again. Smeglin has work just like today. A smidgeon of tension in the boat today. Got to keep that under control. Squash it out. In bed all day today; hopefully a nap and a whole lot of reading. Calling Gord at Fluidesign today, possibly placing the order for my boat. Don't forget, row like sasquatch.

5/28 - M - IRAs 17

Set technique and no pressure longer than 30 strokes. Did not go past the train bridge. Buoys are now out. Lots of pauses at body over: every other and every five. Pauses at the finish still squared. Square blade rowing. Rates at a 33-34 or higher for the 10s, 20s, and 30s. Length needed for Smeglin and I while retaining the same attack at the catch. Bear claw at the catch. Coach wants us to sit up over our catch, have our hand have a wicked hook around the handle, and dominate the catch. Loose outside hand at the catch results in pulling w/ your inside hand. I'm now pulling into my nipple at the finish, or at least trying to. It's going to take a while to get used to. My down & away and the path of my stroke is erratic. Hopefully it will come together as Thursday rapidly approaches. Overstroking tomorrow, starts et cetera. Visual 2k likely Wednesday. Keep off your feet and out of the heat.
Row like sasquatch.

5/27 - Su - IRAs16

Long work and then starts. Really working on rowing together. Starts: 48-49 SR settle to 37 on the first. Following settles to a 35 and then gradually coming up to a 37. Bresnahan really is the Commander of Stroke Ratings. Starts were choppy and were not always together (they weren't bad) but we'd always get it together instead of just slumping. I have the large responsibility of making calls. Start 5. 13 strokes high. Yell "2", take a stroke and then settle on the next. That's the easy part. Remembering the moves through the race and calling them at the right time is going to be hard. The longer stuff didn't feel very good. Low and w/out any specific pressure. Working on length w/ me, letting the water feather the blade at the finish, and having our handles all doing the same thing. We've still got a lot of speed to get. Unsure whether we're staying in Camden Wednesday night or not. Race on Thursday. Time is short now.

5/26 - S - IRAs 15

Seat racing. 4 1000m pieces. Big bridge to flagpole.
1: Quigs in bow - 3:21.
2: Foley in bow - 3:18.
3: Foley in bow - 3:14.
4: Quigs in bow - 3:24.
2&3 ave: 3:16.
1&4 ave: 3:21.
Splits:
1: 39.2
3: 37.5
3: 36.6
4: 40.0
I made it. I'm in for IRAs and I don't have to steer either. Our pieces felt good. Smooth through the water on the drive. We need to work on our recoveries being level and the same. Handle heights, etc...although there wasn't a large problem with set. I'm excited to row w/ these guys. Talked to Dave after my last piece - when I was in the launch. Length through the finish. He said I was coming out a few blades earlier than Sam. If I can somehow find a way to get that squeeze I'm sure we'll get faster. On our first piece my shoe came unvelcroed while building and I think I ended up driving mostly w/ my right leg only. It had to happen right before we even started the piece. The last peice the other guys did, there were some problems with the course and the four with. From the launch it almost looked disasterous, but it turned out okay. Practice tomorrow at 7 AM. Get out on the river before the nutters in their powered vessels. I want to get better. I want to get faster. Excited. I'm in.

5/25 - F - IRAs 14

Seat racing. 4 1000m pieces. Big bridge to flagpole.
1: Phil, Sam, Smegs, Travis - 3:19.
2: Phil, Sam, Smegs, Quigs - 3:17.
3: Phil, Sam, Smegs, Foley - 3:19.
4: Phil, Sam, Quigs, Foley - Slower.
Last piece Coach said was a lot slower, there was a headwind and w/ Quigs and I in the bow we're a lot lighter. My first piece felt better. Smegs is heavier, boat felt more set. Quigs and I are going again tomorrow. 4 more pieces, same distance. I think Travis is done and Smegs is in. Battle for the bow. Must eat and rest well today. No second session again. River will be crazy anyway. Memorial Day weekend. This is my first time ever being seat raced. Quigs is normally a port, yet we're racing for the starboard bow seat.

5/24 - R - IRAs 13

Swing row, minor pressure. We felt pretty good. There was pretty normal boat feel. We've all rowed consistently w/ each other before. Down to starboard a lot. That has a tendency to happen when Smeglin gets in a boat. The tricky part is I don't know why and haven't been able to figure it out all season. We made it into IRAs, the pair didn't (not surprising, but I couldn't believe MIT got in after what happened last year...). We should be seat racing pretty soon. Dad gets back tomorrow and that's when we'll probably start. The question isn't who will get in, it's who's getting knocked out. I really need to hold the blade in the water longer at the finish. It's a challenge. Must not feather the blade until the handle hits my ribs and starts to move down and away. Not sure if we're practicing again together. If we do I'm sure it will be quick. We all want to be ready for our seat races.

5/23 - W - IRAs 12

4 by 2'. Race pace. Start: 35 SR. Body:30-31 SR. Sloppy, unfocused and w/out grace. Each piece probably came out to be around 500 meters. Not good. Headwind coming down, tailwind going up. Forgot HR monitor today, failed to swap Doc's oars for mine at the other boathouse. Jet skiers were out of control, I won't go into it. Fought to get to the train bridge and then fought to get back to the dock after workout. Did first two pieces, then did lots of pause drills going back up to the top. Piece down, piece up and then lots of leg drills. Breaking down the stroke all the way to top half and then working back to regular rowing. Clean rowing easily drops at least 3 seconds off of a split. Sculling really is art. And even if it isn't, it still isn't sweep. Must needs talk to parents seriously about getting a boat. Just found out Smeglin is onboard. Practice at 5 AM tomorrow, I'm driving.

5/23 - W - IRAs 11

Flagpole to 20 strokes past big bridge, 3 times, then 1 30 stroke piece. It was a good practice. Joe Lo crabbed 3 times, twice over the head, just as we were starting to take our warm up 10s. Absolutely hilarious. He hasn't been rowing since Vails, a week and a half. We did pretty well for having him thrown in, I guess that's to be expected since it was only one change. Lightweight women and the pair never stood a chance. We started down every piece and walked all the way through usually. There were some good finishes against the senior four but w/ our lack of coxswain and Joe, we moved on them slowly. The last piece might have remained even. We were a bit jittered because I'd barely decapitated us in some trees. I've never gone up the boathouse-side shore. No damage done to shell or rowers so it's okay. This length of work was good for us, it's been a while since we did anything longer at race pace. It'd be nice to have Joe, but alas Italy calls him home. Let's hope Smeglin will come out and be mentally straight.

5/22 - T - IRAs 10

Heavy emphasis on leg drive at the catch/top of the stroke. Worked up to 3' pieces starting w/ 20-30 strokes at race pace. Flanagan went out during a 2' piece and he had to stop rowing immediately thereafter. It tears him apart inside but the search is on for another port. Smeglin is the prime candidate, Joe Lo is rowing w/ us tomorrow morn but he leaves next Wednesday. Brittny row for us at two seat. That was interesting. Right after she got in I almost crashed us into some fishermen. They're so odd. They just watch it happen, never saying a word. We came w/in 2 feet of their boat while checking it down and I never heard anything out of them. It's as if they think we'd do no damage if we hit them. What buffoons. Silent, looming boat of rower death. Well we didn't hit them and had some exciting pieces next to the lightweight women, although we consistently walked through them. Toe started to get sloppy at the end of practice. Must be sharp. Upper/mid back hurts from looking around very poorly. My glances were far from clean, quick, or effective. 5:30 AM tomorrow. If the pair doesn't make the cut they have the chance of being in our 4-. So w/ the search for another port as well things are crazy. Tomorrow we'll be racing our other boats training. Hope none of us seriously crash.

5/22 - T - IRAs 9

1a, 60'. 12568m, 2:23.3 ave. 140 HR. Hands hurt quite a bit. Not a whole lot of focus out there this morning. I'm sure I had quite a lot of rush. Things just didn't feel very solid. Possibly because I was riding in lots of ghost wake a few times. Possibly because my heart wasn't really in it this morning. I have to launch earlier. The freaking bugs were ridiculous out there once it got past 7 o'clock. Not very set and hands weren't doing things together or equally. Rigged up my oars today. 289 overall, 89 inboard. I'm ready to get out there and use them but I'm going to wait until they're painted and then move them over to the other house. The Empacher pair is from New York, Rochester I think. It's Sam's boss'. Talk about great connections.

5/21 - M - IRAs 8

1a, 60'. 12224m, 2:27.1 ave. I'm so foolish for not looking at my speed coach for this data before. Mmm, been a while since I sculled. Strong headwind up, shaky on the way down. Ferocious headwind. HR was a little sloppy. 135-145, mostly around 140 though. Almost had some trouble w/ a motor boat. Thank the Lord they only went up to the top and dropped an anchor. Just heard all fours were accepted to IRAs. Who knows about 4-s and pairs. Jodi thinks we won't get both in, which leads me to believe that we'll get in and the pair won't because of our 4th place finish. The pair didn't do too hot last year either. Confusing times & feelings. That pair has a better shot than we do. Oh well, just got to focus on nothing but our own boat speed. Headwind today good for back strengthening and locked arms. I now carry a copy of the laws on PFDs w/ me. Title 33 of the Code of Federal Regulations, subsection 175.13, 175.15, 175.17. Doc's oars: 113.5 in = 288.3 cm length, 34 in = 86.4 cm inboard. Very weird. The pair is now training in an Empacher K. All I got out of them was that it might be a 2001. It definitely wasn't at the house this morning. Where did they get it? Who's is it? I'm extremely intrigued. Here's the link to Title 33: The Code of Federal Regulations

5/21 - M - IRAs 7

At the boathouse at five, left the boat house at six 44. Another short practice. I'm planning on going sculling this afternoon. Flanagan's shoulder still bad. He probably needs a week off, not just a day. Dave Coach has thrown out any ideas of getting us set and is now focusing on getting us connected. Being connected will give us more speed than being set. It's possible Dave has realized we may never be able to be set w/ Flanagan's shoulder, but might be able to remain connected. At this point who knows what's going to happen. Shifty thoughts in all our heads. Must stay long once I get long. Sit up tall through the back. No reach from the shoulders/shoulder blades. Firm back all the way through. Look good, row good.

5/19 - S - IRAs 6

Warm up to the top. Steady state & set drills down. More miscellaneous set drills all throughout practice. Struggling to find it. We can barely do any sustained pressure work because Flanagan ends up only using one arm. Things improve little by little by little every day. I just don't know if we have the time left for it. No practice tomorrow, Monday @ 5 AM and then Tuesday @ 5 PM. Steering is on par. Major focus for me was holding that oar against my chest at the finish. Hopefully rest will help the boat.

5/18 - F - IRAs 5

Whew. Practice a few hours ago. Pretty much on our own. Dave was w/ the lightweight women in fours while we were out. We had a lot of drama today. Boat speed drama. At the top there was a very long talk about rigging, foot stretcher placement, and coming out of the water at the finish. We're all trying to adjust to each other and really struggling. Today definitely felt frustrated. We did some longer work at 3/4 press and random drills to work on holding the blades in the water longer & squeezing through the finish. We all snap out of the finish right away, whereas Flananagan rolls out of it and has a slower body over. He's right that longer is better, but Quigs has been rowing this way all season w/ Travis and I matching. We all have differing opinions and ideas to fix our problems. Some times I think we don't agree on if certain things are even problems. To look at the bright side, it's not as if we are all relearning to row. We could have all been switched to the opposite side.... Click can come w/ one minor adjustment. We'll find it. It's out there waiting for us. Waiting for us to push those puddles far, far away and get clean, smooth and slow up the slide. Run. I want it bad. Graceful, easy run. 3/4 press was at a 20. Attempted 10's at 22, 26, 30. All not very good. Tomorrow morning may be work at a 36 SR. Skip everything in between and go. Loosey goosey.

5/18 - F - IRAs 4

minute on minute off. body angle pauses, finish-body 2 part pauses. Today was a lot better all around. Steering, set (a little), rate. Warmed up to the top min on/off down. Random pause drills intermixed w/ pressure after this. 1 2 minute at a 30, 1 3 minute at a 30. Min on/offs were building rate by 2 each piece. Starting at a 20 and then up. Didn't hit anything today, that's great news. Flanagan's shoulder still acting up. We didn't stop but his handle heights are whacked. Hands too high. I'm not holding through long enough. Possible rigger adjustments. I'm pulling in around my last or second-to-last rib, not right below my pec. It's hard to keep an eye on my toe as well as get full swing and good arms. This afternoon should be even better, I hope. Now heading to Philly to meet Greg Doyle from Croker USA and pick up my sculls.

5/17 - R - IRAs 3

3 x 3' 26-28 SR Full press. Straight four. Line up: Quiqs stroke, Travis three, Flanagan two, Foley bow. Not the best practice. It's hard to have a good attitude when you clash blades w/ both a train bridge buttress and a long-dead tree. Especially if you're the one steering. To me it felt as though we were all going bonkers on drive and everything was forced and not relaxed. The guys said certain pieces felt heavy, I didn't think heavy at all. Just not together. Flanagan and I have no match up, even pulling it across the river after launching. I'd like to get out in a pair with him. Flanagan is also struggling to adjust from the second heavy eight to rowing w/ 3 guys from the light eight. Set difficulties. Dave Coach says catch timing is fine. We are doing things w/ our bodies. I feel like we should be doing 3 loops or more of rowing in order to bring this together. I love rowing w/ the guys but I hope to get it going as fast as possible. Maybe we should do some work at a 12 SR. Less than 2 weeks to go. Goal: top 10 finish. I have to be super sharp w/ steering tomorrow morning. I can't rely on Dave and I need to take responsibility. Nothing too specific on my part. Must maintain locked arm, over exaggerate it. Catch the water w/ confidence. Find the pulse pulse pulse of the boat.

5/17 - R - IRAs 2

1a, 60'. 140 HR. Catches were better. Focused on being long through the stroke. Was a feel good kind of row. Retaining locked arms through the entire leg drive and beginning of swing. Holding it out there, not weakening the chain from the water to the foot stretcher. Run was emphasized, distance between puddles, not rusing the slide - which I seemed to want to do today. First blister opened. Brand new today, not one of the large ones that have been waiting to pop. Sweep at 5. Kaschper spread 63.25 in = 160.655 cm. Pins at around the 160.5 mark. It would seem that the stickers on the rigger can be trusted.

5/16 - W - IRAs 1

45' SS-recovery, 130 HR, 9689m, 129 watt, 17 SR. This marks the suspension of my summer training plan. We are now under Lehigh authority until IRAs is over. Hmm, I wonder what the room situation will be for the race. Practice at the boathouse at 5:00pm tomorrow. SS in the AM, z1 60'. I'm excited for sweep rowing again and it's only been a few days I've been training in the single. By the end of last summer I was very ready to sweep again, maybe because all I did was row by myself. Crew sculling boats might give me this same passion, I don't know. The Spirit is the best feel shell we have. I'll be steering, but hopefully Dave Coach will keep an eye on our course. SS felt okay. Lots of sweat again, have to drink 60oz in an hour to recover.

5/16 - W - Equipment

Oars are in. Croker's mail server bugging out. Greg Doyle will be bringing them to Stotesbury in Philly this weekend. I have to measure the spread on Doc's Kaschper. I'm excited for my own blades finally. Greg & St. Andrew's trailer for this weekend.

5/16 - W - Session 2

Weights:
20 min bike (130 HR, 82 RPM, 7.2 mi, 200 cal)
Squat:
50 x 95 lb
50 x 70 lb (can't believe I made this mistake)
50 x 95 lb
Bench Pull:
20 x 45 lb, 30x35lb
30 x 25 lb
40 x 15 lb
Bench Press:
20 x 85 lb
20 x 85 lb
20 x 75 lb
20 x 75 lb
Core: No weights; Back ext, side crunches, ball sit-ups, med. ball Us. 20 each.
15 min bike (130 HR, 82-84 RPM, 5.4 mi, 138 cal)

I'm remarkably weak Looking at it optimisticallyit means I have great room to improve. Also I can barely find my way around a weight room now. Long gone are the fat glory days of benching 260 lbs. It's a good thing this session was light weights, because that's exactly what it was. I don't believe that crap about room to improve. I need to work a lot harder at all of this. Results from this work out will determine the next weight session's poundage and reps.

5/16 - W - Session 1

2a, 60'. Lightweight women were out again this morning. Launched before I even arrived at the house. Catches again today. HR 142-150. Should probably be a solid 145. Most of the work was between 145-149. I've developed a major tendency to thunk my catches. Sometimes I do this as well when sweep rowing. Low rate, square blades. An air gap develops between the blade and the water that then rapidly fills the space. It's like dropping a large stone into a pool of water or a fat kid doing a canonball. Thunk. It can't be efficient. My only hope is that the thunk isn't from the blade hitting the water. There would be even more major power loss if this was so. Catches need to be dropped in effectively. Total loss of downward pressure on the oar handle allowing them to rise nicely and achieve the catch. Strange how when you get tired it becomes hard to not use your muscles. In order to thunk I doubt there is V-splash. At first I thought thunk catching happened behind the blade. The gap caused by driving before the water knew what was happening to it. There is backsplash, I think. The oar does not lock, however, and the blade moves forward through the water instead of having the boat move past the blade. Terrible slippage, leaving the gap behing the blade. But after rowing today I feel like the gap might occur in front of the blade. An air gap from the backing of the blade into the water. And then, thunk-drive. Driving through unsettled water or driving into the water that just thunked. Even worse, starting the drive w/ no water in front of the blade to hold it in place. I'm not a doctor, but either way this is bad. None of this could be true, I haven't experienced this outside of my own seat. It's an interesting concept though. Just filmed Doc for a few passes. I'll have to get a hold of my own video. It's quite humorous to film from the dock and pan across the river. My back hurt a little at the start of the piece today. My thoughts go to overuse injuries caused from the stiffness of S2 superlight oars that do not have cutaway blades. I'll have to be on guard. Must remember to stay tall but still achieve reach/body prep from hips.

5/15 - T - Session 2

Off. 20' in hot tub. Solid stretch. Discussing training w/ Doc tomorrow. Possibly getting breakfast together. We'll decide what to do w/ Old Blue's tracks and maybe get some video footage.

5/15 - T - Session 1

4e, 70' w/ 2x10' in SR 26. I'm an idiot. I misread my training schedule twice. The first time yesterday at the track, the second time this morning before launching. week 1 tu I. was supposed to be 2a, 60'. I'll have to switch the workouts. It should turn out okay. Doc's Kaschper feels better and better. This gives me an impetus to get my own boat, a nicer newer boat. Yesterday's encounter with the tracks gave me fair warning that I need a boat that can adjust. I'm so short it's absolutely necessary. Maybe w/ a lightweight shell all these problems will go away. The workout today was a long one. One I couldn't handle in it's full extent. I approached the first 10' piece all wrong. Too much leg drive, not enough speed up the slide. Everyone knows this drill kills in practice. When you bring it from a 16 to a 30 (and only get to a 28) w/ just leg and a little hands - it's brutal. I started the 10' at 20:00 and decided to break it down after 5'. There was no way I could keep up the MCP, maximum concentrated pressure. The body was in 155-165 HR. HR monitor on the fritz from the dock to the top. The thing just likes to give me trouble, but after that first time up it started acting normal. I should be careful not to anthropomorphize the thing. The second 5' came at 44:00. Originally planned to be 45:00, but I wanted as much down stream as possible. My ratio was a little better for sustainment and this 5' turned into the actual 10' it was supposed to be. This is when I realized I was a fool for that first 5'. I closed off w/ another 5' at 63:00 to make it the 20' at a 26 it was supposed to be for the workout. Hands getting destroyed. Not open yet, but very tender. Long training twice a day w/ sculls does them in. Serious case of long burng getting off the water. Butt & hamstrings trying to tear apart. Hips compressed from sitting & rowing for so long at that increased pressure. Today was the first day I did a long peice above a 140 HR. Nothing the hot tube and a stretch can't fix.

5/14/07 - Monday

Session 1: 3b, 70' in z1 w/ pwr 20 each 7' (body in SR 18-22; pwr in race pace). HR was a little low, probably around 130-135. The more I use my HR monitor the more I realise how seriously lacking it is. With no stroke coach and no timer this morning, it was difficult to manage w/ my puny HR watch. Rowed Old Blue today, what a mess. Tracks need to be adjusted into the stern. I'm finishing 8"-10" away from my body and the difference between the oarlock spacing is huge and it might be rigged too high in general. I like that blue Peinert 26. It was my first consistent shell. Forever forsaken is Beattie's heavy Alden. There were no useful tools at the house this morning, I'll have to bring my own. Hopefully the adjustments I need can be made to Old Blue, otherwise I'm out of luck.
Session 2: 1a, 60', Unlucky for sure. Old Blue's tracks can't be moved. Solution: install a thin block of wood where each track is now and attach the track to this. Doc's boat is smooth and just a little too big. I feel like I'm hardly moving but I'm sure I'm going just as fast as usual. Not hardly moving with grace, but hardly moving like my power is not being transferred through to the water. HR solid - 137-(140)-143. Fish & Boat Commission "pulled me over" and gave me a $70 citation for not having a life jacket. Unbelievable. Must focus on catches. The sleeves are extremely different between C2's and Crokers. Roll ups are more uncertain w/ the Crokers. It'll take more time. Watch the skying at the catch, be controlled. You are the master of the oars. They do everything your hands tell them. Be confident in your catch, but don't stay there too long.
Talked to Dad; Fish & Boat Comission going down.
Land: 14:24 2-mile (7:24, 7:00), 3 strides, 63 400. A dilemna arose on land today. I'm experiencing my love for running again. The 2-mile today was for recovery purposes. Work the acid out before I get hit w/ the brick wall tomorrow. Hopefully I'll be okay, Sunday's workout might still come back to haunt me. Not used to land training. The first 2-miles went well, they served their purpose. I started my strides and starting timing another runner. He ran a 2:33 800. Not bad for an old guy jogging in between his intervals. My body felt the call, my muscles cried out in response, to be released. I could feel the itch settle into them like restless leg syndrome. They wanted more. I broke the old guys split in half - 76.5 400. Pretty good. Could I hit 60? This was supposed to be a recovery run. By now I'd run my 3rd strider. How much could a 400 hurt/impact my training? A lot, I knew it, but I also knew that session 2 was going to be off tomorrow. I jogged over to my pack to check session 1: 3b, same as this morning. Not too bad, mostly z1 anyway. I failed on land just then. Every rower knows this exact experience. Coming to the last 500m of a 10k or any long steady state. "I can burng through this and finish it. Who cares about maintaining HR?" or "How fast can I go after all that?" This is analogous to what happened on land, but on the erg I don't fail. I stick through it and don't change. It's a mind game on that machine and I control it. I ran the four. Coming through the 150 my stomach churned: my best friends used to hurl after running these at sub-50 pace. I knew I'd be fine. Last 150 the breathing started. Just like old times, right out of my high school track days. Breathing like a horse, a monster to devour all those I ran past. I didn't hit the 60 I wanted, oh well. Some other day. It's strange. I knew that my muscles would be yelling at me during those pwr 20's tomorrow. Crying out, not in response to the call, but against every inch my quads lever the boat through the water. Until then --

5/13/07 - Sunday

7.5 mile bike from home to LU track
6:24 mile, 2:55 800, 73 400, 29 200
Rest: Walk to the start of next distance
7.5 mile bike from LU track to home