IM not Free

Tuesday morning:  This is the last week of swim before a two week break before the summer school session begins!

This morning, Marcia changed the warm-up kick with fins from 6x75yd to 5x100yd on a 1:25 minute interval.  The 100yd felt alright, and the interval felt luxurious with almost 10-15 seconds of rest (for me).  I have a feeling that with time, Marcia will start to shorten this interval!

The main set today was similar to last Monday’s set, alternating between IMs and freestyle:

1. 150yd IM with 25yd of two strokes and 50yd of your two favorite strokes (i.e. I swam fly, back, breast, breast, free, free)
2. 175yd free, trying to swim the same time on the 175yd free as on the 150yd IM
3. Repeat #1 and #2 three more times, total of 4 sets

On the first IM, I misheard the directions and thought we were to do one favorite stroke for 75yd, i.e. 25yd of all other three strokes and 75yd of your favorite and best stroke for a total of 150yd.  Obviously, for me, the only stroke I can really do is freestyle, and I did 75yd of freestyle.  The moment I finished and touched the wall, I heard Marcia say, “Ann!  What are you doing?!  You just did three laps of freestyle!”  Opps, I guess those were not the directions!  

It is amazing how Marcia can spot your one mistake amongst a pool of 20-30 swimmers!

Welcome to Oakland

Monday morning:  Due to the Memorial Day holiday, practice started later.  We had 1 quad, 2 women’s singles (including me), 2 men’s singles, and 1 pair out on the water.  It was great to see two brave souls trying out the pair, one of my favorite boats! 

Pair at Canadian Henley 2007;
copyright Digital Sport Photography

For non-rowers, a pair is a two person boat in which each rower only gets one oar.  As you can imagine, this is a challenging boat to set, and the two rowers must match in every regard.  This is one of my favorite boats because if you find a good pair partner, you can make this boat fly!

The workout this morning was:

1. 1 full lake loop, 24spm, 75% pressure (about 20 minutes)
2. 1 full lake loop, 24spm, 75% pressure
3. Half of a lake loop, 24spm, 90% pressure (about 11 minutes)

After practice, we discovered that two of our cars, parked in the parking lot, had been broken into.  In one car, many valuables were taken.  In the other car, only a pair of prescription sunglasses was taken.  Most auto insurance policies, especially if the policy is comprehensive, will cover the damages from car break-ins—here, it was the shattered windows.  Other valuables, such as iPods, laptops, CDs, are usually not covered by auto insurance, but may be covered by your homeowner insurance policy, if you have one. 

Sometimes we get caught up in our training, wondering how fast we are going, how are we going to make it through practice, when is the next erg/swim test that we forget about life and shitty things like car break-ins.  In my hurry to get to practice, I have been guilty of leaving my gym bag in the backseat or my out-dated pay-as-you-go “burner” phone in the cup holder.  Sometimes we forget where we are.  Welcome to Oakland.

Brother

My brother and me

The first rowing World Cup is currently taking place in Munich, Germany.  World Cups are an opportunity for international crew to race each other, to gauge their speeds, and to try to qualify for the World Championships, which will be held in Bled, Slovenia, at the end of August.  Cheer on all the US crews (especially Kristin and her doubles partner in the Women's Lightweight 2x)!!

As for the rest of us mortals, life continues on.  After swimming four mornings in a row (here and here), I was excited to get back into the single Friday morning.  We had 1 eight and 1 men's single also out on the water.  The workout was 2x12 minutes of steady state at 24spm, focusing on technique and steady effort and preparing us for today's workout.

This morning, we had 1 eight, 2 men's singles, and 1 women's single out during practice.  I rowed starboard in the eight.  Today's workout was 3x1000m all-out race pieces.  The short pieces allowed for a long warm-up, almost a full lake loop, with 10s and starts.  During the pieces, the eight felt rough around the edges with the set down to both sides, making it harder to get the blade in at the catch and to apply full pressure every stroke.  Overall, however, the eight showed consistent effort and hit the rates easily.

Despite the drizzling rain today, summer is actually right around the corner.  I started rowing at Lake Merritt almost three summers ago, in the summer of 2008, shortly after graduating, but a bike accident quickly put me out of commission for all of the fall and most of the winter.  Fortunately (and unfortunately), I came back to LMRC in time for San Diego Crew Classic 2009.

One of my happiest memories of rowing was the summer of 2009 because my brother who was still in college came to Lake Merritt to row.  When we were kids, I used to wish that my brother and I were twins because we did almost everything together.  My brother always copied what I did, which once included eating a hot chili pepper from Mom's vegetable garden (bad idea).

Okay, I admit, growing up, sometimes I was a bully;
maybe that's why my brother was never keen on the twins idea

My brother and I are pretty similar.  For example, neither one of us is very creative, and both of us often view the world with black-and-white lenses.  There are some nuances between our personalities, however.

At home, our parents sometimes call me, "粗心大意 (cu xin da yi)," i.e. thoughtless and careless.  Think of me as a big pine tree with heavy branches that wave around wildly in the wind.  I was always more emotional, quick to anger, and probably more of a dreamer.  On the other hand, my brother was always more meticulous, less impulsive, and more down-to-earth.  Think of him as a tall bamboo tree, rigid and with nodes and branches methodically placed.

My brother and me in 2007

Growing up, I was always jealous of my brother because he was smarter, leaner, and more athletic than me.  He skipped two grades in school, and I skipped none.  His physique was muscular, and mine was chubby.  He could vertical jump almost two feet, and I could jump maybe two inches.

When I first learned to row in college with the Cal Lightweight Team, I was excited to show my brother how to row on an erg at our local gym.  After a few strokes, my brother challenged me to a 500m race on the erg.  I thought that I, with my two months of rowing experience, had him beat for sure with his terrible technique.  Shooting his slide, yanking at the handle, putting too much back into it, rushing the slide--he beat me clear out of the water.  I remember us coming home that day and how pissed off I was.  I always hated it when the big pine tree got routed by the skinny bamboo tree.

I eventually stopped sulking and encouraged my brother to join the Cal Lightweight Men's Team as a freshman.  In my mind, he was perfect for lightweight rowing--already lean and easily at weight, which is a 155lb boat average and 160lb individual max for lightweight men.  I was so happy and proud to have my brother row on the same team.  During winter and spring break, we would train together--running, erging, spinning, stairmaster-ing, etc.  Whenever we hung out or went home to see our parents, crew was the only thing we could talk about.  Our parents always wondered what we did with our time (and their money) at school.

My brother and me at WIRAs in 2007

The summer of 2009 was actually not the first time both my brother and I rowed at Lake Merritt.  In the winter of 2007, during winter break, we rowed at LMRC with the Intermediate program (Dennis and Miki remember us from those days).  There were one or two days when we did not have a car and had to take the bus to BART, BART to Oakland, and then, run from the station to the boathouse in order to row.  We must have looked pretty silly--two "kids" wildly running around with their backpacks bouncing around.

The summer of 2009 was, however, the first time my brother and I spent quality time in singles.  I had always hoped that one day, my brother and I would row and potentially race a double together, but my brother loved  rowing the single.  During the summer, we would spend Sunday mornings rowing with the informal scullers group, trying to keep up.  Actually, I was the one trying to keep up; my brother did not have that problem.  I also remember doing time trials in our training singles to qualify for the racing single.  In July, we raced our singles at Southwest Regionals.

My brother in dark tank, looking over before the finish line;
finished third, edging out the competition in Lane 2, at SW Regionals 2009;
courtesy of Roger Allen

I finished third as well, at SW Regionals 2009;
courtesy of Roger Allen

Looking back now and watching those races, I can see a bunch of flaws in our rowing--hands slow out of bow, uneven handle heights, slow catches, and the list goes on.  But without that summer of 2009 and without my brother, I am not sure I would still be rowing.

Not Like a Dolphin, But Like a Whale

Wednesday morning:  Technique can be a very elusive and sometimes frustrating part of training and performance for athletes.  It can take years of practice, repetition, and concentration to change technique and correct bad habits, especially in sports such as rowing, swimming, boxing, and tennis.  Some sports such as cycling and running depend less on technique and/or technique can be easier to correct.

Technique can frustrate rowers to no end, especially if rowers are strong on the erg, but cannot quite “get it” on the water.  At camp, it took the whole summer of the coach yelling at me, “Hang onto the drive.  Stop breaking your arms early!  Swing first!  What are you doing?!” before I showed the tiniest sign of improvement. 

Today, Marcia showed us just how bad our freestyle technique is, with a PVC pipe (another Marcia-invention).  The swimmer holds the pipe, cut to eight inches, in front with both hands at the ends and proceeds to swim, momentarily grabbing the stick before continuing the stroke.  The main set today was:

1. 4x100yd free, with stick and fins, alternating pieces right arm only and left arm only
2. 50yd back flutter kick with stick out of the water
3. Repeat #1 and #2
4. 2x100yd free, with stick and NO fins, alternating pieces right arm only and left arm only
5. 1x100yd free, with stick, no alternating
6. 1x100yd free, no stick

The stick is a reminder for your arm to enter at the distance and pull straight down, along your body.  My bad habit is pulling across my body and it becomes more obvious when I swim with the stick.  Marcia just shook her head and said, "You need to permanently swim with a stick!"

Thursday morning:  The lake looked flat and calm, perfect for rowing.  Too bad I was swimming and dying instead!  The main set today was:

1. 4x100yd free on 1:45 interval (1:30 interval if you are fast)
2. 2x25yd butterfly
3. 3x100yd free
4. 4x25yd butterfly
5. 2x100yd free
6. 6x25yd butterfly
7. 1x100yd free
8. 8x25yd butterfly

This type of workout reminds me that in life, you cannot have everything--there is always a trade-off.  The 100yd free sets got shorter as the 25yd fly sets got bigger--similar to descending and building.

Ever tried to swim butterfly?  Looks so powerful and easy on TV, right?  Big arms and smooth dolphin kick.  Butterfly is probably the hardest strokes because it requires strength, endurance, coordination, and technique.  I did all those 25yd of butterfly, but instead of swimming like a dolphin, I swam like a whale--SPLASH, splash, GASP (i.e. swallow water), splash!  Towards the end of the set, the pool got quiet and no one talked.  We were all digging in, bracing ourselves for the last set, 8x25yd butterfly.  We swam fly, fly, fly, until we died, died, died.  Fly and die has new meaning now.

Team Meeting

Tuesday evening:  Typical Tuesday--rush to get home, pick up the Princess, change, drop the Princess off with an unlucky friend who is generously repaid with the Princess’ copious tears and wails, get to the Lake Merritt Park entrance, pay the damned $2 entrance fee, and be ready to go.

This evening, we had a short practice and a team meeting after.  We had 1 eight, 1 quad, and 1 men’s single out on the water.  The Bay Blades had three singles out, and two other men’s singles and 1 mixed double were coming in as we were launching.

I bowed the quad, a task that always gives me a bit of angst.  A quad can be a fast boat and even with a steering toe, you can quickly find yourself headed at the wrong point.  When I was at camp in Wisconsin, the coach put together a quad for Club Nationals, and I was in bow.  I was actually so paranoid about steering the quad in a race in a lane that I asked him to either move me or move the steering.  He looked at me with exasperation, but ended up moving the steering to two seat. 

Quad from Club Nationals with me in bow (Miranda in three seat);
thank you to two seat who is steering!
Copyright SportGraphics

We had a long warm up today with starts.  The workout consisted of four short two minute pieces, all with starts.  My bowing was alright with the exception of the last piece where I steered too wide, away from the other boats.  If you ever go to camp and end up bowing, you will learn quickly that you are expected to stay on course AND keep your boat close to the other boats.  Coaches need to be able to compare boats side-by-side and if you steer too wide, they will be pretty pissed off.

After a fairly successful weekend at Gold Rush, especially in the eight and the fours, our next race is SW Regionals, hosted by us and held at Lake Merritt.  Chris talked about seat selections, which are based on age, weight, erg scores, and performance on the water, for Regionals and about being able to put out the fastest, most competitive eight possible.  He also discussed training and still expects 15,000-20,000 meters on the erg or on the water outside of our organized practices.  Chris has mentioned before the importance of specificity—training specifically in the sport that you plan on competing.  Hence, the best workout would be one on the water, followed by the erg, then, bike and run. 

On the workout calendar that Chris passed out, there are several 1k erg tests scheduled between now and Regionals.  Remind me why rowing is fun again.

What a Drag

Tuesday morning - What a Drag...

Since we raced this weekend at Gold Rush, Chris gave us Monday morning off.  I took the opportunity to swim on Monday--another rare treat!

Monday's swim set:

1. 200yds IM
2. 4x100yds free
3. 200yds free
4. 4x100yds IM

Many of the MEMO swimmers did a 1 mile open water swim at Spring Lake in Santa Rosa on Saturday.  Maybe Marcia thought the set was suppose to be easier/recovery, but the set was tiring!

This morning, Marcia had an invention for us--SpongeMarcia, a sponge placed in mesh bag.  In preparation for open water swimming and probably upper body strength conditioning, Marcia had us use a strap to tie the sponge in the mesh bag around our waste and drag it back and forth in the pool.  In fact, we covered quite a good amount of distance with the sponge:

1. 300yds free with the sponge
2. 50yds free sprint with the sponge
3. Repeat #1 and #2 two more times
4. 50yds spring with no sponge (surprising how much faster you can go without the sponge!)
5. 100yds free with ALL the sponges in your lane

Swimmer dragging all the sponges in her lane

For all the rowers, have you ever erged with the drag factor set at a 7 or 8?  Or have you ever rowed an eight with a bucket tied to the stern?  Marcia's sponges are a similar concept--increased drag or resistance.  A higher drag factor on the erg and increased drag through the water in a boat helps to build strength and practice non-ideal conditions, such as a strong headwind, a heavy coxswain, and/or just a lot of dead weight in the boat!

Gold Rush

The finish line at Lake Natoma

Saturday was the Gold Rush Masters regatta up in Sacramento, at Lake Natoma.  I raced in two events--the Women's Master single (1x) and eight (8+).  Gold Rush race entries can be found here, and race results can be found here.  

I thought I was nervous last weekend for PCRC in the single.  Can I tell you I was even more nervous for Gold Rush?  Because the masters rowing distance is only 1,000m compared to the collegiate and open rowing distance of 2,000m, there is little room for error.  A poor start can set you behind for the rest of the race.  Starts in a single are tricky—apply pressure unevenly and you can find yourself struggling to stay afloat.  It took me a long time to get something down that even resembled a start sequence.  In fact, for most of my single races, I just took a half slide stroke and rowed.  No wonder everyone would pass me on the starts!

With a port to starboard cross wind, I sat at half slide and took tiny strokes to stay on point.  My boat holder was struggling to keep her grip on the boat as I adjusted.  

Attention, GO!  My start sequence was alright, and I cannot remember if I did 15 or 20 strokes high (memory loss) before the settle.  In the first 5-10 strokes, however, the woman in the lane next to me flipped.  There was a moment’s pause where the rest of us were unsure what to do.  I know breakage is the usually first 100 meters, but I do not know the exact rules or if it applies to singles or who calls breakage—the rower or the officials?  Without a signal from any of the officials, we kept rowing.  I was even with and maybe slightly up on the rest of the field in the first 250m.

Womens 1x at Gold Rush;
photo courtesy of Annie M.

When the buoys turned from yellow to green, marking 250m down point, I thought about the body of the race—my favorite part where you have your rhythm and swing locked in and you just row.  Through the middle of the piece, I was probably about a boat length up.  I say “probably” because looking out at the other lanes from the corner of your eye does not give you very good perception.  Plus, I have trouble judging perception, another reason I do not play ball sports.

As we approached the beach and the tents, I could hear cheering for a "Krystal," probably the name of one of the other girls.  It did not matter if the people on the shore were cheering for a Krystal, a Michelle, or a Julie.  I pretended they were all cheering for me.  I took all that positive energy and funneled it into my sprint.  I forgot my course for a moment and was blown to starboard.  My oar hit one of small lane buoys (how embarrassing!).  I quickly readjusted and then, crossed the finish line.

I felt much more relaxed for the eight race.  With a coxswain at the helm and sitting in five seat, all I had to do was row (i.e. row on starboard and try not to catch a crab).  Due to the different boat age average, the start of the eight was a counting start.  Out in Lane 7, our start number was 9.  Lane 6 and us had the same start number, and we were the last two boats to leave the line (i.e. the youngest boats in the race).  The starter said, "Attention, GO!  1, 2, 3, ....8, 9."  It is very odd to hear the word GO and not go, but sit there and wait for the right number.

In the eight, our start was messy, and I felt like the boat was down to starboard, making it difficult for me square up properly.  My inside hand actually hit the gunnel once on the recovery.  Maybe it was just me, not having rowed starboard for awhile.  The boat came together as the race progressed.  It took us awhile to pull ahead of Lane 6, but we were moving up on the field at the same time.  

For the entire race, I stared at one thing--the outside shoulder of the woman in front of me.  I followed that shoulder, trying to sit up tall and match every movement.  In my head, I drew an imaginary line from her outside shoulder to my outside shoulder.  This helps me from lunging or dropping my shoulder down at the catch, unless of course, she is doing so herself.  

The sprint was fast, strong, and above all, clean.  Fast and strong are useless without clean and efficient bladework.  We crossed the line in second, behind Marin.  

Fast and aggressive.  This is 1,000 meter racing.

Open Water "Bowing"

Friday morning:  Finally, almost to the end of the week!  This weekend is going to be packed with activities--the Gold Rush regatta up at Lake Natoma, my college friend's engagement party, and some real-life-job work to do the rest of the weekend.

Due to Malcolm X Day, which was yesterday, Thursday's swim was moved to Friday.  Since this morning, we had no Lake Merritt Rowing Club (LMRC) Women's team practice, I got to swim this morning--a rare treat for Fridays!  Plus, more importantly, today was the last day that this guy visiting from Japan would be here (see Tuesday's swim).  There was no way I was not going to show up for the last showdown of 6x75yd kick with fins in the warm-up.

If you are a casual swimmer and maybe did not swim in high school or college, you probably do not bother with flip turns when you swim your laps.  I used to be like that because I would be faster doing an "open" turn (basically touch the wall and go) than a flip turn.  Today, I lost because of the flip turn.  For the 6x75yd kick, Marcia had us do flutter kick with the kick board.  I think this guy visiting from Japan and I were about the same speed, but he did a flip turn off each wall, WITH the kick board and came in a few seconds before me.  I was too chicken to do a flip turn--fearful that I would lose either the board or my fins or both in the process.  From now on, I will practice the flip turn with a kick board so the next time this guy shows up, I will be ready!

Marcia had a special set for us today.  Instead of swimming back and forth, she had us pull out the lane lines and practice open water swimming.  If you have never raced open water before, it is like the Wild West.  Murky water, buoys, arms and legs flying everywhere, and the sensation of panic and drowning.  We practiced sighting with "alligator eyes," just your eyes above the surface and checking that you are on course.  Marcia's advice here is, "Never just follow everyone else.  Make sure you do your own sighting!"  We also practiced turning around the buoy, which requires taking a stroke on your back to make the turn.

Open water swimming is similar to bowing a blind boat, i.e. boats, such as singles, doubles, quads, pairs, that have no coxswain.  When you open water swim, you have to be conscious of the swimmers around, maybe find someone to draft off of, check your course every 10-20 strokes, and keep swimming no matter if you get kicked, have to swim on top of someone, or lose your goggles.  When you bow a boat, you have to be aware of all the other boats on the water, maybe pace another boat and wait to make your power move, check your point every so often (depends if you are racing in a lane), and keep rowing no matter if someone catches a crab, you miss water, or you lose your hat.

Both open water swimming and bowing require you to be a smart athlete, use your brain, and make a judgement call.  Sometimes you can make the wrong call--you cut another boat off, you make a move at the wrong time, or you over-correct your course.  But that's how you get experience!

Another Page of Out of My Log

View of Lake Merritt from the boathouse

Monday, 5/16/2011
AM:  ROW
This morning, we had 1 quad, 1 double, 1 women's single (me), and 2 men's single out on the water.  Practice today alternated between solid pressure pieces and drills.  We had a short warm-up to the finger.  The workout was:

1. 12 minute piece at 24spm, taking a 20 strokes every 3 minutes at a 28-30spm
2. Drill - square blades, every other stroke
3. Practice starts
4. 12 minute piece at 24spm, same as above
5. Drill - arms, arms and body, half slide, full slide, repeat!  (Must be really quick transitioning from full slide to arms only!)

There was a strong headwind coming out of the finger, but the rest of the lake was relatively calm--at least much calmer than Lake Natoma was!

PM:  ERG
2x30 minutes steady state, 20spm

Tuesday, 5/17/2011
AM:  SWIM
This week, we have a swimmer visiting from Japan.  Marcia used to coach this swimmer in the 80s (maybe before I was born?!)!  This guy is fast with and without fins.  In fact, in our warm-up of 6x75yd kick with fins, he and I were basically racing every piece and neither of us not letting up.  So much for a warm-up.
Main set:

1. 45 sec wall kick, 25yd easy, 25yd over-kick (slow arms, big legs, kick!)
2. 45 sec vertical kick (no cheating with arms; I am really bad at this, and Marcia yelled at me TWICE), 25yd easy, 25yd family kick board (everyone in the lane shares one kick board)
3. 1 minute wall kick, 25yd easy, 2x25yd over-kick
4. 1 minute vertical kick, 25yd easy, 2x25yd family kick board
5. 1 minute 15 sec wall kick, 25yd easy, 3x25yd over-kick
6. 1 minute 15 sec vertical kick, 25yd easy, 3x25yd free SPRINT
7. 30 sec wall kick, 25yd easy, 25yd free SPRINT

PM:  ROW
Windy weather.  We waited around for awhile before going out in 2 women's fours and 1 mixed quad (me in bow).  We had a longer warm-up from the finger to the dam.
Workout:

1. 1,000m with start, solid pressure, not race piece
2. 2x500m race pieces with starts
3. 1,000m race piece with start

Despite the rough water, practice turned out alright.  Ready for 1,000 meters this weekend at Gold Rush?

Wednesday, 5/18/2011
AM:  SWIM
Again, racing back and forth on the 6x75yd kick with fins.  This guy is fast, but I am not giving an inch.
Main set today was the 4x100yd swim test!  Dammit, another test!  Rowers, think 4x500m on the erg.  I actually had my best 4x100yd times though today:

1. 100yd - 1:11 minute
2. 100yd - 1:09 minute
3. 100yd - 1:09 minute
4. 100yd - 1:08 minute

My previous best was 1:12.  Today, my breathing was more regulated, and I focused on keeping my head down and looking at the black line at the bottom of the pool.  Nothing like chasing that black line.

In Your Shoes

May is regatta month, and this weekend was packed with racing.  To catch up on race results from Pac-10s, Big 10s, Dad Vails, NSR #2, etc., check out row2k results.  First and foremost, congratulations to Kristin Hedstrom and her doubles partner, Julie Nichols, in the LW2x at NSR #2!  See photos here.  Second, congratulations to the Cal Lightweight Men for their victory in the LM4+ at Dad Vails!

Cal Lightweight Men's Four taking it to the finish line;
copyright row2k.com

Closer to home, I raced in the Women's Collegiate 1x at Pacific Coast Rowing Championships at Lake Natoma in Sacramento on Saturday.  Since there were only three entries in all the women's single events combined, I was grouped into the Collegiate 1x, although I am no longer 21 and in school.  

In the 1x; copyright row2k.com

I was lucky enough to borrow a beautiful Van Dusen single for the race.  When I first saw the boat, I had a mental "freak out" moment.  The boat was much lighter and more narrow than the club's old Vespoli single that I normally row.  The hull of the Van Dusen felt so thin, as if I could damage it just by carrying it.   I was also very concerned about setting the boat.  The conditions at Lake Natoma were not pretty with high winds and rough water, and here I was with this narrow racing single that I had never rowed before.

I launched early to allow myself time to adjust to the boat, and found myself at the start line with 40 minutes to spare.  At the starting area, I could see white caps on the water.  When I went to practice some starts in the same direction as the race, the cross-headwind blew water into the boat.  I did not do a good job warming, not really wanting to row in the rough water.  By the time, I lined up at the start line, I had two inches of water in the boat.  In the morning races alone, a pair, single, and four managed to flip.

I looked at my competition--one from Saint Mary's and one from UC Irvine.  Both girls had beautiful, new Fluidesign boats.  Do you know how much I would love to have my own Fluidesign boat?!  But, at the end of the day, it is not about the boat--it is about YOU, the rower.  Both girls looked somewhat uncomfortable in the rough water.  I wanted to reach out and say, "Hey, I was in your shoes once.  Don't be scared.  It's all part of the learning process.  In fact, I was literally, in your shoes five years ago."  

But I kept my mouth shut because who am I to say anything?  Maybe they were rowers who did not make the boat and were put into a single.  Or maybe they were top rowers with killer erg times from their program who wanted to try out the single.  Never underestimate the competition.  The competition might not look like they know what they are doing or they might row like shit, but they might still BEAT YOU.

Saint Mary's, UC Irvine, Lake Merritt.  Attention.  GO!  And with the rough water, my start sequence and twenty high went right out the window.  I maybe did a few half strokes to pick up speed, maybe a few high strokes, and went straight to the settle.  The Van Dusen had no place for a stroke coach so I raced without relying on stroke rating or time, which is fine with me--less to worry about.  By the first 500m down, I did not even notice the rough water--either the water got better or I am so good in rough water that I should try open water rowing.  It was probably the former, not the latter.  My steering, however, was another story.  The wind was blowing us to starboard.  I managed to stay within my lane and not hit any buoys (minus the finish line buoy), but maybe wasted at least 10-15 strokes on steering, overcorrecting, re-correcting, etc.  

The whole race felt pretty good, but I also was able to stay ahead and in control.  Life usually feels pretty good when you are ahead and not behind, trying to crane your neck around to see the competition.

Right before the finish line; good thing you do not see me getting blown
into the finish line buoy right after I cross the line(!); copyright Brian Birch

PCRC is just a small step in the scheme of bigger things, but it took me a long time to get here and feel comfortable here.  I must absolutely give thanks to all the people who have helped me directly or indirectly just by being at practice to race against.  Special thank you to the Birches.

Thank you, Dede!  (Somebody once said that I look about the same
size as Dede.  That person is definitely wrong.  I look about 1.5x bigger!)

Goodbye Boulder, Hello NSR #2

In my last few hours in Colorado, I managed to make a trip up to Chautauqua Park in Boulder.  This is where the trees, mountains, trails are and where I should have spent the weekend, instead of being in Denver.  Even in the rain and fog and even with the oppressive altitude, I can understand why people move to Boulder for the outdoors.

At the Chautauqua trailhead; fog encases the mountains

Along the Royal Arch Trail

Along the Mesa Trail

As you might know, National Selection Regatta #2 has already started.  This racing season, 2011, is especially important for USRowing because it is the year before the Olympics, London 2012.  Not only are all the countries using this year at the World Cups and the World Championships to test their speed and check out the competition, but also this is a qualifying year for all Olympic boat categories and all countries.

In order for a country to race in a specific boat category (e.g. W1x, M1x, W8+, etc.), that country must have qualified in that particular boat the year before.  FISA governs the qualification process.  The exact rules are complex and can be found here.  Essentially, the top finishing boats in each Olympic event (not all World Championship events, such as the LW1x and the LW4x, are Olympic events) qualify their respective countries for the Olympics.  The fine print here is that the BOAT and NOT the ROWERS qualify!  Just because you are in the boat this year and qualify the boat for the Olympics does not guarantee you a seat.

In addition, the qualification process puts a lot of pressure on USRowing and at the NSRs to send the top athletes in order to have the best shot of qualifying.

Julie Nichols in stroke, Kristin in bow; photo from time trial
Copyright row2k.com

Miranda in stroke; photo from time trial
Copyright row2k.com

Both Kristin and Miranda will be racing in the finals tomorrow.  You can read about Kristin's races online.  Let's cheer them on!

National Selection Regatta #2

Thursday: Today is the first day of the second National Selection Regatta (NSR).  I believe that the winners at NSR #2 will get to represent the United States in the first World Cup, which will be held in Munich, Germany, May 27th-29th.  NSR #1 was important, but it is mostly used to see where you stand relative to the rest of the field.  NSR #2 will tell you if you get actually get to go somewhere and represent the United States.

Kristin Hedstrom is racing in the Lightweight Women's Double Sculls (2x) with Julie Nichols, the winner of the Lightweight Women's 1x at NSR#1.  Miranda Cullins, my friend from camp at Wisconsin, is racing in the Women's Double Sculls (2x) in the USRowing Training Center Boat H.  The time trials took place this morning, and results are posted.

This afternoon, Miranda will be racing in the heats.  Kristin will racing in the semi-finals tomorrow morning.

Help me in cheering on Kristin and Miranda!

Shoes

Monday:  This morning, I was still somewhat recovering from the weekend and still adjusting to the altitude.  Ever feel like you have a headache and mild nausea like you are car sick?  Might be from the altitude!

The day started off with a steady state run in the nice suburban neighborhoods of Louisville, Colorado.  After working all day, I managed to sneak a quick trip up to Boulder.  Now, Boulder is more of what I thought the rest of Colorado would look like--beautiful scenery, mountains, and lean, in-shape people walking around.

View of the mountains on the way to Boulder

I made a stop at the Boulder Running Company, located right off of the main road, US-36.  The store was an impressive running boutique store that offered quite the selection of running shoes and accessories.  When you think of a running store, a small store like TranSports in Berkeley or Forward Motion in Danville comes to mind.  The Boulder Running Company was about three times the size of a typical boutique store, but obviously, no where near the size of a Sports Basement or Sports Authority.  The walls of the store were lined with running posters and I even found one of my sources of inspiration, Haile Gebrselassie.

Posters of Haile Gebrselassie and Steve Prefontaine in the Boulder Running Co.

Next to the signed poster of Gebreselassie is a larger poster of Steve Prefontaine, a popular American, University of Oregon-Bill Bowerman-born runner who ran in the late 1960s and early 1970s, but died an early and tragic death.  One of my favorite running books is Bowerman and the Men of Oregon: The Story of Oregon's Legendary Coach and Nike's Cofounder, which talks about the rise of running at the University of Oregon and about some of the school's stars including Prefontaine, Frank Shorter, and Kenny Moore.

My husband swears that whenever I travel, I always come home with a pair of new shoes.  I tell you that he is exaggerating.  I, like many other normal women, love to go shoe shopping.  I, unlike many women, do not come home with shopping bags full of shoes.  He should considering himself lucky.  Instead, I would prefer to spend my money on other things, such as food, books, and new rowing gear.

Unfortunately, my husband might be right this time because I am coming home with a pair of new trail running shoes (and a few pairs of compression socks and a box of Easy Laces), purchased from the Boulder Running Company.

I had better come home and hit the trails running or else my husband will never forgive me for spending an arm and a leg for shoes!

Altitude Adjustment

The weekend in Denver, Colorado was a mixed bag.  The mixed experience was partially my fault for not planning better and for simply being an ignorant Californian. 

View of downtown Denver from the Museum of Nature and Science


As an ignorant Californian, I had expected Colorado to be this wonderful outdoors state where everyone looked like Lance Armstrong and Ryan Hall and ate natural fresh foods.  I had read about the fast runners from University of Colorado at Boulder in Running with the Buffaloes: A Season Inside with Mark Wetmore, Adam Goucher, and the University of Colorado Men's Cross Country Team and had expected to see elite national team runners training on the roads. 

There are definitely parts of Colorado where I might see elite runners whiz by, but Denver was not one of them.  We went to some of the usual tourist spots in Denver--16th Street Mall and Denver Museum of Nature and Science.  16th Street Mall was no more than a trashier version of Santa Monica's Third Street Promenade.  The museum, however, was a better and larger version of Berkeley's Lawernce Hall of Science, and even the Princess had fun for the most part, crawling about the exhibits.

The Princess crawling next to the wildlife exhibit

I had also been excited for the weekend because we were actually staying in Aurora, Colorado, right next to Cherry Creek State Park.  When you say "State Park," I automatically picture forests of redwood trees (think Muir Woods National Monument) or mountains and waterfalls (think Yosemite).

Cherry Creek State Park looked nothing like what I had imagined.  Bordered by a highway, the park consisted of a lake and flat, dry grassland and marshland.  To be honest, the landscape was somewhat disappointing; it looked almost like the yellow rolling hills occupied with cows that you can find almost anywhere in California. 

There were, however, paved trails throughout the park, and my husband and I were determined to use this opportunity to get a run in.  Pushing the Princess in her royal chariot (a total of 40 pounds, including the backpack tucked in the stroller), we started to run.  For the first 15 minutes, I felt like crap.  My legs felt heavy and I just felt SLOW.  We also had to remember that Denver is called "Mile High City" for a reason--Denver has an elevation of 5,280ft, exactly one mile.  Up this high, there is less oxygen and the sun shines brighter, more white than yellow.

We ran for about 45 minutes on this never-ending paved trail before stopping to look at a map.  Instead of running a loop around the lake, we had run directly south east, away from the lake.  There was no way we would be able to loop the lake without running at least a half marathon.  And we were in no way prepared to run that far.  Running in the middle of a warm day and with only a 12oz Dasani bottle of water, we were already tired by the time we decided to turn around and double back. 

Map of Cherry Creek Park and our there-and-back run

The run back was really a slow race against time and heat.  We did manage to make it back relatively intact, suffering only from mild heat exhaustion and dehydration.  The Princess slept most of the time and was only slightly sunburnt.  We were pretty dumb and lucky.  We should have been more prepared with more water and looked more closely at the trail map before running.  We probably should not have chosen a long run to be our first workout at such a high altitude. 

It has been two days since we arrived, and I think I am still trying to adjust to the altitude.

"Vacation"

Friday:  Today we left for our second family "vacation."  The first was San Diego.  I say "vacation" because the original plan was for my husband and I to take advantage of my work travel and tag a weekend vacation on while the Princess stayed with Grandma and Grandpa.  Unfortunately, Grandma and Grandpa were themselves out of town and the Princess ended up coming with us.  Can you sense my bitterness?  Who wants to juggle a car seat, a stroller (big jogging stroller), luggage, and a 24 pound squriming animal through security? 

Try to control this--the 24 pound squirming animal
on a normal day

The day got off to an inauspicious start--I overslept and missed practice this morning.  As many rowers learn in college, you must do everything humanly possible to make it to practice.  Of course, if you are unconscious, there is not much you can do.  Luckily, I only overslept by half an hour and did manage to fit in a run.  I had forgotten how much I love mornings runs where the air is cool and crisp. 

After a half-day at work, I came home to pack like a maniac.  I actually hate to travel, even when it is for vacation.  Packing freaks me out because I can never decide on what to bring.  We picked up the Princess from daycare and then, went to the airport where my husband dropped the Princess and me off.  Yes, unfortunately, my husband and I had separate flights and I was the lucky parent to fly with the Princess although I am cleary not the favorite parent.  The Princess was screaming when she realized that Dad was not coming with us.  Lovely.

The Princess and I had a connection in Salt Lake City.  By the time we finally landed in Salt Lake City, I had half a mind to leave the Princess behind in the plane.  She had taken the orange juice that I had been served right out of my hands and drank the whole thing.  Well, about 80% of it.  The other 20% ended up on her shirt.  

The Princess awaiting her royal connection
at Salt Lake City

Thankfully, for the last flight--Salt Lake City to Denver, the Princess fell asleep.  Now, I had to struggle to keep my legs from falling asleep with 24 pounds on top.  Welcome to Colorado!

The sleeping Princess; thank God!

We made it!

42 or 44

Thursday:  Want to know what we were recovering for Wednesday morning?!  The 15 minute swim test!  The last time we did a 15 minute swim test was on St. Patrick's day. 

Oddly enough, my 15 minute swim felt good.  I think all of Marcia's damned 200s from last week and this week's IM and free killer workout helped my endurance or at least helped me with my pacing.  One of the challenging things about the 15 minute swim is to be able to keep count of all the laps we do.  It always help to have other people in your lane so that you can piece together exactly how many laps (Marcia counts a 25yd as a lap) you did.  For example, if Jane did 30 laps and you passed her twice, you probably did 33 or 34 laps.

This morning, I did not know if I swam 42 or 44 laps.  I knew exactly where I lost count too--it was on the 26th lap.  I was swimming, zoned out for a moment, and then wondered if I had already mentally counted 26 or 28.  I guess 26 is the limit to my counting abilities.  No one is ever absolutely sure when it comes to counting this high, but based on what my lanemates counted, we figured I did 42 laps. 

I asked Marcia if she thought I did 42 or 44 based on what the other lanes did.  This is what Marcia said, "Oh definitely 42.  You are definitely not fast enough for 44!"  Haha.  One of the reasons Marcia is so great is because she tells you straight up how it is.

Recovery Swim

Wednesday morning:  This morning’s swim was what Marcia called a “recovery” swim.  Recovering for what?!  This makes me suspicious.  I am already scared for Thursday.  I hate surprises, especially ones that come in as swim tests or erg tests.

A view of the Wisconsin boathouse, Porter Boathouse, from the side;
the erg room is on top where the balcony is

Surprise erg tests put a big knot in my stomach.  I remember one morning during the first week of camp in Wisconsin, we went out on the water as normal and then, came back in early.  That only meant one thing—erging.  That morning, I had actually debated with myself whether or not to bring my tennis shoes.  Since it was summer in Wisconsin with about 90% humidity, I always wore my flip-flops.  And that morning, I had decided to leave the tennis shoes at home.  SHIT.

The erg piece was a 5,000 meters at max pressure with controlled rating, starting the piece at 18spm and increasing the rate 2 beats every 1,000 meters.  Basically, it was an erg test with specified rates.  I did the entire erg piece without shoes, which can be challenging because it is much harder to swing at the finish and keep your feet touching the footboards.  Luckily or unluckily, I was not the only person to forget her shoes.  One other girl who was not from Wisconsin also did not bring tennis shoes.  All the Wisco girls knew better and always carried tennis shoes, just in case. 

Unfortunately, for the other girl, she stopped a few times to adjust her feet and foot straps, and the coach came up and said, “What is up with this?  What are you doing?  This is an erg test.  You can’t just stop.”  From one of my novice coaches, I learned that you NEVER ever stop in the middle of an erg test unless you are passing out or throwing up or having an asthma attack (which one of the girls at camp actually had during an erg test and the coach had to force her to stop because she would not give up).

The lesson is erg tests suck, and surprise erg tests suck more.  Bring your tennis shoes if there is even a chance of erging.

As for the recovery swim that we had, it really was not that easy.  The main set had a lot of partnering up with a buddy and since my lane had an odd number of swimmers, we had a threesome. 

1. 3x50yds family kickboard (all two or three people hold on to one kickboard and flutter kick for 50yds) and 50yds pulling partner (one person swims while the partner or partners hang on, acting as dead weight)
2. 3x50yds free, descending
3. 3x100yds free, descending

Maybe Marcia thought it was a recovery swim because all the partner work gave us adequate rest between sets?!

Daily Double

Tuesdays are my daily double days where I try to fit in two workouts.

Tuesday morning:  This morning’s swim had both building and descending.  Here was the main set:

1. 300yds IM (75yds of fly, back, breast, free), focus on technique, i.e. not drowning especially on the butterfly
2. 200yds free FAST
3. 200yds IM, focus on technique
4. 300yds free FAST
5. 100yds IM
6. 400yds free FAST

The IMs got shorter while the freestyle got longer.  This was one long, tiring set.

Tuesday evening:  THE LOG BOOM IS DOWN.  If you do not row for Lake Merritt, you probably are not aware of this long log boom that goes up in the lake every winter and spring.  The log boom sections off about a quarter of the lake in order to create a bird refuge.  I love nature and all, but this log boom makes the lake smaller for us rowers and has us turning more frequently, which after six months, can be very annoying. 

This evening, we had 1 eight, 1 women’s double, and 1 men’s single out on the water.  The Bay Blades had 1 single, 1 double, and 1 quad.  The quad did pieces with us. 

We warmed up the entire lake, all the way down the Embarcadero fountain and back to the dam.  The workout today was 3x1000m race pieces with starts and sprints at 38spm in the start and 34spm in the body of the pieces.

The first piece felt heavy and all over the place.  The second piece had much better rhythm, and the last piece was alright.  1,000 meters felt like a long distance today.

Favorites

Monday morning: This morning's practice was in my favorite and only seat in my favorite boat (at the current moment)--the single.  Wait until another rough day and the single will become my least favorite boat.  Today though, the lake was calm, no hint of the windy days from last week.  We had 1 single (me), 1 women's double, 1 mixed double, and 1 quad.

We took a whole lake loop to warm up.  The workout today was 2x12 minute pieces, 26-28spm at 80-90% pressure.  My favorite workouts are ones like today where the pieces are solid and long enough to be difficult, but not boring.  The challenge is to find a smooth rhythm and to be consistent in rating and power every stroke.  Emphasis on the consistency.

Everyone has favorites--favorite color, favorite food, favorite TV show, favorite seat in the boat.  The Princess too has favorites--favorite foods (fruits and anything that Mom and Dad are eating), favorite toys (blocks, flashing lights), and of course, favorite parent--DAD.

This is what the Princess looks like with her favorite parent.

With her favorite parent

This is what the Princess looks like with her other or least favorite parent--ME.

With her least favorite parent

It probably does not help that I constantly play bad cop, telling the Princess, "No, you cannot put the toilet paper into the toilet" and "No, you cannot eat the ice cream bar that Mom is eating."

Without a little discipline, the Princess and her favorite parent would turn into wild children with no clean laundry and no clean dishes.

A Page Out of My Log

Some of my workout journals, including the one from Wisconsin

In my black massive purse, you will find a variety of items--wallet, stroke coach, extra diapers for the Princess, random receipts, pens, iPod, planner, food journal, and workout journal.

Last fall, Chris asked us to keep a log of all our workouts.  This is not a new concept. I remember my first semester rowing, one of my novice coaches strongly recommended us to keep a journal. In fact, I am pretty sure you will find that many serious rowers keep a workout log of some sort. Brad Lewis in Assault on Lake Casitas almost swears by his journal.

Since I have been remiss for a few days in blogging, I will take a page out of my log starting from my last post.

Tuesday, 4/26/2011
PM:  ROW   4x, 8+

Stroked the 4x (what was Chris thinking?  @#%^&)
Warmed-up whole lake; rough, choppy water, but rowable; wind blowing from finger towards the south shore
Workout - 3x(3x2'on) or basically 9x500m divided into 3 sets with each set having a start piece, body piece, and sprint piece; about 2-4 minutes of recovery in between to get boats lined up
Rates in the 4x - starts were about 35-37spm; settle at 33spm; body at 31-32spm; sprint at 34-36spm
Course steering was a little off--almost collided due to wind and next piece too far away from 8+
4x: need to sit up more and think quick and light

Wednesday, 4/27/2011
AM:  SWIM
Main set: (massive kicking)

1. 1 minute wall kick (holding onto the wall like a 6 year old learning how to swim and kicking as hard as you can)
2. 2x25yds overkick (big legs, slow arms)
3. 200yds fast free
4. 30 seconds wall kick
5. 4x25yds overkick
6. 200yds fast free
7. Repeat #1-5 (thank god we did not have time to do another 200yds, theme of this week)

Tired, working on stroke, extending (not sinking) arm out and breathing as arm enters the water

PM: OFF

Thursday, 4/28/2011
AM:  SWIM
Main set:

1. 4x100yds free, all at the same speed
2. 50yds flutter kick with board, FAST
3. Repeat set three times

Was pretty good at keeping same speed

PM:  OFF

Friday, 4/29/2011 
AM:  ROW  1x, 4+, and me in 1x

Windy, especially in main lake and even in finger; water was best near sail boathouse
Steady state, rate 22-24spm, total of 60 minutes
Need to work on set!!
Blades dragging on the water
If my steady state is going to be this bad, I am going to start hating the single!

PM:  OFF

Saturday, 4/30/2011
AM:   ERG  20minutes

Steady state, 19-20spm
Only had time to do 20 minutes before practice; tried to get to boathouse earlier, but the Princess woke up *grumble grumble*

AM:  COX  8+  (been awhile since I have coxed!)

1x and 4x also out on the water, with two men in the stern (had better be fast with two men in the boat!)
Workout - 6x500m
Water still windy; did pieces starting at the three S's

PM:  RUN  w/the Princess in the jogging stroller

On Skyline trails, 7-8 miles, 80 minutes
Thank god for seat belts, especially with my crappy job driving the stroller through potholes and over big rocks

After a trail run with the Princess in the stroller

Sunday, 5/1/2011
AM:  ROW  1x

Went out early because going to zoo with the family and a friend's family
Some dragonboat race setting up (I find these boats so annoying!)
Warmed up whole lake
Calm water, only the softest breeze
Workout - 3x2,000m race pieces
Legs felt tired during warm-up and between pieces, but okay during the main pieces
Had hard time bring the rate over 30spm in the body of the piece

How many people can you fit in a dragonboat?!

PM: OFF