Experiencing Mexico

Post # 164

Mexico City, Mexico - I'm always down for a trip to explore what's around the places I get to train. This time around, we had the chance to check out the ancient city of Teotihuacan on our afternoon off. I remember learning about this place in high school, but in my mind, you can never really grasp a place until you go and experience it.

Teotihuacan was thought to be built over 2100 years ago and, at the time, it was the largest city in the Americas. We climbed to the top of the Pyramid of the Sun (in the background of the photo below), which is the third largest pyramid in the world. Pretty incredible, considering all the ones in Egypt.

One of the friends we've made through rowing in Mexico City gave us the full tour. Afterwards, we went to lunch at a local spot. I was in the mood for some traditional Mexican cuisine so I got a cactus salad. Kind of strange, right? 

Other than this adventure, life in training camp is exactly how it should be: uneventful. Kate and I are the only CRC members here so we're getting a lot of quality time together...which is to say, I hope I don't drive her totally insane by the end of it or vice versa. I'm thankful to have such a good friend and buddy. I definitely wouldn't make it through without her. 

Into Thin Air

Post # 163

The Speed Order was a challenging weekend because it capped off a tough couple weeks of training. It was a good opportunity for us to have to perform with tired bodies (at least that's what I told myself). Saturday morning was the 6km test on the rowing machine - a familiar test to rowers throughout the country. We each chased down our personal records over the 19-22 minute test. I was happy (albeit surprised) to finish with a personal best by three seconds.

On Sunday, we raced 4 km on the water. Like any distance race, it was a test not only of physical strength and technical skill, but also of your ability to steer the course well. Kudos to these guys, who won each of their events: Derek in the men's single, Gevvie in the women's single, and Nick and Dave in the men's pair.

Kate and I had a couple days to recover ("recover") and get all of our things together and then it was off to Mexico City for an altitude training camp, where we are now. We're rowing on the same course as the 1968 Olympics, complete with the original grandstands and flagpoles at the finish line. Hard to believe they held an Olympics this high up. 

The first few days are a pretty unwelcome adjustment: it's hard to breathe, you're super dehydrated, and your brain feels like it's processing through mud. This morning we took a run around the course with our coach and we were slowly plodding along with heart and breathing rates probably equivalent to an all-out effort. It's a strange bodily experience and I don't feel normal yet. Thankfully our coach is an altitude pro so we know we're not totally crazy. 

The significant up-side is that compared to the routine at home (wake up at 5:30, go to practice, scramble to get to work, go back to practice, throw something together for dinner, collapse into bed), life here is really simple: eat, sleep, row. We suddenly have all this time on our hands so we can bring more focus to our physiological and technical goals, spend time analyzing video, get adequate recovery through a solid PT/nap/food routine, and actually get the 9-10 hours of sleep we probably need every night. This is awesome!  

T-minus five weeks until the first sprint race of the season. Better keep working. 

What? It's Racing Season?

Post # 162

Oakland, California - Hard to believe it, but it's true. We've all been in the winter grind for a few months now, but my teammates and I have managed to keep it interesting with some fun cross-training activities. Last weekend, we went on a sweet (albeit muddy and wet) hike in the Redwoods:

The Artemis kids have already started racing, and I start next weekend at the Spring Speed Order hosted by California Rowing Club. It's just like the Fall Speed Order where we race on both Saturday and Sunday. This race is a good chance for us to see where we stack up in our last long distance race until October. In the area? Want to come cheer me and my teammates on? Here's the deal:

Saturday March 15: 6km test on the rowing machine - PHOTOS / RESULTS
Sunday March 16: 4km race on the water - PHOTOS / RESULTS

The best viewing spot for the 4k race on Sunday is either on the High Street bridge or at the MLK Jr. Shoreline Center. The race starts at the High Street Bridge and ends at the watermelon at the bottom of the "pit" (near the airport)

After this Speed Order, the real stuff gets going. I'll be racing at National Selection Regatta 1 (NSR1) in the single in late April and NSR2 in the double in mid-May. Those are the ones that start to count for selection to the US Team.

I'll leave you with some pics from Artemis practice over the last few months:

Sochi Comes to a Close

Post # 161

The Sochi Games have come to a close and man, it was a spectacular show. Sochi had all of what we come to expect from an Olympics: records broken, come from behind victories, tense final minutes (women's hockey!), surprise upsets, young phenoms stealing the show, and, at the end of the day, a sense that the world was brought together in a very special way. One thing remains constant about the Olympic Games: it is such a monumental event that it's going to be an emotional ride no matter what.

I still have to watch replays of several events (work and training got in the way of my goal to watch the Olympics 24/7), but I what I have seen so far is awesome. One of my favorite events was the women's slalom skiing. It's a fast, technical event that requires unique strength, coordination, timing, and skill. In some ways, it was absolutely heartbreaking; one of the skiers (from Switzerland, I believe) straddled the fifth gate of sixty on her first of two runs and was automatically disqualified. She skied to the side of the course, sat down on her skis, and immediately started crying. Another woman had a great run until the last few gates, where she clipped one, missed it with one ski, and was also disqualified. Knowing that they'd trained so hard built themselves up for this experience, just to have it end that way was written all over their faces. It was tough to witness.

On the flip side, American Mikaela Shiffrin had a ridiculous performance in the slalom. She's an 18 year-old from Colorado who won the gold over women who have 10-15 years of skiing experience on her. I was wondering how she got to be so good and I happened on this video, which explains how she's been studying skiing since she was five. Smart girl. She strikes me as such a fun-loving yet mature athlete. The footage of her standing in the starting gate, staring down the slalom course before her runs made me nervous sitting in my living room, so this girl's gotta be one tough cookie.

Most of all, it was cool to follow Brian and Torin's Olympic experiences. I'm sure they're leaving Russia with a lifetime of memories to share with everyone back in the US. To those two, and all the Olympians: you made us proud. Now that the torch has been passed to the Rio 2016 Olympics, the ball is officially in the summer athletes' court. Time to grind away.

Sochi with Fresh Eyes

Post # 160

Chula Vista, California - Watching the Olympics has always been something I'm interested in, and I'm in good company at the Olympic Training Center in Chula Vista. I'm here for a short training trip and luckily, the Sochi coverage is constantly playing in the dining hall and athlete dorms. 

This is the first Olympics I've watched since competing at the Games myself and I’m finding that I see it with a different set of eyes now. NBC shows the actual athlete performances on TV, but there’s so much more to the story than that. It's fascinating to compare the "real" athlete experience to how it’s portrayed on TV. Take, for example, the agonizing, nerve-wracking minutes, hours, and days leading up to their race that we don’t see, or the fact that the pressure of performing has turned the athletes into hyper-aware human beings. We don’t see it, but they’re constantly assessing how they're feeling (sick, anxious, relaxed, excited, etc), how much sleep they’ve gotten and whether it’s enough, how distracted they are by friends and family who are watching and emailing/tweeting, what expectations they’re trying to live up to, how their teammates are faring in competition, and how to deal with irritating media questions. (One question to a figure skater yesterday was, "you're doing two events, aren't you worried about fatigue?" Talk about imbuing confidence in the athlete!) For many of these athletes, they train and race in relative anonymity and suddenly they’re on the world stage. And, of course, we don't see the tough selection process in the months leading up to the Games, nor do we see the thousands of hours they've put into perfecting their routine in the years beforehand. No doubt about it: it’s a stressful environment to be in.

The Games are a major turning point in every Olympian's life – one that changes every single athlete’s life forever. So here's to recognizing and celebrating the athletes and their entire Sochi experience, not just what we see on TV. They’ve put in a lot of work to get there and regardless of outcome, it’s inspiring to watch them do what they love most. 

Follow ITA athlete Brian Gregg here
Follow ITA athlete Torin Koos here
Gorgeous images of the Opening ceremonies

Winter Cross Training

Post #159

As endurance athletes, it's really important for us to get in a lot of miles over the winter to build up our base fitness. I'll be the first to say that as late January rolls around, logging the miles can start to get pretty boring. If I didn't have my teammates to keep the humor, entertainment, and motivation levels high, I don't know what I'd do. Our latest team bonding/cross training was a trip to Monterey last weekend.

Of course, it wasn't a trip to relax on the beach; hiking, biking, swimming, and football were all built into a busy two days. I was part of a biking group that took a long ride down the coast on highway one on Saturday. Ever since I drove highway one back in 2011, I've wanted to try biking it. The trip did not disappoint; most of the my time was spent ooh-ing and ahh-ing at the ridiculous views. Someday I want to bike all the way from SF to LA...or just do the entire west coast. 

Rest stop at the Bixby Bridge

I can tell the whole team is feeling rejuvenated and ready to tackle "real" training again. I'll certainly have Team USA on my mind over the next couple weeks. Hard to believe the Sochi Opening Ceremonies are only two weeks away.

Fingers Crossed for Team ITA

Post # 158

If you've been following the Olympics, you'll notice that one by one, governing bodies are announcing the athletes that will represent the US in Sochi. The US Figure Skating team was named today, the hockey team was named last week, and several other sports have rolled in. Naming dates for the ITA winter athletes are coming up soon and I can't help but be anxiously excited for them. We have one bobsledder and several cross-country skiers going for Sochi:

2010 Olympic bobsledder Emily Azevedo placed fourth in the World Cup in St. Moritz this morning. She was in the two-person sled that was 0.1 off of the bronze medal. Pretty impressive. In fact, Emily has posted solid results at all of the World Cup events this season. The bobsled team will be announced in mid to late January.

(From zimbio.com)

Two-time Olympian Torin Koos (cross-country skiing) won the freestyle sprint at the National Championships at Soldier Hollow Park in Utah. Sylvan Ellefson also posted an awesome result, placing first in the men's 30k, followed closely by Brian Gregg, who placed second. Brian's wife, Caitlin, won the women's 20k freestyle race. I'm pretty sure ITA is slowly taking over this sport. Some of these guys are headed to the World Cups in Europe; best of luck to them. The team will be named on January 22.

(Sylvan. From ski racing.com, 1/9/14)

Simply reaching the place where you could make it to the Olympics is an amazing feat. At the same time, I know they're in a tough spot right now; being right on the edge of either achieving a dream or falling short of it is not a fun place to be. The waiting game for the announcement drags on. Regardless of what happens over the next two weeks, they've all had fascinating and extremely successful journeys up until now and I can't wait to see what they do next. This is a really special group of athletes to be a part of.

¡Adiós, México!

Post # 157

Kate and I are heading back home after getting in some serious miles on the 1968 Olympic rowing course in Mexico City this past week. It's been an interesting physical and cultural experience. This city sits at 8,000 feet and the altitude is rough on the lungs and spirit; you're breathing harder than normal and still seeing slower splits on the GPS.

La comida 

La Casa de Botes

Unlike a lot of the places we travel to (read: most of Europe), only one person we've talked to here speaks English. We've had to dig deep into our memory of middle and high school Spanish classes to communicate the simplest things. Our Spanish teachers would be appalled with our accents (or lack thereof) and all the words we've forgotten (how do you say breakfast again?), but hey, we're getting by.

One of the biggest celebrations in Mexico is the day of the Virgin of Guadalupe, which happened earlier this week. Millions of people made the pilgrimage to the Basilica of Our Lady of Guadalupe, a famous church in Mexico City. We were too busy training to see any of this, but did hear fireworks going off all day long. I mean all. day. long. And all night long. I began to wonder if there would be any fireworks left in Mexico after the holiday. These people know how to celebrate.

¡Hasta luego!

Full Steam Ahead

Post # 156

Time is flying. The Speed Order wrapped up about a week ago and already Kate and I have been to New York, Colorado, and back, and now somehow the holidays are here. Here's a quick recap of the last couple weeks:

The Speed Order went well - better than expected even. I pulled a personal best time on the 6,000 meter erg test on Saturday to take second place for the lightweight women. Kate, my doubles partner, beat me, which I guess I'm okay with since she set a new WORLD RECORD in doing so. No big deal. I took third place overall for the women in the race on the water - and second place for lightweight women.

The regatta was a chance for everyone to check in and see where they're at right now, and I'm happy with my results. Here's a video from the event, which gives you a good idea of what the erg race and singles races were like. On the erg, there's lots of noise with fans spinning, music blaring, and people cheering. On the water, it's super quiet. (If you're looking for me in the water coverage, go to about 3:15.)

A couple days after, Kate and I went on a trip to New York City and Colorado Springs. You'd never know I grew up in New England or went to school in the upper midwest if you'd heard me grumbling about the cold in both locations. By the end of the week, we'd dubbed it the "2013 California Appreciation Trip" and vowed to no longer whine about the 45 degree mornings in Oakland.

We were in New York City for the Golden Oars awards dinner. We got to see lots of familiar faces, revel in how awesome the people in this sport are, and I got to cheer Kate on as she accepted the 2013 Female Athlete of the Year award. It's the coolest one to get because it's voted on by all the women on the national team, some of whom are pictured here:

Look mom, we're a silent auction item! 

Less than 24 hours later, we were off to the Colorado Springs Olympic Training Center. We got in a few days of testing and altitude training, which, for the record, is a lot more challenging than sea-level training. Everyone at the OTC was amazingly helpful, as always. Whenever I go to one of our Olympic Training Centers, I'm inspired by all the athletes in other sports. This time around, we watched some of the little wrestlers flip huge tires in the weight room and saw the male gymnasts do their work. If ever you feel abnormal for putting so much time into your sport, a trip to the OTC will solve that problem.

Now we're back in California and right back into training. The Speed Order finished out the fall racing season, so now my team is starting the long stretch of winter training before spring selection events roll around. Full steam ahead!

West Coast Fall Speed Order

Post # 155

Oakland, California - This weekend is the West Coast Fall Speed Order. It's a USRowing race designed to "order our speed" or rank us against each other in three areas of the country: the east coast, midwest, and west coast. The other two Speed Orders were last weekend which leaves the west coast one to round them out.

This regatta is pretty brutal; it's a 6,000 meter test on the rowing machine on Saturday followed by a 4,000 meter race on the water in singles on Sunday. There's a lot of time to get anxious ahead of the weekend and not a lot of time to recover between tests, which makes it a unique challenge. One of my teammates wrote an article about what it's like to race at a Fall Speed Order and I'd say it's spot on.

Even though it'll be tough, I'm feeling good about this weekend. It'll be the first time I've done a real, standard erg test in over three years and I'm eager to see what kind of numbers I can pull. The race on the water on Sunday will be on our home course - a luxury I don't think I've had for the last ten years of rowing. 

If you're in the area, the best viewing will be from the High Street Bridge or from the Oakland Strokes boathouse (Tideway Boating Center at 4675 Tidewater Ave, Oakland). Race information will be posted here.

Good luck to everyone at this WCFSO and to Artemis at the BIAC Regatta!