Practice Video

Post #39

Berkeley, CA - Often times in rowing, we use video review to learn how to improve technically. It's one thing to feel how you're rowing, but it's an entirely different thing to see what you're doing from the coach's view. There have been so many times that I've thought, "wow, I really feel like I'm (sitting up, getting my catches in well, rowing smoothly, etc.)" but then after seeing the video, realize that I am totally not. For me, video is one of the most valuable ways to make technical improvements. Here's some recent video of practice.

Over the weekend, the Wisconsin Lightweights were in the SF area to race Stanford and Princeton in their first spring race against other lightweight teams. It was great to see the Badgers again and cheer them on. The races were all dual style (the lake isn't wide enough for anything other than two boats across) so it made it especially exciting. Spring is here and I can't wait to get out there and race down the course myself!

Youth Bike Program

Post #38

San Francisco, California - While living and training in Berkeley for the month, I've gotten involved in a few community events. My most recent activity was a YMCA Youth Bike Program called Community Hubs. It was an open event for families in the community to come and learn bike safety, repair, etc. I spent my Saturday teaching kids how to ride bikes. It was so much fun and super rewarding. One of the girls came in with training wheels on and by the end of the day, she was confidently riding in circles around us! Here are a few photos. Tomorrow morning I'll be working with kids an elementary school in the city. More to come later!

Jason teaching one of the kids

Scenes from the Road: CA Highway 1 Edition

Post #37

Berkeley, California - I've borrowed ITA Athlete Torin's idea for the title of this post. More photos from the Olympic Training Center and the trip up the coast are below.

My time training in Chula Vista wrapped up with some good workouts and a few chances to race the men's pairs. I was training alongside the men's heavyweight team while I was there. Imagine seeing about twenty six-foot-seven heavyweight dudes and one little five-foot-six lightweight girl. It made for some funny remarks when people saw me standing with them during the land warm-up or at the team meetings. The coaches were kind enough to time me for the race pieces we did on the water and the team cheered me on even when I came across the finish line a full two minutes behind them. The good news is that the coaches convert the times into "perecentage of Gold Medal Standard" for each boat class, so I could at least compete with them on those numbers.

I'll be training in Oakland, California out of the Cal Berkeley boathouse for the next few weeks. Julie, the woman I'm training with, went to Cal and the coaches have been nothing but welcoming to me so far. We even get to meet up with the Cal women's team for weekly core classes on campus. I've never spent more than a day or two in the San Fran area so I'm excited to see more of it. About six friends from my high school rowing club live out here now so it's great to reconnect with them. I'm hoping they'll show me all the great spots!

View of the track and lake at the OTC

The 2012 Olympic Venues Map is up at the Athlete Center!

Elephant Seals

Surfers

My 2011 Tour de California traveling rig

570 miles

Post #36

Berkeley, California - Today I continued my west coast training adventure by driving up the California coast to San Francisco. Since I had all day to do the drive, I decided to take the more scenic route (although it was three hours longer). I drove the famous Highway 1, which goes right along the coast. In many areas, there are cliffs that drop straight down into the ocean and the "highway" is just a little road carved into it. There was plenty of twisting and turning but I'm happy to report that everything (boat included) has arrived in one piece. I saw so many incredible things along the way, including downtown Santa Barbara, giant elephant seals lying on the beach in San Simeone, and tons of beautiful views up through Big Sur. I pulled off the road about fifteen times along the way to snap photos. It was just stunning.

Some of those photos are below; more to come in the next day or two as I sift through the 110 that I took today!

Santa Barbara

Elephant Seals

2,150 miles

Post #35

Chula Vista, California - Over the past three days, I have conquered 2,150 miles of solo driving. It was my first big road trip alone and I just rolled into Chula Vista this afternoon. I am thrilled to finally be here and get out of the car. I drove through some amazing places though (Colorado mountain passes, Utah deserts, Las Vegas, and along the Pacific Ocean in Cali) and got to see so many things I've never seen before.

I'll be training here at the ARCO Olympic Training Center for a little while. I packed up my stuff in Madison, threw my boat and oars on top of my car, and headed west. I think about five different people along the way asked me if the funny thing on top of my car was a hang glider!

Colorado

Utah

Utah

California

Staying Flexible

Post #34

Madison, Wisconsin - When I originally arrived in Madison from the Florida trip, I was expecting to leave for training in San Diego within a couple days. I had talked the plan through with my coach here at Wisco as well as the people I would be training with in SD. I was working out the logistics and getting ready to go. I was excited to be getting on the water again in a matter of days. I was pumped about having a real bed to sleep in soon (I had just sold mine in Madison thinking I wouldn't need it anymore). So when I got a phone call saying that I'd have to hold off coming to San Diego for another three weeks, I was taken off guard.

If there's one thing I've learned about rowing at the elite level (ok, there are a ton of things I've learned, but bear with me), it's to stay flexible with my plans. When I graduated from college, I wasn't very good at dealing with change. If my future plans didn't work out the way I had imagined in my head, it took a long time for me to swallow. But after a few years of constantly changing plans, living in so many different places, and experiencing lots of different things, I've like to think I've learned to roll with the changes. It's about making the best of the situation, even if it's not what you thought it would be. Yes, staying in Madison meant more erg time and less water time, but I committed to just getting as strong as I could in these three weeks. Staying in Madison also meant sleeping more nights on friends' air mattresses and couches instead of a real bed, but I have wonderful friends who are willing to host me and who make me feel right at home. Perhaps the best part about staying in Madison has been the opportunity to spend a lot more time in Ms. Feingold's 3rd grade classroom. I've logged lots of hours there over the past few weeks and gotten to know the kids so much better. We've been working on geography projects and letters to their parents for Valentine's Day and I've been loving it.

One last thing: I'm so thankful that my nomadic lifestyle has brought out the incredibly supportive side of those around me. I realize that when my plans change, it doesn't just affect me; it affects the people I live with, train with, work with, and rely on. I owe a huge, sincere thanks to everyone here in Madison who has also rolled with the changes in my plans and adjusted their lives to let me train here. I couldn't keep the dream alive without you.

3rd grade geography projects: salt dough molds of the US!

My current living situation: air mattress + suitcases

Leftovers from Florida. Credit: H. Hunsberger

View of the boats from the back of the truck on the trip home. I think we were somewhere in Tennessee.

Credit: H. Hunsberger

The Best Holiday Treat

Post #33

Madison, Wisconsin - While in Cocoa Beach last week, something arrived that has been a long time coming. For the first time in my 10-year rowing career, I finally own my own boat. I have been thinking about getting one ever since I started training in the single full-time in 2008. I've been renting a friend's boat for 2+ years and during that time, I began test driving (test rowing?) many different boats and poring over my finances to see if I could make it happen. I finally settled on ordering a red Fluidesign in December. Once it was built in Canada, it was shipped in a big semi truck down to Florida where I eagerly awaited its arrival. Unwrapping it and seeing the bright color and smooth, flawless boat was truly a special moment. Continuing to be able to afford it over the next few years will be a challenge, but for the moment, I could not be more thrilled with it.

The best surprise? Golden shoes.

View from the bow

In action on day 1

The next step is to name the boat. I named the red one I used to rent "Lola" after the character with bright red hair in "Run Lola Run." This one needs a name too, and I'm taking suggestions, so feel free to email me with ideas!

G-Row Wrap-Up

Post #32

Cocoa Beach, Florida - I wrapped up my time at G-Row in Boston last month. It was awesome to spend time with the team there. I'm finally posting some photos from the "Santa Circuit" day:

Since leaving Boston, I've made my way down to Florida for the annual winter training trip with the Wisconsin Rowing team. The coaches, staff, and athletes at Wisco have been incredibly supportive of me over the years and have invited me on their training trips even after I've graduated. It's been sunny and flat water since we got here yesterday; we're hoping it stays that way!

Getting Through Winter

Post #31

Concord, Massachusetts - After having been asked about my favorite workout songs by the high school girls I've been working with, I decided to put together a list of the best ones. These are the tunes I've worked out to a million times, but never get old. They're the ones that put a smile on my face and make me pumped up and love what I'm doing. They're the ones we blasted out of the boathouse at 6 am, knowing that we were probably waking up the entire city of Madison.

It should be noted that most of these songs were discovered and made popular (at least on our team) by Heidi. Heidi and I were teammates at Wisco and she is an awesome person. She was a coxswain on the team, which means she sits in the stern of the eight and steers, strategizes, and gets everyone working together. Aside from being a great friend and teammate, Heidi is also well known for her ability to find new workout songs and assemble them into playlists that we listened to all winter long. Her songs from college are loaded on my iPod and still get me through even the toughest workouts, especially those full pressure pieces in a big, dark, quiet erg room by myself in the dead of winter.

Heidi and I (and Margot!) at work for the Badgers at 2007 Head of the Charles

Wisco spring training trip (junior year)

Top 10 Steady State Songs:

1. Show Me, Mint Royale ft. De La Soul

2. Touches You, Mika

3. Church, T-Pain

4. Heart of a Champion, Nelly

5. Good Day, Nappy Roots

6. Daylight, Matt & Kim

7. The Sweet Escape, Gwen Stefani

8. Use It, The New Pornographers

9. Bulletproof, La Roux

10. Hard to Beat, Hard-Fi

Top 5 Testing Songs:

1. Love Today, Mika

2. Bring Em Out, T.I.

3. Lose Yourself, Eminem

4. Oh! Gravity, Switchfoot

5. Here it Goes Again, Ok Go

Building Community

Post #30

Concord, Massachusetts - Over the weekend I took a trip up to Hanover, NH to visit Amory and her family, see ITA's new home, and meet the ITANH runners. I have to say, I was thoroughly impressed with everything: the delicious meals, the gorgeous house, Amory's adorable kids, the exciting plans for ITA's future, and all of the warm people - athletes and non- that I met. Hanover may have been chilly and snowy, but ITA is certainly bringing warmth to the community there.

Speaking of which, Amory and I got to talking over coffee about how we as a society build community in the age of iPhones, iPods, and iPads. Our discussion reminded me of a postcard I randomly picked up a couple of years back while training in NJ. I had been thinking of posting it here for some time, and promised Amory that would, so here's the list. It can definitely spark some thought, so feel free to let me know your reaction.

How to Build Community

Turn off your TV

Leave your house

Know your neighbors

Look up when you are walking

Greet people

Sit on your stoop

Plant flowers

Use your library

Play together

Buy from local merchants

Share what you have

Help a lost dog

Take children to the park

Garden together

Support neighborhood schools

Fix it even if you didn't break it

Have pot lucks

Honor elders

Pick up litter

Read stories aloud

Dance in the street

Talk to the mail carrier

Listen to the birds

Put up a swing

Help carry something heavy

Barter for your goods

Start a tradition

Ask a question

Hire young people for odd jobs

Organize a block party

Bake extra and share

Ask for help when you need it

Open your shades

Sing together

Share your skills

Take back the night

Turn up the music

Turn down the music

Listen before you react to anger

Mediate a conflict

Seek to understand

Learn from new and uncomfortable angles

Know that no one is silent though many are not heard. Work to change this.

(I take no credit for creating this list. http://www.northernsun.com/n/s/3118.html)