Yesterday was a BIG day. I think I was hopped up on adrenaline for 12 hours straight. Paying for it dearly today as the adrenaline has seeped out of my body leaving that achy residue of exhaustion, but the hangover is worth the party.

My training partner Brian, and his wife Pam train out of the GMS Rowing Center in New Milford, CT and had invited me to try it out. Brian had spoken with the head coach/trainer Guenther (better known as “GMan”), and gotten me the “in” to come down for a training weekend and 6K Test. GMan works primarily with lightweight men and women and several U23 National Team rowers. Several of his rowers have competed internationally and been members of the U.S. National Team. I’m considered an openweight woman but I knew I needed an elite group of athletes to train with and learn from. Perhaps if I had been rowing for years, I could continue to do the independent thing, but I need a legit program and coach to take me to the next level. This was the best option.

I rocked the 6K Test. Absolutely killed it. And I generally don’t say that about any personal performance but it was one of those moments where you are literally jumping out of your skin because you know you just kicked some ass. And the ass you kicked was your own. A week ago I had put up a 22:49 (minutes) which was a personal best; 4 seconds better than the 22:53 I had submitted for the USRowing ID Camp in early November. My goal going into yesterday’s test had been to at least keep it around 22:50. I had put in some serious mileage all week-no doubt my body was tired-and I was feeling a little sick toward the end of the week so wasn’t sure what kind of number I may pull. 3,000 meters into the test I knew I was golden. I was feeling strong and solid and holding a great split, on par to finish below my 22:50 goal. When I finished (in pain), and saw the 22:32 on the screen, it took all of me not to jump off the erg and run over to give Brian (my training partner) a huge hug and high-five. I mouthed the time to Pam across the room which was received by a lipped “oh my god” and thumbs up. I was ecstatic. A solid 17 seconds shaved off my standing personal best was serious improvement, and the best part of it all was that I knew I wasn’t even close to being in a “well-trained” condition. To put it into perspective, as my training partner so eloquently stated: “Get under 22:00 and you’re really in the mix with the folks who are currently making teams (National Team)… under 21:30 and you are physiologically playing in the deep end of the pool which is uber cool.”

I’m ready to dive in head first. Next goal = sub 22:00.

It’s been just over a month since I took the nervous drive from West Hartford, Connecticut south to Princeton, New Jersey to attend the USRowing Identification Camp held in November. That weekend was a pivotal moment in this rowing journey I’ve embarked upon.

I was the oldest out of the 40-45 attendees (many of whom were still rowing for collegiate programs such as Yale, Radcliffe, Princeton, and ironically my alma mater Virginia). Being the only one who had not rowed in college, I felt like the new kid in class all over again. Surely I would pick up the wrong oar, trip and go head first into the water or something embarrassing of that nature. My goal going into the camp was to make it out of the testing round and be seated in a boat; and even that was being a little ambitious. After a few grueling set of physical tests on the erg (“ergometer”= rowing machine), 16 women were selected to take two racing shells out on Carnegie Lake and go through various drills while being observed and coached by the National Team coaches. Waiting for the lineups seemed like an eternity but seeing “OLeary” scribbled in the seat 4 position was worth the agony of the 2K test I had pulled a couple of weeks before. In that moment, I felt that I had arrived and could actually call myself a “rower.”

That was November 14th and I’ve been busting my ass ever since. Over the last month, I’ve managed to find a phenomenal training partner who has become my Yoda of all things rowing. Smart and talented he is. Brian is a lightweight on the Men’s National Team, so brings a breadth of knowledge and expertise. Putting in 60-100 minutes of cardio every morning has become routine. Follow that up with at least another 60-80 minutes of cardio and/or a lift in the afternoon; it’s as if I’m back in college preseason with 2-a-days, ice baths, and always being hungry…my stomach has become a bottomless pit.

This morning was 100 minutes..2×50, 50 minutes on the erg, 50 minutes on the spin bike followed by another 60 minutes on the erg tonight. And that’s a “light” workout. As painful or even boring those long erg sets can be, it’s an unbelievably satisfying feeling after logging over 30,000 meters in a day and knowing you’ll wake up and do it all over again. Like I said, I’m absolutely addicted or just a self-proclaimed masochist. Perhaps a little of both.