Tag Archives: Training

Resolutions to Rio

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So I might be a few days late but I think resolutions are to be made on a continual basis. Who’s really watching deadlines? Don’t get me wrong, it is wonderful to mark the turn of a new calendar year with (hopefully) life-improving statements and more importantly plan(s) for follow-through and results. But resolutions shouldn’t be limited to the 3-2-1 count and dropping ball.

My 2 cents on goals and resolutions: for every long-term, far away goal, you should always identify 1-2 that are short-term and quantifiable. Can you measure your success in a clear-cut way? A year or really, life is a long time(because again, we make resolutions throughout the course of our entire lives rather than just when 365 turns back to 1). Without those shorter, attainable goals to boost our confidence and provide direction along the way, when the going gets tough, it can seem to get even tougher. The long-term goals are made to force us to reach and push ourselves. Obviously some should be realistic and attainable, but throughout our lives we should also be setting goals that at first glance may seem off the reach of easily possible. Those are our DREAMS. They’re the ones that keep us up at night; distract us during our day jobs (unless you’re one of the lucky ones and your day job is your dream); and make us start writing a blog about the journey to reach that goal. They make us continue to stretch further, work harder, and do everything we can to get close enough to touch, if not grab hold of whatever it is you set out for yourself to achieve. If you grab it-hold on tight and enjoy the ride. Dreams should never be taken for granted.

All clichés aside…without further ado and in no specific order, here are my rowing resolutions, goals, and dreams for the next year and possibly beyond.

1. Break the sub-7 minute line for my 2K. My current Personal Best is 7:04.8 that I pulled this past October. This was prior to any real training so many variables come into play for me to consider. The past 2 months I have been busting my ass to increase my anaerobic base and put my body into the best shape possible. In that time, I’ve also managed to learn how to erg correctly-not perfectly (yet)-but correctly and that alone will improve any score. I have a 2K Test coming up this Sunday (1/9). First shot at hitting one of my goals.

2. Break the sub-22 minute line for my 6K. I’ve mentioned this before and it really is similar in nature to the 2K goal above. My Personal Best stands at a 22:32 which I pulled in December (12/18/10), smoking my previous 22:49 out of the water. I know with the right amount of training and simply just time spent erging, I’ll be able to break 22 minutes in no time.

3. Buy my own boat. It’s kind of like growing into my big kid pants. Every real sculler needs their own shell. Once the ice breaks and the weather warms up, it’ll be time to get a real boat and really start racing. The singles (single sculling, 1-person boat) that I’ve been in before were by no means racing shells. They were bricks with huge logs for oars. Rowing in the fast, sleek racing shells will take some getting used to and breaking in, not to mention disciplined budgeting and saving. Boats aren’t cheap. Bring out the penny bank.

4. Medal. Kicking butt on the erg doesn’t bring home the hardware. You have to be able to translate your hard work, speed, and strength onto the water. That is the true test. My goal is to race and race well. Granted, it will take some time to get my sea legs, and I’ll have many losses before I see a true win; but I have no doubt that by the end of the year, I’ll be making some noise at the finish line.

5. National Team “looks.” That noise will hopefully translate into the type of message I want to send. I want to compete at the highest possible level and that in the simplest of words, means the US National Team. This first year is primarily about a couple of key things: 1) Training as hard as I possibly can to push my body into the kind of shape it needs to be in to truly compete. I have the physique, now I just need the fitness. 2) Truly learn to row well and start winning races, proving that I’m a competitor. If I can make sure to take care of those couple of things, a lot (not all, but a lot) will take care of itself. Results speak the loudest and there is no substitute for results.

I’ll keep it at 5 for now. All these things lead up to that big dream goal: Rio. I have 5 years to get there. There will be many resolutions to Rio made along the way, but this is definitely a solid start.

Back at the Boathouse

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I have mentioned before how valuable having a training partner is. Yesterday was my first workout back with my partner Brian, breaking a long 11-day solitary confinement driven by my own ambition to get the workouts in-and of course, my workout binder (yes, I have a binder that catalogues my workouts, mileage, test results, etc-I might be a bit Type A) mandating I check off each day. More on the binder later.

Sunday’s Sub-max 6K was good-especially in the company of Brian and his wife Pam. While it’s not necessarily “difficult” because you aren’t going balls to the wall, maximum effort-it helps knowing you’re in it with a team. You’re working hard because you know that’s what you have to do but you’re also working hard with others and in some way this creates an atmosphere of obligation and maybe even competition; making sure you give your best because everyone else around you is doing just that (and you expect that from them), and it would be insulting, even disrespectful to them to not put in your 100%.

This morning was a 75-minute easy piece on the erg (easy, HR zone = R)…but LONG. A month ago, 75 minutes without stopping used to seem like an eternity. Today, it felt fantastic-I was cruising and enjoying it. But I also think a huge part of the ease of this morning was having someone working just as hard on the erg next to me. For all the reasons mentioned above and before, there is comfort and strength in that. I was talking with a friend last night who was flabbergasted at the idea of spending that long on the erg. She exercises so it wasn’t the thought of working out but more so the idea of spending so much time doing the same motion-methodical, boring. I remember thinking that same thing before actually trying this rowing thing. I can run for hours but never imagined I could have the focus to sit on an erg for hours…but alas, I have arrived. I guess it’s one of the side effects of the addiction. Focus, fixation. My mind goes to another place for those 75 minutes, 100 or 120 minutes (as tomorrow’s workout calls for). I think about everything and nothing. Time when my mind is completely at ease and for lack of a better term, “blank” is rare but graciously welcomed even when it is sweating on an erg, feeling my muscles working and burning. I love it. I look forward to it. Not just for the time that it is (because truly, I do love the exercise), but knowing that every minute I’m training, I’m working toward a goal; toward being better as an athlete and person. There truly is purpose (and benefit) in every pull I put in on the erg. And for that alone, I absolutely love it. It’s why I wake up at 5:30am every morning; it’s what I look forward to in my day.

It is 3 days into a new year. Many successes and victories and many losses and failures will be seen over the next 362 days. But at the end of the year, the final result will only be success and I can’t wait to taste a little bit every day.

Feel-Good Junkie

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5am. I woke up pretty tired this morning. Not unbearably tired, but enough to make me bury my head in the pillow and hit the snooze button for an extra 15 minutes or so. Living in an old Connecticut-house-turned-apartment (with crappy insulation that fails to keep out the frigid New England air), averaging maybe 5-6 hours of sleep a night, and reaching the middle of week 2 of “serious training” hit me with a crashing wave of urges to just stay hidden under the warmth of my comforter. If only I had the luxury of pushing back my workout an hour or even just another 30 minutes. This is the torturous but great thing about having a training partner. We’re in it for each other as much as in it for ourselves. I’m not only obligated to myself to get up and get this workout in (before heading to a demanding full-time job I might add…balancing that and rowing is beginning to take its toll…more on that later), but I have an obligation to him to show up on time, ready to work. It is very much a mutual responsibility; the relationship truly illustrates the strength in having a partner or “team” to rely on as well as the value in having someone rely on you. We keep each other in check and although we’re not competing against one another, we can most certainly push each other by simply being present; a witness to one’s journey and hard work. Being accountable to someone other than yourself, you will place higher standards on the performance or work put into whatever it is you’re doing.

There is this indescribable feeling of triumph and sense of pure achievement after pushing past the shadows of doubt that can creep up on you in any form; defeating those demons that tell you to “stay in bed” or that try to convince you that you’ve “already worked hard enough and deserve the day off” or that maybe you “just don’t have the time right now.” You know what I’m talking about-we play these games in our heads in almost all types of situations. They are the manifestations of fatigue, weakness and fear. You can never get rid of them completely, but each battle won makes you that much stronger.

I felt like a million dollars after finishing my 80 minute workout (10-20-40-10). I legit skipped out to my car-still freezing as the cold New England wind whipped around the corner of the building. As my training has gotten progressively tougher and I’m pushing myself harder compared to anything else I’ve done in the past, my favorite moment has become the time I have to myself in the car after a solid workout, fighting traffic back home to shower and change quickly so that I can rush into work. This short but valuable time is when my mind decompresses and I pat myself on the back. Another day in the books. I relive the battle and how I will do it better tomorrow. This is also when the “big dreams” float around in my head of winning the next big race, going sub 22:00 in my next 6K Test….to eventually making the U.S. Women’s National Team. Each day counts and had I not pulled myself out of bed and pushed hard to make sure I had a successful workout, I would’ve felt pretty crappy and been hard on myself throughout the rest of the day. Instead, I walked out of the boathouse excited to take on the next challenge and high off the endorphins pumping through my veins. Many, many days and weeks will come where I’ll probably feel that the last thing I want to do is go crush an 80-100 minute piece on the erg, but that promise of accomplishment, adrenaline, and sense of completion is enough to keep you coming back for more.

Rowing is not for the faint of heart or faint of mind and body, but it is definitely for the adrenaline and “feel-good” junkie.

Playing in the Deep End…

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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.

6.5 hours, 363 miles, 32 days later…

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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.

“Click Here to Register for Rowing”

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That is literally how this all began. I Googled “rowing+Hartford” and came across Riverfront Recapture. Therein began a journey that quickly turned my life upside down-or right-side up-depending on your perspective.

To be fair, my interest in rowing was born quite sometime earlier, 4-5 years to be more exact. I attended the wonderful and prestigious University of Virginia where I was a dual-sport athlete in Volleyball and Softball for a couple of years. After injury and realizing I also wanted time to experience some of the other enriching things college had to offer, I chose to finish the rest of my athletic career in just one sport, continuing in softball. As a tall (I’m about 6’0), athletic female wandering around on Grounds, it’s no surprise that the Women’s Varsity Rowing Coach, Kevin Sauer had always given me a hard time that I should quit playing around in the dirt and come try out the water. Perhaps part of me regrets not listening to him at the time, but the seed was planted.

After a short year and half stint working as a production assistant at the ESPNU production hub in Charlotte, North Carolina I found myself taking a promotion and change over to ESPN Programming, moving to the ESPN headquarters in Connecticut. As far as I knew, New England was the Rowing Mecca.

After a depressing winter of cold snow and ice, I was craving the outdoors, fierce competition and the camaraderie of the team environment I had come to know as a way of life…thus, the Google search. Prior to utilizing the powers of Google, I had begun screwing around on the ERG at the gym and realized 1. I liked it (weird, who likes the erg?) and 2. in my own humble, yet slightly egotistical way, felt that I could possibly “be good” at this rowing thing if I gave it a fair try.

So in July 2010, I ventured down to the Riverfront Recapture Boathouse and began my dance with sculling and the Connecticut River. After taking two 3-4 week sessions of sculling and then sweep rowing lessons, by late August I was recruited to the Riverfront Women’s Master’s Racing Team. After winning my first race in a quad-okay I admit it, I “crabbed” (when the oar catches the water funny or your hands slip…as if you “caught a crab” with your oar) a couple of times-I was hooked. It was the perfect formula: adrenaline, competition, an unbelievable workout (pulling a 2K is possibly the worst pain induced by physical exertion I’ve ever felt) and despite what some people may think, it is arguably “the team sport” of sports. Rowing quickly became an addiction, and in a short few months has become a large part of my everyday life.