Today I rowed in a quad with three other alumni from my class. It was so great to scull again! It's been a while since I last sculled because all we row in the spring are eights. I still need to get out in a single again because I need to regain my balance out there by myself. Especially since I plan to race the single at the Canadian Henley. Speaking of which, my plane tickets to Canada are booked! I am going up there on July 28th, borrowing a boat from my friend who lives in St. Catherine's and am also rowing a double with her. Then I am back home again on August 9th. Upon my return home I am getting my wisdom teeth removed. What a party! But that will basically conclude the exciting parts of my summer. Then off to school again somewhere around the 20th of August I believe.
But technically the summer has just begun so I am trying to not get too excited and wish the summer away when I still have so many exciting things ahead of me. I have no idea what to expect at the pre-elite camp. Eight days until I leave though. I have no idea what it is going to be like. Well I mean I know we are going to be rowing at least twice a day and doing other kinds of workouts but I have never lived in Pennsylvania before. Despite the fact that my aunt lives there, I haven't been in a while. Last time I was there was for the Stotesbury Regatta last May. Needless to say, it will be quite an experience. In the mean time though, I am continuing to work in an attempt to earn back all the money I have spent these past few semesters.
On another note that has nothing to do with rowing, I have pretty much mastered the art of driving a standard. I guess you could say. I can successfully make it from point A to point B without stalling the engine, grinding any gears, or causing my passengers to have whiplash. And it only took one day to learn it! I guess you could compare this to rowing because of my competitive nature and drive to succeed, I was able to learn it quickly. Or maybe it's just that my dad is a good teacher.
I am writing about all of my rowing adventures and what I have learned through them. Rowing has taught me a lot. Some things about myself, and some things just about life, and I am still continuing to learn. By the way, that's me in seven seat up there!
Friday, May 28, 2010
Thursday, May 27, 2010
Top 5 things you need in rowing to be successful
1. Determination
In order to get in the boat or on the erg day after day, you must be determined and focused on what you need to do to get the job done. Determination is key because you are going to have to go through the workouts day after day. It can become monotonous after a while but you need to find a way to mix it up a little and get excited to finish the workout.
Determination is something that you are born with I think. Some people naturally want to win and they are determined to do whatever it takes.
2. Mental Toughness
You have to be mentally tough to be able to be an athlete. Really any sport requires this because you are pushing your body when your brain is telling you to slow down. It takes a lot to push past physical pain and to keep going until you are done.
I think it is possible for people to develop mental toughness even though to some people, it probably comes more naturally. By finding what you love to do and competing to do your best in it, you can find that you are more willing to go the distance to succeed.
3. Experience
Boat experience and race experience can make the difference for some coaches in what boat you will be in. If you have rowed a variety of boats in a variety of races on a variety of bodies of water, you are golden! I have found that having small boat experience, rowing in basically any boat there is (including the octuple [8+ rigged for sculling], the single, pairs, quads) will help to get you farther in rowing. It opens doors for you as a rower which in turn open other doors that can propel your rowing career!
Obviously you cannot just wake up with rowing experience. You have to be open to all of your options and be willing to learn something new for example if you row eights all the time, try rowing a single. Experience is something that not everybody can just have and is valuable if you are a high school rower trying to be recruited to a college.
4. Strength
Clearly, rowing is a strenuous sport that requires a good aerobic base as well as stamina and strength. You need to have strong legs to be a rower! As well as the legs you need good core strength as well as back and arm strength. Unless you are a rower, you might assume that it is all in the arms, but this, you will find is false. Your legs are the powerhouse that propel the boat. Just look at the quads of any Olympic rower and you will see.
Strength can obviously be built by lifting weights and gaining fitness. Anybody can build strength. By joining rowing as a novice and practicing for a year you will begin to build the strength that you need to be a rower and by adding a lifting schedule that is geared towards rowing you can continue to build up your muscles.
5. Motivation
Self motivation is another thing that most athletes must have. When there is no one around to push you who is going to? Well the answer is you. It's your job to get yourself on the erg in the winter. And it is your job to be able to pull out those hard all out pieces even if you don't have a coxswain to keep you going.
Motivation as well as mental toughness is something you've just got to have. You can develop the motivation if you have something you are working for, which most rowers do. Always looking for the few seconds to PR by and wanting to place and beat the competition are usually motivators enough. But you gotta have your teammates to rely on when your battling it out with another crew in the last 300 meters of the race. You need to know that they are not giving up and they are motivated by you and everyone else to make it across the finish line.
In order to get in the boat or on the erg day after day, you must be determined and focused on what you need to do to get the job done. Determination is key because you are going to have to go through the workouts day after day. It can become monotonous after a while but you need to find a way to mix it up a little and get excited to finish the workout.
Determination is something that you are born with I think. Some people naturally want to win and they are determined to do whatever it takes.
2. Mental Toughness
You have to be mentally tough to be able to be an athlete. Really any sport requires this because you are pushing your body when your brain is telling you to slow down. It takes a lot to push past physical pain and to keep going until you are done.
I think it is possible for people to develop mental toughness even though to some people, it probably comes more naturally. By finding what you love to do and competing to do your best in it, you can find that you are more willing to go the distance to succeed.
3. Experience
Boat experience and race experience can make the difference for some coaches in what boat you will be in. If you have rowed a variety of boats in a variety of races on a variety of bodies of water, you are golden! I have found that having small boat experience, rowing in basically any boat there is (including the octuple [8+ rigged for sculling], the single, pairs, quads) will help to get you farther in rowing. It opens doors for you as a rower which in turn open other doors that can propel your rowing career!
Obviously you cannot just wake up with rowing experience. You have to be open to all of your options and be willing to learn something new for example if you row eights all the time, try rowing a single. Experience is something that not everybody can just have and is valuable if you are a high school rower trying to be recruited to a college.
4. Strength
Clearly, rowing is a strenuous sport that requires a good aerobic base as well as stamina and strength. You need to have strong legs to be a rower! As well as the legs you need good core strength as well as back and arm strength. Unless you are a rower, you might assume that it is all in the arms, but this, you will find is false. Your legs are the powerhouse that propel the boat. Just look at the quads of any Olympic rower and you will see.
Strength can obviously be built by lifting weights and gaining fitness. Anybody can build strength. By joining rowing as a novice and practicing for a year you will begin to build the strength that you need to be a rower and by adding a lifting schedule that is geared towards rowing you can continue to build up your muscles.
5. Motivation
Self motivation is another thing that most athletes must have. When there is no one around to push you who is going to? Well the answer is you. It's your job to get yourself on the erg in the winter. And it is your job to be able to pull out those hard all out pieces even if you don't have a coxswain to keep you going.
Motivation as well as mental toughness is something you've just got to have. You can develop the motivation if you have something you are working for, which most rowers do. Always looking for the few seconds to PR by and wanting to place and beat the competition are usually motivators enough. But you gotta have your teammates to rely on when your battling it out with another crew in the last 300 meters of the race. You need to know that they are not giving up and they are motivated by you and everyone else to make it across the finish line.
Wednesday, May 26, 2010
CRCA All South
I just found out that I was named to the CRCA All South Region First Team as well as having been named to the Big East All Conference First Team about a month ago.
Louisville Article
CRCA
It's just another reason why this year has been so great.
Louisville Article
CRCA
It's just another reason why this year has been so great.
Tuesday, May 25, 2010
My Mental Game: 220 Strokes
Say you were going out on the water or even on the erg to do a 220 stroke piece. That's not too bad, 220 of my best, hardest strokes. You can break it down by 20's and it doesn't seem that long. But then when say your going out on the water or the erg to do a 2K... that's like a whole different work out!
One tough thing about rowing is getting over the mental part of it and becoming mentally tough. On 2K erg test days, it may not look like it on the outside, but on the inside a little part of me is FREAKING OUT! I've done plenty of them through high school and in the first year of collegiate rowing but for some reason the thought of 2K puts some kind of fear in peoples minds. I think it is not wanting to fail or let yourself down, or at least that's what it is for me. Although it could be the idea of willingly putting yourself through physical pain that surrounds every part of your body and never gets easier no matter how fast you get. But there is a lot of pressure in the sport coming from your coaches, your teammates, the members of your boat, and yourself.
I had one 2K in the beginning of the year, my first one in college, where I dropped 17 seconds off my last PB. It was so great to pull splits on a 2K that I had never pulled before! And it felt so great that I hardly hit any wall during the piece. It was one of my best 2K's ever and I strive to make all the ones that follow that the same way. Obviously though, trying for better splits every time!
Tonight I was rowing with the masters at my club and we were doing 25, 50, 75, and 100 stroke pieces. This obviously works out to be approximately 250m, 500m, 750m, and 1000m pieces but counting each and every stroke and trying to make them all perfect seemed to make the workout go by faster and more effectively for me. Taking a new look at it completely changes it mentally. I still work on finding the best method to calm my nerves before pulling a 2K erg or a race but thinking of it differently helps.
You can do a timed piece, you can do a metered piece, but no matter what you do, your still taking strokes so why not focus on making each one count. Yea, not every stroke is going to be perfect, but I figure you've got hundreds, thousands of stokes to practice before you go out to take your best 220 strokes.
One tough thing about rowing is getting over the mental part of it and becoming mentally tough. On 2K erg test days, it may not look like it on the outside, but on the inside a little part of me is FREAKING OUT! I've done plenty of them through high school and in the first year of collegiate rowing but for some reason the thought of 2K puts some kind of fear in peoples minds. I think it is not wanting to fail or let yourself down, or at least that's what it is for me. Although it could be the idea of willingly putting yourself through physical pain that surrounds every part of your body and never gets easier no matter how fast you get. But there is a lot of pressure in the sport coming from your coaches, your teammates, the members of your boat, and yourself.
I had one 2K in the beginning of the year, my first one in college, where I dropped 17 seconds off my last PB. It was so great to pull splits on a 2K that I had never pulled before! And it felt so great that I hardly hit any wall during the piece. It was one of my best 2K's ever and I strive to make all the ones that follow that the same way. Obviously though, trying for better splits every time!
Tonight I was rowing with the masters at my club and we were doing 25, 50, 75, and 100 stroke pieces. This obviously works out to be approximately 250m, 500m, 750m, and 1000m pieces but counting each and every stroke and trying to make them all perfect seemed to make the workout go by faster and more effectively for me. Taking a new look at it completely changes it mentally. I still work on finding the best method to calm my nerves before pulling a 2K erg or a race but thinking of it differently helps.
You can do a timed piece, you can do a metered piece, but no matter what you do, your still taking strokes so why not focus on making each one count. Yea, not every stroke is going to be perfect, but I figure you've got hundreds, thousands of stokes to practice before you go out to take your best 220 strokes.
Dream Big
"Dream as if you'll live forever. Live as if you'll die today." - James Dean
I think anything is possible if you want it. Anything you dream to have can be yours. Last summer in 2009, I was at a regatta in Mystic, CT called Coastweeks regatta. There were two Olympians there who talked about their experience. They were Michelle Guerette, who placed 2nd in the woman's single, and Anna Cummins who was 5 seat in the eight that placed 1st in the Olympics. Anna Cummins was also the only USA woman to race in two events in the Olympics, the eight and the pair.
During their talk it was incredible to hear about their journey to the Olympics. At this point in time I had never thought seriously about going to the Olympics, or even coming as far as I have in rowing today. After they spoke, I got to talk to Anna a little bit and had her sign the only thing I really had on me, my uni. On the back of it, she signed her name and wrote "Dream big". I will always have that uni and always think of that one phrase.
But thinking back on it, I realize that the Olympic dream is real. Many dream about going to the Olympics for their sport, but with determination, hard work, focus, and skill you can make it. Sometimes I get jokes about people saying, 'maybe you will go to the Olympics one day!' I usually laugh and nod, saying "I hope so". Sometimes it catches people by surprise, and some people think I really will.
No matter what people say, I am dreaming big!
I think anything is possible if you want it. Anything you dream to have can be yours. Last summer in 2009, I was at a regatta in Mystic, CT called Coastweeks regatta. There were two Olympians there who talked about their experience. They were Michelle Guerette, who placed 2nd in the woman's single, and Anna Cummins who was 5 seat in the eight that placed 1st in the Olympics. Anna Cummins was also the only USA woman to race in two events in the Olympics, the eight and the pair.
During their talk it was incredible to hear about their journey to the Olympics. At this point in time I had never thought seriously about going to the Olympics, or even coming as far as I have in rowing today. After they spoke, I got to talk to Anna a little bit and had her sign the only thing I really had on me, my uni. On the back of it, she signed her name and wrote "Dream big". I will always have that uni and always think of that one phrase.
But thinking back on it, I realize that the Olympic dream is real. Many dream about going to the Olympics for their sport, but with determination, hard work, focus, and skill you can make it. Sometimes I get jokes about people saying, 'maybe you will go to the Olympics one day!' I usually laugh and nod, saying "I hope so". Sometimes it catches people by surprise, and some people think I really will.
No matter what people say, I am dreaming big!
Saturday, May 22, 2010
Camp
The Women's Pre-Elite rowing camp starts on June 6th. That gives me exactly two more weeks at home before I head off to Philly. I am really excited to go and have this opportunity with rowing. This past year of college rowing has been phenominal and then this summer rowing with other great rowers at the national level is going to be an amazing experience. I am hoping to come back with some great races under my belt and being able to use the things I have learned on my team in Louisville.
I haven't mentioned either that the reason I am blogging about all this is because I want to be able to remember everything that has happened in my rowing career from the start of high school to wherever it takes me. I want to do things with rowing. I want to row on the U23 team.
I haven't mentioned either that the reason I am blogging about all this is because I want to be able to remember everything that has happened in my rowing career from the start of high school to wherever it takes me. I want to do things with rowing. I want to row on the U23 team.
Friday, May 21, 2010
Journey
Some people say that you don't know where you are going until you know where you have been. I think this is true in some sense. With me, I will never forget where I have been in rowing. I now have a pretty good idea of where I am going.
I started rowing when I was a freshman for my high school. I got into it because of doing a 2 week learn to row program in the summer before entering high school. Since I had been playing volleyball after school in middle school, I decided that I would play volleyball in the fall, then row in the spring.
During my first season as a high school rower, I basically just learned to improve my technique on the water and get some racing experience. My first 2K ever I got around a 9:45. Obviously not an incredible time, but I didn't know the difference yet, all I knew was that it was hard but I wanted to row. I rowed this season stroking the 4th boat, which consisted of novices.
Since my freshman year I improved a lot in my technique and especially on the erg. The next year, as a sophomore, I broke 8 minutes on the erg by 1 second. I slowly improved and by my junior year I hit 7:45 for a 2K. At this point, I knew that I was going to be competitive in rowing. I rowed a double at the Stotesbury Regatta, the biggest high school regatta, and we did really well. We ended up placing 4th overall in a pretty competitive field. This was a really proud moment for me in high school rowing.
I wasn't sure if I wanted to continue to row in college, but I was looking at schools that had a crew team in the north east because I wanted to stay close to home. I visited a few and had decided that I would definitely row in college, but I wasn't sure if I really wanted to go to a Division 1 school. I was recruited by a few schools, including some D1, and also a D2 school. But the winter of my senior year I was recruited to the University of Louisville. It was a school that had never crossed my mind, in fact I had never heard of it or even knew how to say Louisville. But I talked with the coaches (one, an alumni of my high school, and the daughter of my high school coach), and I planned to go out and visit the school.
I went down on my official visit, and was impressed by everything. It seemed to be a great fit for me and I loved what they had to offer, which included a rowing scholarship. I couldn't believe how great it was and thought that this opportunity was too good to be true. They recruited me there with a 7:40 erg time and I ended up signing the National Letter of Intent and committed to row with the University of Louisville starting in the fall of 2009. And that's basically how I got from high school rowing to college rowing a D1 university.
I started rowing when I was a freshman for my high school. I got into it because of doing a 2 week learn to row program in the summer before entering high school. Since I had been playing volleyball after school in middle school, I decided that I would play volleyball in the fall, then row in the spring.
During my first season as a high school rower, I basically just learned to improve my technique on the water and get some racing experience. My first 2K ever I got around a 9:45. Obviously not an incredible time, but I didn't know the difference yet, all I knew was that it was hard but I wanted to row. I rowed this season stroking the 4th boat, which consisted of novices.
Since my freshman year I improved a lot in my technique and especially on the erg. The next year, as a sophomore, I broke 8 minutes on the erg by 1 second. I slowly improved and by my junior year I hit 7:45 for a 2K. At this point, I knew that I was going to be competitive in rowing. I rowed a double at the Stotesbury Regatta, the biggest high school regatta, and we did really well. We ended up placing 4th overall in a pretty competitive field. This was a really proud moment for me in high school rowing.
I wasn't sure if I wanted to continue to row in college, but I was looking at schools that had a crew team in the north east because I wanted to stay close to home. I visited a few and had decided that I would definitely row in college, but I wasn't sure if I really wanted to go to a Division 1 school. I was recruited by a few schools, including some D1, and also a D2 school. But the winter of my senior year I was recruited to the University of Louisville. It was a school that had never crossed my mind, in fact I had never heard of it or even knew how to say Louisville. But I talked with the coaches (one, an alumni of my high school, and the daughter of my high school coach), and I planned to go out and visit the school.
I went down on my official visit, and was impressed by everything. It seemed to be a great fit for me and I loved what they had to offer, which included a rowing scholarship. I couldn't believe how great it was and thought that this opportunity was too good to be true. They recruited me there with a 7:40 erg time and I ended up signing the National Letter of Intent and committed to row with the University of Louisville starting in the fall of 2009. And that's basically how I got from high school rowing to college rowing a D1 university.
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