Training Update: Colder Weather

A pink sky blazed beyond the Malta bay doors the other evening
I have never in my life seen a sky this color.
This photo is unedited.

Been a while - the last post we were still in Korea, about to head home.

Weight training - one of the most fun aspects of training for us at Malta.

As we return to training we're eager to re-build the fitness and skill lost during the down time post-Worlds.  For me it's not coming back as quickly as I'd like (does it ever?) and a few brushes with injury and illness have left me weaker but no less motivated.

With the Head of the Charles right around the corner, we've done a lot of good training during the month of September with the Malta squad.  Last week was excellent, this week has got me barely able to make it on the water with illness, which is frustrating.  Not being able to train properly manifests doubt and restlessness and guilt to the extreme.  Luckily it's not new territory at this point, and there are common sense ways to come back from such experiences without undue stress and agony.  Still, though, this was not the preparation I'd hoped for leading up to the Charles, as I knew there would only be 4.5 weeks to train for the event vs. the 8.5 weeks leading up to last year's race.  Two of those weeks are now a wash, first a nagging injury from Worlds hampering the first weeks (which occurred right before our heat, and which I had to race through) and now a setback with being sick this week.

Gordon Ramsay patiently listens to bullshit spewed forth from a novice chef.
Cooking inspired by television inspiring art imitating life.
Seriously watch the british version of Kitchen Nightmares.
His small business advice is spot-on.

The time has been productive from a work standpoint, getting lots of drawing and painting done (davidosmithdesigns.com) and also a little cooking, but I'm definitely enjoying the cooking process more than the food itself which I can't taste too well or really eat too much of.

As a theme for this year - I've chosen to incorporate "big picture" thinking, always looking for what will generate maximum speed in August.  That is the goal.  While blazing out of the gates for the Fall season is plenty fun, it feeds my ego more than nurtures my goals.  As ever, our team is committed to racing the Light Men's Quad for trials and Worlds this Summer.  I see an energy and a motivation, a passion, that I recognize from my days with Dartmouth, or with Riverside the summer of 2010, or with Seattle the season of 2011-2012.  Everyone at Malta, including our outstanding committees and membership, all our boathouse, is behind the push to remain as the USA LM4x for 2014 and beyond, and to improve on our results of the past few years.  There's an urgency, a commitment, and also pride at stake, having kept the boat 2011-2013 thus far, with some members competing in mixed crews before that even.  That's an energy I'm excited to be a part of.  With the competition level high within our own boathouse, I accept that I may not make our top quad.  Making the "First Boat" is not a given, never should be a given, especially with a National Team level group.  Around me I see Colin, Sam, Shane, James, Chris, Purman, Andy, and our coach Chris McElroy working together to actually go for this from the start.

This will be the first year in a long time that 4+ individuals have committed to rowing the light men's quad beginning at the start of the training year, not the end as a last-minute thought.

It would seem the pieces are in place, and now the responsibility falls to us to rise to the occasion.

These are thoughts bouncing around my head lately, and all the more reason setbacks sting especially when there seems so much work to be done.  Rather than think "my god only 1.5 weeks until the Charles!" I've got to shift to skill development, fitness, strength, correct movement, flow, feel, power... all the good stuff.  I've got to invest heavily in the process.  At the Charles the chips will fall where they may, for better or worse.  I'm excited to race it - not to look for a certain result - but to see what weaknesses can be addressed, what strengths can be played to.

Because, as you know if you've read this blog for a bit now... the Process is the Result.