Post-race

Racing in the books. My pair finished second, and I was really happy with how me and my partner raced (although I will admit I really wanted to win this one). Official race results and photo...

http://tinyurl.com/4h3lhz

http://tinyurl.com/4qll7y (unfortunately you can see the wake from the crew that is 3 seconds ahead of us in the foreground)

I forgot what a total mental investment racing is, and about the adrenaline spikes that come along with it. It's Tuesday today, and I am just starting to feel like a normal person again. A typical racing weekend involves a taper in actually workouts a few days before hand so your body can start to build itself up in order to race at peak levels. You start to feel more rested and antsy, but then you typically get worried a day or two beforehand because you are feeling tired again, but it's really just your body conserving energy and getting ready to go. Raceday involves a series of energy ups and downs; I typically spend a lot of time with my headphones on in order to really slow down all the thoughts racing around in my head. (Music choices on raceday range from old school rap to trance to classical, and the Gladiator soundtrack is another favorite). By the time I hit the water, I'm pretty zoned in, relaxed and feeling ready to go. I never really amp up until right before racetime, which is when the butterflies really kick in. The last five minutes before the start are by the far the hardest - it's a pretty unsettling feeling, but I know I need that nervous anticipation in order to get the level performance I need. Once the gun goes off, it's all automatic - the first quarter of the race involves getting all that nervous energy out, but once you get into the base of the race you finally don't have to think anymore and can just race. It's a pretty good feeling.

Anyway, the stored up adrenaline is pouring through your system, and the weird thing is that you are tired but at the same time you're not - your muscles feel the ache and the strain, but rather than wanting to stop or the race to be over, you are trying find energy stores to drive them harder than they want to go. It's hard to describe... almost like your body is tired but your brain is not and the two are fighting each other. (In typical training workouts, the reverse happens - you mentally want to finish up and get out of there, but your body is usually capable of doing a little more.)

Afterwards, coming off the water, you are on hopped up on the adrenaline. Words typically come out about 100 miles per minute. It takes some time for your body to adjust back to reality - I force myself to sit quietly with headphones for at least 15 minutes until my brain slows itself down again. Then the adrenaline crash comes about three or four hours later. It hits you hard - it's almost impossible to sleep at this stage, but you're really, really tired. Somehow, though, we generally manage to party through it...

Anyway, like I said, it's Tuesday and I'm just starting to feel normal again. I had kind of forgot how much I love racing... glad the season is finally here, and I hope I get to keep doing it all summer.

Race Week

So we are racing this week, coming up on Saturday. It's been so long since I've raced I forgot the subtleties, like how you really start getting 'zoned in'. It's kind of a hard feeling to describe, but everything just starts to fall away from your consciousness except for thinking about your race, almost like your field of starts to narrow and you are wearing blinders. It gets easier and easier to focus because you can feel your adrenaline start to pump up in anticipation. And every time you are out on the course practicing, you are thinking about what it's going to be like when you are screaming down the lake at maximum speed in a few days. Even looking at the starting docks, which have recently been added to the lake, I start to get anxious and nervous in my stomach, which is the natural reaction to pulling your boat into the starting line.

This week isn't the end-all, be-all for selection, but we are basically racing ourselves in two-person boats under simulated racing conditions so we get a sense of how people perform under a little more pressure than a typical practice. It's got a lame acronym (NSR, for National Selection Regatta). Anyway, it's a good chance for me to establish myself if I do well with the guys and the coach, and will start to prepare me for racing in Europe later this summer if I get selected to do so. Regardless, I love racing week because things start to get interesting - especially because coach can't beat the snot out of us with hard workouts since we need to be rested for the weekend.

Weight Making

So I'm 2 weeks away from my first race of the year 'at weight', meaning that since I row in the lightweight category I have to lose a few pounds. I have to weigh in at the round number of 154.3 pounds (or 70 kilograms) in order to race. Generally I walk around/train all year at about 160 - 2, then skinny up for racing. Once I get down to that weight, it's pretty easy to keep it down. But getting down the first time is a bitch. So if you ask me what I am doing this weekend, the answer is 'not eating.' I have purchased myself a wide assortment of gum in order to keep flavor in my mouth - I have at least six flavors at my disposal, including Sweet Cinnamon, Sweet Peppermint, Raspberry Mint, Sweet Berry and Forever Fruit. I actually highly recommend Stride Gum (http://www.stridegum.com/#/home/) to those of you who are gum lovers. The packaging is pretty cool, and the flavor lasts. It beats out Orbit gum any day.
I used to chew on gummi candy (gummi bears, gummi coke bottles, etc) and LifeSavers (I would pop in one Peppermint and one Wild Cherry simultaneously) when losing weight because it's fat free and sweet, but then I had to have two root canals last spring and that was the end of my candy consumption.
I also feel really weird when I have a sweet craving and end up walking in an ice cream shop. Everyone around me is ordering milkshakes, oreo toppings, hot fudge and some kind of exotic flavor. I have to put the blinders on and do my best not to look at the really tasty options and look straight at the frozen yogurt menu. I'll be honest, I'm pretty self-conscious when I order a fat free, sugar free kid's size vanilla/chocolate swirl frozen yogurt. I try not to look anyone in the eye and duck out of the store as quickly as possible. Part of me wants to explain - "Really, I'm trying out for the Olympics - that's why I'm ordering this..." but I bite my tongue everytime.

more gear - and Easter

So I'm getting guilted into buying way too much 'high-end' training stuff. Since I don't want to leave anything undone, I'm buying everything that I think will make my training easier. That includes hundreds of packets of GU energy gel, way too many Clif and power bars, and now the latest is Skins compression tights, the latest trend in training. They are supposed to increase bloodflow and improve recovery of muscles - I did some research and there is no scientific research that they actually help, but athletes all seem to say their muscles feel slightly better when they use them. So I logged on to the Skins website, to find out the tights and the long-sleeve top are $100 each. Sweet. On my $480 USOC stipend, that's a pretty big percentage of my purchasing power. But since I promised myself I'd buy whatever I felt like I wanted for rowing (minimizes stress and economic waffling). I am so, so, so looking forward to not having to spend all my money on training accessories, but since this is my priority right now I gotta do what I gotta do.

Also, quick note on Easter. We had to row Easter morning. It was about 30 degrees. And we had to race, meaning the practice was important and we had to be on top of our game. It's not quite the typical Easter brunch day that many might have enjoyed. We were all joking before practice that our coach was going to show up with Easter eggs and Easter chocolate for us and tell us to go home. We were joking, but there was a very very small part of my brain that believed that might actually happen - hope springs eternal, I guess. Anyway, as you might have deduced, we did the racing. Not really a fun way to spend Easter... next year it's Easter egg hunt for sure.