Merry Christmas Eve!

Flying Home

On my way back to Toronto this morning and am currently sitting in the Bradley International Airport after a pretty thorough security check...they swabbed my bag (must have found that exploded toothpaste), analyzed air from my clothing, triple-checked my passport and boarding pass and were generally pleasant. It was funny to see the passengers around me flustered by the demands of the agents and seemingly thrown off their "travel games" by an unanticipated request. I felt almost preternaturally calm (though the 5:30 AM departure could have something to do with that).

Does that seem like rowing for inexperienced athletes? The demands of training, every head race, and every 2000m race are very predictable...especially in terms of physiology and we can fully control our preparation for those demands each and every day. The unanticipated demands are those that are mental in nature - training during injury, academic stress, an incredibly close race, or a race that holds a lot of meaning. Dealing with these aspects of being a rowing athlete are also completely in your control if you are mentally prepared. I know we're looking hard at not getting thrown off our "game" by the demands of airport security or anything that the season can throw at us.

I hope everyone is having a healthy, safe, and happy time with their families and friends this holiday season.

Tuesday AM - Athlete Chats

Have had some awesome chats with athletes these past few days about what individually they need to work on during the holiday season. Their attention to detail has been impressive and we're examining things from a very holistic level...

Joy of Sculling Conference Day Two: AM

The day has dawned cold and incredibly sunny (partly because the automatic blinds in our room are stuck in the "up" position. We're starting up in the next few minutes for the second day of the conference and I'm looking forward to listening to Bebe Bryans, Volker Nolte, and Michiel Bartman. Yesterday's discussions about the entry and some sculling ideas were productive and there are some nuts and bolts things that we can implement. It was also fantastic to catch up with so many friends that had traveled from Washington, California, and Wisconsin.

Dinner was some cheese filled large ravioli in a tomato squash salsa - pretty good! The hotel coffee is absolutely delicious.

AJ Burnett & CC Sabathia...hmm.

Joy of Sculling Conference Day One

It has been a whirlwind of activity in the past 7 days as I headed to the US Rowing Convention in New Jersey and am now in Saratoga Springs, NY for the Joy of Sculling Conference. Conferences like these can be incredibly useful for generating new ideas and affirming old ones - but either way it's always useful to stretch the mind a bit. Here is a lovely image of snowy Saratoga from our hotel room...Food choice for lunch: the Country Kitchen restaurant - a Rachel sandwich and onion rings. Very moderate.
More later!

Resiliency of Steel

The Steelers moved to 10 -3 today with a victory over the Dallas Cowboys. It was a somewhat sloppy game played in frigid and windy conditions (sound like winter training anyone?) that both defenses dominated and made the offenses look miserable. The game really reminded me of a rowing race where two crews put each other under immense pressure until only in the last ten strokes was the race decided. The fun part of sports for me is that feeling in the pit of your stomach as you're getting ready to see the unknown!

Also returned from the US Rowing Convention in New Jersey and have a ton of new ideas to synthesize as well as some new points of view for the future of Division III rowing. I'll discuss some of those topics as we move through this reading week at the College.

Also the early decision notification date is coming up very shortly and I can't wait to hear from our recruits about what decisions they receive!

Ask the Experts

A few really interesting things happened today - first off my fitness class is coming to a close and it's funny to see that there is a little less interest because some of the workouts are not so new and challenging anymore. The newness and fear of new forms of working out were a great common starting point for these students and now that they've improved so much they're not as challenged by it (if only I could work with these same students next semester!)

Played basketball for the first time since the student faculty game a few weeks back and my ankle felt pretty good but wow was my conditioning terrible...also got back on the squash courts for the first time in five days and again conditioning was a huge factor. The points were longer because, believe it or not, our skills are improving, but it was a stark reminder of how five days off can sap your feeling of fitness.

The reason why I wrote "Ask the experts" is that Coach Bartlett, our women's squash and tennis coach, gave me some really amazing tips on how to serve. She has seen me play a little bit and I've asked her questions before about how to improve, what mind set is important for practice, and how to develop. She was incredibly patient and wouldn't let me move on to another skill until I had successfully repeated it.

Two things I notice from this. One, it's great to have awesome coaches and teachers that are generous enough to volunteer their time and expertise...but two, you also have to ask, be inquisitive, be willing to change, and have the desire to change! Coach Gluckman often repeats the phrase "When the student is ready the teacher will come" and I found that today.

As an athlete I don't think there's anything wrong in asking HOW do I improve this skill or asking to have somebody SHOW you their method of practice...Are Trinity rowers or rowers in general engaged enough to want to learn on their own or are they expected to perform so quickly that they simply struggle to keep up with the demands that their coaches and teammates put upon them? My guess is that because the pace of my learning squash is totally dictated by me that when I'm ready to learn I ask...but I think that readiness to learn can be cultivated and improved in athletes both young and old. The only essential ingredient has to be wanting to be better.

Quick Summary of Thoughts:

1. Watched the new Rambo movie and thought it was fantastic - I was expecting drivel and thought it was gruesome but really well-filmed.
2. I'm very surprised the Steelers beat the Patriots on the road. The outside linebackers are pretty damn good but that's also testament to how the front three of Smith, Kirschke, and Hampton are occupying the interior line.
3. Saw the movie Urban Legend: Bloody Mary and was legitimately disturbed by the images in that film. Awesome!
4. I think that people accumulate way too much STUFF with the intention of using it later on...I think this is a huge misconception that people fool themselves with every day. Those lecture notes from 1993 - when was the last time you read them and actually used the ideas with your team? The answer? Probably 1993 - throw them away! Same with that cool bowling shirt that you got at Goodwill six years ago but haven't worn...give it away or throw it out!
   
5. Thanksgiving and Christmas in the United States - I think we're getting closer to a real backlash against the commercialization of both. Check out this website http://www.redefine-christmas.org/ - what type of society do we live in where a person can be trampled to death in a Walmart and shoppers are irate that they didn't have a chance to buy something on sale.
6. Financial aid for families of college-bound children - plan early and plan often and get as much information as you possibly can so you can make an informed choice. I would love to know what value families place on the opportunities that education (I need to write a whole other post on what that means...) provides.