When the coach is away, the athletes will play

So for the past few days we have been out and about on the Schuylkill River to work out the kinks that separates our different training style and to try to harness and perfect 1 style.  Some of us are better at the front end, others have a far stronger finish... the trick has been to unify that motion so we can send the hull screaming across the top with the least amount of resistance. 

That all sounds about right for any team boat.  Make it as homogeneous as possible.  If it was that simple than everyone would be going rip roaring fast.  But trust me, it's not.  So at times things get stressful, knowing that we individually posses the skill to row better, but sometimes we can't get out of our own way.  For me, it used to be being late to the catch or too aggressive at the onset of a piece.  Others it's washing out or some other manner of disruptions.  Whatever that imperfection is, it tends to define you if you let it.  So one needs to unwind and try something to take you mind off of that one (or three) nagging issues.  Some read, run or even meditate... we learned how to use a cross bow and hit a target 50 yards away.

So that compounded with a little R&R the next two sessions was enough to allow us to get back to work, perhaps a bit more distracted than normal, but at least we were more relaxed and since that, we have been able to work out even more impediments within out strokes.

Tonight our coach returns to us and we'll see if we have progressed as much as we had hoped to.  If not, at least we'll have some new video to examine and an outside vantage point to help point us in a new direction to work with. 

More to come... 

Ain't Nuttin but a Peanut!

Hashway v.s. "Hoffy" and his TR Machines

This past Monday evening I was formally introduced to two key figures in my training here in Philly. One was Craig "Hoffy" Hoffman, my coach for the upcoming 8 weeks leading towards the US Senior Worlds Trials. The second is the TR Machine, something that will be causing me great deal of exhaustion in the upcoming weeks.

Hoffy is the Malvern High head coach in PA along with last years senior worlds quadruple scull coach. Over the years he has created a fleet of all top of the line Empacher and Filippi boats. His boys have been successful in rowing for several years and his personality is larger than life. When I heard about him, I was told that if you are easily offended or hurt, he will find out and wear on you. So far so good. He hasn't pierced too far into me.

That night all 5 of us sat down to talk about the future, mental, technical and physical commitments he will ask of us as well as to show us our training tools (boats, oars, weight machines). As he shook my hand his first words to me were "so, I hear you like to lift some heavy weights". Not the initial introduction I was expecting, but it was good enough. I wondered how he might have acquired such a knowledge, knowing that he has not spoken to any of my High Performance Group athletes back in Boston. So I knew he had a "mole" back home. I retorted "well I don't think I lift that much, but if I may ask...who has fed you that tid bit of information?" "Peter Morelli of course" he grinned. Of course, that makes sense. Peter was one of Hoffy's athletes at the Maccabi Games and a current figure head at Riverside (as well as a good friend of mine). I could see some embellishment to build up my value to the group. Well, soon I would be put to the test.

After the introductions were done, we had our lift to do. There was the standard Olympic weigh bar, stacks of weights to add to it, a wooden box for several purposes, ergs, and a new contraption, a "TR Machine". This tool essentially is a seated row machine with a hydraulic piston that slows the decent of the weight stack so you do not have to fight gravity on the return.

Quite a clever tool if I do say so. Any boat house would be smart to purchase one (Hint hint, nudge, nudge RBC). It focuses the efforts on the "drive" phase of the stroke and patients on the recovery. I soon found out that it was not in my best interests to slowly and steadily press on the drive. Rather, I need to explode to move the weight, otherwise, at about the last 1/4 of my layback leading into the arm phase, there is no way of moving the weights. I thought it prudent to start light and work my way up in weights (no sense hurting myself). Even with a "light weight" on the machine, the subsequent activities (dead lift, lunge, step-ups) were agonizing, showing that the machine really does pack a wholp! How much so I wouldn't know until tomorrows rows in the AM and PM, where the true stroke and feel through the drive would be revealed to me...

First time for everything

So to get the cliche parts of a blog out of the way...

Welcome to my first blog ever.  It will not be overly elaborate nor edgy, but I will be keeping you up to date on the happenings of my quad training center life.  Because frankly, there are not enough hours in a day to call everyone who wants to know how things are going. 

So with that all being said here we go...

The drive to Philly was uneventful (as it should be).  For those who know how I drive, I tend to get a bit competitive with driving, especially on long rides, so I either zone out to my style of music or just play leap frog with other cars to give me goals.  This ride had both.

Once I arrived here I immediately realized the parking here was just as bad as Boston (DARN!! I thought I could have dodged that bullet).  Luckily for me there is no permit parking so any space I find is fair game.  Not so lucky for me, I arrived on a day where no one apparently moves their cars.  So as I arrived at my destination, I was stuck hunting for suitable parking for 30 minutes.  GAH!

The home of the Cunninghams was a welcomed sight.  There I was introduced to one of my crew mates Sam "Mr. Cunning" Cunningham,  and was reunited with an old friend and fellow crew mate D.O.S. (David O. Smith).  Not much else transpired that night as we had an early morning ahead.  So what better way to cap the night off than with a relaxing movie, Hannibal.  Good dreams followed afterwards.

The next morning all 3 of us headed down to Malta Boat Club to meet with the last link of the quad, Shane "mad-man" Madden.  We sorted out plan out, acquired oars, set the feet, oarlock heights and pushed off.  It was time to see if I would be able to live up to the reputation I created which allowed me the opportunity to come out here. 

That day we set out to work out the kinks, get us all in line with the form and style of stroke our coach aspires to have and just see where the chips fall.  The older Filippi sung-through the dirty water, set as could be.  It took some adjustment on my part to match the drastically different style of the stroke, but as foreign as it initially seemed, I oddly was more at peace with it.  Funny how that works. 

So with the Mad-man barking out orders we cruised through our 70+ min workout in what felt like only a fraction of the time.  I guess time does fly when you are having fun.  I was eager to see how the evening would go and what at TR machine was. 

Boy was I in store for some fun that night...