You know the next 5 weeks are going to be great when your first practice is the hardest practice you've had in your life.

We biked to practice in the cold, dark, rainy and windy morning, which at least served as a good wake up. After getting to the boat shed, we went upstairs for some stretching and a core workout. The core work was good - lots of emphasis on balance in stability. An interesting, and quite eye-opening exercise involved us sitting on a  core ball, while slowly moving our stretched arms in the full horizontal range of motion. We started with both feet on the ground and then gradually used our feet less and less. This was to teach us to use our core to balance, not our feet. Very important in a boat. I was surprised at how well I did, I was a lot more balanced than I expected.

The next portion of the workout was less fun. We couldn't go on the water because of wind and whitecaps. So instead our workout was a "6-5-6". 6k run, 5k erg, 6k run. All out, timed, race. Hardest work out of my life. After the 5k erg I ran shirtless - I felt pretty manly.

What I found the most difficult about the entire practice was that it was all before breakfast. I was absolutely famished at the end. Luckily, our beautiful boatshed has a kitchen where we all eat after morning practice. The entire breakfast consisted of bread, peanut butter and porridge. I ate as much as I could - slice after slice of bread.

On the way home, I crashed my bike when I slipped in a puddle. One of my brakes isn't attached, that could be part of the problem. I'll fix it later. No injuries for me though. Now I'm sitting in my bed, below my semi-functioning heater conveniently placed near the ceiling (because warm air goes...down?) Awaiting my next practice this afternoon. Around 3:30 I'll make my way back to the boat shed for afternoon practice. Summer vacation!