Today was a bit more relaxing.

In the morning, we met with Malcolm individually about our upcoming 2k tests. With me, he talked a lot about the importance of mental strength in the 3rd 500m of the 2k. He also mentioned that I am losing power by not driving the legs before engaging the upper body. That is something I will work on for the 2k. A good tip he gave was to visualize everything about the test. I've been practicing that.

Later, we went on a nice tour of the University of Otago. The campus is beautiful and apparently the academics aren't too bad either. The rowing is certainly top-notch. I was also very happy that the tour guide didn't make a stupid joke about "walking backwards", as is the norm in the United States.

A hastily snapped picture of the clock tower

In the afternoon, we did a 15 minute piece at UT2 pace and some practice starts. From now until my 2k test on Saturday everything will be nice and light. Then I'll have another week to prepare for my final 2k. I'm excited for both.

It's been a busy, tiring and exhausting day.

For our morning session, we did a 20 minute piece at 2k + 20, and then 6 x 250m to practice the starting 500, third 500 and final 500 of a 2k race. I felt good, hitting all of my splits.

After a short break, we went to the Edgar Center which is a large indoor sports hall. This was our third time playing with mentally handicapped children. The experience has been one of the best parts of the trip, seeing the joy the kids get out of a simple game of basketball is incredible. My favorite moment was when a mentally handicapped child helped a girl, who was in a wheelchair and even more disabled than her, score a basket. It was quite touching.

We then went to Baldwin Street, the steepest residential street in the world. It's only a couple minutes away from where we are living. We had a bike with us, so I tried biking up it. I couldn't get it even after 4 or 5 attempts. I think I'll come back to try again, it was a fun challenge.

Then it was time for the afternoon practice. We did a full race warmup and then a 1500m, 1000m and 500m   workout at race pace on dynamic ergs. I hit my splits for the 1500 and the 500 but I missed them on the 1000m. I still feel good, if I can hold my splits for 1500m, I should be able to hold them for 2k being well-rested and with a taper.

Now I'm finally in bed and ready to go to bed. Even though I've been getting 9 hours of sleep, I still feel as if I need more.

Things are back into a rhythm here. This morning we went to the high performance center to do strength training. Afterwards, we got about 10k in on the water in a quad. We had hoped to do 14k but a southerly wind got in the way. In the afternoon, I did a 500, 1000, 500, 500 workout.

Yesterday we went to the Speights (a Kiwi beer) Brewery. The tour was pretty interesting, even if the factory was in the middle of being upgraded to make up for the loss of the Christchurch brewery after the earthquake 18 months ago.

Eventually, we want to check out Baldwin street, which is the steepest street in the world. It's not to far from where we live. Otherwise, everyone is pretty focused on training right now.

Made it to Dunedin

It was a long day of travel today.

After practice, we piled into the van and made our trip back to Dunedin. A rockslide knocked out the highway so the journey was a bit longer than anticipated.

A couple guys went bungy jumping, but the ~150 dollar price tag was a bit too steep for me. I'm not sure how much I would have enjoyed jumping off a bridge anyways.

Training continues tomorrow morning, back at the University of Otago boat shed. Time to tune up for the 2k test next Saturday.

Last day in Queenstown

Our last day in Queenstown was an adventurous one.

In the morning we went out in prioritized quads and I was in the top boat again. This time, since we only had access to a coxed shell (and for a challenge), Charles, who is injured, became our coxswain. A 93kg coxswain is noticeable. He did an excellent job though! The weather was great in the morning. It was sunny enough that I could row shirtless during the pieces. Here is a photo.

I'm in bow today

After practice, Michael, who has just completed his masters in Sport Physiology, gave us a short lecture on how to properly train. He talked about building an aerobic base, pushing up the lactate threshold and using periodization. I'm excited to use what I learned when I get back to the states.

Later, Michael, Dave, Ryan Sparks and a few of us rowers went on an adventure to Glenorchy. Glenorchy is an old small town by a beautiful lake and mountain. Disappointingly, the weather wasn't great so we couldn't see much. But Michael knew of an area where many Otago students go to camp. It was absolutely stunning. We walked through a forest and came to a clearing right by the base of a snowy mountain. The Uni students had built a European-style sauna with a pool filled with mountain water. We saw herds of horses, sheep and cattle.

The best part of the day was when we were driving through the countryside on a very rocky dirt road. We had to drive through several fords and deal with lots of cows. We were so far away from other people that all the rowers who came along where allowed to drive the van. I learned to drive stick! (even if it is on the "wrong" side of the road)

Dave taught me how to cook yesterday, so I made my dinner by myself tonight. Even the most basic mashed potatoes, broccoli and onions taste great when they're your own work.

Looking forward to one last row in Queenstown tomorrow morning, and then we're off to Dunedin. Hope to upload more photos and videos soon.

Great row

 This morning's row was excellent - although it was a bit rainy, the water was fantastic. We started to stack boats and I was stroking the top quad. We were absolutely flying, I have a great video that I need to get on my computer. I'm already excited for tomorrow's practice.

After practice and a quick nap, I went running for about 45 minutes. I had hoped to run up one of the mountains, but it rained yesterday so I could only make it about half-way before the trail got too muddy and slippery. Instead, I did a couple laps around the lake walkway.

As beautiful as Queenstown is, I'm looking forward to getting back to Dunedin so we can train twice a day again and have some more flexibility in boat usage. I only have 2 more weeks left here, so I hope to make them count.

Hiking

The internet was down yesterday, so here is yesterday's post: 

July 4th, 2013

We had an optional practice this morning, so it was a good opportunity to get more individual coaching on the water. The weather was just a bit chilly, and the water was beautiful. One of the guys has a GoPro camera that we put on our stern. As I was stroking, I now have a huge amount of video of myself rowing. It's mostly too big to post but I might edit some and upload it. 

As stroke, I got to practice my toe steering. We all worked on timing at the catch, getting the blade in before the drive and proper finishes. The boat really started to move fast. 

Afterwards, Dave (program coordinator), Michael (our coach this week) and I went hiking. We trekked for a couple hours on beautiful trails. I've attached some photos. 

Practice again tomorrow morning, looking forward to getting back on the scenic lake.