A video I made for Canfund.

Canfund is a non profit organization that raises money to help Canadian Athletes reach their Olympic Dreams. Go to www.canadianathletesnow.ca to find out how you can help.

A very familiar Mexican presence has returned to Elk Lake this week. Though I’m glad to see Saul, and so is the majority of the VTC, it’s at the same time not under the best circumstances as he was unable to split the Mexican lwt double for an Olympic bid. He is a very quick sculler – a Canadian National Champion –, which he demonstrated on his first around the lake time trial this week. However, he was never granted the opportunity to have a direct challenge against the duo. Sometimes doubles are just like that, I guess.

As for the Canadian lightweights, the lake has quieted down substantially. Spracklen’s group has left for Sacramento and somehow managed to take our coach with them, leaving us essentially without coach for the next two weeks. Not that it bothers any of us; we’re more than capable of training on our own. In fact, it’s been quite nice to have so much calm flat water uninterrupted by coach boat wash and engine noises.

There have also been some interesting responses to the fact that we have been testing on Sliders. I find it rather humorous that instead of looking at them as a valuable tool and progressive asset to training they are being labeled as essentially a mask for speed. Rumours are bouncing around that they remove anywhere from 10-15 seconds on a 2k and 2-3 splits on a 6k. We have been training on both stationary ergs and sliders in order to get an evaluation of what they do. It seems that yes you will go faster on a 2k, by about one split or 4-5 seconds, but over 6k it varies from person to person. Some see no difference, some see more speed by about 1 split again, and others even go slower over 6k. The fact is that the sliders allow you to simulate the feel of rate on an erg similar to the feel of rate in a boat. Because you can rate higher, you can keep the flywheel light and turning over. Therefore, if you were to hold the same rate, your score would essentially be the same, but if you were to take advantage of the rate as you would on the water, you would typically see gains. I finished off a long 30 min ladder (rates 16-32) this week with a 6:28 in the final 2k of that piece on stationary erg after going 6:10 on sliders for an all-out 2k the previous week. The identical workout on sliders the week prior to the erg test yielded essentially the same results.

(Kenny Wu-Tang Clan ain’t nothing to **** with)

Don’t get the reference? that’s ok, neither does he – but to explain watch this

The past two weeks have been quite eventful which is highly unusual for winter training. The lightweights took to some erg testing whilst the coaches were all off to the Rowing Canada coaches conference and AGM. Lactate testing kicked off Monday, which I would say was productive given that I was able to bleed straight through four steps without needing to be stabbed again with a needle. I’m typically the opposite of a hemophiliac as I need to be pricked for blood each subsequent step. Despite driving in straight from Vancouver due to ferry cancellations the previous night, I had my best test clearing 480 watts on the steps to max pretty comfortably, and managing to dabble in the 500+ watt range at the end of the test.

Wednesday followed suit with some very positive 6k ergo tests. A standard had been set for us of 19:51 and four of us were able to go 19:33, 19:36, 19:48 and 19:51. Likewise on friday a 2k standard of 6:10 was placed before us and once again four of us managed 6:04, 6:07, 6:08 , and 6:10. Although before everyone starts to think that the Canadian lightweights are going to produce a Henrik Stephensen I do have to include the fact that these test were done on sliders. Regardless those are some very positive tests with still another round to go in late March.

In reference to the reintegration I had been hinting at in my previous writing we had indeed joined in with Mike Spracklen’s group for some more competitive training. I have a very high degree of respect for Mike as a coach and always appreciate the opportunity to have a positive relationship with him and his group of athletes. I still do have my reservations about low rate side by side training against heavyweights, however I think our group of lightweights is capable of taking away all the positives we need from those types of workouts. The other benefit has been returning to Shawnigan lake on Thursdays. We took to building a hybrid lightweight 8 ( 5 lightweights + 3 heavyweights) to “place pressure” on the budding Olympic eight to be. The pressure, was the order to stay in front of the heavy eight at all costs over the multiple 7km runs. While the fatty eight paddled on down at the prescribed rate of 22 our efforts had us somewhere in the 26 range for a majority of the day. By the third session of 14km all out stretches our boat had finally hit the wall. It was long overdue I think though, with over 45km covered on the day at that point at an highly exerted effort, I feel it was beyond commendable that we all held on until the last 2.5km of the final piece.

With so many hurdles and obstacles being cleared all that remains is demonstrating there exists a lightweight four with Olympic potential. This has been a very hard month and I don’t believe the fatigue will alleviate in the coming months. Normally I find time to work and keep myself preoccupied around rowing but it has become increasingly difficult lately. My brain has seemingly ground to a halt and simple cognitive tasks now require twice the focus. However, if it was easy then the rewards of hard work just wouldn’t feel the same.

Lately my most recent memory when approaching the dock is having just left it. An all too familiar schedule has supplanted the old one and now its eat sleep and row. So why the change? It’s a pandora’s box of discussion – that has some familiar faces in our group – that I don’t want to open. Mike Spracklen’s group is in Sacramento working on tans and I guess doing some rowing while the lwt women remain to spend some time floating between ice sheets with us.

I don’t mind much training at 7:30, 11 and 3, I’ve done it before. However, I’m not too sure what direction all these changes are heading towards. Presently there are two lwt camps, a sculling group under Mike and a sweep group under Kenny. It seems that these two worlds are being set up to invariably collide in some way. Whether we will all be amalgamated in to some symbiotic program or if it will be a collaborative effort, I have no idea. Whatever is going on one thing is for sure and that is something is changing.

Im not worried really just speculative more than anything. I’m very content with how the winter has been progressing and presently enjoy Lindsay Jennerich’s expletive outburst each time she comes across some ice, or snow, or wind, or cold, or wash, or anything really. I have to say, erging with them has let me know what it’s like to be Conlin McCabe or Malcolm Howard, and finish 3 mins before everyone else.

Also for any Spracklen Alumni, here’s a twitter account that should be quite nostalgic. Not sure who’s writing it but it’s quite on point. https://twitter.com/#!/mikespracklen1

Christmas break is more of an exercise in efficiency then an actual break. For the most part, I’m pretty sure I spent most of the break in a European time zone with my erratic sleep schedule. Thankfully, my home club, the Don Rowing Club, is always good about lending me an erg over the Christmas break. This way I can get everything I need to done while being able to cut out any travel time.

There isn’t really much to discuss on what happened over the break. Christmas for me, is spent running all around the GTA seeing friends and family. This is a good time to just forget about rowing and remind myself what the real world is like. While I was back, I was asked to speak to the juniors at the Don Rowing Club on what lead me to where I am now from starting out in the same place they are now. One asked me who my sporting hero was and so since I don’t have much else to discuss I thought I’d share that.

For the longest time I couldn’t say I had an identifiable sporting hero. I’ve been asked this question several times but it has always been difficult for me to consistently name a single individual. The reason being that there are many qualities I admire in several different athletes such that it was constantly changing. However recently that has changed.

I’ve always been an avid fan of formula one being brought into the sport by Schumacher’s impressive run of championship titles in the early 2000’s. Though he was a great at the time for me, there was always this insistence on Aryton Senna being the penultimate driver. Though I understood his accomplishments made him impressive, I never completely grasped what he possessed that would surpass 7 Championship titles. A few years back a movie was made about him simply titled Senna. That film gave me the introspective look into more than his ability, but his character.

Senna embodied entirely everything that I looked up to in a person and an athlete. His passion for the sport was beyond palpable, it was a part of him both physically and emotionally. He would suffer numerous shortcomings, setbacks and even defeats brought about by his own ignorance and in so demonstrating his lack of invincibility. However, he learned and improved and would go on to claim 3 Championship titles before his career was cut short. Senna had this ruthless competitive nature and bewildering talent yet somehow he was humble and compassionate. He was both sides of the extremes and a man who believed he had a god given right to win. His death was almost poetic summary in itself of his life competing in sport. In Imola in 1994 after securing pole position in an unreliable car he would lead the race for several laps before his car broke off the track slamming into a concrete wall at full speed. In first all the way, even in death he seemed to retain first.

The movie was an incredible storey about an individual I’ve come to respect for all his good and bad qualities. He was someone that understood the dream while still remaining a truly remarkable human being in the process. Below is a clip that Top Gear put together when the movie came out but I suggest watching it to get a complete understanding for who Senna was.

Last week before Christmas break, so not much really new happening. I fly back to the other side of the country so I spend training mostly in my basement with an erg.

Thought I would just put a video I was playing around with of one of our weight sessions last week. Our weights tend to focus around speed and volume, so we do sets of 60-100secs trying to keep the speed over 1m/s. Nothing nearly as bad as the 6min squat test and bench pull test.

Good times though.

There is this prevalent belief that rowing through snow, heavy rain, cold and extreme winds is a sign of mental toughness and would produce a more competitive athlete. I begrudgingly don’t agree with this idea. This mostly is because I do not handle cold very well/ at all. By the time I can even get warm enough to have my heart rate high enough to get a good workout in, the workout is pretty much over. I have and always will prefer the erg in the long dark winter months. In my opinion this is a greater sign of mental toughness. You can’t use excuses like waves, wind, wake, and weather as justification for not being at your best on a given day. Honestly If you can handle being on an erg with your splits in your face for hours a day, that’s way tougher. The Danes do it and clearly it’s produced some pretty incredible athletes. I don’t disagree with being on the water but I know when I’m on the water and my heart rate is only ever getting as high was 120-130 as opposed to 160-180 on the erg in the winter, one method is better for fitness then the other for me.

With long ergs I usually tend to put on a new album and get a feel for it. Since posting my last play list a lot of people have been asking me for new music. With that Idea I’ve decided to include a music review of albums that I’m currently listening to as well as new songs I put on for different types of workouts. I’ll start off with maybe some of the more popular albums that I have going from this week. I also put up a tab in the top where I will put up my album reviews and new tracks I come across. I’ll update that as I come across the music.

Drake – Take Care
Top songs : 1. Take Care 2. Marvin’s room 3. Underground Kings.

Drake stated that after his last album he was going back to his underground roots that helped produce his original mixtape that led to his fame. It’s classic Drake lyrics with introspective banter on the ups and downs of fame juxtaposing what he wants with what he’s getting and it seems he is unsure of which he prefers. I like it because the whole album works as a story to me played over some very well produced tracks. Also check out Florence and the Machine’s cover of take care

Ellie Goulding – Bright Lights
Top songs: 1. Animal 2. Lights 3. The writer

It seems like another pop album that works off this evolving electronic sound that is influencing pop tracks lately. It has some strong upbeat songs like Animal as well as Lights and Starry Eyed which have been remixed into more dance type tracks. The lyrics aren’t typical pop which is probably why I like it and it also has a pretty great cover of Elton John’s “Your Song” on it as well.

Kanye West & Jay-Z – Watch the throne.
Top Songs: 1. Murder to Excellence 2. Made in America 3.Otis

The album is up there with the production value of Kanye’s “My Beautiful dark twisted fantasy” so this album is clearly all Kanye. It has some really great tracks and although the lyrics can be at times very well crafted and witty it’s mostly just Jay-Z and Kanye boasting their wealth. None the less the tracks and the rhythm make it a good listen over something like an hour test – which is what I listened to during my hour test.

Lastly if you haven’t seen the movie Drive, check it out, the soundtrack for the movie is pretty good. These were my two favourite tracks off the movie that occasionally make a playlist for me.

College ft Electric Youth – A Real Hero – (sorry no link cause of copyright issues)
Chromatics – Tick of the Clock.

And as well

Morgan Paige ft. Lissie – Longest Road to Nowhere (deadmau5 remix)

Internet went down for some unexpected reason for the last two days, hence no ability to post.

Anyways this is a two part story. First of all someone posted a comment on one the videos I’ve put up requesting more lightweight videos. Then later that day I was driving to practice when Bill Withers “Ain’t no sunshine” came on my Ipod. My mind was on the idea of something to film and this song reminded me of some videos one of my teammates made while we were in university. So, I went back and watched them and then decided for nostalgia sake to just put them up. Memories. . . of the days before 1080p, and just rowing because it was the best add on to a University lifestyle. There are at least 8 athletes that at one point or another were on the national team in these videos

( Photos are taken by Derek Vinge – I didn’t bring my camera)

The single experiment is now over, I think. I actually really enjoyed training in the single for the last 4 weeks and had some pretty good results racing in small head races. Unfortunately I struggled with the same familiar inexperience’s most non accomplished scullers suffer from and that is wind and rate. With 40km/h winds at NRC’s I mostly just bounced around the course unadjusted to having to account for two blades striking waves rather than just one. I fumbled my way to the semi-finals in a rather unglorified manner – similar to that of the Canucks cup run last year – and was finally met with the unfortunate consequences of breaking a mirror two weeks ago (Bad luck superstition if that reference was missed). My Semi draw comprised 4 current and albeit one differed National team members, while the other had the remaining two VTC athletes. My thinking was simply just that even if void of technique in the wind, at this point, training as much as I do should allow me to out pull any club rower at least. This worked well enough until this semi where I was invariably relegated to the B final by my peers. Overall I’m pretty frustrated at this point but I guess 4-5 weeks of sculling does not necessarily make a National Champion. At least I won the petite Final.

I can’t argue and say that I was unlucky and if I had been in the other semi I would have been in the A final. In racing only three positions matter; first, second, and third. Those who will win medals will no matter what, advance their way to the A final. Even if you have the top 3 in your heat coming fourth still means you were never going to get a medal anyways. Yes sometimes just getting to the A final provides another opportunity but those chances are more few and far between then simply consistently keeping yourself in Medal contention the whole way through. So my end conclusion on NRC’s is that I’m simply not good enough right now…in the single.

( Not quite Karapiro, but still not that fun)

As much as I would like to spend more time in the single to get better at it, my priorities are in sweeping (where I actually am a National Champion). So finally I can return to where I am most comfortable.

My current living situation has me living as the closest rower to the boathouse, except for maybe Mike Wilkinson whose room is technically closer than mine. The location is ideal with the house situated on a couple acres just off the highway leading to the boathouse. The foliage is nice and the fact that I get to cut the grass with a riding lawn mower is for some reason really appealing to me. However on Halloween that means no kids are wandering the highway looking to walk up a long dark drive way in search of candy. Honestly, if a kid made it this far trick-or-treating I’d be quite suspect as to what their real motivations were. At this point I’ve been watching enough ‘Walking Dead’ and playing enough ‘Nazi Zombies’ to not rule out the possibility of the existence of zombies.

This being my first fall rowing circuit out in Victoria I have come to discover that the Head of the Gorge is somewhat of a Halloween celebration in its own right. The programme demonstrates below.

Head of the Gorge is definitely a fun regatta but one section described as the narrows reminds me of one of my favourite fall regattas back in Ontario = the Head of the Trent. At the Gorge a portion of the course runs under a bridge that at most fits the width of an eight with only a couple of feet to each side. Leading up to the narrows is a long designated no passing zone to minimize the potential risk of crashes and ultimate bottle necking of the course. At the Head of the Trent in Peterborough, this is entirely the objective with the novice eights that come through the narrow channel there. The no passing zone at the Trent runs through a long concrete channel and it is the goal of the spectating Varsity athletes to attempt to steer the Novice eights into the wall. Misdirecting the coxies or confusing bow seats into holding water is usually the best means to force a crash and if we were lucky we’d get a pretty solid pile up. A novice eight crash in the narrows at the gorge would pretty much end the race for everyone behind, but it would definitely yield a better pile up with the tidal current pushing boats along. A collision at the gorge though would be considerably more expensive and dangerous.

I raced the single and with Mike Lewis and Matt Jensen racing the double I was able to win it by quite a margin. I thought I was not great with steering a single on long courses but I guess the last time I raced a single at a head race was 4 years ago, so somehow I improved. The rest of the week holds some testing and prep for the lead up to nationals in just under two weeks.