Important Summer Training Tips

Your runs don’t have to be fast to be helpful.

Stringing together a bunch of medium-paced average runs is more effective than going all out a few times a week (only to be too tired/sore to run that pace again), especially when you’re focusing on increasing your mileage.

If you’re able to choose between sleep and running, do your run later and get more sleep. It’s not hardcore to skip sleep, it’s unproductive. Your body needs it to absorb the training.

Don’t do AB workouts, do CORE workouts. Ab = abdominals only. Core = abdominals, obliques, glutes, pelvis, lower back. Purpose of working out just your abs = vanity. Purpose of working out your entire core = getting functionally strong to run faster. 

Do runs on grass and trails for the soft surfaces (and because in the winter you’ll miss the color green, believe me), but don’t worry about your pace. The terrain will naturally slow you down, but it will also force you to work different muscles which will strengthen your core WHILE YOU RUN (why core? see above).

Don’t just hydrate with water. Replace the electrolytes you lose when you sweat with gatorade or powerade, or if that’s too sweet for you, dilute it with water or invest in Nuun or Skratch or a similar product. 

Most most most importantly…ENJOY YOURSELF. Setting only outcome-based goals (”win state”; “break 19″; “take a minute off my PR”) drains the joy out of the sport that you love very quickly. Remember that. Set another, more important goal: to enjoy the process. To love the sport more in July than you did in June, and to love it still more in August. Actively cultivate your passion, and let the rest take care of itself.

Bringing this back because it’s time.

Yes.

About running, but the last comment about passion is so important

Things I Heard a Girl on My Team Say

I am very emotionally empty, I’m pretty sure all I have left to give is anger and maybe a few screams

mood

My second week on the crew team, our coach pulled the women’s team around after practice. Since we’d made it this far, he figured we’d stick the season out and it was time to lay down some ground rules, especially since most of our team are true novices. I’ve found his rules to be valuable, so I thought I’d share them.

1) Eat. You are now an athlete. You will need the calories, especially as you build more muscle mass. Chances are you will need to eat more. You can carry granola bars with you, eat 4 medium meals a day, drink protein shakes, do what works for you. Cutting calories while doing two workouts a day is not safe. If you’re a vegetarian or have a dietary restriction, ask questions and plan what you eat so you don’t end up nutrient deficient. 

2) You are not to step on a scale. Your body is going to change as you adapt to the sport. Muscle weights more than fat. Your weight doesn’t matter. What matters is that, because you are doing the work, you are getting stronger. (Our team doesn’t separate by weight class).

3) If anyone gives you shit about how you look or eat, crush them. You’re going to have the muscle to do it in no time. You’re all god damn Wonder Women and don’t you forget it.

He then walked over to the huddle of novice men and gave them the same lecture. They are also god damn Wonder Women.

Weld Boathouse, Cambridge, MA Rowsbeforehoes, Ellabellle, and As Real as it Seems were also there and racing.

The road to hell is 2000m long and has six lanes all in the same direction.

rowers after finishing a test piece

Tfw crew and school start to ramp up at the same time…

The response you get when you start talking about crew to  non-rowers

When you compete in a regatta for another boat club

Please always remember this

You can reach your goals

The only think stopping you is you thinking you can’t

When I find out one of my teammates and their coxswain committed boat-cest.

the coxswain and stroke after finishing a race