June 5 - June 11, 2006
After one of the worst days of flying ever thanks to Northwest, I made it home safely late Monday night. I spent the next few hours pounding out e-mails to friends and colleagues announcing the selection camp’s results. There were already several messages waiting for me in my inbox regarding the team, our practice schedule, flights to England, etc. I gave up sometime after 1:30 AM and dedicated most of Tuesday to writing everyone that needed to be written and responding to all the letters of congratulation. It’s awesome to have so much support, especially from Wake Forest and the Law School which, I just learned, will allow me to miss my first week of classes in order to attend the World Championships.
The rest of the week was pretty quiet as far as rowing goes. Really my major accomplishment was helping to demolish and rebuild my parents’ deck, a good 3 day work out, in itself. I also started rowing with the Greater Columbus Rowing Association, again, and look forward to getting some good reps on the water with them. As masters rowers, they are all solid technicians, and rowing with them is going to be really helpful to completing my transition to starboard side.
While we have one official training camp later this summer, my boat decided that we’ll have an unofficial camp on our own dime just so that we can get more time in together and build some chemistry. I’ll probably also spend a few days in Princeton rowing a pair with Jesse, which should be immensely helpful.
Aside from rowing, I’ve spent a good many hours this week thinking about funding, sponsorships, scheduling, and the like. It amazes me how many little details there are that must be dealt with in addition to training. It gives me a greater respect for the Olympians who do all this in addition to holding down full time jobs and raising families. It’s easy to see why the UK just hires its rowers and provides them with food and housing so that they can dedicate their whole lives to the sport. Elite training has a way of consuming all one’s time and all one’s mind, as well. It’s a good thing that I have the luxury of being a single, unemployed graduate student on summer vacation, right now, that’s all I can say.
The rest of the week was pretty quiet as far as rowing goes. Really my major accomplishment was helping to demolish and rebuild my parents’ deck, a good 3 day work out, in itself. I also started rowing with the Greater Columbus Rowing Association, again, and look forward to getting some good reps on the water with them. As masters rowers, they are all solid technicians, and rowing with them is going to be really helpful to completing my transition to starboard side.
While we have one official training camp later this summer, my boat decided that we’ll have an unofficial camp on our own dime just so that we can get more time in together and build some chemistry. I’ll probably also spend a few days in Princeton rowing a pair with Jesse, which should be immensely helpful.
Aside from rowing, I’ve spent a good many hours this week thinking about funding, sponsorships, scheduling, and the like. It amazes me how many little details there are that must be dealt with in addition to training. It gives me a greater respect for the Olympians who do all this in addition to holding down full time jobs and raising families. It’s easy to see why the UK just hires its rowers and provides them with food and housing so that they can dedicate their whole lives to the sport. Elite training has a way of consuming all one’s time and all one’s mind, as well. It’s a good thing that I have the luxury of being a single, unemployed graduate student on summer vacation, right now, that’s all I can say.
posted by Jamie at 12:01 PM
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