For the first time in several months I was able to play some racquetball, this time with Kyle. He had expressed some interest in playing over Christmas break last year, but I had left my equipment in Alabama, and we dropped the idea for the time. However, the topic came up again on Sunday when we were over at the Baer's, and so this morning he and I headed up to The Summit to play for a while. It was his first time ever, so I taught him the basics, and he caught on very quickly! We just hit the ball around for a while as he rapidly realized the differences in a racquetball's behavior versus that of tennis balls', and then we played three games. I came out on top all three times, but he closed my win margin significantly between the first and third games. We agreed that it would be fun if we could get together to play again over this year's Christmas break, and he is going to be taking racquetball as a P.E. course this fall...hm, for some reason that sounds reminiscent of someone else I know. :-P

I will not run on asphalt in bare feet during 85 degree weather again.
I will not run on asphalt in bare feet during 85 degree weather again.
I will not run on asphalt in bare feet during 85 degree weather again.
I will not run on asphalt in bare feet during 85 degree weather again.
I will not run on asphalt in bare feet during 85 degree weather again.
So...you get the idea. I was at Greg's “going away” party after church today, and Connor and I were kicking a soccer ball around in the parking lot. Unfortunately, although I was aware that the party was taking place immediately after Sunday School and I brought a change clothes, I did not bring a pair of shoes, so the only footwear I had consisted of my trusty old sandals. Comfy? Yes. Good for running around and playing soccer? Most definitely not. So I did not wear them to run around and play soccer; instead, I opted to go barefoot. And yes, the parking lot is paved. And what do you know, but it was in the mid- to high-80s today! All of that combined to cause (drumroll please) one blister on each of the balls of my feet. The one on my left foot is nickel-sized, and the one on my right foot is a good deal smaller, most likely because I was kicking more with that foot and not turning and standing so much on it. Either way, both of them hurt, and after we went inside to eat, I was rather incapacitated for the remainder of the party, which was very disappointing--especially when it came to the game of Capture the Flag. I always enjoy sprinting across to the enemy side, reconnoitering the area for the flag, and then racing back headlong to my safe zone with pursuers hot on my tail, beating them by a hairsbreadth! :-) Alas, such was very unlike the scene that presented itself today, as I was reduced to hobbling about my side, helplessly watching as my teammates and opposing team members raced around the area. However, most of my team was eventually captured, and seeking for the flag was rather fruitless, so the game dissolved into a water fight, centered--of all places--around the spigot in the church wall!
Anyway, all that to say that I now have a lovely new pair of ultrasensitive spots on the bottoms of my feet. Ouch. I will bring shoes next time.

It's the middle of my last college weekend of my first college semester, and I'll be home a week from now. Eh, college has a knack of destroying one's sleep schedule. For the first week or two I was fine, getting up at seven, and going to bed by midnight, if not earlier. Such is no longer the case, but next week--and the weeks to follow--is going to be the time to “wean” myself back to “normal” sleep patterns. :-P I went over to the rec this morning and lifted for about an hour. Calvin was there for the entire time I was there, plus two hours beforehand, and as I headed out, he was still going at it! It's going to be interesting to see how the different guys have met their weekly point requirements over the break when we get back together in the spring. I know for me, I've been enjoying the lifting segment, because my overall strength level has always been lower than my overall cardiovascular fitness level; it's much easier for me to go out and run several miles than to lift weights. Also, this is the first time I've lifted regularly, and I can already see increases in strength. For a long time, I've been plateaued at 135lb for the bench press at three sets of 10 reps. I'm not complaining, because it's never been my intention to bulk up (the football player or bodybuilder look is incredibly unattractive to me), but I really want to be able to at least bench my weight--and I have, but not for high reps. Our lifting for crew involves a four-count negative, one-count positive, which means taking about four seconds to lower the weight, and one to raise it; the technique is much harder, but it works the muscles for a longer time and it increases strength at a quicker rate. I started at 115lb to make sure I could get through all three sets, and by the second week (this week), I moved up to 125lb, and next week I'll be ready to go the whole way back up to 135lb; at this rate, I could be close to benching my bodyweight by the end of January!

Jarrod and I went to the aquatic center this afternoon, which was the first I had been there since last Monday morning for our end of the season meeting. Starting last Sunday, and continuing through the break at the Saucier's, I started into a routine of 50 pushups, 50 situps, and 50 back extensions before I went to bed--no matter what time that was. That was rough; I haven't been doing pushups very often, and 50 is a lot more than it seems like. There were a lot of nights that I didn't feel like doing it; maybe it was because it was the morning before I was getting to bed. :-P However, I knew that if I slacked off just one night, I wouldn't feel like doing anything the next night, so even at two o'clock in the morning, I forced myself to grunt through the calisthenics. Last night, for the start of a new week, I added in 25 “jumpies” which are also known as squat-jumps, and they're just what they sound like. Anyway, back to this afternoon. I checked on the Concept2 website, which is a well-known rowing company that produces various rowing equipment, but especially rowing machines. On the site I found several helpful pages (although finding the pages was less than easy) and the “Workout of the Day” page, which was 12x250m hard, with 250m rest in between. Along with a full complement of 3x8 reps on the weights, that comprised our workout for the day. One thing I wanted to check out earlier, but forgot about, was the “Muscles Worked” link, so when I got back, I took a look at it. I suggest taking a look at it if it's of any interest at all; it really makes it clear (in rather arcane language) why rowing is such a good sport to get in shape or stay in shape with. After Jarrod and I did the weight set and the erg piece, we agreed upon feeling a need to throw up. We didn't though, so that's good. :-)

Yesterday morning's regatta certainly made my day. My boat, the men's novice 8+ A, had been beaten by the C-boat at the HOTS last weekend, and again in a three-boat race during practice on Thursday. We had one more chance to redeem ourselves and prove why we had been designated to the A-boat out of the largest incoming class of rowers that Alabama Crew has ever had. Bright and early (just before six o'clock), we arrived at the boathouse and started to prepare things for the race as the remainder of the team straggled in. Finally we had the boats out and on their stretchers and the oars laid in order along the boatramp. The first race of the day was between a pair of women's 4+ boats, comprised of coaches and/or clubmembers, and the MN8+ race commenced soon after. We had three boats to Auburn's single entry, and that made us all the more determined to win the race; there was no way we would let one Auburn boat humiliate our three boats with a victory--especially on Iron Bowl weekend. (to be continued...)

Okay, I'm sorry, it's been a while, but I am getting back to this! The two boats for the women's 4+ race pushed off first, and the four MN8+ boats shoved off shortly thereafter so we could keep the races moving along in a timely manner. We rowed our warmup down past the seawall and just north of Rose Towers on campus, and then we sat and waited and did a few drills until the launch returned from escorting the race. Finally we started to get everything in order, and we got lined up in the four boats in a relative line. Unlike a head race, where boats get sort of a “running start” (I suppose it would be a rowing start) in a staggered start format, a sprint race starts with the boats bow-to-bow-to-bow-to-bow as nearly as possible, and the referee calls three strokes at paddle pressure to get the boats moving, and then the race starts, and for the next 2000m, things get pretty crazy! Somehow we ended up in dead last at the start, after the three strokes to pressure, I think we started to get excited and ahead of ourselves, and the boat heeled to port again, so we had to work to get it set and to catch up with the other three boats. Slowly but surely we made up water until we were once again bowball-to-bowball with our three opponents; they weren't letting up, and neither were we. Jason told Blane that he wanted us rowing at least a 30, and if we could hold the set, we could pick it up to a 31 or so. We ended up rowing at 34 strokes per minute with a set boat, and we were kicking some stern! Post-race, we were in the boathouse, and I was talking to Toaster who related how we looked from the other boats, “You guys went from third to fourth, and we were like oh man, and then you went to fifth and it was over.” We were pumped though, and not about to let either Auburn, the C-boat, or any other boat beat us again, so we were rowing as hard as we could, and we finally worked past the pack and started edging ahead of Auburn, who was in a hot race for second with the B-boat. Blane called an all-out blitz for the last 250m, and that's when we went into fifth and powered the Helluva Engineer to her first of two victories on the day. When Drew blew the air horn as we surged across the line, we went crazy! I can't begin to express how completely ecstatic we were about the race and the way we'd rowed. We had buckled down, come back from behind, set the boat, rowed our hardest, and proved in the finale of the season why we were the MN8+ A-boat. We rowed a 6:57.0 to the varsity's 6:19.something, which was very good. As of Monday, we moved into winter training for the spring sprints, and this is where the discipline and the character comes into play. The top eight rowers come spring, be they varsity or novice, will be placed in the team A-boat, and I want to be in that boat. I want to be in that boat for the Row Tide Regatta, the Dad Vail Regatta, and SIRA, and every other race we row in in the spring. I'd start to explain what that is going to require of me, but that would entail far more jargon and mediocre information than most would care to know. :-P Suffice it to say that for the last few weeks of school, I'm going to be running, rowing, and lifting at a level I have not yet begun to tap into, and then over Christmas break I'm going to find whatever I can to keep that fitness level high and increasing if at all possible. All that because come January 15, we are going straight into race-pace training.

Whew, these past four days have had to be less than 24 hours apiece! Either that, or I've been in fast-forward mode since Thursday night. We left around 6:30 Friday morning for Augusta, and I was a driver yet again. The drive took us nearly five and a half hours, plus the time change, plus a break for gas and a late breakfast, and another stop for lunch, so all told the trip was almost seven hours. Thirty minutes before we hit the road, the girls left in their bus, so they beat us there and already had a few boats off the trailer and rigged when we arrived. We finished unloading, rigging, and pitching the boats, and then we went out and rowed the course. When we got off, we hot-seated with the varsity guys, and they went back out with Blane for their practice run. I went back to our turf, which was ironically right between Georgia and Georgia Tech, the two schools named in our fight song, and was hanging out and chatting with some of the girls. The next thing I knew, I looked up, and my parents were standing there! Yes, Dad and Mom drove down to Augusta to watch the regatta as a surprise. :-) I definitely was not expecting that, hence the surprise. I got up and hugged them and then we walked around the regatta and talked. Dad took a four day weekend between jobs, and they knew I was going to Augusta, so I'm guessing that Mom, with her classic detective work, tracked down where we'd be on the Savannah, and other details about the weekend. They actually beat me there, so they left and came back in time to see us rowing the warmup/dry run of the course. Unlike Chattanooga, the temperature was on the verge of being hot, but it was still a beautiful weekend. The regatta as a whole was a lot of fun, but the race itself wasn't so grand; we actually rowed our warmup and got set in our place in line much crisper than we rowed the race. Once again, we could not manage to get the boat off port for more than a few strokes, so we were dragging hard, creating a lot of friction, and just making the whole thing a lot harder than it should have been. Our time was also horrendous, and we were beat by our C boat by five seconds, which did nothing to help morale. However, there was silver lining to the day: the varsity guys won gold in the Club 8+ division in what was for some of them their last head race for Alabama, and the varsity girls took home gold with an 8+ and a 4+, and the novice girls took second and third in their 8+ race.

In order, those numbers are the number of schools/clubs represented at the Head of the Hooch, the number of people rowing, the number of boats racing, my boat's race time, and our final standing in our race. Those first three numbers made the little park along the river which we converged upon a logistically crazy and hectic mess. The first varisty 4+ that went out had to wait 30-45 minutes in line to get underway on the river! From race one, the entire place was behind, and the situation was only made worse by the fact that the announcers kept calling the races on time, even though the events were an hour and a half to two hours behind schedule. Yes, a mess pretty well sums up the day. However, it was an incredible day! I was able to represent the University of Alabama at the second largest regatta in the country! :-D The varsity guys rowed very well, with at least one of their three boats setting a PR. The Heart of Dixie 4+ rowed a 17:11 for the 5000m race, I didn't hear the Weibelizer's time, but I believe the Helluva Engineer hit a sub-17. We had five novice boats entered: a pair of fours, and three eights. For our races, both of the fours got off without a hitch, and then the time started to draw near for the collegiate novice eight race. Well, two of our boats were in good shape, because their entire crews were on land, and they had their shells, the Tenacity and the Clean Sweep. My crew, on the other hand, was missing our coxswain, Blane, who was out coxing the Weibelizer, as well as our boat, the Engineer, which was being rowed by the varsity guys. 'Twas not a good situation. We finally rounded up all eight rowers, and Eric, Paul, Aaron, Blake, Evan, Curtis, Nic, and I warmed up and then did our best to help figure things out as our coaches worked to make the best of things. Finally, they got authorization for us to hot-seat the boat, but of course we had no real idea of what that meant--but we soon found out. As soon as Blane docked the Weibel and walked it up the hill, Alison and I chased them down with their shoes, and Alison swapped Blane out as cox, and Blane, Eric and I ran back down to the other six guys who were waiting at the landing dock. The varsity docked, and there was a moment of confusion as we thought we could only have two guys on the dock to help them take out the oars and such, and then the dock master asked if we were hot-seating (“Yes, sir!”) and then told us to run. Run we did, skipping over the oars of the other boats as they were docking, and we swapped shoes with the varsity, got them out of the boat, jumped in, pushed off, and swung around as quickly as we could. We weren't yet out of the thick of things though, as we bumped oars with a Texas boat when we passed the actual launching dock. From there until the start of the race, it was a constant warmup with a transition into sixes, and then all eight at nearly full pressure to get us upriver for the start. When we got up there, I heard an official in the launch say, “Alabama, you're late, row to the start.” So instead of the normal waiting in line for the start, and boats starting in 15-second intervals, we pulled a U-turn to the far side of the river and went straight into the race. We were passed early on by Auburn's A-boat because they were about five seconds off us at the start, we kept the race close though, and gained a lot of ground on the next boat up, one that started a few minutes ahead of us. We didn't get to pass anyone, but in a last “blitz” at the finish, we held off another eight that was coming up on us. We were beat when we crossed that line, and then we had to deal with the traffic patterns to get back to the landing dock. After paddling out to the bridge past the finish, we swung around and navigated our way through the other boats up to the dock. We made a decent approach, with near-clash with a women's four that was launching. The dockhands pulled us all the way to the end, and we got out of the boat and pulled all the oars out--except for bow seat, because the oar lock had been really cranked down, and none of us were able to loosen the nut. Finally we were assisted by one of the people on the dock, and we popped-and-locked the boat out of the water, over our heads, and off the dock and the quarter mile back to our little “camp” along the river. After we finally got back and laid the boat on its stretchers for derigging, Jason gathered us together to talk to us. We weren't sure of what he wanted, but we soon found out as he apologized for bringing us to such a poorly run regatta, and told us that he and the coaches were pleased with how well we had done, considering the conditions. Despite how bad it was, at least we got that under our belt, and we have the experience of coping with such a mess. Now as we go to the Head of the South next weekend in Augusta, Georgia, we should do fine before, during, and after the race, because it will be managed a lot better. With our first race behind us, and our main one of the fall coming up, we're going to spend the week fine-tuning some glitches the coaches noticed during the race, and we'll try to have everybody in top form for the race and work to shave more off our time.

We're at the Head of the Hooch regatta, on the *edit*Chattanooga*/edit* River in Chattanooga, Tennessee, getting ready to compete in the second-largest regatta in the country. This is a time-delay post, so I'll add more after the fact when I get back.

Yes, I know, I should be in bed now, but there's too much to take care of and too little time. I'm nearly done with everything though, so I'll be getting to sleep shortly. However, that respite will be truncated with another early morning with the crew team: all rowers, varsity and novice alike, are to be at the boathouse at 5:30 tomorrow morning to finish unrigging and loading the boats for the drive up to the race. Yesterday at practice Jason let us really cut loose, and it was incredibly fun! After a few drills of 10x24-10x26-10x28-let it run (10 strokes at 24 strokes per minute, etc., and then stop rowing, with the oars out of the water and try to set up the boat while it coasts), he gave us a short pep talk about the the race and the opportunity to practice tomorrow on the course, and then he told us to go all out with no spm limit, as long as we were rowing well, and when we hit our peak for five strokes, he wanted us to let the boat run again. He gave the Tenacity a three-stroke head start, and then we took off. All I can say is “wow.” I know that relative to our varisty boats or other experienced teams, our speed wasn't at all impressive, but compared to what we've been rowing, we were flying! We caught the Tenacity and passed her in a blur, and we peaked out around 35 spm, which is a decent rating. Now we need to gradually translate that into our normal race pace and really pick up some speed. We rowed a 21+ last weekend, and we need to get that down into the 18s to be competitve (times are very similar to cross country); if we row like we did at the end of practice today--albiet a little more controlled--we should do very well. I am pretty well pumped for this race! :-D

However, no one went all the way down, and everyone had fun today at crew. Contrary to general guidelines, we were out on the river with whitecaps present, and there were waves in excess of 18 inches high. I know, I know, there have been numerous waves larger than that, but when you're only sitting about 12 inches off the water, any wave can be a big wave. We're known to douse each other occasionally when rowing in relatively calm water, and with such mush as we had to deal with, it became a given that we were going to be soaked. I was in the Engineer, an extremely nice 8+, but even with the stability of an eight boat, we were still shipping quite a bit of water. As we fought our way upwind and downriver, rowing in sixes, Nic was getting soaked in bow seat as waves broke over the front of the boat, and involuntary yelps were heard intermittently as an especially large splash drenched a rower. Blane was coxing the bow-loading four, which means he sits in the bow instead of the stern where a cox usually sits. The nature of that type of boat is such that the cox is reclining to a nearly lying-down position in the bottom of the boat, and since it's a 4+, it's much more difficult to keep a set. He and his four rowers began taking on such a large volume of water that they spent the second half of practice rowing back to the dock in alternating pairs, with the non-rowing pair setting up the boat and pumping out the water. They related afterward that the water was well up their feet in the bottom of the boat, which translates into Blane having the less-than-enviable position of lying in a pool of water in the bow. After practice was over, and we had emptied the boats of their unwanted ballast, we laughed and talked and reenacted our stories of our recent experiences on the wild river. Even the varisty guys said that they had never seen the Black Warrior so rough, let alone any other body of water they'd rowed in. As Jason said though, if we can row well in rough water, we'll be flying in smooth water!

1. You lose weight--even when there's not much to lose!
2. You get callouses
3. Your bulk spare time dwindles
4. You learn teamwork
5. You learn patience
6. You develop mental and physical strength
7. You learn how to make complex techniques look simple and fluid
8. You make great friendships
9. You work hard
10. You get to hang out on the river every afternoon and get tanner

Yes, it's corny, but it defintely fits the off-kilter humor of the team. :-) We've finally been out on the water the last few days, and rowing in a boat is a whole lot different than rowing on an erg! As Toaster said, at this point, rowing is much more mental than physical, because we have to concentrate on setting the boat (making sure it doesn't rock and heel over) and staying in sync with the rower in front of us. Neither goal is easy to achieve while on a moving body of water with seven other rowers that are as green as oneself. E'en so, we've made steady progress since Tuesday, when we first pushed off the dock. The main difficulty I've been seeing is our tendency to go fast and forget what we've learned about form. Holding form while rowing is of especial import when in a boat, because asynchronous and erratic rowing will screw up the entire craft. Thus far, the most people we've had rowing at once is six; I saw Toaster at the Ferg tonight, and he was relating to me what they did at the 5:30 practice (I go to the 3:30 session), part of which was the six-man rowing. As can be expected, they were moving pretty well, but it was a shaky ride with only two people setting up the boat! As a novice rower, I'm guaranteed two, maybe three races, and if I'm doing especially well (and seven other guys are at a similar level) I may even be able to attend the first race, which is in October. I seem to have been set in seven-seat pretty solidly, as that's been my position over the last three days, while nearly everyone else has been shuffled around. From the bow, the seats are bow (or one), two, three, four, five, six, seven, and stroke (or sweep, or eight). I had lunch with Adam the other day at Burke before practice, and he was telling me about typical seating arrangements. Stroke and seven are the “hard-workers” because they can't stop rowing and they set the tempo for the entire boat; six and five are the “powerhouses”; four and three are usually smaller guys; and two and bow are rowers with good synchronization in order to keep the boat traveling as straight as possible (the rudder on the boat is incredibly small, especially considering the power that can be generated by eight rowers rowing simultaneously, so near-perfect timing from the bow pair is critical in determining the boat's path). That's pretty much it for our water workouts, and in conjunction with them, we are also assigned land workouts such as lifting weights, running, calisthenics, or time on the ergs. This weekend is a Rent-A-Rower weekend, which is a major fundraiser for the team. Basically we get hired by different faculty/staff members at UA to accomplish various tasks around their houses and properties. My group will be cleaning out a pond and doing some brush-clearing work on Saturday...somehow that sounds incredibly familiar... :-P

I played my second intramural tennis match earlier this evening. For the second time, I was handily beaten, and this time it was by a guy that has only been playing for a month or so. He played very well, and I played not as well; despite the loss, I can be satisfied that I helped Matthew out with some serving tips. Besides that, 'tis not as if I've been diligently honing my tennis skills since I've been down here. In the last month I've only been out on the courts three times. However, I still enjoy getting out to play and hit around, and I didn't play horribly, just not as well as I know I can. It's a good quality to be able to lose with dignity and win with grace, and that's what I strive for each time I step on a court or jump in a pickup game.

On the topic of pickup games, I played for about an hour with Zach, Austin, Katy, Sarah, and a bunch of the other “regulars” before going up for the tennis match. I was playing in an attacking/defending midfielder position in a 10v10 setup, and on my last play, I scored a really cool goal. :-) Austin had received the ball in the right corner and was under pressure from Katy, who poked the ball away and back upfield. I raced over to pick up the loose ball, and then cut it around an onrushing Katy; in a couple touches, I ran into another defender, so I passed back to Austin in the corner and scooted around for a one-two. He one-touched it back to me, and I caught it just right on the outside of my left foot to one-touch it in a perfect arc over the 'keeper's outstretched fingers and under the crossbar. 'Twas a beautiful thing to see...and then I figured I should leave on that good note! :-P

I know, I know, I've been posting a lot about crew, but it's been so much fun, and we practice every day, so a lot is going on! Today we ran a three-mile time-trial, and I finished in 18:20, which I was incredibly happy about. :D That's the first I've run a measured (at least roughly measured) three miles since I've been down here, and it felt really good to take off and run like that. With that time, I also finished first by at least a minute, and then I went back out to urge the other guys on. Rewinding to the beginning of practice, one of the Varsity rowers, Anderson, was rowing through a 6000m time-trial. Even though he made it look easy, around 1500m to go, it looked painful. He finished the distance in 23+ minutes--which is a sub-2:00/500m pace--and then collapsed to the floor in exhaustion. 'Twas simultaneously energizing and daunting to think that 1) we'd have to do that before long, and 2) we'd be able to do it!

Yesterday at practice we rowed a 15-minute distance test. “Ouch” would be the best word for my reaction afterward. On top of that, I decided to run to practice, because I like running in the rain better than biking through the puddles. So because of that, I walked into the Aquatic Center at 3:30, dripping sweat; then I read the “Novice” assignment on the board, rather intimidated by the task before me and my fellow rowers. After our warmup calisthenics and stretches, we pulled the ergs from the wall, arranged them in the middle of the room, and the first seven of us clambered aboard. One thing the Varsity guys stressed was pace--much like cross country, crew is a sport that requires a good sense of pace, because a rower keeping a steady, gradually intensifying pace will outrow someone that rows all-out in the first few minutes and then dies. I hopped on my erg and strapped my feet in, set the timer, and then pulled back to the release. When the coxswain gave the “Row!” command, we took off. We weren't supposed to peak above 24 strokes per minute, but I wasn't too worried about that after the first five minutes! I was more concerned with keeping close to a 2:00/500m pace, and the Varsity coxswain (I can't pull his name, and I feel really bad, because a lot of the older guys know my name, and I don't know who they are!) said that if I could keep that pace for the 15 minutes, I'd be doing well. Around the five minute mark, my upper hamstrings and glute started burning, and also like cross country, there's no rest time except for the slide to the catch, and that's minimal at best. I kept pushing though, and rowed 3787m in 15 minutes. Although there wasn't a chart up to compare distances, from what I got from talking to and watching the other guys, I rowed the furthest, even though I didn't chalk up some of the higher SPM numbers. A guy in the second group, Eric, peaked out around 29 SPM towards the end of the 15 minutes, but his overall pace was so much slower (around 2:10), that he rowed about 150m less than I had. Still, it was impressive to see that much heart when it hurt so much.

The SuperFriend's first game was cancelled last night. :-( Due to “inclement” weather, all the games scheduled for last night were postponed to Sunday the 24th at the same time. Tomorrow, provided the weather doesn't decided to rain a whole lot more, I should play my first game with Team Blue.