doubles

My second trip down the course went a bit better than the first. As an athlete, you can't ask for much more than to improve your performances as you progress through your career, so to have made a substantial change from our heat to the rep feels great as we head to the Final.

It’s a great day to have off from training. It’s still early, but the forecast is for sixty degrees, gray and rain—a perfect kind of day for lounging and watching a rousing mix of movies and daytime television programming. We get to enjoy an off day today because the last three days had all of us at PTC racing in this year’s second National Selection Regatta. I raced in the women’s double event, which had the most entries of any event this year and produced a lot of competitive racing. This was my first appearance at an NSR 2, and my second NSR ever, having only raced the double at last year’s NSR 3. Last year I placed sixth at that regatta. This year, I won.

There’s nothing quite like loading a four-tiered boat trailer in the pouring rain. I more than most people can appreciate the extra challenges of slick straps, short tempers, constant cold and wetness, and the fine art of monkeying up to the top level of the trailer with little or no traction for the hands or feet, having gained most of my trailer-loading experience in Seattle. Physical and mental dexterity are certainly pushed just a little further in these situations, but I was right at home last Wednesday in the Pacific Northwest-esque conditions as we at PTC loaded the armada onto the USRowing trailer in preparation for a full weekend of racing at the 2007 USRowing Elite Nationals regatta. With all the fun we had loading the trailer on Wednesday morning, I had a sneaking suspicion that the weekend was going to be packed with other fun-filled surprises. I was right.

Wow, what a great weekend. Despite being plagued by pesky thundershowers and mildly oppressive heat all three days, the third NSR turned out well for me and for many of my friends and teammates. The racing in the women’s 2x event was pretty tight, with the field rarely showing more than a few seconds’ spread between top-placing boats.

On May 8, 2007 I woke up at 4:45 a.m. in a stew of turmoil, sweaty sheets and a hole in my gut akin to coffee on an empty stomach. I didn’t even try to go back to sleep; this was the third morning in a row I woke up before 5:00 a.m. and each morning I wasted time lying in bed, hoping sleep might come over me again.