Saturday, August 9, 2008
Heat in the heat and humidity
Well, its always good to get the first row of the regatta out of the way, get the cob webs out of the system, size up the opposition, and puff and breath a bit. Today we did that in our heat and it was probably the most humid day so far since we've been in Beijing. Now that we've been here about 8 days we are now pretty much adapted so it wasn't too bad. Still the most uncomfortable conditions I've rowed in though!!
We've done alot of solid training in the past couple of months that has paid off and we're travelling pretty well. In our heat today we had South Africa with us for most of the first 1000m but we then moved away for a comfortable win in the second half. The other heat winners were the Kiwis and the French. We next race in the semi finals on Wednesday at about 4:00pm - 4:30pm again (6-6:30 Australian time).
The team function two nights ago was pretty awesome where James Tomkins got named to carry the flag. Having the whole team in one place like that was a buzz along with the viewing footage of great olympic moments - very inspirational. I'm sure everyone walked away on a high.
Unfortunately we didn't walk in the opening ceremony due to the late night required to do so (after 1am bedtime) as we were racing the next day. I'm sure you'll all agree when I say it looked pretty amazing on TV though.
Now the focus is on the semi final on Wednesday so the next 3 days will be about getting in some more good training as we lead up to the final next Saturday.
We've done alot of solid training in the past couple of months that has paid off and we're travelling pretty well. In our heat today we had South Africa with us for most of the first 1000m but we then moved away for a comfortable win in the second half. The other heat winners were the Kiwis and the French. We next race in the semi finals on Wednesday at about 4:00pm - 4:30pm again (6-6:30 Australian time).
The team function two nights ago was pretty awesome where James Tomkins got named to carry the flag. Having the whole team in one place like that was a buzz along with the viewing footage of great olympic moments - very inspirational. I'm sure everyone walked away on a high.
Unfortunately we didn't walk in the opening ceremony due to the late night required to do so (after 1am bedtime) as we were racing the next day. I'm sure you'll all agree when I say it looked pretty amazing on TV though.
Now the focus is on the semi final on Wednesday so the next 3 days will be about getting in some more good training as we lead up to the final next Saturday.
Wednesday, August 6, 2008
The time is getting nearer
Starting to get into a routine now that things have settled down. We are now, on most days, waking up and having breakfast in the largest ever dining room I’ve ever seen, then hanging out in the village for a bit sometimes getting a massage then having brunch at about 10:30am. We then leave the village shortly after brunch for a 45-50min trip to the rowing course for a row. After that row we then have a 5 min bus trip to our recovery centre where we can relax and recover for our next session. Prior to leaving we have a pre-cooling session which lowers our core body temperature in preparation for the next session. We do this by laying in an ice bath for 10mins while having a powerade slurpee. We are nearly bordering on hyperthermia after that. From there we travel back to the rowing course for another session at about 5pm, have a row and get back to the village by about 8pm for dinner, then kick back for a bit before going to bed. It’s actually not a bad little routine.
Here’s a brief diary of activities since we’ve been here…
Friday 1st Aug
Arrive in Beijing at about 9pm. Travel to village, have a late dinner and off to bed about midnight.
Saturday 2nd Aug
Off to rowing course to rig our boat and have a row. Find its pretty warm and heart rates are pretty high…..Then back to village for lunch and then at 2:30pm we leave to collect our team clothing. Big day….we get back at about 9:30pm. In amongst that while waiting around we managed to get some gym and stationary bike in. Once back, another late dinner and off to bed.
Sunday 3rd Aug
Press conference at about 9am then off to training. Had only one session then went back to village for some lunch and we did about an hour of ergo and stationary bike before a couple of hours of formal AOC welcome/information session. Then dinner and bed.
Monday 4th Aug
B/fast then down to course for a session, then to recovery centre for a bit. Then a second row and back to village for some gym before dinner.
Tuesday 5th Aug
7:30am Breakfast, hang out. 10:30 brunch. Travel to rowing for a session, then recovery centre for 2-3 hours with another row about 5pm then travel back to village for dinner.
Wednesday 6th Aug
Pretty much the same as yesterday.
Adapting to the heat and humidity after travel seemed a little stressful in the first few days. The heart rates were significantly higher than normal while rowing by about 20 beats and breathing quite a lot. It wasn’t really a question of are we going to adapt but when?? Well, yesterday was a step in the right direction and today nearly seems normal. Heart rates are close to normal now which is good. Still have to watch hydration….we learnt pretty quick that there is a lot of fluid loss in a session, in fact I lost 3kg in one short session while consuming 1 litre of water. So I actually lost about 4kg of sweat. Great weight loss strategy!!! Still breathing quite a bit when training, sometimes feeling as if you cant get enough oxygen in the lungs. I’m also slowly adapting to that.
The time is getting nearer!
I’ll get some photos up soon…….Ciao.
Here’s a brief diary of activities since we’ve been here…
Friday 1st Aug
Arrive in Beijing at about 9pm. Travel to village, have a late dinner and off to bed about midnight.
Saturday 2nd Aug
Off to rowing course to rig our boat and have a row. Find its pretty warm and heart rates are pretty high…..Then back to village for lunch and then at 2:30pm we leave to collect our team clothing. Big day….we get back at about 9:30pm. In amongst that while waiting around we managed to get some gym and stationary bike in. Once back, another late dinner and off to bed.
Sunday 3rd Aug
Press conference at about 9am then off to training. Had only one session then went back to village for some lunch and we did about an hour of ergo and stationary bike before a couple of hours of formal AOC welcome/information session. Then dinner and bed.
Monday 4th Aug
B/fast then down to course for a session, then to recovery centre for a bit. Then a second row and back to village for some gym before dinner.
Tuesday 5th Aug
7:30am Breakfast, hang out. 10:30 brunch. Travel to rowing for a session, then recovery centre for 2-3 hours with another row about 5pm then travel back to village for dinner.
Wednesday 6th Aug
Pretty much the same as yesterday.
Adapting to the heat and humidity after travel seemed a little stressful in the first few days. The heart rates were significantly higher than normal while rowing by about 20 beats and breathing quite a lot. It wasn’t really a question of are we going to adapt but when?? Well, yesterday was a step in the right direction and today nearly seems normal. Heart rates are close to normal now which is good. Still have to watch hydration….we learnt pretty quick that there is a lot of fluid loss in a session, in fact I lost 3kg in one short session while consuming 1 litre of water. So I actually lost about 4kg of sweat. Great weight loss strategy!!! Still breathing quite a bit when training, sometimes feeling as if you cant get enough oxygen in the lungs. I’m also slowly adapting to that.
The time is getting nearer!
I’ll get some photos up soon…….Ciao.
Sunday, August 3, 2008
Beijing.....The heat is on!!
Its been a long and enjoyable road and we’re finally here, we arrived in Beijing on Friday night.
Its been 4 years in the planning and the making and the next couple of weeks is the final chapter….the grand finale.
Well, it is pretty warm over here and the pollution is not an issue. We have had blue skys and its been great. We’ve managed to get a few sessions in so far amongst team processing, receiving our thousands of items of clothing and ‘stuff’ and a media conference. Now that’s all over we can get into our routine of some great training over the next week leading into the regatta.
Training has been going well over the past couple of months. Since the World Cup in Lucern, I must say we’ve smashed ourselves week in and week out, setting PB’s along the way. In training we get very competitive in what we do together, within ourselves and also competitive against each other. Its challenging ourselves and each other that makes us go that extra kilometre, that extra second faster, that extra hill climb on the bike, that extra stroke….. We’ve left no stone unturned, we are now fitter and stronger than ever. Speaking of PB’s, I must brag about my Springbrook climb that I beat my previous PB by 26 seconds. Pretty happy about that. This has also been the case in the boat and also on the ergo.
I must say I’m really looking forward to racing. Our heat is on the 9th August, Sem
i final on the 13th and the final on the 16th. All races will be around 4-4:30pm in Beijing which is about 6-6:30pm here in Oz.
The excitement and anticipation is building and have I said before….I’m looking forward to racing!!! I’m keen to see what we can do with the preparation that we’ve had in comparison to our preparation leading into Lucern World Cup and also the last couple of World Championships, even the past couple of Games. Its been vastly different.
Thanks all to your support along the way.
Photo 1... Training in Murwillumbah (northers NSW) prior to leaving for Beijing. Ready for anything!!!
Photo 2... After smashing Springbrook
Its been 4 years in the planning and the making and the next couple of weeks is the final chapter….the grand finale.Well, it is pretty warm over here and the pollution is not an issue. We have had blue skys and its been great. We’ve managed to get a few sessions in so far amongst team processing, receiving our thousands of items of clothing and ‘stuff’ and a media conference. Now that’s all over we can get into our routine of some great training over the next week leading into the regatta.
Training has been going well over the past couple of months. Since the World Cup in Lucern, I must say we’ve smashed ourselves week in and week out, setting PB’s along the way. In training we get very competitive in what we do together, within ourselves and also competitive against each other. Its challenging ourselves and each other that makes us go that extra kilometre, that extra second faster, that extra hill climb on the bike, that extra stroke….. We’ve left no stone unturned, we are now fitter and stronger than ever. Speaking of PB’s, I must brag about my Springbrook climb that I beat my previous PB by 26 seconds. Pretty happy about that. This has also been the case in the boat and also on the ergo.
I must say I’m really looking forward to racing. Our heat is on the 9th August, Sem
i final on the 13th and the final on the 16th. All races will be around 4-4:30pm in Beijing which is about 6-6:30pm here in Oz.The excitement and anticipation is building and have I said before….I’m looking forward to racing!!! I’m keen to see what we can do with the preparation that we’ve had in comparison to our preparation leading into Lucern World Cup and also the last couple of World Championships, even the past couple of Games. Its been vastly different.
Thanks all to your support along the way.
Photo 1... Training in Murwillumbah (northers NSW) prior to leaving for Beijing. Ready for anything!!!
Photo 2... After smashing Springbrook
Sunday, July 13, 2008
13 Days
In my last post I mentioned that we were about to start a new phase in our training and that I was looking forward to it. Well, it has been great and just the kind of training we have needed. I must say its been the most amount of training I've done, and intense aswell. Over the past two weeks we trained for 13 days and then 1 day off. Within those 13 days we did 32 sessions: over 300km in the boat, over 800km on the bike, over 3600 reps in the gym, all which equates to appromimately 5-6 hours a day. So yep, as I said pretty hard. It was great to have a day off today with the family resting up before we start our next 2 week block which will be similar to the past two weeks, maybe even harder.
Its been great down here in the Salt/Casuarina area. In our small amount of down time that we do have there is the beach about 50m away, nice cafes and restaurants nearby and I must say the couch and bed are both comfortable for my recovery times.
Time is going by pretty quick and with less than 4 weeks until our heat row in Beijing training has been on track for most of our work we have done and we're getting fitter than ever. I get a little nearvous when I think about how fast the games are approaching and at the same time I am comforted by the feeling I'll have at the start line in Beijing. This feeing is a feeling of confidence I'll have in my physical preparation and knowing the work that we have done has prepared us the best way possible for this battle ahead.....Bring it on!!!!!
Its been great down here in the Salt/Casuarina area. In our small amount of down time that we do have there is the beach about 50m away, nice cafes and restaurants nearby and I must say the couch and bed are both comfortable for my recovery times.
Time is going by pretty quick and with less than 4 weeks until our heat row in Beijing training has been on track for most of our work we have done and we're getting fitter than ever. I get a little nearvous when I think about how fast the games are approaching and at the same time I am comforted by the feeling I'll have at the start line in Beijing. This feeing is a feeling of confidence I'll have in my physical preparation and knowing the work that we have done has prepared us the best way possible for this battle ahead.....Bring it on!!!!!
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