The language Barrier

So I'm training with the Romanian girls; they know pretty much no English. Fun things I've learned from the experience:

1. Language barriers are just an excuse to constantly play a big game of charades.

2. 'No' is 'no' in every language. 

Learning to do Speed Work

Still here training with the Romanian girls. We've been focusing a lot on speed work. So doing a lot of 50m - 200m sprints with lots of rest between pieces. Ill admit this is not my forte, and not the type of training I was born into.  Coming from the Surfski background I've always had a knack for working hard for long miles and long hour until I feel total spent. 

So now, I'm trying to figure out this new style of training: speed work. Given my past training style, i never feel satisfied with a workout unless I feel that worn-down internal exhaustion. But with speed work, I feel a new kind of tired. It's a torn muscle, dead in the moment, but can go about your day-cardio wise, type of exhaustion. I'm learning to feel that, and even more importantly, I'm learning to push myself to this new kind of exhaustion. It's weird. I don't like it yet, because I haven't fully figured it out. But I know that's where my weakness is with this flatwater sprint racing; so I'm willing to work on it.

Nationals and off to Europe

Hi guys,

We had a great time at Nationals Champs in Oklahoma City (OKC) this year. It was kind of a unique year. The first day of racing went smoothly. My boat-mates and I took 3rd in the K2 500m race, and 2nd in the K4 race. Then a huge hail/thunderstorm ripped through OKC later that night. The next day was the K1 races, but the storm destroyed the course and specifically the super-expensive, brand new start gates (these are little boots that hold the front of your boat until the start official says go). They're estimating it at about $400,000 dollars in damage. Crazy how that can happen over night. It's too bad for OKC; what a terrible thing to happen in the middle of Nationals. We kind of took the 2nd day easy; my team just when out for a technical practice. OKC was able to get a few lines of buoys together for day 3: 200m day. These races went off pretty well even without start gates. It was a quick fix, good enough to race, but all of the 2nd day sprint races had to be cancelled. 

The day after Nationals, I flew out to Romania: that was last Sunday. I came out here with two of my men's C1 training buddies. We're all having an awesome time out here. We started paddling Tuesday and did some easy technical paddles the first day just to get our feeling back in the boat after a long plane ride. I'm paddling a K1 decked out in the Romanian flag pattern: blue hull, yellow stripe, red deck.  It's pretty cool. 

Yesterday I started practicing with the Romanian national team girls. Man, they are fast. I could get really good with a year paddling here. The thing I love best about the Romanian style of training: they care purely about how hard you work.  They don't have perfect technique (interestingly), but it's all about how hard you push on the water and in the weight room. I like that attitude. 

Off to Nationals and Europe

Hi guys,

Always great to get a nice little weekend in at home. I drove back for the weekend to drop off my car and epic V12 Surfski before a long trip around the world. It's so fun to go back to the water i grew up on and paddle around in my favorite boat: my surfski. Those conditions (V12 on Penobscot Bay, Maine) truly feel like home to me. Man, nothing is better than that!

Tomorrow I'll be flying out to Oklahoma City to race in the National Sprint Champs later next week. Then, I fly out for 2 months in Europe.  I'll go  to Romania for the first 2 weeks for some crazy training there.  Ill be training with the Romanian national team women as well as the Mexican women (who love to train with the Romanians).  After that I'll head off for 3 weeks of training in Germany. Here, I'll switch gears to more long distance paddling as I get ready for World Marathon Champs happening in Copenhagen. Ill take the train up with one of my teammates from Germany to Denmark for that. It should be quite a fun paddling tour.  I'm incredibly thankful for the opportunity to do all of this. I'm hoping I can grow as a paddler from all the international experience. I hope to have a good race at marathons this year. I'm 24 so this is the first time I race in the big bad senior women's class (I'm moving up from the under23 group).

Hope everyone's having a great summer and getting plenty of time out on the water,

Alex

The Journey

Someone I love once told me to 'enjoy the journey.' These are my trophies.