One down, one to go in NZ!

So we finally got a chance to race yesterday, and got to line up in some great racing conditions and give it our first go in this lineup! We had a really solid piece, got some good things to work on for the final, and are looking forward to getting to race again on Sunday!

Today brought several more good races for our team: the W2x and W4x won their repechages, as did the M4-, and Julie Nichols in the LW1x advanced to the A-Final. We also saw some tough races, with the M4x, LW2x, and LM2x duking it out but winding up heading into the petites.

It's a definite change in atmosphere when racing starts. We've been hanging out training for a couple of weeks together, but starting Sunday, we all get wrapped up into our own racing, our own training, our own boats. It's nice to have dinner to socialize, but other than congratulating teammates on races well rowed, we start talking about the races themselves--and competition--a lot less. I guess it's because we spend enough time hashing out the results, good or bad, on our own and with our coaches and roommates and families, that meal times become more of a break from thinking about racing constantly.

I'm lucky to have both of my parents here to watch my racing this weekend. It's been nice to see them, because I usually only see them a few times a year, when we're training in California. It's also nice to meet teammates' parents and families. My boatmate's sister has been adventuring all over the North Island, and we've been vicariously living it up through her stories of bungy jumping and other craziness!

We're looking to log some good training and a lot of rest between now and our final on Sunday. Thanks to everyone who tuned in yesterday. I didn't realize that there wasn't video playing on the website, and it was just the "Live Results Viewer" broadcasting flags moving across the screen. There will indeed be live streaming video of the racing for the Friday, Saturday and Sunday finals on worldrowing.com and universalsports.com, though! A big storm coming through on Friday could change around race times, but I'll post the times for the US crews as soon as they're available.

Good luck to the US Adaptive crews racing their finals tomorrow: Ron Harvey, in the ASM1x Final B at 2:33pm (Wednesday, 9:33pm Eastern, 6:33pm Pacific), and our LTA4+ of Andrew Johnson, Eleni Englert, Emma Preuschl, Eric McDaniel, and Jennifer Sichel racing in the A Final at 3:55pm (Wednesday, 10:55pm Eastern, 7:55pm Pacific)!


P.S. Bonus tune added to the playlist from the last post: our boat's current new favorite, supplied by music guru and pair partner extraordinaire Elle Logan. Check it out at the link below:

Jolene (Remix)

Afternoon off...

This morning, we did a bit of pulling, which was really nice for getting to stretch our legs for the first time since arriving in New Zealand. I think that that's when it really starts to register for me. You'd think that "I'm in New Zealand for the World Rowing Championships" would hit home after the 30+ hours of traveling were over and we officially arrived...or maybe during our first trip down the racecourse. I can't speak for others, but when we start doing things that feel like racing, that's when that awesome feeling hits: "I'm here in NZ, racing to represent the USA, and I'm ready to GO!" Now, there's just a slight, week-long delay before we actually get to head up to the start and toe the line with the other kids in our heat...

We had the afternoon off, but this seemed to coincide with jetlag hitting a bit. I was hoping to make it to a sheep farm (I hear that New Zealand has a few of those?) with some of my teammates, but I just did some work and napped instead, like most of the team. I've put in a request to everyone here to send me their top training tunes for this trip, so one of the next few posts will be the official USA 2010 WRC playlist! Get excited...