Lightweight Eats

On Monday and Friday mornings, I wake up at 4:15AM, and drag my sleepy butt out of bed. It's dark, and usually a bit chilly. My own training doesn't start until 7 or 7:30AM, but by 5:30AM, I'm on the water.

I'm not putting in extra time rowing. (My coach told me to cut volume, where possible.) I'm not coaching. I'm not even doing a different sport.

Twice a week, I head down to the Lake Merritt Rowing Club to act as a coxswain for their masters program.


In 2003, I learned to row there. My high school rowed out of this club, sharing equipment and water space. It was the perfect place to learn how to row: a windy day on the lake rivals a calm day on my current body of water, less than a mile away.

Even after we moved out of the Lake Merritt boathouse, I continued to return every summer as a volunteer for their summer camps--it was a great way to learn to row both sides, and to make sure my hair was fully blonde before school started.

In college, I returned to the club, temporarily housed across the lake as the old boathouse was remodeled. I spent a summer rowing with the women's team, as I tried to complete a million meters of exercise.

In January, Dan and I celebrated our marriage in the room above the boat bay, after getting married overlooking the lake.


Now, my mom rows for Lake Merritt. So twice a week, I head down to that familiar boathouse. It's not really for her, though.

I am inherently a lazy person. Of course, I'm willing to do lots of work. I'm just not willing to do any more work than it takes to get the job done. Applied to rowing, that means I'm a dedicated technician. I hate to think my effort could be propelling me down the course or through the training meters faster if only I applied it more effectively.

Going down in the mornings helps me understand technique even better. The coxswain is the boat's eyes and ears. They provide technical feedback to the rowers, they steer, they motivate and most importantly, they gather the rowers into a unified crew.

Seeing others struggle with and correct mistakes helps me explain the incredibly complicated technique of rowing in new, different ways. And that makes me a better rower.

Sure, I arrive at Monday and Friday morning practices a little bit cold and a little bit tired, but my mind is focused. More than anything, I want to jump into my single and row!