Lightweight Eats

Last weekend, I watched Olympic marathon trials on TV.

If you aren't following the brand Oiselle on social media, you should start. One of their favorite hashtags, #WomanUp, embodies everything about this brand. They have made it very easy to follow and cheer for a group of hard working female athletes, including Lauren Fleshman and Kara Goucher.

In my own lead up to Olympic trials, I have found lots of moments of doubt. Do I deserve to be dreaming this big? If I dare to think that I can win, what does that say about my ego?

So watching Kara Goucher, a two-time Olympian, place a heart breaking fourth place, was incredibly moving. It told me that you are allowed to dream big, even if you don't make it. If some of the biggest names in a sport can reach for the stars and still fall short, there is no shame in falling short.

I had lofty goals for my training this winter, and, although I'm ahead of where I was last year, I'm still facing the disappointment of not quite reaching them. Every missed or poorly executed workout, I could feel some of my dream slipping through my fingers.

Maybe I was crazy to expect a 7:10 2k from myself this year, a 9 second improvement from my PR. But maybe I can still keep dreaming. There is no shame in falling short.

Our last training block was a 10-week lead up to a 2k test. We started with a huge block of high volume, low intensity cross-training, followed by a rapid transition to higher intensity erg work. I nailed the first half of this block, and then really struggled with the second half.

Physically, it can be great to push so hard you have to back down. But mentally, I was left with a lot of doubt heading into our 2k test. I ended up nailing the execution, just a full split slower than I'd wanted, and pulled an exact match of my 7:19.5 PR from last year—definitely not the 7:16 of my fantasies. Although it was a great piece, the combination of doubt and missed opportunity left me with mixed feelings.



Fortunately, our coach, Guenter, is super responsive. I asked to add some confidence building work into our training schedule, and he also added another 2k erg test after another 4 week training block.

Already, I've hit some personal bests on some of our bread and butter workouts. Guenter is optimistic that we have nailed the timing of a final buildup before trials. Hopefully our next 2k lives up to those expectations!

That will be our last big erg session before Olympic Rowing Trials in late April. Here at GMS, we have had some intermittent access to rowable water. Morgan and I will head down to Florida in March to get consistent water time in the lead up to Trials. Hopefully we can get a few sessions out on the water before heading south, to work out some kinks and break in our hands.

It is also the beginning of weight loss season. I have started a slow and steady descent from winter weight of about 134 pounds down to racing weight of 124 pounds. I like to give myself at least a week for each pound I have to lose, and even that rarely feels generous enough.

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