Women's Crew Diary - Erin Henry
1/24/2005 7:00:00 AM | Women's Rowing
Jan. 24, 2005
Ode to Miami Beach...
After spending more than a month training on the ergs, every rower yearns for the wind in their hair and the back splash that soaks you to the bone that only comes with being out on the water. To feed that seemingly insatiable desire, we rowers head to the beautiful sunshine and warm temperatures of Miami to get in some mid-winter strokes. We spent two weeks rowing on the gorgeous salty waters of the bays and canals of North Miami Beach.
After completing our early morning rows, we made sure to overrun all of the other innocent hotel patrons to get to the satisfying Continental breakfast the Oceanfront Grand Hotel had to offer. What could be any better than muffins, cereal, bagels and yogurt galore after rowing through the sunrise?
After breakfast, most took a morning nap until our mid-day cardio or lifting practices. Those were always followed by catching some rays of sunshine on the warm sands of Miami beach or, for less ambitious folks, the pool deck, both of which were located directly behind our hotel until the afternoon rows.
Every three days we got to do a special land workout and take the rest of the day to explore all that Miami has to offer. It is hard to determine which day "off" was more memorable; the day of the gum drop relay with the high stakes of the losing team getting thrown into the ocean (when everyone went in afterwards anyway), or the day we sweat our butts off doing Bikram's yoga, the intense yoga class held in a room reaching temperatures upwards of 105 degrees.
After those intense mornings, the afternoons off were always a great time. Some girls lounged on the beach, some took an adventure on the city bus to South Beach to shop and eat out and to experience everything that Miami has to offer, and some did both.
Well, as always, all good things must come to an end, and they did when we had to de rig the boats, load up the trailer, and say good-bye to the hotel rooms that had become our homes in the 14 days that we were there. Goodbye continental breakfast at the Oceanfront Grand and the occasional South Beach gelato, so long beautiful sunrises and sunsets on the ocean, warm weather, and most of all goodbye to the breeze on my back and the comforting sound of the clicking oarlocks in perfect unison as we row through the water.
Now we come back to the erg workouts and lifting practices, classes and cold weather, with the hopes that the short taste of rowing on the water we had can get us through the remainder of this winter and psych us up for the coming racing season. See you next year Miami. BRING ON THE SPRING!!!
Erin Henry `07