Women's Rowing Diary - Hope Heffner
2/18/2005 7:00:00 AM | Women's Rowing
Feb. 18, 2005
Unlock the door, flip on the light, go to the left and pick one...a workout CD that is. There, hanging on the erg room wall are the countless homemade compilations of big-hair metal, classic 80's, shake-your-bum rap and, yes, we'll admit, boy-band music. Behold, these are the beats that make the build-up of lactic acid just a tiny bit more bearable. And it is only during the season of winter that such songs are put to work, for this is the season of indoor training; the season of preparation, both the mental and physical. But now that this preparation is almost at an end for the year, the one thing that has been motivating us all season long is perhaps only a few days away: water.
And so you know, they say reflection is a key to understanding our own development, and as a coxswain I believe I have a slightly different reflection upon these past few training months than the rowers perhaps.
Most days I have tried to erg with the girls, but on occasions when I couldn't, I have had the awesome opportunity to see what our training this season has truly done for us, both individually and as a team. Through seemingly endless running, weight-lifting circuits and erg pieces we're stronger, faster and mentally tougher than I feel we could have ever believed possible, and it shows particularly during our 2k erg tests.
Races in the spring will be straightaway sprints of 2,000 kilometers, that's why we do them. And 2k erg tests, every rower will tell you, are rough. The first two sets of 500 meters, okay, we can handle that, we're driving hard. But that third set, that's where the pain sets in, but that's also where you can see it, a drive that wasn't there in the fall, a strengthened mentality and lower splits with each passing meter. I don't know if the girls see it in themselves, it's so easy to overlook our own progression sometimes, but as a coxswain, I see it. Everyday we're in that erg room with "Lean Back" blaring through that sound system; we're ready for the new challenges of the boat. Physically and mentally we're strong, but now it's time to tie it all together. Because when you're "rowing" on an erg, it is a very different experience than rowing in an actual boat for one main reason: in a boat, eight must be one. Perfect timing and flawless unified rhythm has to be the foundation of each stroke, otherwise the power behind it means nothing, so that's where my fellow coxswains and myself come in.
We're all excited, and now that our team has become a little smaller, we know each other better. I truly feel that by the end of this racing season we'll be more than just a team, but a sisterhood, because of the trust and shared passion that comes from only the finish line. We've already started, encouraging, motivating and pushing each other to our limits, to empty tanks in the erg room, but now it's time to take it to the river. So, turn off "Eye of the Tiger," put that CD mix back on the wall, grab a boat, eight oars, a cox-box and push off that dock with one thing in mind ladies...Where's that juice?
-Hope Heffner '08