Emotions and Heat

It's been kinda weird for me since I've arrived here. The emotions that I have been experiencing have been odd. Nervous but excited, scared but determined, anxious but focused. I continually remind myself of all the training we have done to get here and that is what I must rely on as my daily foundation. A couple of times it has seemed like I'm in a dream or something and unsure if what I am doing is real....then I look around and think "why the hell would I dream about being in Japan on the 2005 Worlds race course??!!" I snap out of it in a hurry and get back on task.

It is odd for me since I usually only get a feeling of nervousness, in fact I have gotten more nervous the older and more experienced I've become. I remember racing at the Worlds in 2002 where it was really the first chance that we had to really dominate and win and I wasn't nervous at all. In fact, our coach said to us before the race "if you aren't nervous, you aren't going to win". I immediately thought oh sh**, I'm not going to win. Then I figured to hell with that, I'm winning this race! As it turned out we did in fact win it.
To combat the nervousness I have found that the better I prepare for each row the more confidence I have in what I am doing. That always calms me down. Prepare, prepare, prepare.

As I've been talking with the other guys in the boat the biggest thing for us right now is to keep reiterating to ourselves that this is it. The moment is now. This is the time to put all those hours and hours we spent training back at Elk Lake to good use. Doing erg workouts in a small room with all the windows closed, fans turned off, heaters literally cranked to get out bodies ready to handle the weather we are currently training in. It is 34deg here + the humidity and some days not a breath of wind. It was 32deg in that erg room every Friday this summer.
The first four days here have been tough, but we know that our bodies are adjusting to both the heat and the 16hour time change. Pushing through it is the best medicine for us. We will step up the intensity for 4 days starting tomorrow to really press the limits of our bodies and then we will look to execute the final high quality, high intensity pieces before we head into China on Aug 4.

At the end of the day, this is the final prep for the Olympics and I can't think of too many things more exciting than that! Whenever I put that into perspective I smile knowing that this is the opportunity of a lifetime and I'm going to reach out and grab it.