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This season is different in structure to the 5 other senior seasons that I have prepared for. The World Championships are being held on Lake Karapiro in New Zealand, which would be too cold to race on in our usual slot in late August, early September so they have been delayed into the southern hemisphere’s spring time of November.
The whole season has been changed around to accommodate the new timings as training camps and pre-race preparation must all adjust to make sure we are ready and firing on all cylinders in the final. It will also affect the 2011 season by making it 2 months shorter to get ready for Olympic Qualification, but that’s another story.
Having raced the pair to 3 World Cup silver medals behind the New Zealand crew and the same defeat at Henley Royal Regatta earlier this summer. It is important, to me, to have some closure on that phase of the season and to start this next 3 months with fresh ideas.
Looking back, very briefly, we have come up against the same strong crew this season however, we have been closer than we were in the 2009 season. It’s clear that it’s a 2 horse race in the pairs event and that if we improve as much as we did between 2009 World Cups and the 2009 Champs, then this race isn’t over yet. I never forget how hard we had to fight for that extra speed and that is what motivates me everyday in the build up to this year’s big final.
For the last 3 weeks we have been in Austria, high up in the Alps on an altitude rowing camp. It marks the start of phase 2 of 2010. The training environment is very familiar to me as it’s my 7th year up there and every year, the training has become harder. The middle week this time was like an episode from Bear Grylls’ Survival guide – a box set which I have been watching (and studying) between sessions. Without going into details, I didn’t think it was possible when I first saw the plan. It is a beautiful place to train and that is what kept me going everyday, every stroke. By the end, Hodge and I were like machines and we have a lot of time to start harnessing our strength in the small yellow boat.
There is a lot more to come from our crew and it is very exciting to start unwrapping the racing speed.
The next 2 weeks will see us racing in an 8 in Germany. More on that soon.
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