I Can Almost Taste the Sunshine

Greetings from the Denver International Airport, gate B23. I write this comfortably seated on the floor with my back pressed against the cold plate-glass windows, which separate myself and my teammates from all the glory of the mile-high wintry wonderland. Normally the view from the Denver terminal is phenomenal, with the Rockies towering in the distance. Today, however, the horizon is completely whited-out with a gentle, continuous snowfall. My teammates and I find ourselves facing a run-of-the mill ninety minute flight delay on this lovely Saturday afternoon so I thought I’d take a minute to recap what we ladies have been up to as of late.

First of all, we find ourselves in Denver today as we are en route to Chula Vista for the beginning of our 2007 winter training trip. God bless. As Carnegie has been frozen over for the majority of this week and our boats have been on their way to California since last Saturday, our departure couldn’t have come soon enough. Our new favorite workout during the no-boat/frozen lake period has been a 20k on the erg in the mornings which has given us all lots of time to ponder the meaning of our lives and memorize the variety of erg mix cds at PTC. The excitement of it all has been overwhelming, at times.

Fortunately we were able to mix up the routine a bit this week with (my favorite) a one-minute test on Wednesday, and a thirty-minute test on Thursday. Both tests went well for most of us ladies, and I was able to put out PRs on both tests. And despite having broken 500 watts for the first time on my one-minute test, I still couldn’t beat Ellen (my roommate and competitive nemesis) on the watts/kg (weight-adjusted) score. The results of these tests—though possibly bolstered by the promise of California by the end of the week—have given me a pretty positive outlook for our upcoming winter testing at the training center. Especially given my new assigned goals for this year’s 6ks and 2ks.

In addition to this most recent bout of testing, this fall we have done another batch of lactate testing, and some strength testing in the weight room. The lifting program we’ve been doing has been keeping us busy, and we’ve all noticed marked improvements in strength and fitness which is very exciting. And of course we can’t forget this year’s unofficial “speed order” back before Thanksgiving during which we were joined by friends from Potomac, Riverside, NYAC and Pocock to race a 4.5k in singles into an eighteen mile per hour headwind. Singles results were used to create doubles lineups for racing the next day, which paired up some old duos and also created some new partnerships. It was a long weekend of racing, and the following week of independent training for the Thanksgiving holiday was a welcome change of pace. And I feel obligated to mention my 2007 Head of the Charles debacle during which I found myself partnerless the day before I was supposed to race the champ double... because she had been hit by a car (don't worry, she's fine). No, I was not allowed to substitute another athlete with a doctor's note, and no, I did not receive a refund. But that's another entry altogether.

I’ve just been alerted that our flight is going to be delayed an additional thirty minutes. There are rumors going around the pow wow that an impromptu speed-walking workout is going to be undertaken in order to get in some free altitude training while we’re delayed here. I think I might stay put with my whole grain Goldfish and black licorice, and continue to utilize the fabulous free wi-fi here at DIA. And meanwhile keep dreaming of churros, fro-yo, kiwis, grapefruits, flip flops, bunnies and all of the other luxuries life at the training center will afford… if we ever get there.

See you out there,

--MK