March 24, 2002

Lauren Yoder is a junior from Charlotte and a member of the UNC rowing team. Throughout the year, she will provide TarHeelBlue.com readers with an inside look at her team and the experience of being a varsity athlete at North Carolina.

Hello Carolina Rowing fans,

This morning when we finished rowing, we sat together to discuss today's practice and look back at the week in general. "Satisfaction" was the word of the morning. It has been a week of high-intensity work and our legs and bodies are fatigued, but with that tiredness comes the satisfaction of having done it. Not to mention the excitement about all the good things this work will surely lead to.

Taking a look back at the week, Tuesday morning we were back out on the water after having Monday off to recover from our overnight bus trip back from Miami. That morning was warm and humid, far more comfortable than the cold weather we had experienced the last time we rowed on University Lake prior to spring break. We did a workout focusing on speed. For this, we went hard for one minute and paddled for two. We did a series of these back-to-back. It was a good practice to start back on from spring break.

We had Wednesday off as usual.

Thursday morning we worked on starts and sprints. The start of the race entails a bit of strategy in order to get the boat moving quickly and effectively from a dead stop. In order to do that, we take a series of a few shortened strokes (not going all the way up to the catch where we put the blade in) in order to make the strokes quicker. Following those strokes, we take a set of strokes at a higher rating than we race at. Then comes the settle where we get into our race rhythm. Starts are fun to work on because there is a lot of speed and energy in them.

Friday we did some over-distance pieces. During the season we race a 2,000-meter course. For over-distance pieces, we race against each other in eights for 2,500 meters. This is meant to make us stronger mentally and physically for the shorter regular race piece.

This morning we did some shorter pieces -- 750 meters -- with only a little rest in between. We included some sprint work to get us ready for the last 750 meters in the race.

It has been a week of preparation. We are moving forward towards the bigger races and the bulk of our season.

This weekend our novice crew is in Portsmouth, Va., racing in the Crawford Bay Crew Classic. Be sure to check the website for their results.

Next week will be more heavy, high-intensity work before we have a long weekend off for Easter.

Your Tar Heel Pal,

Yoder