Henley Racing Day 2

Only race I had today was the U23 Quad.  We placed an easy 2nd, no sprinting or outrageous effort necessary to garner a spot in the final for Saturday!  Lots of Vesper boats placing today and yesterday!  Final for the Senior 8+ tonight, hopefully I'll be able to go down and watch the girls win some Canadian Gold! 

Henley Racing Day 1

Hey folks,

Raced my first race at Canadian Henley today.  We raced the double and we came in third in our heat.  With 8 total heats, only two boats from each heat got to advance so unfortunately we don't go on to the semis.  Not the best race we could have had, the conditions were pretty bad and we had a few bobbles that set us back. 

Tomorrow we are looking at a U23 quad race at 11:42 PM.  I'll post another round tomorrow!

Hilary

wow a week and a half later!

So I never realized that I didn't post after the 8+ race.  We got second in an extremely close finish.  After racing I headed to North Carolina for a day then to Washington D.C. for a full day and then finally back to Philly.  It was great to do some sight seeing and I'd love to go back to D.C. and spend a week just playing in the museums!

When we started up practices again we got our lineups for Canadian Henley and what we'd be racing, but then a few of our teammates decided that being home just wasn't right and so they came back and we mixed things all up again.  However in about 5 days I will be beginning my racing in the U23 4+, U23 4x, U23 2x and the Senior 4x.  I'm very excited to race and hope that my boats will go super fast!  It's amazing to think that my summer is just now winding down and I'll be home in just over 2 weeks.  It's been a long time and I'm happy that it's nearly over and I get to start fresh again, however I have had the most amazing experiences this summer and I couldn't ask for anything different or better because I have learned so much.  Rowing is truly my sport and I love being part of the extremely competitive nature of it.  I have seen a lot of people turned away from it over the last few months, but I know this is the direction I want to go and will keep working towards what I want.  In the end, if it really doesn't work, I'll have a billion stories to tell of great races and interesting people!

I'll keep y'all posted a little better with Henley stuff!  And check out the pictures below!

double won! Eight tomorrow!

we won the double by 4 seconds today, while not having to put too much effort into it.  It felt good although a little sloppy at times!  But no crabs today!  Anyways, we have the eight race tomorrow at 9:48 so hopefully that goes well!

operation friday domination: complete

Today I raced in the intermediate 8+ and senior 2x.  We did ok in the eight and are advancing to the final on Sunday morning.  And in the 2x we did soooo well, it felt great and we are going to the final tomorrow at 2:45.  It was rather a slow and silly race because we understroked the other boats and still managed to win by 20 seconds, including some terrible strokes!  So we're pretty stoked to race tomorrow and hopefully hopefully do well!  It'd be nice to do well.  The other heat had one boat that was like 6 seconds slower than our time, so we have to beat them. But you never know about some people and how hard they race. 

After that I plan on doing a little regatta shopping and catching up with friends before cooling off at the hotel.  I'm officially enjoying club nationals now that I get to race!

Much love, Hilary

another week down

wow, time really flies when you are rowing rowing rowing and well, having fun!
In the past week I have done a lot of 10ks on the water in both doubles and eights.  And I have been selected to race the senior double at club nationals starting for me on Friday.  And will also race the intermediate 8+ in 2 seat!  I am very excited for both races because I think we have a pretty great chance at doing really well!  Other than that, I have been to one concert which actually was finishing up as we walked in the door, but check out The Dangerous Summer if you like indie pop.  I have had a lot of delicious homemade food as I have been determined to not eat out all week.  I succeeded except for Friday and Sunday dinners, but they weren't expensive. 

Today we took the 10 and a half hour car trip from Philly to Oak Ridge, TN.  It was entertaining to travel past D.C. and then through Virginia.  A part of the world I'd never seen before and it was surprisingly very pretty. Sorry to anyone from Virginia, I'd never been there before remember!  In any case, I'm off to adventure in Oak Ridge, meaning play on facebook and watch TV.  And then I'll head to bed soon.  But I'll update more as soon as racing begins.  But for now I have 4 days to play!


Take care!
Hilary

moving, racing, winning, fireworks, and philly

Let's see we left off on Monday, when I found out that I was officially cut from the U23 team.  So then after a few phone calls I found my way onto the pre-elite team down in Philadelphia.  So Tuesday after my last U23 practice, my friend Catherine drove up to Princeton to pick me up.  Tuesday afternoon was my first pre-elite practice in the quad, apparently I had lots to fix, but we made it through practice.

The first things I had to get were bedding and food, so a quick trip to target and $180 later, I settled into my bed and fell asleep in my new apartment with the rest of my new team.

Wednesday we had morning practices and afternoon practice was weights and a 5k.  Settling into our routine and needing a bike led me to Walmart late on Wednesday to pick up the cheapest one I could find. 
Thursday was 500s in the morning followed by an erg 8k for me.  Then we had the afternoon off so I headed downtown to get dinner and go to Whole Foods.  Friday was a short row in the AM and PM in quads, just spinning the wheels and making our legs go.  Saturday we did a 10k on the erg and then watched the girls 4+ racing. 

And then yesterday, Sunday, July 4.  I raced in the intermediate 8+.  We came in first in our heat by 22 seconds and then raced the final in the heat of the day and came in first again by 12 seconds to a different boat.  It was a fun race and we really picked up run and speed on the second race, even though there was a strong headwind.   It made our time slower, but our boat definitely moved faster. 

After racing I headed to my friend Catherine's to shower and have a BBQ with her neighbors.  Which was really fun!  Then we headed down to the boathouses to watch the fireworks.  I met a lot of really hilarious people and saw old friends.  It was a spectacular and fun night.  And then it ended with walking 3.5 miles back to my apartment with my roommate, because her bike got stolen a couple days ago.  Anyways, we made it home and all was well.

Now we are headed to a BBQ and pool swim with the team.  Enjoy a few photos below!

I'll update more often, but internet is shaky here!

At the awards dock.After racing, the Vesper intermediate 8+.Our new watches that we won!

Philly skyline at night!

best ~ Hilary