Contrast Bath + Lightweight == Cold

I was a math major so I can only hold back the nerdyness so much.  The equation in the title needs some explanation.  Volp kicked the training plan in to high gear three weeks ago and we have been doing a lot of pieces.  With those comes the need to recover and I'm trying to coax my body into faster recovery mode any way I can.

When you think of rowing (or when I think of rowing) the first image that may come to mind is a tall, lengthy guy with a body fat % less than six.  That is by no means always the case.  Some of the best heavyweights in the world have a little bit of an energy belt that gives them some reserves when they need to go to the well.  Lightweights don't have that luxury and as we near the upcoming selection regatta and the first weigh-in of the year our "energy belts" are dwindling.

Yesterday we did some racing and afterwards I was feeling pretty wrecked so I decided to make use of the recovery baths at the training center.  There are two jacuzzis; one filled with 55 degree water and the other with 110.  You start with two minutes in the cold bath and then transition to one minute in the hot bath.  To get the maximal effect you should do three - four sessions in the cold and two -three in the hot, but making sure the cold is the last stage.  You can read about it here for more clarification.

There are a number of reactions your brain has when going through this process.  I say brain because I don't think your body actually has pins and needles in it.
FIRST:  COLD.  When you enter the cold bath the shivering onsets about 40 seconds in and hating life comes to mind.  Then with about 20 seconds to go you start thinking about that nice hot tub just two feet away!

SECOND: NOT HOT.  When you enter the hot tub your mind wants it to feel like paradise.  It doesn't!  The first thing I thought was, this isn't hot and then the tingling started.  Pins and needles enter your feet and legs and then after about 45 seconds you start to get comfortable, just in time to get cold again.

THIRD:  COLD... again
.
.
.
Repeat

LAST:  My body fat percentage is relatively low right now and the last two minutes in the cold water definitely left an impression on my body.  First of all, I did feel better.  The science is not completely sound and not specifically proven, so it may have been a placebo effect, but I felt better.  Secondly, I was cold for the next 4 hours.  It took my body a long time to regain it's warmth.  I even rowed for 1.5 hours and I was still warming up towards the end.

I will most likely do this again.  After all, I feel it helped and I've always seemed to return to the things that are painful (i.e. rowing and every August when I returned to USNA, haha)  But if you are healing from a surgery or some physical activity, consider contrast bath therapy.  My only advice is to bring a blanket.

- Jimmy

San Diego, German for ...

Anchor Man was a huge hit when I was in college.  Every time I enter San Diego County that movie is what first comes to mind.  After our last practice in Oklahoma City, Nick LaCava and I began the 1300 mile trek from OKC to Chula Vista.  We left on Saturday morning and arrived Sunday.

We started the trip at 5 am on Saturday and 2 - 2.5 hours later the sun was rising so I couldn't resist snapping a pic.

We got through Oklahoma and the Texas panhandle pretty quickly, despite a severe headwind that was eating up gas as if we were driving through downtown NYC.  Once we entered New Mexico the wind shifted to a nice tailwind and we finally didn't have to stop every 2.5 hours for gas.  

 I believe this picture is in New Mexico.  I wasn't really trying to get the truck in the pic, but thought is was cool once I downloaded everything.

This is Arizona on Sunday morning.  Throughout the Arizona portion of the trip I was surprised by how beautiful it was.  Texas and New Mexico were so-so, but Arizona was definitely a site for sore eyes.  Then we entered California...  

Chula Vista is gorgeous, but the eastern 200 miles of California is literally desert.  Here's a picture of some sand dunes.  There a little hard to see, but it was a pretty barren landscape. 

We arrived at the training center around 11 am PST and were pretty beat.  We had the day to recover and met Monday morning to unload the trailer and start getting the work in.  The atmosphere here is great and really forces you to remember what this is all about; fighting for medals at the Olympics.  There are more residents here than athletes.  A racoon was sniffing our dirty laundry on the patio the other night.  I don't think he found anything he liked.


Hope you enjoy the pics and have a good one.

- Jimmy

and then there were 8.

Just wanted to give an update on selection for the LM4-.  I try not to think about the process as "selection."  I try to go out and move each boat I'm in as efficiently and powerfully as possible.  Sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn't.  The cream will rise to the top in the end.

There has been a group of 13 guys here in Oklahoma City for a while and we recently found out that eight of us will be traveling to Chula Vista, CA this coming weekend until the boat is selected.

It's exciting to know that the light at the end of the tunnel is near.  Everyone in the group has gained speed and continuing to do so.  The combinations we put together are getting faster each time and the rowing as a whole is more unified.  Confidence is building within the group that we can put a fast 4- together and get the job done in May and later this summer in London.

Above is some video of the remaining 8 in an 8.

Have a good one,
Jimmy