Fall Speed Order and Power and Grace Calendar Winner!

Day One Done--Fall Speed Order 2011

This weekend is the Fall Speed Order on both coasts. Not sure who originally designed this, but it's two days of going all-out into the well, and is a important check box in our selection process. For those of us on the East Coast, we get to work around boathouse availability and take a 6K on Saturday afternoon, followed by a roughly 4.3K race on the water early Sunday morning in a 2- or a 1x.

There were mixed results on today's 6K, but a lot of really strong pieces from both new and experienced rowers. I was a little aggressive in my starting speed, and ended up paying for it quite a bit. But after some quality time with the trash can, I got in a good flush-out and recovery for tomorrow's race.

The weather forecast is a strong cross-head wind tomorrow morning, which means a good long race. I'm lining up with Susan Francia in the pair at 8:00 tomorrow, and I'm really excited to get out there and do our thing. On-the-water results will be posted here.

Power and Grace Calendar Winner!

And now, what you've all been waiting for...the winner of the autographed Power and Grace Calendar!!! Thanks to everyone for the retweets and reposts. The winner of the random drawing is: Claire Wallace! Thanks all...if you didn't win, you can pick up a calendar by clicking this link. (And email me at esther.lofgren (at) gmail.com if you would like to get it signed!)

Good luck to everyone racing here on Lake Carnegie tomorrow! Our West Coast teammates are already done with their Fall Speed Order, as of yesterday...you can check out their on-the-water results here.

Happy November Playlist!

   

Downtown Princeton, about an hour into the storm.  Photo: Liv Coffey

So the fall head racing season is fully underway, with the Charles over, the Schuylkill and Princeton Chase just finished this past weekend--as well as my little brother's first head race, with Newport Aquatic Center at the Head of the American! Only a few more races to go before we head indoors (on this coast, anyway). We had a big ol' snowstorm Saturday--trees down, power out, and lots of good reasons to be training indoors (or be cuddled up in a blanket in front of the fireplace and/or space heater!) So...since erg season's just around the corner, here's a playlist that will help ease the transition from long, beautiful swing rows to sweaty five-minute pieces in the hurt locker.

As always, be one of the first 25 to comment on the playlist post, share on Facebook, or retweet to win a copy of the November Playlist! AND...one lucky reader will WIN A POWER AND GRACE CALENDAR SIGNED BY THE ENTIRE WOMEN'S TEAM! These awesome calendars are going fast, so share to get yours before we sell out! (And if you just want to order calendars, go to the Power and Grace website or email me at esther.lofgren@ gmail.com to order a signed one!) Thanks for reading, and enjoy!

The Happy November/Grady Loves Dubstep Playlist
All links are to previews or YouTube clips. All previewed tracks are available on iTunes.

1. Shake It Out (Benny Benassi Remix) - Florence + The Machine
2. This Ain't Water (Thirsty Pt. 2) - Starting Six ft. Mann
3. I'm A Goner - Matt & Kim ft. Soulja Boy and ANDREW W.K.
4. Pumped Up Kicks (feat. Dr. Pack) - DJ Shocker
5. Good Feeling - Flo Rida
6. Lights (Bassnectar Remix) - Ellie Goulding
7. Mr. Saxobeat (Radio Edit) - Alexandra Stan
8. Danza Kuduro - Don Omar & Lucenzo
9. We Found Love (feat. Calvin Harris) - Rihanna
10. Crave You (Graz Remix) - Flight Facilities
11. After Midnight - Blink 182
12. Dignity - New Politics
13. Better With the Lights Off (feat. Chris Brown) - New Boyz
14. Rabbit Heart (SLOF MAN Remix) - Florence + The Machine
15. Turn Me On (feat. Nicki Minaj) - David Guetta & Nicki Minaj
16. The War Inside - Switchfoot
17. Countdown - Beyoncé
18. Without You (feat. Usher) - David Guetta & Usher
19. We Are Young (feat. Janelle Monáe) - Fun.
20. Feel So Close - Calvin Harris
21. Gold Guns Girls - Metric
22. Cinema (Skrillrex Radio Edit) [feat. Gary Go] - Benny Benassi
23. Faster Than My Angels Can Fly - Eric Church
24. Barefoot Blue Jean Night - Jake Owen
25. Sail - AWOLNATION
26. Stay Don't Go - Spoon
27. A Real Hero - College feat. Electric Youth
28. Dystopia (The Earth Is On Fire) - YACHT
29. Paradise (Fedde le Grande Remix) - Coldplay
30. Pass At Me (feat. Pitbull) - Timbaland
31. Da Mystery of Chessboxin (TF2 Remix) - Wu-Tang Clan

Get ready for Head of the Charles... and the 2012 Power and Grace Calendar!

The Head of the Charles Regatta is just five days away, and the women's team here in Princeton is gearing up to make the drive north to support everyone racing...and to share our amazing 2012 Power and Grace Calendar with the world!

This is our second year of making the calendar, and while last year's was beautiful, inspiring, and still hanging on my wall at home, I'm SO EXCITED for the 2012 edition! Our excellent calendar team hired two premiere New York-based photographers to shoot us on the water and in the studio, and put together little cameos that are windows into each rower--what inspires us and drives us on our journey as we train towards the 2012 Olympic Games.

Susan Francia. On your wall. Fierceness!
All images property of Jordan Matter and Jeremy Saladyga.

The calendar's not just beautiful, it's also useful to rowers and non-rowers alike: both major holidays and major regattas are printed in the calendar! Even though I see these women and train with them every day, I'm inspired every time I look at mine--it somehow manages to show both the incredible amount of training my teammates put in to this endeavor, while also showing everyone's competitive, beautiful, and resilient spirits.

So, if you would like to support our journey--100% of our net proceeds go directly to the women of the USRowing Princeton Training Center--and to hang some inspiration, motivation, determination, and just some pure joy in rowing on your wall for the next year, please buy a calendar!

All images property of Jordan Matter and Jeremy Saladyga.

You can order your calendar online by clicking here. We will be selling our calendars on Saturday and Sunday at the USRowing booth in the main tent at the Head of the Charles, and holding a special autograph session on Saturday from 2-4 at the Wintech Racing booth along the walkway by the finish line. We will be selling the calendars for $15 at the Charles--so come by and get one with autographs for the same price! You can also email me at esther.lofgren@gmail.com if you would like to order a larger quantity to sell at your club, event, or store.

Erin Cafaro can do more pushups than your boyfriend!
All images property of Jordan Matter and Jeremy Saladyga. 

If you want to see even more about the calendar, you can check out our photographer Jordan Matter's blog about our shoot, "25 Beautiful Women and 2 Frantic Photographers- How We Photographed an Olympic Calendar in One Day" here, as well as my teammate Megan Kalmoe's video about the making of the shoot here!

Thank you for supporting our journey. Go USA! (And SEE YOU AT THE CHARLES!!!)

Bled WRCs 2011: In the Books and On to 2012!

 
  After some post-race globe-trotting, I'm finally back home. Back to work on the water — and back to my blog-compatible laptop, hooray!

20 meters to go!   Photo courtesy row2k.com.

  Our last race in Bled was everything a final should be: exciting for the fans, but internally deliberate, aggressive, and full of heart. We had a bit of a delay at the start due to swans in the lanes earlier...so there were 15 minutes of all crews sitting there patiently, with dozens of spectators milling around and Guns'N'Roses' "Welcome to the Jungle" playing on repeat.

  The buildup was effective, though: everyone came out of the blocks blazing, and there was no settle or shift in the field's pace as we all went into the middle thousand. Staying internal and focusing on our race plan, we kept pushing. For a bit, we were going stroke-for-stroke with Canada, but we dialed in and listened to Mary, and kept moving. Beep...beep! The race was over so quickly, but there we were, holding hard after the finish line, the world champions by 3/4 of a second.

6:03.65. Feeling spent and glorious.  Photo courtesy Igor Meijer.

  Music boomed through the grandstands — appropriately (?), "American Woman" by the Guess Who. Finally, as the W8+ medal ceremony was beginning, we were able to squeeze onto the dock! It was wonderful to finally get to hug my teammates after such a great race. You work with these same women all year. You know how tough they are and how much you have all worked to prepare for this race and to be the best crew you can be. So to put all that work and energy into one race and have it be what you all hoped and trained for it to be — it's a really special moment.

Elle, Moose, Taylor, me, Jamie, Caroline, Amanda, Don, Mary, and Susan!

  The medal ceremony was a wonderful blur. Receiving my medal from the inimitable Anita DeFrantz. All of us having to drop an octave while singing along with the oddly-high-pitched national anthem. Hugging a dripping Whipple after we did the cox toss. I got to run up to the stands and hug my family. And then we were rowing off — to celebrate and share the moment with each other and with the people who had helped us get there!

Photo courtesy row2k.com

  After racing, I had some great travels both in Europe and back in the U.S. My boyfriend and I went down to  Portorož (near Piran) on the coast of Slovenia, a gorgeous little Adriatic fishing village, for a few days. Then it was off to Interlaken in Switzerland, where incredibly beautiful mountains intermingle with waterfalls, lakes, alpine flowers, and cows. Moo!

Stepping off the train in Lauterbrunnen (Interlaken).

  Then it was off to Colorado to get my butt kicked by the unintentional altitude training. My "favorites" were running hills at 8,000+ ft. and doing "The Incline" in Manitou Springs.

Nothing says fun like gaining 1200 ft of elevation in one mile, AFAP.

  We're back in Princeton now, settling right back into the rhythm of training. Besides training, our big focus at the moment is promoting our 2012 USA Women's Rowing Team Calendar, the proceeds of which go directly to the amateur athletes working here towards the goal of London 2012. If you saw these last year, they were amazing, and this year's are even better! Click here to order — you'll receive a pre-sale discount if you order by Oct. 1!

  Thank you for another year of support and sharing the journey with me. This coming year promises to be both the toughest and the most rewarding one yet. And I can't wait!

  Go USA!
    -Esther