I was told that there to be practice three times a day, seven days a week. The harsh schedule ran through my mind as I sat next to my mom heading down a windy, dark Gautemelan road. The sand in my shoes was a reminder of the leisure that had taken place the previous days at the beach where I enjoyed some days away from social media and any athletic activity. We arrive at the green gate leading my home for the next month. A large 4 bedroom house with grand windows, “advocado” paint scheme right on the lake. The house seemed to be exactly what I needed at that time, a place to sleep, cook and hang out between practices.

That night I fall asleep with the sounds of the wind running across the water and causing havoc, these sounds quickly put me to sleep and as I would learn served as an indicator of the next morning’s water conditions. I awake at 4:30 am with nerves running up and down my body with the anticipation of meeting the coaches and rowing with the national team. My mom woke up with me and walked the few steps to the boathouse on the desolate, ill-lit road. We walk through the gate and see that the team was practicing inside because of the water conditions and the sounds of the indoor rowing machines hit my ear. I am then reminded of all the short-comings I have had on it the past months, the nerves get worse.

The team was mid-warm up while we are greeted by the coach who rowed with my mom 30 years ago at the same boathouse. I get dressed and get on the machine next to the lightweight double training for the Olympic trials. The workout although hard was very manageable and served as an indicator of the AM practices 3 days a week. I take a nap and head to the 11 AM lift and then the PM workout and head home exhausted from the day. The pain I felt the next days showed me what real work was, it served to harden my mind and body to accept extreme and brutal workouts and succeed in them.