University of Tennessee Athletics
LADY VOL DIARIES - DANA FORBES
March 21, 2005 | Rowing
March 21, 2005
The senior-themed Lady Vol Diaries continue, as Dana Forbes, who began her career at Tennessee as a freshman in 2001 as a member of the Novice squad, reflects on the week of March 14, 2005, the week before the University of Tennessee's student body enjoys its Spring Break. The Cincinnati, Ohio, native reflects on her practices, the canceled regatta vs. Notre Dame and Michigan State on Saturday, March 12, and her Varsity 8+'s victory over Minnesota on March 19.
Dear Lady Vol Diary,
Monday, March 14, 2005
So, it is Monday, and that means OFF DAY! This is the only day of the week where I can pretend I am a normal student and sleep in until 8:45 a.m. to go to my 9:05 a.m. class. I have come to appreciate these small pleasures in my four years in the program. Normally, this day is used to recover from the weekend and re-energize for the upcoming week. Unfortunately, there isn't much to recover from because the race was called off on Saturday due to `unsafe conditions.' My boat was able to get a small taste of the racing season because we were the first race of the day. Aside from the waves crashing on our backs and the wind resisting our oars from finding the water, I thought we held it together fairly well. We were determined not to let the conditions affect our performance and we willed ourselves ahead right from the starting line. Hopefully, this weekend will give us better conditions where the whole team can get excited about this racing season. As for the rest of my Monday, I plan on taking a long nap and enjoying my long afternoon.
Tuesday, March 15, 2005
So the R&R is over and it is Tuesday, time to get back to the routine in preparation for our dual race Saturday against Minnesota. The morning started off with a nice little treat in the weight room with Colin (Schlosser). It is one of our last few heavy lifts before we get into full-time circuit training. The seniors are getting anxious to pound out these last few sets and never come near a bar with that much weight on it again. Colin has provided us with two years of not being able to pull our old jeans over our quads and an on-going soreness in muscles we didn't even know we had. This afternoon we get to go out on the water and work on our endurance training in smaller boats and in smaller groups. The wonderful weather from the end of the weekend is quickly fading and it is getting cold again out on the river. I am anxious for the spring part of `spring racing' to begin.
Wednesday, March 16, 2005
It is mid-week, only three days until race day, and the excitement is building. We took our energy to the water in our line-ups and got some exciting race pieces in. Since we did not really get to do all the work we had hoped for on Saturday because of the cancellation, we got some good pieces in this morning. It was a very productive practice and definitely gives me confidence in my boat for the upcoming weekend. It continues to get colder and colder as the day continues and the rain has not let up since 7 am. Knoxville weather has an affect on my entire day, and today is definitely one I would most prefer to sleep through. Unfortunately, that is not going to happen with my hardest class load of the week falling on today.
Thursday, March 17, 2005
The Thursday and Friday before Spring Break for a rower are the toughest to bear. Listening to the `spring break buzz' around campus and attending the almost vacant classrooms is irritating. It seems as if everyone wants to know what your plans are for break and there is really no exciting way to tell them that this year, like every year in the past, you will be doing spring training in Knoxville. It really is not such a bad thing once you are accustomed to it, but to outsiders it seems to be the worst possible torture imaginable, spending an entire week of freedom to get up early and work out twice a day willingly. There is no good explanation that will satisfy their next question, why we do it, but the best way to look at it is every other rowing team out there is sacrificing the same. This next week will be a great opportunity to truly focus on our strokes and prepare for our upcoming races.
Saturday, March 19, 2005
So it is finally Saturday...RACE DAY! It turned out to be a fairly nice day and the conditions are not going to stop us this time. We took to the water very excited and anxious to get our first full 2000-meter race under our belt. It was a good day for Tennessee as we took an early lead and opened up some water defeating Minnesota's V8+. It was great to the see the rest of the team perform very well and I think everyone is ready for the upcoming week to smooth out any kinks that we came across in our race execution.
Some Closing Thoughts...
It is official, spring break is underway and everyone is gone off to their long anticipated paradise vacation as I sit here in my apartment on Saturday night getting ready to go to bed for my 7:30 am practice tomorrow. It is nice to know this will be my last spring training, but it is also sad knowing that once this week is over the end of the year is right around the corner and we will be at regionals, working for an NCAA team bid. I never imagined I would be part of a program that worked so hard to reach its goals and committed so much for the good of the team. I know one day I will look back and miss my days my as a Lady Vol Rower and cherish the experience I had. I just hope to make the best of the moment while I am still in it.
