Moving on

F*ck yeah. Sorry Grandma, and sorry Mom, but jeez, that felt really, really good. We finally were able to put down the kind of piece that we've seen in practice, the kind that we hoped to put down in the heats. Conservative, but at the same time aggressive. Controlled, but reckless. While we got off the line pretty slowly, we had a very clean start, putting us in a position to assert our middle 1k. As the result sheet can attest, we were 4th through 500m, 3rd through 1k before moving into 2nd through 1500, and into the finish. Again, in the interest of further success, I won't talk about specific moves and shifts, but I can say that splitting responsibility between Taylor and me has allowed us to both focus more on the technical changes that Taylor calls for, and more effective moves.

Our time was also good for today, 6:02, and while it was the slowest of the four boats moving through to the A/B semi, Switzerland and Canada were only tenths quicker from the other rep. I really can't say enough how satisfying it is to finally put together a complete race, and to feel like I was contributing to moving the boat through the full 2,000 meters. Interestingly, unlike Monday, our warm up wasn't really anything great, and our first two attempts at base pace 10s were pretty much total failures. Even our third, and final, 10 wasn't spectacular, although it did have the feeling of being something that could be sustained for 2k. Clearly we were able to find the right mix of swing and press in the race.

Now we've got a day to relax before the A/B semi. We're going to go down to the course today for a very easy paddle, then get a little of a sleep in tomorrow to recover. My body's holding up pretty well, and anytime something feels like it might be a problem, our training staff have been more than up to the challenge of keeping me together. It is going to be hard to break myself from the habit of getting a rub down for my legs after races to flush the lactate acid though, because it really feels good.

Now I'm going to enjoy the feeling of knowing that we're one of the 12 fastest lightweight 4-s in the world, fast enough to beat a country that was in the Olympic final last year, before I have to face the reality of the A/B semifinal on Friday. The glow should last for at least a couple more hours.