July 27, 2011-Ropes course at Brown University

2h

9am-11am

A day at the ropes course.

I attended the Ropes course at the Leadership Institute at Brown University. I learned about leadership and the importance of team work. This was a low course, consisting of a series of real and imaginary obstacles designed to challenge us to work to accomplish the task as individuals and as a team.

The course consisted of a series of ropes, and obstacles between trees about a foot above the ground. These obstacles examine physical conditioning by testing strength, balance, stamina, agility, flexibility and examine mental conditioning by inviting us to confront issues such as a fear of failure or a fear of losing control.

It was a fun course because we learned to trust our teammates and I actually made great friends in my short 2 weeks at Brown. My best friends were Jacques, Austin, Kevin, Heather, Tori, and Leah. I learned more about myself here than anywhere else and I decided firmly that I wanted to do Doctors without borders later in life because of the things I learned at Brown.

Overall, the idea behind the ropes course was personal development and team-building. Lesson learned: Physical fitness, and mental fitness are both required to overcome challenges. Mental strength is important to accomplish even the most physical tasks.

August 27, 2011- Strength and conditioning workshop 4-6pm

2h
4-6pm
I attended the strength and conditioning workshop at Lake Newnan.The workshop included rowing-specific strength and conditioning assessment and implementation of exercises. This would be very helpful for injury prevention during the rowing season. The workshop was conducted by two of the master rowers, Renate & Jason Lambert. Rowing is such a repetitive activity that there are specific types of stretches and movements that we can all be doing to make sure we stay balanced and reduce injury. The workshop included instruction, demonstration, and a workout!

Renate & Jason are very knowledgeable personal trainers who have recently joined GAR Masters. Renate was at Erg Sprints attempting to break the world record in the 500 m dash last year. Overall, this was a very informative workshop. I learned some of the stretches that I should perform after rowing to keep myself injury free. Sometimes, my back hurts after rowing because you sit up so straight to row. The back stretching techniques were very useful and I have incorporated those in my routine after I am done with practice everyday.

August 27, 2011- Lake Newnan Cleanup

8am-11pm

Today, we cleaned up the boathouse and the shoreline at Lake Newnan to get ready for the crew season 2011-2012. The boathouse is the enclosure where the boats are kept, the ERG machines are stored and the weight machines are stored. Twice each year, we clean up the boathouse so that it is functional for the rest of the year. As the year progresses, day to day activity in the boat house takes its toll on the boathouse. Things start getting cluttered and since we do not replace everything to its spot after using it, the clutter keeps increasing. The first thing that comes to mind is it would be so easy to replace the equipment and weights after use, but somehow it is overlooked every single time. I am going to be more mindful and try to keep things organized everyday rather than doing a lot of work on one single day.

Lesson learned: 1. Keeping organized is important to becoming clutter free. 2. Putting things back in place can make you more efficient. 3. It is fun to hangout with the crew buddies and work as a team on something other than rowing.

After we were done with the cleanup, this is what the boathouse looked like. I wish I had taken a  picture before the cleanup,  it would have clearly illustrated how much clutter we had on the floor.