Vic's Birthday and a Rainy Hike

Happy Birthday Vic!! Saturday was Victoria's 23rd birthday and after logging our miles on the water, we celebrated by getting her a big sundae from the best ice cream spot in town.

Yesterday Victoria, Abby and I spent our afternoon hiking.  It was sunny and only a little brisk when we left the house in Bellingham but as we drove up the five mile "primitive road" to the trailhead an hour later, the temps had dropped and there was a steady drizzle.  It didn't help that we started our hike so late in the day that everyone else on the trail was heading home!  Nevertheless, we pressed on, trying to keep our spirits high even when the rain got worse.  

Finally, after a couple hours of hiking, Vic had turned back to the car and Abby and I had gotten to where we could at least SEE the summit.  It was still a mile and a half away and it was late in the day so we decided to turn back too.  

Even if it wasn't the most successful hike, we had fun anyway.  Warm dinner and hot showers were definitely in order when we got home!

- Kristin

This is how much we love hiking in the rain!

Abby's favorite hiking activity? Berry picking.

By 4:30 pm, Ab and I made it to where we could at least SEE the summit behind us

Costco Love

Perhaps one of Carlos's favorite things to do is shop at Costco.  Last night he came home with lots of yummy stuff.  While the athletes were helping unload the food, they were a little surprised to find an entire fish in one of the bags!  

Adventures in Tippy Boats

You'd think that as athletes that sit in skinny boats for several hours every day, we'd be decent at balancing more than just rowing shells.  Yeah, that's what we thought too as we waited on the dock for Guenter to carry down the racing kayaks he has at his cabin yesterday afternoon.  Our "go big or go home" mentality had led us to try the tippiest one first.  Guenter had warned us that we'd flip right away, but we just had to see for ourselves.  I think it's safe to say that when we flipped the second we left the dock, we learned that rowing balance is not the same as kayaking balance.  It was like sitting in an unrigged single without oars and trying to balance it!

Vic and Guenter: "Ok, don't let go yet.  Are you still holding on? Don't let go!"

This was probably attempt #3

Guenter promised that the wooden one was less tippy.  Although we were eventually able to take a couple strokes in this one, here's Vic flipping in it...right off the dock

Kristin pushed Victoria off the dock in an attempt to find balance by not having the boat sitting completely still...

Kristin takes a try in the wooden boat

"It's Like Doing Drugs"

Yesterday the team went for a hike to Fragrance Lake after rowing in the morning.  Even though the lake had no fragrance, we still had a lot of fun hiking.  Afterwards, we headed to Larrabee State Park where we sat in the afternoon sunshine by the water.  Kristin had promised that she'd go swimming in the Pacific and so she and Carlos went for a dip while the others watched from the beach.  Then it was off to the Community Co-op for dinner and home for bed!

The athletes at Fragrance Lake

Carlos and Kristin swimming in the Pacific!

Carlos picking blackberries at Larrabee.  "This is so addicting, I feel like I'm doing drugs!"

Then, it was back to Lake Samish for much needed rest

Practice Video, Round 2

Erik Goes Back to His Roots

Today we had a visit from Erik Miller, Kristin's coach in college and for the past two post-graduate years.  He's from Renton, WA (near Seattle) he knows more about this area than any of us.  He has flown from Wisconsin to visit his family and come hang out with us in Bellingham.  Not only has he gone back to his roots by visiting the Northwest, he went back to his rowing days by hopping on the erg this afternoon for a little spin.  After hitting the front and back of the rail a few times, he quickly figured out that he's too tall for the RowPerfects we use!  It's great to have Erik here and it's exciting to see what we are building at Lake Samish!

Kris from Shuttle Systems (http://www.shuttlesystems.com/) visited to take more photos.  We appreciate his support with our training and we can confidently say that all five of us athletes walked away with "shuttle legs" after this afternoon's indoor workout!

The athletes working hard as Erik and Carlos look on

Practice Video

Thanks to Summers!!

Visit from the Crazy German

These photos are from last Friday when Guenter from GMS Rowing Center (http://www.gmsrowingcenter.us/) came to visit.  Guenter coached Victoria during high school and her time on the Under-23 national team.  He and Carlos formed a command station in the launch during morning practice and then Guenter (the lactate testing master) did some testing on us later in the day.  Lactate testing consists of a series of "steps" where you row on the machine at different pressures.  After each step, a drop of blood (taken from our ear) was tested for its lactate level.  This provides an individualized indication of the heart rate and intensity that we should be at for different workouts.  Big thanks to Kris (again) for the photos!

Victoria and Kristin during testing 

Vic loves getting pricked in the ear!

Ursula and Abby get ready while Guenter and Carlos joke around

Down to business - everyone is looking at the numbers

Abby and Ursula are alive and happy!

Introduction & a Practise Day on Lake Samish

Welcome to the Bellingham Quad's blog! We have set up this blog for our friends, family, and generous supporters to follow us as we train for the U.S. Trials and, hopefully, the World Rowing Championships in New Zealand in November.  We plan to update this blog with photos, videos, and information along the way.  We are happy you've taken time to catch up with us and hope you enjoy following along with our journey!

So, very briefly, who are we?  

Abby Broughton

Stroke seat

Age: 26

Hometown: Tetonia, Idaho

Ursula Grobler

3 seat

Age: 30

Hometown: Pretoria, South Africa

Kristin Hedstrom

2 seat

Age: 24

Hometown: Concord, Massachusetts

Victoria Burke

Bow seat

Age: 22

Hometown: Redding, Connecticut

Carlos Dinares

Coach

Below are some photos from a practice earlier this week.  Thanks to Kris from Shuttle Systems (http://www.shuttlesystems.com/), photographer extraordinaire.  

Lake Samish from our dock

Launching for morning practice

The Quad in action

Post-practice group photo

The Lake Samish training center