Last evening, we did a steady 20k erg, broken up into 5k segments. We started at 4:30 pm just before sunset and finished in the dark under the stars. It felt like I was stuck in time and everything kept moving around me. The mountains turned from shades of yellow and green, to purple and blue, to black and more black. I simply stayed steady, pushing back and forth on the silly machine and the world kept turning, leaving our team in the dark. As Portia said at the end, “I’ve never erged under the Big Dipper before.” Even after rowing for as long as we have, it is neat to think there are still new things to experience.

Our team eventually made it to San Francisco. The weather has been so strange lately and the day we need to make our little flight from San Diego to San Francisco, the Bay Area was getting pounded with rain, so we had to hang out in the airport for about five hours. We eventually made it to the Olympic Ambassador Conference and met up with an incredible group of athletes all hoping to make the US team for Beijing.

We had all sorts of talented speakers, accomplished Olympians, and an improve group lead us in activities to help prepare us for representing the US abroad. I took away two really important things from the conference. First is that it’s all about the amazing people on this journey with us, hence the slogan “amazing awaits.” Meeting the other athletes and coming together with a common dream is invaluable. I met the coolest track athletes, soccer players, wrestlers, synchronized swimmers, and softball players!

A second thing I took from the conference is that going to the Olympics is an opportunity to put myself out there and it doesn’t hurt to think about what I would say if on the Today Show for 20 seconds. Would I focus on getting more people to understand the sport of rowing and have them give it a try? Will it be a focus on healthy living? Maybe a sponsor at Nike will read this and pay me a million dollars to wear their gear and say, “just do it”? Well, that won’t happen, but what I say will have an impact. I just want to make sure I impact the world for the better.

Meanwhile, back at the ranch, the reality of real life rowing is going full speed ahead. Until now, I haven’t had a chance to reflect on the conference at all. I’m on the erg, the water, and in the weight room trying to make it to Beijing! I do have great news to report in that our team did a 6k erg test on Monday and I had a massive personal record. I have made a lot of changes in the past year to my technique and diet and it is awesome to see that those were changes in the right direction. Now, to keep transferring that speed to the oar! There is still much work to be done.