A “Tidal” Day One
Alright alright alriggghhhhttttt. The women’s Newport Winter Training Trip is officially underway! Day one had its share of ups and downs, but overall we were able to successfully handle the curveballs that travel delirium sent our way!
After a late-night arrival, the gang woke up bright-eyed, bushy tailed and ready to attack the day. The first high of the day came when coach Steve “scavenged” up some first-world treats from the Starbucks that is just a few blocks from our apartment. Once we were successfully buzzed up on caffeine and consumer products, we headed out to put the G in GRP. Since we are only a little less than three miles from the boathouse, we decided cut down our trip’s carbon footprint and rent bikes for the week. We headed to the bike shop, expecting to be fitted for standard road bikes, but were PLEASANTLY surprised when the shop was filled with BEACH CRUISERS!!!! Needless to say, the posse rolled out of SportsRents lookin’ realllllll cool.
Next, we headed to the Newport Sea Base which is the boathouse that we will are rowing out of during the trip. And as we checked off some logistical responsibilities: unpackage/set oars, fit boats, find shoes, etc. our “morning high” was slowly wearing off. We then went out for a quick 30 minute row to get our bearings with the waterway – which brings us to our first “crash” of the day. “I knew we weren’t in a good place when Mickey got into the boat, scrunched up her face and said ‘I’m hungry, Steve!” After the row, Steve hurried us out of the boathouse and to a nearby deli for some delicious sandwich pick-me-ups. *Queue glycemic high #2 for the day… which was quickly followed by a sleepy full-tummy-induced low* Our walks were a bit rainy, but we did our best to have some fun with it.
We kicked off our PM session with a core/weights circuit that aimed to reactivate our gluts and lengthen our hip flexors after a long day of travel. Then we headed out for another quick re-acclimating row, where we quickly hit our third high of the day: WE SAW DOLPHINS! The majestic creatures put on a little show for us just off the dock and they, paired with the breaking sunlight, were exactly what we needed to bring some enthusiasm to our last workout of the day. However, as you can imagine, our high was not sustainable and we left the boathouse in yet another state of delirium.
We pit-stopped at the apartment to shower-up and set out for our final task of the day: family grocery trip! We hit up a team (mostly Steve) favorite: Trader Joes. Going to Trader Joes with Steve is an experience that I hope everyone has at some point in their lives. The 6’4″ man turns into a hyper little boy who enthusiastically reads aloud the labels of all of the Trader Joes novelty items he puts into his cart. As a group we were proud of our grocery planning and were able to come in under well under our budget. Additionally, we each had our own piles with special “treat-yourself-items” that we paid for separately, and for the most part we kept it pretty tame…. however we aren’t sure how much of Steve’s life savings perished after his separate checkout.
We made it back to the apartment around dinner time, had a little team meeting and ate a modest dinner (mostly because we each ate a meals-worth of TJs treats in the car ride home). And by 8pm Cali-time these tired pups were ready for bed!
Day 1 may have had its ups and downs, but we definitely got a lot done and are feeling excited to rest up and really attack the rest of this training trip!
Till next time….
Alex (Spaulds) Spaulding