“Picasso spent hundereds of hours carefully planning his masterpieces. The sketchbooks were filled with ideas, bits and pieces, test runs, none of it meant to be seen by anyone. In a similar way, rowing practices are our sketchbooks, where we prepared our raceday masterpiece.” WayIdeasRunningBitsHoursPracticePiecesTestsFilledPreparedPlanningMeant To BeMasterpieceRowingBits And PiecesSketchbooks Author:Brad Alan Lewis
“The window of X Factor opportunity opens up in the closing seconds of a race-you might be sprinting at the time or just hanging one, trying to get across the finish line. With a supreme act of will, you can prolong your effort, essentially fighting off the inevitable lactic acid shutdown. You'll have little time for contemplating the options: either wholeheartedly go for it, or back off. You must train your X Factor to unequivocally respond the way you want-go for it. Once the window is closed, it's closed forever.” WayWantTryingLittlesMightFightingOpportunityLinesEffortRaceForeverWindowTrainSupremeFactorsInevitableSecondsContemplatingClosingAcidLittle TimeRowingFinish LineWholeheartedlyLactic Acid Author:Brad Alan Lewis
“The toughest part of the whole damn sport is the X Factor. To me, the X factor is your soul. It's your courage. It's your unique driving force. Suppose for a moment that [you] and I were [running]. Suppose that in every possible way-physical and mental-we were identical. Which one of us would emerge as the champion?” WaySoulWholeMomentsRunningForceSportsUniqueDrivingFactorsYour SoulDamnChampionIdenticalRowingDriving Force Author:Brad Alan Lewis
“Rigging is like Zen meditation. You must bend over the boat until your back is breaking, until your brain is filled with numbers and fractions of numbers, until you can accurately measure an oarlock's pitch without bothering to use the pitch meter. Only then will you see the way of eternal rigging happiness.” WayUseNumbersBrainMeditationEternalFilledBoatBotherFractionsMeterRowing Author:Brad Alan Lewis
“Immediately upon entering the weighing-in zone, I sensed an oppressive tension in the air, the lightweights staring and glaring at each other, snarling like lean, frenzied dogs. Extreme hunger has a way of creating these emotions in even the most mil-mannered people.” PeopleWayEmotionAirDogCreatingHungerExtremesStaringTensionZoneEnteringRowingWeighingSnarling Author:Brad Alan Lewis
“If anyone here is secretly dreaming of making the Olympics, I can tell you exactly how to do it, two words: Sustained Obsession. The obsession isn't so hard. But keeping it sustained is a tough nut to crack. A heart-felt enemy can go a long way to sustaining your obsession. Love your enemy.” IfsWayHeartLongI CanTwoHardDreamFeltEnemyLove YouToughObsessionCracksNutsOlympicsLong WaySustainingRowingLove Your EnemiesHeart Felt Author:Brad Alan Lewis