I have just returned from the ICSA Coaching Colloquium and Winter Meeting, currently taking place in snowy Park City, Utah. When I received the invitation from Mitch Brindley, president of the ICSA and head coach for Old Dominion University's Sailing Team, question the relationship between skiing and college sailing.
I had my answer within a few moments of arriving to Park City. The skiing brings together an incredibly passionate, focused and outgoing group of coaches and industry professionals to discuss the growth and future of college sailing. The topics being discussed include event development, funding, gear, nutrition and health, fitness training, marketing and sponsorship, keeping the talent and so on. The enthusiasm for the sport melts the snow but not before a few good runs.
The event is organized by a core group of individuals but sees new additions with each year. The layout of the week is to facilitate participation from all who join, no matter how loud or soft the voice. I knew a few faces but new ones already felt like old pals after a quick tour of the venues and some casual chatting while negotiating the mounds of snow.
I had been asked to address the group with regards to the sailor's nutritional health and cover general wellness concerns coaches face in college sailing. Very much like One Design racing where to play we must manage our weight around a circus (i.e. life), the college student is juggling school, being away from home, social pressures and participation in a demanding sport. College sailors struggle with healthy nutritional habits (not all but the average) and both sailor and coach has a great deal to address specific to the sailing.
The coaches recognize the importance in nutritional health, make great effort to support the sailors but it can unintentionally get put on the back burner. The coaches have shared with me their concerns with eating disorders, off the water lifestyle habits, nutrient timing (when to eat certain foods so it helps the sailor verse slow them down) and recovery.
I was afforded their attention casually and more formally Wednesday evening. Casually: i would like to share with the sailing community how impressed I was with the way these folks carried themselves "off the clock" and how passionate they are about the health and well-being of their sailors. Whenever I was in shared company of one of the coaches, the conversation was 100% about how to help the student sailor. Formally: They asked excellent questions and thankfully I had answers for each.The discussions were productive and the feedback will be used to produce a spin-off of the SailTrim Journals to support this important group.
In addition I was able to talk with the national distributer of Gill (Jerry Richardson) about the technology behind their gear and their interest in supporting youth sailing. I met the Executive Director of US Sailing, who spoke to us earlier in the evening about their efforts to support the US Olympic Team. He has to be one of the most impressive individuals I have met in the industry to date. The US Sailing of tomorrow will be an incredible improvement from time ago. Finally, I was able to meet up with an individual with a shared interest in sailing fitness, Harry Legum of Annapolis Sailing Fitness.
Harry will present Friday evening, discussing with the coaches team based training techniques. He and I had wonderful conversation on building the industry and getting kids and adults excited about their own health and fitness. We both offer two unique niches to support the sailor and together we are both here to make sure there are no gaps.
Personally it was amazing to be in their company; discussing, brainstorming and sharing ideas, together growing and moving the sport of sailing forward. Is there a lot of skiing? For sure! However there is more action happening for the sport than how many runs in the day.
Sadly I had to leave early, but I already have 2009's event in the books, the youth of sailing is our future and supporting the growth of High School and College sailing in the US is a great way to support the sport of sailing for all.
Wednesday, January 09, 2008
Sunday, January 06, 2008
Thursday, December 20, 2007
No Rest...
...for the offshore racer!
Aside from the obvious implications of why "no rest" for the offshore racer (constant boat work, etc.), my meaning refers to the physiological state of a sailor who endures long periods at sea.
I have a new "Mini Student" under the wing of SailTrim and he ask many questions. In our last consult he inquired about his training and wanted to understand my intention with things like his food journals and why I wanted him to do this, that and the other with regards to training since in offshore sailing there are long periods of "sitting".
It is an excellent question! Though, Mini sailors do not sit still very much...
sitting |ˈsiti ng |
noun
a continuous period of being seated, esp. when engaged in a particular activity
Yes, there can be long periods of "sitting", however sitting for an offshore sailor is nothing to be compared to sitting at your desk or sitting on deck for a day of racing around the cans.
To sit while sailing typically requires great effort from many muscle groups of the body, unless stuck in a significant light patch and flat water. The average day racers does not likely give credit that the end of day fatigue may be a result from sitting on the rail. Surely the tacking duel or sail changes will come to mind first, it's more obvious physical exertion. Though sitting on the rail while plowing through the water only provides minimal recovery from the maneuver. The true recovery begins once off the boat and the stabilizing muscles can take a break, come time for sleep, all "hands" are into recovery mode with little interruption.
The unique aspect of sitting for my Mini Sailor and other sailors who participate in "endurance Sailing" (Offshore or Inshore Distance Racing) is typically the body, while on land has a period of time where there is no movement and it can focus on recovery (aka. Sleeping in a bed on a stationary surface). While at sea for consecutive days, this stationary recovery time does not occur due to the simple fact the said "bed" (aka bunk, pile of sails, etc) is not on a stationary surface. In fact, staying put in this "rocking horse" of a "bed" requires physical effort.
The result of sleeping in a state of constant motion is the body never achieves a true period of "Rest" and must adapt to an "Active Rest" for some level of recovery from the day's work to occur. This is an additional reason why offshore sailors need to consume so many more calories while at sea and stay ahead on hydration needs. The body can be prepared, to some degree for this level of sailing while on land and why I will have my Mini sailor training more like a Tour de France cyclist rather than a sprinter.
So, much like the individual who chooses to be a sprinter verse the marathon runner...much can be said with sailors. Some builds are better suited for banging around the corners while others will race across oceans and that's ok. It's just important to note how "sitting around" on a boat during an ocean race is a marathon of an event and worth preparing for properly on land.
Fair Winds,
Jenn
Speaking of marathon sailing: The Barcelona World Race has been amazing to follow!
Aside from the obvious implications of why "no rest" for the offshore racer (constant boat work, etc.), my meaning refers to the physiological state of a sailor who endures long periods at sea.
I have a new "Mini Student" under the wing of SailTrim and he ask many questions. In our last consult he inquired about his training and wanted to understand my intention with things like his food journals and why I wanted him to do this, that and the other with regards to training since in offshore sailing there are long periods of "sitting".
It is an excellent question! Though, Mini sailors do not sit still very much...
sitting |ˈsiti ng |
noun
a continuous period of being seated, esp. when engaged in a particular activity
Yes, there can be long periods of "sitting", however sitting for an offshore sailor is nothing to be compared to sitting at your desk or sitting on deck for a day of racing around the cans.
To sit while sailing typically requires great effort from many muscle groups of the body, unless stuck in a significant light patch and flat water. The average day racers does not likely give credit that the end of day fatigue may be a result from sitting on the rail. Surely the tacking duel or sail changes will come to mind first, it's more obvious physical exertion. Though sitting on the rail while plowing through the water only provides minimal recovery from the maneuver. The true recovery begins once off the boat and the stabilizing muscles can take a break, come time for sleep, all "hands" are into recovery mode with little interruption.
The unique aspect of sitting for my Mini Sailor and other sailors who participate in "endurance Sailing" (Offshore or Inshore Distance Racing) is typically the body, while on land has a period of time where there is no movement and it can focus on recovery (aka. Sleeping in a bed on a stationary surface). While at sea for consecutive days, this stationary recovery time does not occur due to the simple fact the said "bed" (aka bunk, pile of sails, etc) is not on a stationary surface. In fact, staying put in this "rocking horse" of a "bed" requires physical effort.
The result of sleeping in a state of constant motion is the body never achieves a true period of "Rest" and must adapt to an "Active Rest" for some level of recovery from the day's work to occur. This is an additional reason why offshore sailors need to consume so many more calories while at sea and stay ahead on hydration needs. The body can be prepared, to some degree for this level of sailing while on land and why I will have my Mini sailor training more like a Tour de France cyclist rather than a sprinter.
So, much like the individual who chooses to be a sprinter verse the marathon runner...much can be said with sailors. Some builds are better suited for banging around the corners while others will race across oceans and that's ok. It's just important to note how "sitting around" on a boat during an ocean race is a marathon of an event and worth preparing for properly on land.
Fair Winds,
Jenn
Speaking of marathon sailing: The Barcelona World Race has been amazing to follow!
Wednesday, December 05, 2007
My aching back...
It could be due to stress, long hours of desk work, bad fall on the slopes last winter or many winters ago. The ache may be from carrying the little ones around or raking leaves all weekend. Sailing may or may not be the cause but almost everyone at some point in their life has a good old "back ache".
There are so many ways to injure and stress the muscles of the entire back region since they are used everyday in virtually every action we do. These days the calls, emails and skypes are less associated with sailing but from those who have been putting in long hours at the desk for work and school. They are all sailors and all have achy backs and they are not currently sailing.
So when you are riding the desk more than the rail and the lower back is sending cries of help - get up. The primary cause of lower back pain from those who invest long periods of time sitting are tight hamstrings. The tightness is facilitated from the long periods of being stationary, stationary bodies do not circulate fresh blood to the deeper tissues as well as mobile ones.
Take the time to walk about the office, speak with a colleague or fellow student, trip to the water cooler, etc. and encourage blood flow to the muscles, helping them properly ease. Staying hydrated will support this action of "work-day rehab" and the looser hamstrings and glutes will pull a little less on the lower lumbar muscle attachments.
The SailTrim July 2006 Issue may be of use here!
Feeling the pain in upper back and neck?
Question: Do you look down or up at the computer screen?
If the answer is either, consider tweaking your posture to set eyes straight head, encourage a healthier alignment of the spinal column while sitting and alleviating the strain on neck, shoulders and upper back muscles.
Finally, the muscles of stressed bodies are normally contracted and tight holding in place the cellular by-products of over worked muscle cells and unless they relax, the circulatory system can not properly flush the tissue and replace it with a fresh supply of oxygenated blood, carrying away the cellular by-products.
When feeling the weight of the holiday, final exams and last quarter deadlines - stop for just a moment. Take a deep breath and slowly exhale, repeating a few times. The respiratory and circulatory systems are "business partners" and when you breath the circulatory system responds with increased flow in and out of the tissues.
The holidays can be bitter-sweet, but should be fun times spent with family and friends. To ensure the daily grind does not interfere - take a deep breath, walk about for a minute or two and think about all the sailing 2008 will hopefully bring!
Wishing all the sailors a little less stress this holiday season!
Jenn
There are so many ways to injure and stress the muscles of the entire back region since they are used everyday in virtually every action we do. These days the calls, emails and skypes are less associated with sailing but from those who have been putting in long hours at the desk for work and school. They are all sailors and all have achy backs and they are not currently sailing.
So when you are riding the desk more than the rail and the lower back is sending cries of help - get up. The primary cause of lower back pain from those who invest long periods of time sitting are tight hamstrings. The tightness is facilitated from the long periods of being stationary, stationary bodies do not circulate fresh blood to the deeper tissues as well as mobile ones.
Take the time to walk about the office, speak with a colleague or fellow student, trip to the water cooler, etc. and encourage blood flow to the muscles, helping them properly ease. Staying hydrated will support this action of "work-day rehab" and the looser hamstrings and glutes will pull a little less on the lower lumbar muscle attachments.
The SailTrim July 2006 Issue may be of use here!
Feeling the pain in upper back and neck?
Question: Do you look down or up at the computer screen?
If the answer is either, consider tweaking your posture to set eyes straight head, encourage a healthier alignment of the spinal column while sitting and alleviating the strain on neck, shoulders and upper back muscles.
Finally, the muscles of stressed bodies are normally contracted and tight holding in place the cellular by-products of over worked muscle cells and unless they relax, the circulatory system can not properly flush the tissue and replace it with a fresh supply of oxygenated blood, carrying away the cellular by-products.
When feeling the weight of the holiday, final exams and last quarter deadlines - stop for just a moment. Take a deep breath and slowly exhale, repeating a few times. The respiratory and circulatory systems are "business partners" and when you breath the circulatory system responds with increased flow in and out of the tissues.
The holidays can be bitter-sweet, but should be fun times spent with family and friends. To ensure the daily grind does not interfere - take a deep breath, walk about for a minute or two and think about all the sailing 2008 will hopefully bring!
Wishing all the sailors a little less stress this holiday season!
Jenn
Saturday, November 24, 2007
Sights and sounds...
...can bring people back in time.
The holiday period from November through January 1st can be sensory overload! The seasonal changes, sensory cues and damn Christmas carols playing moments after the last bite of turkey, all trigger memories of years gone by.
It's really quite an interesting aspect of human psychology, the relationships between sight, sound, and smell with human emotions and memories. One of many elements I enjoy most about sailing, how it engages all our senses and can either keep one alive in the moment or bring back, for self, some lovely memories.
Back in the day...
Our family use to get together around this time with other families from the marina for an America's Cup holiday gathering (the taped races). They were great parties. I actually think I better understood the cup in my pre-teen days, then ever I do now. Today - I get a headache with each press release and instantly filled with disappointment and tune into the commentary of the Barcelona World Race for a reprieve.
I miss my childhood innocence around the Cup, how my "marina friends" and I would announce to our parents how we were going to someday be America's Cup sailors. Once, sitting in the middle of the living room, my younger self was fending for tele rights from "non-sailor" step father who wanted to change the channel from the Cup to something about UFO sitings, "No!, that will be me someday!", standing my ground, as the women I looked up to, duked it out in the male dominated waters. My grandparents (both sailors) had been visiting and now deceased grandfather, in his gentle tone, simply said, "Dear, you will need to be much bigger". Was somewhere between 10-12 at the time, I'm told.
I have to chuckle when thinking back to being one of the littlest in school, too scrawny to wear proper little girl clothes and dressed like a little boy most of the time, "helping" my true father on the boat and never once thinking I wasn't "big enough". Oh well, in truth, the America's Cup is no longer an ambition - out grew it- on to sailing across oceans...some day.
In my youth, the America's Cup was the highlight of sailing, the level of sailing any young sailor would hope to achieve, an event worth watching - would like to move on. There is more to the world of sailing than the America's Cup and those who are key in what makes it special, feel they have the talent to make other events special while those who cast a dark shadow duke it out...
There is more for the sailor than the America's cup as well.
Personally, would like to see the sailors, no matter age, class of boat, etc., be the highlight of the sport over one particular event. With the ever more physical boat designs making way to a local docks, mother nature's mood swings and demand for creative means to power these beasts of all shapes and sizes, will require the growth of the sailor in many different facets.
Support the sailor and support the future of our sport.
The holiday period from November through January 1st can be sensory overload! The seasonal changes, sensory cues and damn Christmas carols playing moments after the last bite of turkey, all trigger memories of years gone by.
It's really quite an interesting aspect of human psychology, the relationships between sight, sound, and smell with human emotions and memories. One of many elements I enjoy most about sailing, how it engages all our senses and can either keep one alive in the moment or bring back, for self, some lovely memories.
Back in the day...
Our family use to get together around this time with other families from the marina for an America's Cup holiday gathering (the taped races). They were great parties. I actually think I better understood the cup in my pre-teen days, then ever I do now. Today - I get a headache with each press release and instantly filled with disappointment and tune into the commentary of the Barcelona World Race for a reprieve.
I miss my childhood innocence around the Cup, how my "marina friends" and I would announce to our parents how we were going to someday be America's Cup sailors. Once, sitting in the middle of the living room, my younger self was fending for tele rights from "non-sailor" step father who wanted to change the channel from the Cup to something about UFO sitings, "No!, that will be me someday!", standing my ground, as the women I looked up to, duked it out in the male dominated waters. My grandparents (both sailors) had been visiting and now deceased grandfather, in his gentle tone, simply said, "Dear, you will need to be much bigger". Was somewhere between 10-12 at the time, I'm told.
I have to chuckle when thinking back to being one of the littlest in school, too scrawny to wear proper little girl clothes and dressed like a little boy most of the time, "helping" my true father on the boat and never once thinking I wasn't "big enough". Oh well, in truth, the America's Cup is no longer an ambition - out grew it- on to sailing across oceans...some day.
In my youth, the America's Cup was the highlight of sailing, the level of sailing any young sailor would hope to achieve, an event worth watching - would like to move on. There is more to the world of sailing than the America's Cup and those who are key in what makes it special, feel they have the talent to make other events special while those who cast a dark shadow duke it out...
There is more for the sailor than the America's cup as well.
Personally, would like to see the sailors, no matter age, class of boat, etc., be the highlight of the sport over one particular event. With the ever more physical boat designs making way to a local docks, mother nature's mood swings and demand for creative means to power these beasts of all shapes and sizes, will require the growth of the sailor in many different facets.
Support the sailor and support the future of our sport.
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