an honor and a challenge

this is a mirror of what I just posted on our boat's blog: http://usalightquad.blogspot.com/
i urge you to read our quad's blog, most likely i will be mirroring my posts across both blogs, however if you read the quad's blog, you will find interesting and exciting writing from my teammates, well worth the read. Exctiting too! also, if you're enjoying our quest to Racice, CZH please please please help us out! http://www.firstgiving.com/guenterbeutter1

I'm finding that as this blog grows and I get to read the thoughts of my boatmates, that we are sharing one of the most extraordinary and transcendental experiences any person can have. It still jars me to put on my USA unisuit and strut around the house. I did this last night while my sister and her boyfriend (not a rower) were watching a movie; he was likely asking himself "what the hell is that kid doing walking around the house in his underwear when company is over?" My thoughts: yeah, whateva!

Leaving the white house yesterday was not nearly as sad for me as it was for the other guys (will) because I will be returning in the fall; however it did feel great to hear many a "good luck" as we walked out the door. Jon Winter especially offered up a few excelent tips for traveling and racing as he has had the experience numerous times over the past year.

I am nearly finished packing, I've been filling up my suitcase while writing this.

yes pete, this is really happening!

last chance to be fat

Hey gang, today was a rather weird day, it began with basically the whole team thinking that practice was at 7am but g-man stating that it was at 6:30 and hence we took a bit of a stumble to begin. Then we had to deal with a new quad that had no steering and really odd heights which also were unadjustable. We opted to wait for our normal 4x the phonix which we are now sharing with the u23women to go out and come back. we then did 4x 500m and rowed in. The day was absolutely gorgeous, which worked perfectly for the pool party Richard had scheduled for us. All of the stars seem to have aligned today b/c today was also mike nucci's 21st birthday, so we got a carvel icecream cake on our way to the bbq. As it turns out Richard had gotten a mirror of the cake we got as well. So after eating some really awesomely tasty brats and chicken, we found our way through nearly two carvel cakes. JESUS. Lightweights do know how to eat when let loose. I was feeling particularly induldgent because my weight was under this morning, though that will likely not be the case tomorrow haha. We sat, ate, swam, and told stories under the strong sun. Today was really one to be enjoyed and remembered. So after gorging, we made our way home around 6:30pm. I had vowed to not eat for the rest of the night.... FAIL. I found my way through my chocolate stash and at the bottom of all of this I found within the perfect time to focus. sometimes, i find you need these 'let yourself go' days to force yourself to refocus and remember why your here. to what purpose did i take all those fucking sttrokes for. oh yea... THIS. THIS. THIS. The us uni hanging on my wall. The 1191 dollars worth of czech plane tickets. the 1556 athlete fee. the 650 for oars. the calorie counting. the scale. the erg. we're here to go. our job is to kick ass in prague. our dream is to fullfil our potential. these opportunities are ones that cannot be let to pass. at the bottom of a carvel icecream cake, two hershey's dark chocolate almond bars, and a bag of dark chocolate peanut m&ms you can find your reason. You can remember what the fuck you're doing and why.


10 DAYS....

HOLY GUACAMOLE!

I have clearly failed you blog. Ha. But fret not, there's good news to be heard: WE ARE GOING TO U23 WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS! That is the craziest thing I think my fingers have ever uttered. This is all very holy-shit right now.

Yesterday, we raced a straight final which would decide who would be the U23 lm4x for the USA. Rating 34 into a head wind, we raced the clock, the only opponent entered, legs burning, sweat beating and one girlly squeal later, we got to the dock and G-man gave us word that we could go to Czech! I almost shat myself at that point.

I find it hard to believe that its been over a full month at gms training for this, it all has gone by so quickly. There is one thing for damn sure: we've gotta a tough road ahead before we can go race. G-man has promised us that he's going to make us find some real speed, now that we've qualified; can you say distance, lifting, and pieces! oh yea! and then there's also the whole financial thing, which is why we created a firstgiving website, which is a site for non profits (us) to raise money from friends and family. This is an awesome way to help, if you've got the funds, every dollar helps - SERIOUSLY even a buck, is a buck closer to CZECH!!!!!! baby! woo.

http://www.firstgiving.com/guenterbeutter1

Also join our facebook group, I've invited all my friends on facebook, and it's an open group so you can invite your friends too!

Many many many thanks to everyone for all of their inspiration and support of this dream. It happening baby!

Thanks! - much more to come very soon, if not later today (i've got to make up for my posting delinquincy somehow right?)