Seasons Change

We're at the end of our winter season: the river calls! Starting next week (first full week of April), we'll be back to a Monday/Wednesday/Saturday schedule. Practice starts at 6:30 PM on Mon/Wed (try to be there a little bit before that, if you can, so we can get into a routine of starting to move the boat to the water AT 6:30) and at 9:00 AM on Saturdays -- all at Millvale.

Calendar reminders: Our team meeting to set priorities/long-term plans is on for next Saturday, April 9th, at 11 AM.

Next Mullaney's date is April 10th at 6:30 PM. Come for the trivia or come for the beer! (You don't have to play the trivia game, honest! You can just have a beer and some fried pickles and make fun of those of us who are playing trivia and think that the name of the banker on Beverly Hillbillies was Don Drysdale!)

New York Paddling Regatta: The Medals Sweep

Congratulations to all of the TRRA paddlers who competed in this past weekend's ERDBA Indoor Paddling Regatta in New York City! Great job!

In the teams division, the TRRA/Paddlefish Open Women's Team took the silver in the 500M: Ada, Lisa, Mina, and Judy.

In the men's 1000M, Eric took first place in the student division and Nathan took second. Ben earned a silver in the men's 1000M working division (with a time -- gulp -- of 5:04.5 ... all due to rotation, of course).

In the senior women's 500M, Judy earned a gold medal (3:18.8) and Lisa a silver (3:025.8) in their class; Mina won a silver (3:06.0) and Ada a bronze (3:14.1) in their class.

In the senior women's 250M heavyweight class, Mina paddled to the gold, Lisa took silver, and Judy picked up a bronze medal! A Pfish sweep!

Ada won a silver medal in the senior women's 250M lightweight class, and Ben won a bronze in the working men's 250M lightweight group.

Thanks to all of them for traveling to New York to represent Pittsburgh paddlers so very, very effectively!

Short Notes from a Short Meeting

Last night's team meeting covered congratulations to our New York paddlers (who brought home so much medal they set the airport's homeland security monitors reeling), quick updates from the team's committee leaders, and a short discussion on future thinking about how we pay for things.

We will meet after practice on Saturday, April 9th, for extended discussion on planning and prioritizing. The idea here is to start doing some long-range team planning, identifying our priorities and then a budget strategy that helps us meet those priorities. The meeting is likely to run from 11 AM till 1 PM; food will be involved.....

Misc.

Miscellaneous bits for the week:

** Georgia makes fantastic whiskey cake (she brought some to inspire us at this week's trivia contest at Mullaney's). I think we're going to have to add this to fig newtons and Kathi's bean dip as part of the Paddlefish food regimen.

** We are lifting heavy (vs many reps) this week; Monday's goal was maxing out before 7 reps. Expect this for Saturday's "push" weights, too.

** Trivia: Great turnout Sunday night! Turns out we are better at puns than at NCAA history (who would have thought?). Next round of trivia at Mullaney's Harp & Fiddle is Sunday, April 10th, at 6:30. You don't have to like (or play) trivia to come on down -- join us for the company, the Guinness, and the fried pickles.

** New York City Paddling Sprints: Keep your thoughts with the Paddlefish traveling to New York this weekend to compete in the indoor paddling sprints. Mina, Judy, Ada, and Lisa are joining Ben. Huge paddle cheers!

Think Spring!

Forget all that snow on the ground and the 3-degrees-Fahrenheit wind chill this morning, spring is definitely on the way. We’ll be on the water soon!

The water’s going to be cold, though, and we’re going to get wet, so some reminders for what-to-wear: Fleece and wool are your friends in those conditions; cotton is not. Layers are a great idea. Neoprene gloves will help protect your hands, especially the one that’s going to be dipping in the water 30 to 40 times a minute. (You can pick up a pair of Stearns Sportsman’s Gloves at www.campmor.com for about $15.)

Might be good for all of us to throw a bag of on-the-water clothes into the car when we come to practices from now on, just in case we hit conditions where we could take the boat out.