12 Things I Love in 2012

So it’s been a long blogging hiatus for me, as I was quite sick for an annoyingly long period of time. Now that I am on the mend, I plan on trying to remember to appreciate things that I take for granted, like being 22 and having a body that normally recovers like Wolverine. That being said, I now will take a moment to be materialistic and give a nod to twelve of my favorite products that I am excited to use and abuse in the New Year.

1. Eos chapstick

While this round chapstick may cause your male workout partners to make immature jokes, its shape and size certainly makes it a lot easier to find in the bottomless pit that most of us call a practice bag. The brand totes its 95” organic, 100% natural ingredients but to be completely honest, it’s the shape that sold me. Being able to find chapstick one minute before a 60’ erg piece is clutch.

2. Wool socks

Everyone likes rowing more than erging until it’s 43 degrees out and you’re stuck behind someone whose backsplash could give the Japanese tsunami a run for its money. Wool socks are the key to combating the frozen foot. These socks are super comfortable, no itching at all, and high enough to tuck long spandex into without looking completely foolish.

3. Pre-Wrap

I was blessed with a tiny cranium. Good for baseball hats and bike helmets, bad for getting hair bands to not fall off my head. I also lose everything. Pre-wrap is perfect because I can size it to my head and if I have a roll in my bag, I always have a way to keep hair out of my face. Now with neon green, red, blue and orange, I can also match the colors to my workout outfits. Pre-wrap is nerdy athlete love in a small roll.

4. LL Bean Fleece Lined Flannel Shirt

Insert your Canadian jokes here, but this shirt is awesome. I decided I needed this shirt at a race when one of my friends, only wearing flannel and sweats, was warmer than I was in a parka and snowpants. Anyone else who froze their ass off at Head of the Fish this year can understand how amazed I was. The flannel pattern certainly doesn’t scream feminine but if I’m warm, I don’t really care.

5. Five new nail polish colors from L’Oreal

Of course there’s nail polish on this list. These were a present from my aunt and I think she might have been overwhelmed at just how excited I was about them. The colors (Chicklette, Just Rosey, Drama Queen, Exotic Expedition and, aptly named for my life, Caffeinated) are a range of gorgeous pinky-reds…and somehow, she didn’t duplicate any color already in my collection.

6. Nike Moisture Management Crew Socks

Ok, so I like socks. In fact, if I won the lottery, I would wear a new pair of socks every day because that’s how much I love new socks. My friend Eleni started wearing these Nike to lifting practices and I dug the look a lot, as they made her super long legs look even longer. “Wow”, thought I, “maybe this look will work for me like that!” It doesn’t, but hey, I’ll keep trying because even if it doesn’t work, they are still great socks. Having "crew" in the name doesn't hurt either.

7. Underarmour Escape Running Shorts

I bought these for 10 bucks at the local Finish Line on a whim and I love them. Bright enough to combat winter workout blues and comfortable enough to rock during a long run or squat day, they are on the fast track to becoming my favorite pair of shorts.

8. Sperry’s Angelfish Slip-On Boat Shoe

I was so excited to receive this Christmas/birthday gift from my two best friends that I wore them around for a whole week of sub-freezing temperatures (not recommended). I love these shoes. They are comfortable, durable and cute. I now finally own a pair of shoes I can wear to work and to the boathouse.

9. Orange Flavor Clif Shot Bloks

Okay, so I loved these in 2011. And in 2010. But the Orange flavored Shot Bloks are by FAR my favorite pre-exercise supplement. They taste good, they’re easy to access and they have caffeine. I am often plagued by forearm cramps during long erg pieces and these add much needed electrolytes to my system (and the caffeine kick doesn’t hurt!)

10. Lubriderm Advanced Therapy Lotion

I suffer from really dry skin, but I don’t like putting moisturizer on because I feel like it makes me smell either too fruity or too much like a nursing home. This unscented formula is actually unscented and doesn’t make me feel greasy. And unlike other lotions, it doesn’t sweat off, a necessity during two-a-days.

11. J.Crew Pearl Snowball Necklace

Another preppy Christmas present that I love. These strands take a twist on the classic pearl necklace look which means that I can satisfy my love for pearls without getting made fun of for having a Stepford Wives-esque pearl necklace. Win-win!

12. New Marist Crew Gear from Nike

Our team has three favorite moments: 1. any time we win or have a great race, 2. the moment after the last erg test of the season, and 3. the moment when we see the boxes from Nike and know that our gear order has arrived. This year we are getting some cool new gear and in six weeks it will be like Christmas all over again.

Happy belated New Year!!

Reader Contest: Win Nail Polish!

The Background
At practice last year, my team was talking (as usual) about nail polish. We were discussing how much we like the names of the colors. They might sound a little ridiculous at times, but they are just so damn catchy, it's hard not to smile when you hear names like "My Chihuahua Bites" or "Uh-Oh Roll Down the Window". However, there aren't many "athletic" sounding nail polish names (OPI's "Yo-Gotta Get This Blue" is probably the closest thing I've seen). This contest is to see who can come up with the most creative, athletic sounding nail polish name. It can be related to any sport or any activity as long as it's creative!

Contest Rules
Submit your name (and a way to contact you), your nail polish name, and what color you imagine it to be via email or the comment section below.
For example: Tory (trainingintransition@gmail.com),  "I'd Rather Row and Lose Than Be a Cheerleader", bright pink

In one week, readers will be able vote on their favorite nail polish name.

And the prize?
My two favorite nail polish colors. It's a surprise! =) And I will ship anywhere. Yes, even to England. So comment or email me  and WIN!

O.P.I. and O-A-R-S: Rowing, Nail Polish and Femininity in Sports

The Marist crew team is full of people with very different personalities. Part of being on a team is using everyone’s different strengths and weaknesses to work towards a common goal. Besides rowing, however, we do have one thing in common with each other. Our team loves nail polish. Granted, it’s not everyone, but the amount of times one of our rowers has been distracted by another rower’s nail color is probably more than our coach would like me to admit on the internet. On the surface, this seems very shallow. What kind of athletic team goes out of their way to care how their finger nails look? Shouldn’t they be working harder? 

I used to be this doubter. I’ve never been a girly girl and the only “feminine” accessory I rock on a regular basis is a pair of fake pearl earrings – not because I necessarily think they’re pretty but rather for the fact that I think my earlobes rival Dumbo’s without them. As a freshman, I was teasingly chastised by my teammates for my bare nails. At one point, one upperclassman was so upset by this fact that she painted my nails in a parking lot while we were waiting for a hotel room the night before a race. Sure, I had the time to paint my own nails, but once they started chipping I didn’t care enough to redo them. Bare nails had always been fine with me and I didn’t see a reason to change.

Tory's nail polish "collection" prior to Summer 2011

Then, one day this summer, I had a less-than-perfect day. I’d had a bad row, a rough day at work and things just weren’t working out the way I wanted them to. I had a random and immediate urge to go straight to the mall. Surprised by this abnormal coping mechanism (normally I like to hit the gym), I went with it. I ended up at a store in the Poughkeepsie Galleria that was selling O.P.I. brand nail polish for $2.79 a bottle – when full price is usually $8.50. I bought two bottles and went straight home to paint my nails. To this day, I still have no idea where this overpowering urge to paint my nails came from. But I did it, and it made me feel much better. The next week, the same thing happened. I’d had a bad day, I bought a new color, painted my nails and felt better. 

Tory's current nail polish collection

What is the reason for this? My theory is that stems from a subconscious desire to make our tough hands look more feminine. It’s no secret: rowing has a lot to do with the hands. Sure, the rest of our bodies get beaten up pretty badly from the endless miles on the water and the erg combined with lifting sessions. However, it is our hands that manifest this work. The first weeks of practice everyone has gross blisters, but a month or so in, girls on our team are going callus for callus with gym rats who spend their free time with their hands wrapped around a weight bar. Calluses are a sign of hard work. Back in the day, women with rough hands were members of the lower class, because they could not afford to have servants doing manual labor for them. I believe that remnants of this stereotype still prevail today. If a guy has callused hands, he is considered manly. If a girl has callused hands, she is also considered manly. The same word is taken two completely different ways by different genders: one a compliment, the other an insult. 

I don’t believe that the desire to gravitate towards things considered to be “more feminine” is solely felt by rowers. My friends Steph (volleyball) and Dani (softball) said that their teams feel the same way too. During competition, both volleyball and softball teams have elaborate braided hair styles complete with ribbons to match the school uniform. And this isn’t just at Marist. If you look for a picture of Jennie Finch, arguably the best softball player in the US, you will see that she does the same thing. (She even has her own store to promote her look.) Female athletes often get a stereotype as “butch” or “manly” and I think that gestures as small as wearing pearls and painting our nails helps us feel that we are subconsciously fighting that stereotype. 

Jennie Finch: playing like a girl, winning like a champ

Last winter I deadlifting was in the weight room with my teammate, Angie. I was halfway through our set when she looked at me.

“I think your pearls go way better with the bench press than the deadlift bar,” she said teasingly. I just laughed. Sure, I might look silly walking around the free weights in a pink tee shirt and pearls. But once I start working, I don’t think anyone continues to laugh. I am a firm believer in a “look good, feel good” mentality. I know that painting my nails alone won’t help me win a race but I know that looking good combined with knowing how much hard work I put in on a regular basis means that I am going to feel damn good going down the course. 

Rowing Calluses vs. Rock Candy by Esse

 Next Saturday, our team races against Colgate in a four-mile re-enactment of the old IRA regatta. I’ll be racing in the women’s varsity eight, proudly representing my school in red and white. But you can be sure that my nails are going to be painted the most kick-ass color pink I can find. And my calluses? Well, they’re pretty awesome too.