Speed of Strength Performance

08/18/2025

What a week and a summer! The doctorate is the biggest news to the world! Monday I became Dr. Blake, at the heels of round the clock coaching and research. Some (many) days it was out the door at 4:30a, back to write, back out to coach for 6p, and then lots of espresso to stay awake as long as possible to submit.

I am sincerely appreciative to the people and communities that support me in all endeavors. My family, coaching networks, mentors, rowing and sports communities, and athletes are what made the doctorate and race possible.

This race was a 2.4 mile swim, non-wetsuit, 116 mile bike, and marathon. The conditions were challenging with choppy water, 2 technicals on the bike (silca sealant saved my day!) and a lot of debris on the road. When the tire punctured - about 1” from glass- I was so grateful to be able to simply continue the race. It was a great perspective shift for the rest of the day to center gratitude; sometimes our challenges are actually gifts… in all regards. Those long days of writing and coaching enabled me to finish a doctorate early and being grateful on the last 10k of a marathon is 100% a gift!

Thanks to for many of the above.
And thanks to my athletes for the daily inspiration.

01/02/2025

2025 Post!

My goal, an action, and something for you.

MY GOALS: Finish Case Study on Coaching Leadership and Athlete Outcomes in Rowing.
-Get Doctorate in Strategic Leadership.

2025 actions: Revisit these books. I do every year. I recommend them to other coaches, and share them here. My purpose in doing a multi-year study is to help more athletes get quality coaching - and leading leaders is a pretty effective way to do that. I enjoy being an instructor for USRowing coach education, for example. It’s learning and teaching.

These recs are books on coaching, not training or skill development. But I put up the whole bookshelf if you want to know what I do for my own refresher.

Books:

Zen Mind, Beginner’s Mind. Reminder that coaching doesn’t mean you’ve become an expert. Rather, you’ve committed to a life of learning.

The Four Agreements. Character. We work with people, not robots.

The Language of Coaching. This is a must read if you work with movement. Translating complex movement is an art. How do you convey it in a way that’s meaningful to the athlete. I say coaching rowing is like describing how music makes you feel. There’s power in your word choice, tone, and description. Look at everything you can get your hands on by .

Coaching Athletes to be their Best. Motivational Interviewing (MI). This book teaches you how to help athletes arrive at their own conclusions. The best information comes from questions. I love data, but it’s only part of the picture. It’s a clue in the feedback loop. Here’s a MI challenge for you: Ask yourself why something is important to you (maybe YOUR goal for 2025). Now ask ‘Why is that important to me’ 5 more times. I bet that 5th answer is pretty deep.

Leading Change. A high performing team takes vision, buy-in, momentum, group ownership. This book breaks down the steps. Everyone should feel like they are a part of something bigger than themselves - including the 1x. Not just because it’s fun.. Because it’s effective.

Go ahead coach, have a great year. And drop your favorite reads and recs below, so I can learn from you.

09/24/2024

9th Century Old.

09/24/2024

9th Century Old
Gourdon, France

09/24/2024

07/13/2024

The past 4 weeks (more?!) have been immensely full and fulfilling. SDC camp is a month long, and the impact is so much more. Proud of 2024 women (and men!) and incredibly excited for 2023 SDC girls heading to Worlds or CanAmMex.

Also being the strength coach for the men and women at this camp, a critical takeaway is that mobility, stability, pillar strength, and consistency 100% transfer to rowing performance on water.

Let strength be your strength, and express your potential.

Excited for what’s to come. Can’t wait to see what’s next for these talented, hard-working athletes.

Heading to NH… Chula, I’ll be back :)

07/13/2024

The past 4 weeks (more?!) have been immensely full and fulfilling. SDC camp is a month long, and the impact is so much more. Proud of 2024 women (and men!) and incredibly excited for 2023 SDC girls heading to Worlds or CanAmMex.

Being the strength coach for the men and women at this camp, a critical takeaway is that mobility, stability, pillar strength, and consistency 100% transfer to rowing performance on water.

Let strength be your strength, not your limiter.

05/09/2024

What is the difference between a team and a group of people? EVERYTHING.

Ask a Riverhawk, ‘what’s your goal?’
The response: “Our goal”

One vision, one collective goal with each individual pushing themselves for that dream. I’m the coach, but they’re leaders. This is the epitome of a high performing team.

I could not be more proud. This is the first graduating class post-Covid. Seeing the challenges of returning to campus, sport, and general life makes this progress even more special.

The USOPC defines athlete outcomes as sport competence, character, social connections in and out of sport, and confidence. you have achieved all these things, together. You’ve become better teammates, rowers, athletes and ambassadors of sport. Your growth and potential is exciting and can’t wait to see what we can accomplish next season.

For the graduating seniors, the special part of being on a team is that you’re always on that team. I wish you the best post-UML, and you’re always one of us.

05/09/2024

What is the difference between a team and a group of people? EVERYTHING.

Ask a Riverhawk, ‘what’s your goal?’
The response: “Our goal”

One vision, one collective goal with each individual pushing themselves for that dream. I’m the coach, but they’re leaders. This is the epitome of a high performing team.

I could not be more proud. This is the first graduating class post-Covid. Seeing the challenges of returning to campus, sport, and general life makes this progress even more special.

The USOPC defines athlete outcomes as sport competence, character, social connections in and out of sport, and confidence. you have achieved all these things, together. You’ve become better teammates, rowers, athletes and ambassadors of sport. Your growth and potential is exciting and can’t wait to see what we can accomplish next season.

For the graduating seniors, the special part of being on a team is that you’re always on that team. I wish you the best post-UML, and you’re always one of us.

01/07/2024

Found some Clark U gems here circa… a great year.
Tag anyone I missed (or untag yourself)
• Rowing - HOCR, Textile River Regatta. Love seeing this pic of the Merrimack… looks the exact same today. Those sweatpants were my favorite outfit.
• Spree Day - I remember trying to spin that Tea Cup faster than it had ever gone. What a great friend huh. I thought it was fun at the time. 😇.
• Wright Hall! Look at those walls! RA ❤️

Actual printed pics! What a find!

11/10/2023

11/10/2023

Major props to Mark Beauregard for going 85 (trail/obstacle) miles at Worlds Toughest Mudder, coming 3rd open, and WINNING the Clyd division.

Amazing, Mark!! Well deserved. And UML alum.