What did you do you your spring break?

Some of us went home. Many of us whiled away the hours watching the NCAA tournament, or catching up on sleep after all those allnighters.

Not the Radcliffe crew.

Its days were spent here in Cambridge, practicing on the Charles in preparation for its spring season, which began this past Saturday.

Most crews spend their spring breaks on the water, since the season begins shortly thereafter.

This year's spring training was especially important to the Radcliffe rowers, who had very little opportunity to practice in the water. The unusually-chilly winter left the Charles frozen until three short weeks ago.

"We don't have much time after the water melts," senior Sarah Kurtin said.

The workouts were grueling.

"We got up, got to crew, ate, fell unconscious on the floor, got to crew, are, and fell to the floor again," freshman coxswain Alice Liu said.

The two-hour morning practices consisted of aerobic threshold pieces, in which the rowers built up their stamina by gradually increasing their rowing rate.

The drill expands the rower's lung capacity, which leads to greater endurance.

Seat races also occupied the morning schedule. Seat races involve two boats, that race each other initially, and then exchange one person between the two boats.

The boats race again, and the difference in the results between the two races allows the coach to determine the better rower between the individuals exchanged.

The goal of this exercise was to set the lineup for the varsity boats. The competition was intense.

"It's a stressful time of year," Kurtin said. "People have worked hard all year to make a certain level of boat."