back to racing

Monday morning we hit it hard again with 3x10' @26-30.  For some reason all the workouts here seem really hard, even if they sound reasonable.  I was part of a pair switch into the stern of the slow boat.  Although the margins were about the same, subsequent switches of a Yale guy (andy collard) into my 7 seat made the racing a bit tighter.  However, we still lost.  The Wisconsin stern 3 has been winning most of the pieces, but I think the coaches are trying to find a stern combination in the other boat which will compete with them.  Right now they seem to be favoring me or Glenn Ochal (princeton) in the stroke of the non-wisconsin boat.  I hope they will choose Glenn and run with it;  I have never liked stroking, and with Glenn stroking on saturday, we put up several lengths of open water on the other boat on some pieces. 

During the afternoon session, the other boat nailed a log, bent their rudder, and lost their skeg.  I dont think I have ever heard a boat hit something that hard.  They had to go in and erg, and we got to do some skill-and-drill by ourselves.  It was nice to drill without the anxiety of the battle paddle in between.

This morning, we did a gnarly workout which featured a series of 20 stroke pieces, with only a 5 stroke rest in between each 20. This is actually more difficult than one longer, contiguous piece; you have to slow down and accelerate the boat after each rest period, and some of the most vicious battle paddle happens on the those 5 strokes.  I was in a pair switch again with me and Nareg G. (Cal) against Glenn (princeton), and Andy (Yale).  This time the margins were in my favor, though it is hardly fair to throw in a brand new stern pair and expect them to perform.

 During my nap today, I had a dream that Al Garcia, Alec Levy, and Aaron Frankyl took our brand new Empacher down a waterslide. I was really angry because it was bad for the boat.  Scary how much rowing is invading my thoughts.  

I realize that I have written a lot about rowing in this post.  Fear not, ye non-rowers, for I will try to write something about something more broadly interesting next time.  In the meantime, my body hurts a lot, and I am pooped.