haptic

3x15bumdred

this morning i had what i would deem my worst row since i started sculling in the 2008 season.  it was a perfect storm of crumminess.  some of it without doubt falls on me. the odds and the conditions were stacked against me, but still did not handle it as best as i should have and could have.

back story.  this mornings workout was 3x1500m pieces all out at race pace.  although willy feels virtually 100%, reilly is still managing his injury to ensure that he gets better.  completely agree with doing this.  therefore, i was to be in the single.  due to increased rows in the double and how this week played out (with monday and half of tuesday off due to V02 test), i was not in my single since last week for these 1500m pieces.  it’s not an easy thing to row your single once a week and expect to set new PRs at race pace.

on top of that, the conditions were far from glass.  we had ample current and a growing headwind working against the current.  i struggled to hold the rate at 30, which is a laughable race pace for what i would usually do.  i just could never get the thing set.  i was always digging, crabbing, or slapping waves.  since i got my V10 built with the higher decks, it can be really hard to manage in windy conditions due to the excess freeboard i have.  additionally, i’ve been rowing the single with my low i conceptii’s.  this was going better and better while i was rowing them and my single consistently, but coming back to them after rows in the double with crokers was an additional challenge.  plus the 1500m course is not straight.  plus this.  plus that, and the whiny diatribe rolls on.

excuses are like…. they are pointless.  i never want to be one to qualify how i did with reasons and excuses.  the only time you resort to these things are when you are dissatisfied or embarrassed, whether that be in life or rowing.  it’s similar to happiness.  a truly happy person will have no room for jealousy, spite, or any other insecurity.  meanwhile, a truly satisfied rower will have no need for excuses or qualifications.  i am embarrassed about how i rowed this morning.  the workout seemed useless since i didn’t even row well enough to fully exert myself.  i am better than what i did.  reilly was fully aware that the conditions and situation were pushing my envelope considering the lack of single rowing into a race piece day.  sometimes it can feel like she challenges you or stacks the odds against you too much, but i appreciate it nonetheless.  while training on your own, it is much harder to push yourself out of your comfort zone.

the only thing to do when walking away from dissatisfying moments is to properly evaluate what happened, move on from it, reacquaint yourself with why you do something, and plan what you can do moving forward.

1. i rowed poorly in rough conditions with minimal time in a challenging boat.
2. it’s over and done.  i cannot rerow the pieces of this morning.  i can only row the pieces i have still to come.
3. i am rowing because i have a goal (personal) and want to strive for excellence.
4. launch earlier on the morning of pieces.  make a point to go out in my single for an extra row the night before if i have not been rowing my single.  get to sleep earlier.

i thought all the things in step 4 before the pieces, but did not put them into use.  thoughts are only as good as the intentions associated with them.

flippy flop

did a V02 step test today, which i’ll share results from tomorrow.  short on time now though.

then, had a row with willy in the double where we switched around our lineup.  it was very challenging conditions with relatively high winds and chop.  it was still a good drill, but tough for me today.  it was 91 degrees and a truckful of humidity in DC.  when i’m not worrying about following, i sometimes sit up a little better and leave my shoulders out of the stroke a bit more.  at the same time, i still didn’t shed some of the bow stuff like overly setting the boat with my knees.  reilly really liked some of what she saw though.  usually, we use this simply as a way to make each other aware of what the other one deals with and to more fully feel out the whole boat.  however, we will give it another go tomorrow just to see how sweet we can make it (in non-hurricanic weather).

coaching pointers

two things that i’ve thought about over the past few steady state rows thanks to reilly’s coaching:

1. outward pressure on the shoes v. drawing the boat underneath you - both can be used as focal points for setting the boat and quieting down the recovery.  drawing the boat underneath you can also be helpful to prevent lunging at the catch.  drawing the boat underneath you means that instead of thinking traditionally about pulling yourself up to the catch, which can sometimes instigate too much upper body movement and use, you think of lightly drawing the boat underneath you or bring the stern to you.  that challenges the typical thought of bring yourself into the stern.  this helps me at times because it calms down my recovery.  rather than searching for length and adding struggle to the recovery, it can bring a little more patients and relaxation.  meanwhile, outward pressure on the shoes can also be good to quiet down your body.  you want to feel pressure on that outside of both feet. just as you want to keep outward pressure on the oarlocks, this quiets down extraneous movement.  it will also typically spread your legs a little bit more and stabilize them if yours tend to wobble (as mine usually do).  now, the additional finding here for me is that one works better in my single and one works better in the double.  both help each boat, but one helps more than the other depending.  drawing the boat underneath me really helps me in my single since i can literally feel a difference in my approach.  the boat is so small and i’m the only one there that i can feel a significant contrast in my train of thought.  while the outward pressure on the shoes still helps, the boat is still a little to volatile to make it as beneficial.  meanwhile in the double, i do not always feel as significant of a contrast between bringing myself into the stern or bringing the stern to me.  it is still important and there, but outward pressure on my shoes is very valuable since it really minimizes extraneous movement in an already slightly more stable boat.
2. pressure on the tops of the shoes at the catch v. no pressure on pads of your fingers at the catch -these two thoughts again and even more so are two means to the same ends.  reilly has incorporated both.  in california, she spoke to us about, as you come to the catch, you should feel pressure on the tops of the shoes or the laces instead of on the soles of your feet.  that pressure should not switch until the blades are in the water.  otherwise, you’re driving before your blades are even in the water.  similarly, the same should be true of your fingers.  you can actually place the blades with outward pressure on your thumbs and no gripping.  after all, the blades want to fall to the water.  the outward pressure on the thumbs also helps you to rotate around the oarlocks.  however, you really shouldn’t feel any pressure building on the pads of your fingers until the catch is over.  if you feel pressure on the pads of your fingers (like the part on the stern side of the handle that is hooked around it), then again you are driving before being in the water and connected.  these little cues can help you to make sure you get your blades back to the bow and buried before starting your drive.  i find it helpful to think the catch as the end of the recovery at times, rather than the start of the drive.  this way i practice this patience and skill, while also incorporating more relaxation into my stroke (which i could use a lot of).  whether you think of feet or hands, it doesn’t matter in this case.  on different days, my body must be functioning with a different focus, and one may work better than the other.

good stuff.

am1 - 8x500m on the erg w/ 3’ rest

it went ok, but i wound up dying pretty hard.  i probably had around a 1:27.5 average, but was limping for the last three for sure.  matt miller, formerly of uva, was next to me and was crushing it nicely.  did most of his at a 1:26 or 1:25 and finished the last one at i think 1:23.  i was really feeling the lift from the night before in my legs.  no soreness, which is good.  just muscle fatigue.  i did my life out at tidal where reilly has set up a strength program with j, the owner of the gym.  i like j’s approach to physiology and lifting.  he’s well educated and still adapting as well.  his gym has keiser machines, which i’ve never seen anywhere else.  the keiser machines are all hooked up to an air compressor and are special because they give you the EXACT same amount of resistance at every part of the exercise.  it’s unbelievable how quick you feel the fatigue and how different it is from traditional free weights or nautilus equipment.

am2 - technical row with willy

still have our wobbles, and i still have to overcome the things i overcame before to get my blade work in time with willy.  however, things progress throughout the practice, and we had a great stretch at the finish.

pm - yoga

did a lil yoga session and some egoscue.  matt miller is one of the rare exceptions that gets to be both a large individual and flexible.  my flexibility has improved, but is far from finished, or good.

in other news…

i had a good paddle on relatively flat water this afternoon when the sun came out for a small window.

in other news, i’m sure you all know what has gone down at the olympic qualifier.  truly awesome so far.  the LM4- won.  the M8+ crushed it and won with fellow penn ac rower Steve Kasprzyk, who i rowed the coxed pair with in 2008.  he’s been crushing it this year.  also, friends in the W2x won.  they really made great use of their time since trials, where they came in third, and owned this final.  still to come is the LM2x, the W1x, and obviously the challenging M2x.  i don’t know if i’ll follow the olympics or at least watch.  i’m sure i’ll look at results.  however, because of where i could have wound up, i am definitely following this qualification regatta closely.

http://www.sportresult.com/federations/fisa/results/