Lanier Sprints
We left Clemson at 430 am and traveled down to the Olympic course in Gainseville, GA--site of the 96 Olympics. This was a chance for us to get some racing in without too much logistical hassle. I ended up racing three 2k's over the course of four hours! So by the time it was 1 pm I was done with racing and had two medals. Unfortunately, one of them was silver!
I raced the heat of the single first and cruised in qualifying position with Steve, knowing that I had the 2x right afterwards. Ben and I did not have much competition in the double but we wanted to see what we were capable of doing, so we pushed pretty hard. We had not taken any hard strokes in the double in the handful of practices we have had together. Needless to say, race pace should not have felt great. It was fine though. We rowed pretty low but the boat was on keel and moving well. We pushed down the course and probably won by 500 meters, ha, not an exaggeration! While I was racing, Steve was resting and waiting for the single final. I obviously knew he would be a little fresher than me but eh what the hell. I am bullheaded enough to think that I could have my best race of the day on my third 2k of the morning.
In the single final, we blasted off the line and I got out to an early lead over Steve. We were both clear of the rest of the field after 500 m. I kept about a half length advantage on him through the 1k where we both started pushing harder. We were locked in a stroke for stroke, side by side battle for that third 500. Honestly, I was feeling pretty bad the whole time. It just felt labored and sluggish. I was not getting an free speed, really working for it. That being said, I was happy with the way I responded to his pushes when really I had every reason to be off my normal pace in this race. We remained even until about 250 to go when we both tried to change gears. He did successfully, I just started spinning the tires and burning out. Rate went up, speed went down...yikes. By itself, it was pretty disconcerting. It was the opposite of the way I have been racing and the way I want to race this year. Sure I had done an extra race but, ahh, it just pissed me off. I know we came down to just get some racing in but I left the course yesterday hungrier than when I arrived. All in all, I know I got the training effect that we wanted, lots of hard competitive strokes, but it just leaves a bad taste in my mouth to finish the regatta with someone else's bow in front. On the positive side, I am trying to string together a bunch of 2x victories, so this regatta marked #1! NSR 2 is next.
Speaking of streaks, there have been some great commentary on the team dynamics of the Miami Heat right now. They have something really special going on right now. You can have all the talent in the world and still not be able to deliver success with the predictability that they are right now. There is much more there. Shane Battier and Ray Allen are big proponents of their continued dominating performance. It's great to watch. They are having so much fun.
I raced the heat of the single first and cruised in qualifying position with Steve, knowing that I had the 2x right afterwards. Ben and I did not have much competition in the double but we wanted to see what we were capable of doing, so we pushed pretty hard. We had not taken any hard strokes in the double in the handful of practices we have had together. Needless to say, race pace should not have felt great. It was fine though. We rowed pretty low but the boat was on keel and moving well. We pushed down the course and probably won by 500 meters, ha, not an exaggeration! While I was racing, Steve was resting and waiting for the single final. I obviously knew he would be a little fresher than me but eh what the hell. I am bullheaded enough to think that I could have my best race of the day on my third 2k of the morning.
In the single final, we blasted off the line and I got out to an early lead over Steve. We were both clear of the rest of the field after 500 m. I kept about a half length advantage on him through the 1k where we both started pushing harder. We were locked in a stroke for stroke, side by side battle for that third 500. Honestly, I was feeling pretty bad the whole time. It just felt labored and sluggish. I was not getting an free speed, really working for it. That being said, I was happy with the way I responded to his pushes when really I had every reason to be off my normal pace in this race. We remained even until about 250 to go when we both tried to change gears. He did successfully, I just started spinning the tires and burning out. Rate went up, speed went down...yikes. By itself, it was pretty disconcerting. It was the opposite of the way I have been racing and the way I want to race this year. Sure I had done an extra race but, ahh, it just pissed me off. I know we came down to just get some racing in but I left the course yesterday hungrier than when I arrived. All in all, I know I got the training effect that we wanted, lots of hard competitive strokes, but it just leaves a bad taste in my mouth to finish the regatta with someone else's bow in front. On the positive side, I am trying to string together a bunch of 2x victories, so this regatta marked #1! NSR 2 is next.
Speaking of streaks, there have been some great commentary on the team dynamics of the Miami Heat right now. They have something really special going on right now. You can have all the talent in the world and still not be able to deliver success with the predictability that they are right now. There is much more there. Shane Battier and Ray Allen are big proponents of their continued dominating performance. It's great to watch. They are having so much fun.
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