9:48
The morning started with the promise of a lot of hard strokes over the course of the day. However, do to incoming weather, all of those hard strokes were consolidated to the hours between 10 am and 12 pm! Perfect!
First on the docket was a 4k stake turn race. The first 3k roughly had a rate cap of 24 spm. After turning around, the rate was open. The water was dead flat and it was a pretty solid piece for me. Hugh started ahead of me. I caught him about half way in and gradually moved past him. I finished in 15.09, Hugh was 15.24, Steve 15.33.
About an hour later, the Head of the Hosmer began. After refueling with a banana and chocolate milk, I paddled back to the start along with the rest of the sculling campers. Probably 50 scullers in total. After missing this event last week because of my vomitting, I was really happy to be there.
We did a heat style start, so Steve, Hugh, Ben, and I started even and blasted off. In this set up, it is an advantage to assert your will early and get ahead because of the steering challenges that lie ahead. I did so with a fairly aggressive 250 m, and gradually shifted to a base rate. I made a point of rowing a little lower and conserving energy to the half way point. I was letting the boat run pretty well and picking the front end off nicely at 31-32 spm. With a nice following breeze, I felt like I was moving well and that was confirmed by the speed coach numbers. By the narrows, I had a solid 2 length cushion on Steve and Hugh. I kept trying to move away with efficiency and not power. It's a long enough piece that you need to conserve until you really need the energy in the last minute. I brought the rate up slightly in the second half and kept the pace steady. In the last 500 meters the water got a little choppy and my stability suffered as a began to sprint. I crossed the line and knew it was going to be a decent time. I thought definitely under 9.50. The old record set by Ben Dann was 9.54. Sure enough, according to Troy, it was a 9.48, official new record. Hugh went 10.00 and set a new lightweight record which was previously held by yours truly and Taylor Washburn at 10.08. Last summer in July I went 9.59. So this is definitely a good indicator that I have progressed a little bit since last year and years past.
The main take away from this morning and the Hosmer piece specifically was the high level of efficiency I was rowing with. The boat was not slowing down at any point in that piece and that is a big step forward for me. It made me believe that there is a whole other level of speed out there in efficiency. I think so far this year I have found new speed in just being more aggressive and producing more power. The challenge is to find a way to hold a higher and higher percentage of that speed for the distance. Today was a really good step towards that goal. Something that I will desperately need over seas.
First on the docket was a 4k stake turn race. The first 3k roughly had a rate cap of 24 spm. After turning around, the rate was open. The water was dead flat and it was a pretty solid piece for me. Hugh started ahead of me. I caught him about half way in and gradually moved past him. I finished in 15.09, Hugh was 15.24, Steve 15.33.
About an hour later, the Head of the Hosmer began. After refueling with a banana and chocolate milk, I paddled back to the start along with the rest of the sculling campers. Probably 50 scullers in total. After missing this event last week because of my vomitting, I was really happy to be there.
We did a heat style start, so Steve, Hugh, Ben, and I started even and blasted off. In this set up, it is an advantage to assert your will early and get ahead because of the steering challenges that lie ahead. I did so with a fairly aggressive 250 m, and gradually shifted to a base rate. I made a point of rowing a little lower and conserving energy to the half way point. I was letting the boat run pretty well and picking the front end off nicely at 31-32 spm. With a nice following breeze, I felt like I was moving well and that was confirmed by the speed coach numbers. By the narrows, I had a solid 2 length cushion on Steve and Hugh. I kept trying to move away with efficiency and not power. It's a long enough piece that you need to conserve until you really need the energy in the last minute. I brought the rate up slightly in the second half and kept the pace steady. In the last 500 meters the water got a little choppy and my stability suffered as a began to sprint. I crossed the line and knew it was going to be a decent time. I thought definitely under 9.50. The old record set by Ben Dann was 9.54. Sure enough, according to Troy, it was a 9.48, official new record. Hugh went 10.00 and set a new lightweight record which was previously held by yours truly and Taylor Washburn at 10.08. Last summer in July I went 9.59. So this is definitely a good indicator that I have progressed a little bit since last year and years past.
The main take away from this morning and the Hosmer piece specifically was the high level of efficiency I was rowing with. The boat was not slowing down at any point in that piece and that is a big step forward for me. It made me believe that there is a whole other level of speed out there in efficiency. I think so far this year I have found new speed in just being more aggressive and producing more power. The challenge is to find a way to hold a higher and higher percentage of that speed for the distance. Today was a really good step towards that goal. Something that I will desperately need over seas.
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