On Sunday, we did our last workout in Germany which was a very intense and useful bout of 1:30 on/1:30 off against the LM2x. We did two sets of four rehearsing every aspect of the race. The quality of rowing was high from both boats during this workout and I think we all got off the water feeling tired and excited by the way both boats were moving. Once again, we worked each others weaknesses well. I was encouraged by the way Ben and I were able to get off the line quickly, but then find a sustainable rhythm that did not compromise the speed on the later pieces. Josh and Andrew have exceptional base speed, so they were a very good test for us in the middle pieces. I was most pleased by the cohesiveness of our drive sequencing especially as we moved into the last 500m and were able to take the boat to awesome max speed in the last 250m. We have been working on taking the slack out of the stroke during the sprint and rowing uncontained within a contained framework. Yes, that sounds complicated, but it means to be wildly aggressive within our technical structure.
On Monday we hopped in the car from Germany and drove about 7 hours down to Aix-le-Bain, France where we will be staying for the next two weeks. We stayed at a Air B-n-B with Gevvie, Andrew, Josh, and co. on Monday night and then headed over to the course in the morning to find our boats on the Empacher trailer and rig up. It was a pleasure to rig up the boat without any drama. The most difficult part of traveling to race at an international regatta is familiarity with the equipment. It typically takes a few days or longer to get the rig right and get the feel in the boat that you would like. Sometimes that feel never comes. We certainly had our fair share of issues at World Cup 2 and 3 getting things to feel the way we wanted, but it now feels like it was not for nothing. Being able to show up at the World Championships and just slap the riggers on and row away from the dock like we would in Craftsbury is a great success in itself. The boat feels like a broken in baseball glove right now and I am really enjoying every time we are out on the course. Even amidst the bouncy water, our rhythm feels solid and there is little guesswork at the moment. The course is certain to get more crowded in the coming days, but I am thankful that we have gotten a chance to establish a foundation of good vibes in the boat and now we can hunker down for the uncertain water that can test the patience of even the most zen rowers. I told Ben while we were out on the water yesterday that we need to flip our perspective. Typically, we go out and we expect every stroke to feel decent and when it doesn't we are hard on ourselves to sync up. I think its important now that we get out on the water and prepare for the worst and let the idea of stable, perfect feeling rowing go. In all likelihood, the water is going to feel like rowing around Manhattan island. So, lets not expect anything. If we are lucky enough to take some nice strokes, then fantastic, but if we don't, no sweat. Everyone is dealing with the same water and we can't control it, but what we can control is whether we get frustrated by it or not. The best thing we can do is to be loose, roll with it, and just get rowdy when it comes time to race. After a 12k swing in the morning, we were lucky enough to get out at a pretty quiet time in the day and do our 90% speed 2k piece. Despite getting waked fairly substantially in the first 500, we were able to hold a powerful rhythm down the course and increase speed all the way to the finish line. We began at 1:40 split at 28 and by the end were rowing 1:35s at 30. Our overall time was around 6:35. The course was beautifully flat and torquoise, but if anything there was a light cross headwind. We paddled 8k more and then went in, making for two efficient rows for the day. We continued to work hard over the next couple of days doing a 1250m and 750m piece on Thursday with Andrew and Josh. These were valuable physiological pieces for both boats but given the amount of boat traffic we were dealing with it wouldn't be fair to take the margins from these pieces too seriously. The good news is that we got good work in with a boat in the lane next to us, and they did the same. We are getting very close to feeling ready to blast off on Monday morning. Just a few more finishing touches to put on over the next couple of days, but overall it's all there, it has been a blast rowing the double recently.
On Monday we hopped in the car from Germany and drove about 7 hours down to Aix-le-Bain, France where we will be staying for the next two weeks. We stayed at a Air B-n-B with Gevvie, Andrew, Josh, and co. on Monday night and then headed over to the course in the morning to find our boats on the Empacher trailer and rig up. It was a pleasure to rig up the boat without any drama. The most difficult part of traveling to race at an international regatta is familiarity with the equipment. It typically takes a few days or longer to get the rig right and get the feel in the boat that you would like. Sometimes that feel never comes. We certainly had our fair share of issues at World Cup 2 and 3 getting things to feel the way we wanted, but it now feels like it was not for nothing. Being able to show up at the World Championships and just slap the riggers on and row away from the dock like we would in Craftsbury is a great success in itself. The boat feels like a broken in baseball glove right now and I am really enjoying every time we are out on the course. Even amidst the bouncy water, our rhythm feels solid and there is little guesswork at the moment. The course is certain to get more crowded in the coming days, but I am thankful that we have gotten a chance to establish a foundation of good vibes in the boat and now we can hunker down for the uncertain water that can test the patience of even the most zen rowers. I told Ben while we were out on the water yesterday that we need to flip our perspective. Typically, we go out and we expect every stroke to feel decent and when it doesn't we are hard on ourselves to sync up. I think its important now that we get out on the water and prepare for the worst and let the idea of stable, perfect feeling rowing go. In all likelihood, the water is going to feel like rowing around Manhattan island. So, lets not expect anything. If we are lucky enough to take some nice strokes, then fantastic, but if we don't, no sweat. Everyone is dealing with the same water and we can't control it, but what we can control is whether we get frustrated by it or not. The best thing we can do is to be loose, roll with it, and just get rowdy when it comes time to race. After a 12k swing in the morning, we were lucky enough to get out at a pretty quiet time in the day and do our 90% speed 2k piece. Despite getting waked fairly substantially in the first 500, we were able to hold a powerful rhythm down the course and increase speed all the way to the finish line. We began at 1:40 split at 28 and by the end were rowing 1:35s at 30. Our overall time was around 6:35. The course was beautifully flat and torquoise, but if anything there was a light cross headwind. We paddled 8k more and then went in, making for two efficient rows for the day. We continued to work hard over the next couple of days doing a 1250m and 750m piece on Thursday with Andrew and Josh. These were valuable physiological pieces for both boats but given the amount of boat traffic we were dealing with it wouldn't be fair to take the margins from these pieces too seriously. The good news is that we got good work in with a boat in the lane next to us, and they did the same. We are getting very close to feeling ready to blast off on Monday morning. Just a few more finishing touches to put on over the next couple of days, but overall it's all there, it has been a blast rowing the double recently.
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