Dallas SWEAT

[Quatroux]

Today was the Southwest Ergometer Amateur Tournament held at Jesuit College Preparatory School of Dallas. This event is sponsored by Concept2. Many thanks to Jesuit, Concept2, and everyone else that made this possible. I'd like to add a story or two about the masters rowers I saw race today. For now, you'll have to settle for my story.

Today I rowed in my first competition. This C.R.A.S.H.-B. Satellite Regatta was held in Dallas as a fundraiser for a high school team. There were over 500 competitors registered for the all-day event.

I got up this morning at 3am to have some water and eat a protein bar. I did get back in bed before getting up for good at 5:30 to walk the dog. That was a good warm-up which I followed with some light rowing for 8’. I drank a Carnation Breakfast Essentials (taste awesome by the way) and got ready for the event.

I arrived an hour early with coffee in hand. I am normally caffeine free so I knew the coffee with would work for me – if it works at all. I’m not convinced it did so I probably won’t be doing that again.

I kept to myself for an hour while people arrived and the masters women raced. The women all looked very fast and I enjoyed watching them give it their all. There were many talented rowers in the two masters womens heats.

I stretched a lot, rowed a bit, and just tried to keep moving until my heat was up. I must mention that the folks that occupied a warm-up erg ALL MORNING and/or sat idle on the thing while watching the early heats should be shot. Perhaps not with a gun, but sprayed by a skunk or forced to bathe in fox urine would be a suitable punishment.

I am a 30-39 heavyweight. My heat included older masters men, one lightweight in my age group, and three other heavyweights in my category. I was put on erg #2 next to this really nice guy that happens to have won the event 5 times in a row. Many thanks to the other 30-39 heavyweights that didn’t provide a 2k time for seeding. I plan to smoke you next year. Seriously. It isn’t like your times aren’t posted on RegattaCentral and let’s be honest: you aren’t very fast.

I am blessed to be very tall so people assume I am a fast rower. They don’t know that I was prohibited from playing sports in high school, had open heart surgery in my 20’s, and just started exercising for the first time in my life less than 2 years ago. I had a 9’ 2k when I started this. I got that down to 7:43.8 after 4 months on the Wolverine Plan. That includes two team challenges that I allowed to tempt me into rowing bulk meters (junk) instead of doing serious work. Folks don’t know this so I swallow my pride a bit each time I get around people that are as fast (or faster) than they look.

Anyway, I sat down next to the fast guys and got some excellent race advice from the 5-time champ. He is from the steady pace camp and reiterated the importance of rowing MY race, starting fast, settling into my target pace, and evaluating my energy reserves with 900m to go.

I got off to a good start, but had a little trouble settling into my target of 1:55.x. I was a bit fast, but would soon be grateful to have built up that little cushion. I eventually locked onto 1:55.x and started the second 500m with a 1:54.0 average.

Going 1:55.x the second 500m meant that I started to give back some of that early cushion. I was slowly creeping up from 1:54 towards 1:55. Remember that advice I got to evaluate my energy reserves with 900m to go? I did that, but didn’t like the response I got. I can’t share what my heart, lungs, and brain had to say. The language they used isn't suitable for a family-friendly forum like this.

Instead of starting my sprint, I started moving in the other direction. My goal of beating 7:40.0 was slipping away. The 5-time champ was starting his final strokes and I could just picture him looking over to watch me quit instead of sprint.

My form was getting bad. I think I even hit my knee with the handle at one point. I wasn’t getting enough oxygen and my brain was telling me to quit. It would be okay to quit. That really seemed like a good choice since beating 7:40.0 wasn’t going to happen.

400m passed and I couldn’t start my sprint. 300m came and went. I tried all the tricks. I focused on form; I tried to grunt it out. I thought about Rosenberg, Grinko, and Xeno Muller. I had originally planned to sprint at 300m, but it wasn’t working. I had given up my early cushion and it didn’t look like I could hold on.

The best way I can explain how tired I was is to share this: I'm certain that I had snot running down my face at this point. There could have been 500+ strangers in the room with me and I didn't care. I was snot faced tired and there’s no way I could push on. I had 200m to go and that’s too much. I can’t go 'beast mode' for 200m… maybe 100, but not 200.

Suddenly, my splits stabilized and I got back down to 1:55.x. I couldn’t tell if breaking 7:40 was still possible. It was just outside my reach, but I was happy that it was no longer getting further away from me.

By the time I hit 100m to go I was below 1:55. My average for the whole piece was at 1:55.1 and I had no idea if I could make up a full tenth of a second in 100 meters.

As I counted down my final strokes I got my average to 1:55.0. As I crossed the finish line, I couldn’t tell, but I knew it was close.

I could see that I had held off the rower behind me and that my average 500m split was 1:55.0. It wasn’t until I caught my breath that I realized that my total time was 7:39.9. I had done it! And by less than a tenth of a second!

Wow! That was a poor time for sure. I came in 12th in my heat of 15 and last of the four 30-39 heavyweights. However, I had somehow done it. I don’t know how I got those last 100 meters out of me, but this was a new PR. I had shaved 3.9 seconds off my last PR and done it during my first competition.

[Yankeerunner]

Well done Andy. Great report.

I wholeheartedly agree about those who hog the warmup machines. Especially those who just sit on them without even using them.

[Quatroux]

The growing crowd had paid little attention to the previous heats, but that quickly changed. The entire room gathered around to watch this race. They were drawn to it by a mountain of a man. He looked fast. He was tall, lean, and athletic.

In the men’s open, all eyes were on Ben Stewart of the Austin Rowing Club. He's wasy to spot because he brought his own rail. He's that tall.

After a bit of research on Concept2, I discovered that he has recorded some pretty impressive times this season. They include a 16:49.5 5k, 38:49.2 10k, 8154m 30’, and 16271 60’. That’s pretty good.

Most surprising is the fact that he competed at SWEAT last season and didn’t win! What? I guess this was a slow year for the men’s open. Slow is obviously relative as I can assure you as this man is the fastest rower I’ve ever seen in person (I admit this is a small list). This was my first race and Ben Stewart got to set the bar. Congrats to him because I plan to be pretty fast myself if I can ever shake this case of slowness, fatness, and general out-of-shapedness.

I’m not going to give you a play-by-play. Ben got out in front of the field and never let off the gas. He didn’t even pickup his pace in the final meters. Had had this well in hand the whole way. I’m not even sure he was trying. I don’t even know if he was sweating.

Before I tell you what his time was, let me share this quote with you:
“In judging others, folks will work overtime for no pay.” - Charles Edwin Carruthers

Ben Stewart won the Mens Open 1x by almost 15 full seconds with a time of 6:20.7. That’s not a world record and I’m sure those of you that go to the C.R.A.S.H.-B. sprints will see a whole field of faster rowers. I also don’t know if he’s capable of more. He definitely wasn’t pushed to go any faster.

Two other rowers that day were faster, but they were in different heats. Had they all been thrown in together I would have been able to see a really great race. I have no idea if Ben would have won, but I’ll tell you that I did thoroughly enjoy joining the entire room in watching a race that was never really close.

[Quatroux]

My final thoughts on my first race…

I got absolutely paced by the juniors coach from the Tulsa Rowing Club. Neil Bergenroth won the 30-39 heavyweight category with a time of 6:44.3. He was a really nice guy so I didn’t mind losing to him. I just wish it hadn’t have been by so much.

Neil gave me some great advice that I shared in my first post. It turns out that this guy rowed on the Great Britain Junior National Team, 4 years at Boston University, and has now built a pretty good (as I understand it) juniors program in Tulsa, Oklahoma. He knows what he’s talking about. These are the kinds of people you can meet at one of these things.

I’ve written all of these (3 posts) primarily for those of you that have never raced. This is what you can expect. I had no problems jumping right in and getting beat (placing 12th in a heat of 15), seeing some amazing rowers (Ben and Neil are good examples), and meeting some great people (ex: Neil, a nice 40-49hwt from the Dallas Rowing Club, and the entire SWEAT staff/volunteers).

If you are thinking about racing in an indoor regatta, do it!

[PaulG]

Andy: Great effort. "The credit goes to the man in the arena...." Read the full quote by Teddy Roosevelt.

Paul G

[Quatroux]

I wholeheartedly agree about those who hog the warmup machines. Especially those who just sit on them without even using them.

I had forgotten about the few folks that parked their stuff on some warmup ergs and then LEFT! (I think it was mostly CrossFitters, but there may have been a boathouse shirt on one of them as well) I was very happy to have done a little warmup at home so I didn't need a full warmup before my race.

[Quatroux]

Andy: Great effort. "The credit goes to the man in the arena...." Read the full quote by Teddy Roosevelt.

Paul G

Paul,
You and Yankeerunner (via the 'What Training Have You Done Today' Thread) both mentioned that so I'll post it here. I agree that it is a good one. Thanks.
-Andy

"It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs, who comes short again and again, because there is no effort without error and shortcoming; but who does actually strive to do the deeds; who knows great enthusiasms, the great devotions; who spends himself in a worthy cause; who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who neither know victory nor defeat." via http://www.theodore-roosevelt.com/trsorbonnespeech.html

[Cyclingman1]

who spends himself in a worthy cause; who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly,

Does this quote apply to rowing. I'm sure that T.R. would probably say, yes. Just wondering?

[Quatroux]

Does this quote apply to rowing. I'm sure that T.R. would probably say, yes. Just wondering?

Is rowing a worthy cause? I guess no more so than any other sport unless you count that we're unlikely to have major brain injuries or joint problems later in life. We should get credit for almost killing ourselves without threatening our long-term health.

I spend a lot of time on rowing and I think it is worth it. The stage may be a bit smaller than others, but the work it takes to get there is equal or greater. I'm driven to compete. I'm motivated by my loss. I know that if I always fall short I will be one of the few that knows and appreciate what it takes to win.

[Bob S.]

Interesting that the subject of TR would come up on a rowing forum. The earliest memory that I have of hearing about TR was that he was asthmatic as a child and worked hard at rowing (probably in a heavy skiff like I used at the time) to help to overcome it.

Bob S.

[Cyclingman1]

Sometimes I think we all need to be careful about overstating the importance of sports. I say that as a lifetime athlete who probably has crossed the line more than once. Obsessiveness in most anything can be harmful, including sports. What other aspect of life, affecting just who, is getting ignored when an activity takes blood, sweat, and tears? I just throw that thought out there.

[Quatroux]

I agree to a point.

Yesterday, someone told me that they try to do something once a year for their mind, body, and spirit. I thought, “Why would you neglect those things so much?” I try to do something every day for each. I keep my mind sharp with work, my body sharp with rowing, and my spirit sharp with scripture. There’s no balance. These are tasks that must be completed for the day.

What I get to determine is how they are completed. I change my schedule so that the only things I miss are time in front of the TV or sitting in a drive-thru. I don’t sacrifice. I prioritize.

Sometimes things don’t go as planned. I can only control the controllable. I gain nothing if I worry about anything that falls off today’s list.

In short, I think you can be a winning athlete and a good husband, father, and friend. The more I give to rowing the more I appreciate those that are faster than me. I don’t credit genetics. That’s an uncontrollable. I credit all their training and learning.

That’s why masters rowers are the top of the rowing food chain. Your Olympic gold is cool, but I want to watch the men and women that balance family and work. I want to watch the cardiac athlete post 7:59.9. I want to see Mom finish graduate school and a 100km row in the same year. I want to witness an 80+ lightweight row in competition. These are champions in the arena of life.

Did you notice that I didn't mention a single race won or world record beat? I want that, but can I train harder and longer than the next guy to get it? Will it be enough? I won't find out until the race!

Priorities are the solution to the problem. If you neglect all around you to train, who will be there to welcome you at the finish line? Beating that guy is worth what?

The world will not remember you for winning a hammer in Boston. The world has already forgotten about greater people! Therefore, I don't store up my treasures with the world. Let's do this for us. Let's do it right and see how far that gets us. Let's leave it all on the erg or in the boat and know that we had nothing left to give. Don't compete for anyone else. Compete for you and know that you are a great example even if the world doesn't take the time to notice.

[insurroundsound]

Well said....

[Cyclingman1]

Ditto

[Quatroux]

I thought it might be a bit much, but thanks for understanding the intent. We do some cool stuff around here.