Independence Day Regatta

[Edward4492]

Mens Masters 1x
4:19 1000m Last place 5th of 5 (by a few 1/10s)

Not an erg race, hope you'll indulge me as I make the transition to OTW racing. Met some of the real rowers today from Carnegie Lake Rowing. Two weeks ago ran into Jerry Trupelli, one of my old bike racing buddies and a very serious 1x masters competitor. Joe Oliver introduced himself, seems he's been following some of my ramblings on the forum. He introduced me to one of his team mates, Bill Flynn, who was in my race in the lane next to me; we ended up going neck-in-neck with Bill edging me by a few 1/10's. And Mike Smith said hello, he was in my event (a youngster at age 55). Mike is an incredible rower and has several hammers in his closet. He's poised to destroy the 55+ LWT erg WR this year.

To say I was a nervous wreck would be an understatement. I pretty much botched the whole set up, came to the line late, in the wrong lane. I finally got where I belonged and got squared up. By this time the real rowers were probably ready to shoot me. It was a floating start. On the command "ROW" I had a nice controlled 1st and 2nd stroke then promptly crabbed and had to get myself back on track. Jamie from South Jersey Rowing Club (whom I know pretty well and is an excellent coach) commented to me after the race as politely as possible "You might want to try getting your blades out of the water when you're feathering at the start, your feathering under water". Hmmm.....feathering above the water, that would probably help. I got back on track and promptly crabbed again at around 400m, lost the handle and got it back ( all the while thanking Anthony at Shell Repair for selling me a nice stable boat). By the 500m mark I was so exhausted I settled down, backed off to a 28r, and promptly started rowing cleaner and faster. Looking at my Speed Coach (after the race) I was under 2:10 the whole second half. I caught Bill Flynn ( he was probably laughing at my egg-beater rowing style) and we went neck-in-neck to the line.

So, what did I learn today? I figured my absolute best I could target this season was to break 4:30, and I went 4:19. I wanted to finish with the other boats; and I did. And most importantly; even when you botch it up just keep rowing. I think when I learn to relax a bit and just row the way I'm capable of I'll go a little faster. May not be quite as amusing to watch; but definitely better. I also learned that OTW times are hard to judge. Seems as if we had some help from the current today due to a thunderstorm last night, there were a lot of fast times posted. I'm not delusional, I think the current probably tacked 10-15s onto my time.

But for my first race? I'll be more relaxed next time, otherwise pretty happy with the result.

[edinborogh]

are you kidding? awesome result, great effort, and now that you know how the water "taste" - you'll get better and better.
hard work pays off and you did awesome. im very happy for you!

[Edward4492]

Thanks edinborough! Ya, Mike Smith is a total power house. He pulled a 6:28 last year (or 2016) and was in a few tenths of the 50-54LWT WR. He should break the 55LWT WR this year. Met him at CRASH B's, nice guy. I was surprised he remembered me. I was pretty encouraged today. Unlike the erg, there is so much more time to be gained through technique and clean rowing. On the erg the technique comes pretty fast, then it's all fitness. And the thrill of racing head to head, side by side was a blast. Keep up the good work!

[G-dub]

You make this forum great and honest, my friend. And I admire your awesome sense of humor and desire. Well done for putting yourself on the line and experiencing it all.

[edinborogh]

You make this forum great and honest, my friend. And I admire your awesome sense of humor and desire. Well done for putting yourself on the line and experiencing it all.

well said!

[Edward4492]

Thanks guys; looking forward to your first OTW race report Glenn!

[Cyclist2]

Well done, Ed!

[Edward4492]

Thanks Mark, hope all is well.

[lwtguy]

Great job Ed! It's nice to see that you were actually a part of the race, not just in it.

Mine didn't go as well. THe conditions Friday sucked, 12mph headwind and white cap waves, not good for a 1x event, let a long a lightweight one. My lack of experience in the single showed as I had trouble getting the rate above 28spm and my pace was above 2:00 the whole time. I only ended up missing the semis by about 1 second, although I had no idea I was even that close.

The moral of the story for me is that I need to have more confidence in my rowing ability, even when I thought I would come in last place I was doing better than I thought. Perhaps if I had more inspiration I could've pushed out that extra second to make it...

[Edward4492]

Thanks Bill, after a rough first half I settled down and actually caught and passed the 4th place guy, won by 4s raw, lost by a few 1/10's on handicap. Felt good to at least be in the race. Conditions were vastly different for your race. We had very light winds and a decent current; made for fast times. Definitely tough doing a time trial when you don't know where you are. I'm going to try and make LWT for the next one, need to lose about 5lbs. I should be more competitive based on the times I saw Sunday. Maybe I'll see you at Quaker City.