CRASH-Bs '17 65+HWTs

[lindsayh]

Sorry it this is a little self-indulgent but thought I would try to record my thoughts a little before too much time elapsed. Could be a bit long winded I am afraid.

Well that was fun. A 12 month project completed and I achieved a lot (but not all) of what I had hoped to do. My goals at the start were to have a lot of fun, finish the race, win a medal and do a PB (currently 6:46.4). So I have to live with three out of four but can do that comfortably which may be a weakness rather than a strength. Started August 1 with a plan for 6 sessions a week as a combo IP/PP and missed about 5/6 total altogether. Chose to use the training forum to document them and found that it was really useful for motivation knowing that I had to report the results of each session to the group and that a “fail” would be noticed. I also planned early on to allow enough time to acclimatise here in the US and in retrospect that was a good call too with 7 days in California and 5 in Boston. I didn’t want to leave any excuses for not doing well and arrived on Sunday knowing there was nothing left to chance. What changed in the last nine months was the emergence of Chris Cooper from 9 years of erging “holiday” with the very clear intent of winning a hammer after a close second as a 55+.

The day is amazing even when not terribly well organised and well worth the effort of going even when it involves the sort of travel plans from the other side of the world that we have to make. For those of us part of this community there is the real pleasure of meeting virtual erg buddies from all over the world (way too many to mention but great to meet Rick, Ed, Jack and Mark from here), spending a day talking erg and watching extraordinary athletes doing extraordinary things. That includes of course the 5:45 Open men and 6:33 women win (which were amazing races), 6:50 junior woman and Justine’s 7:16.7 at the age of 47(lwt). What about a 3:01 1k by an amputee athlete? What about my Kiwi friend Shirley Godkin 8:11 for 70+ hwt? … and of course what about Chris Cooper setting a new WR 2 weeks ago (6:39.5) and nearly matching it yesterday in WIRC conditions.

Chris’s rapid emergence and progress forced me to change my plans a bit for better or worse. Decided that the only way of giving myself a winning chance was to go out hard enough to stay in touch in case he faltered rather than a TT type approach which may/would have produced a faster time but would have meant being behind the whole way. I knew that if he did what he can do then I was never going to win. The goal was to get to 1km at 3:20/2 and then see what was happening. That mission accomplished with first two splits 1:39 and 1:42 (held sr34 pretty much all the way) and Chris just ahead by then but I felt in touch. He then pushed on and held 1:39 splits for the second 1km which is beyond me of course. Chris is an a genuine athlete, very strong, obviously very well prepared and very intent on winning as well – props to him as I suspect there is no one around right now who is better than him for 2km in our age group (and I am mindful that TJO is still sub 70yo). So I finished 6:47.4 exactly 1” outside PB and maybe 2/3” slower than my dream time with the silver medal to take home. That’s ok especially for a fat old guy who isn’t really all that athletic! No regrets although I have never finished a race without thinking that I really could have done a little better and this was no exception.

Highlights (and you can’t see all the racing from any one vantage point unfortunately) if you want to sort through the live feed include the Open men where the winner chased down Pavel S (who set new WR for 40+ men and faster than G Benton) and the women where Olenya Buryek did a 6:33 and was chased all the way by Georgie Rowe a young Aussie surf boat rower who is totally new to the erg and did 6:40. There were 4 Aussies here and 3 of us managed silvers. The 40+ hwt was very good – Benton was a no show so it was close with Luke Wollenschlager just holding off Sam Blythe. Not sure how he does it with very poor technique which becomes dramatically worse as he hits the inevitable wall - still managed of 6:00 though. What he could do with training is hard to imagine. Some of the school boys were very classy too and rowed really well. The 40+hwt women winner did 6:59 without being a big lady.

I guess the message is just do it if you get a chance – doesn’t matter where you finish you are guaranteed a great day. Thanks for all the help from everyone here – I promise it made a difference even if the final time didn’t suggest that so much. It has been a great experience and I have soooo many new friends.

[Cyclist2]

Good thoughts, Lindsay! I'll have a report and some follow up on all the great posts about CRASH-B when I finally make it home, hopefully tomorrow.

[hjs]

Well done L. And it certainly sounds you had fun in the process. Short break (mentally) and from there on to next goal I would say. I believe that is possible, but not in 5 years

[Citroen]

There's nothing self indulgent about flying round the world for less than seven minutes of excitement.

Hmmm, wait. Some of us are heading to Tennessee for 2'40" of totality for the solar eclipse this summer.

[le grand fromage]

There's nothing self indulgent about flying round the world for less than seven minutes of excitement.

Hmmm, wait. Some of us are heading to Tennessee for 2'40" of totality for the solar eclipse this summer.

And it might be a cloudy day as well

[RIDERS7]

Lindsay - nice read and so pleased for you. Three out of four targets is still excellent. Really enjoyed your updates on the way though to Crash B and let's push on again.

[Bloodbuzz Corio]

Great write-up Lindsay and congratulations on your second place! I was watching the live stream during your event - certainly a disappointing amount amount of coverage of your battle with Chris. Really enjoyed reading all of your posts across both your training and racing in the lead up to Boston - so was definitely looking forward to a report along these lines!

[jackarabit]

Rohan, my wife was well-positioned down front at the boards with her video camera looking straight at the #74 erg. She caught some of the Cooper/Hay matchup to her right. I'll see what she has and put up a vid if it adds anything to the official feed.

[lindsayh]

Rohan, my wife was well-positioned down front at the boards with her video camera looking straight at the #74 erg. She caught some of the Cooper/Hay matchup to her right. I'll see what she has and put up a vid if it adds anything to the official feed.

thanks jack - the official feed has virtually none of our race unfortunately .

[Bloodbuzz Corio]

Rohan, my wife was well-positioned down front at the boards with her video camera looking straight at the #74 erg. She caught some of the Cooper/Hay matchup to her right. I'll see what she has and put up a vid if it adds anything to the official feed.

Thanks Jack!

Looks like you made it into the official feed for a little while - but unfortunately most of the time when you were in the camera's view there were people between the first and second rows of ergs blocking you out - could catch a few of your strokes though!

[GJS]

Great report, Lindsay. Looks like success from where I'm standing.
Sam Blythe runs a gym not too far from me. Might knock on his door for wisdom at some point.

Perhaps - when you've the time/inclination - you could give us your thoughts on the IP plan? Would be great if Glenn did the same.

[mdpfirrman]

Congrats Lindsay! I knew where everyone finished by Sunday mid day. I just couldn't wait for the reports to look. It sounds like you had a great race, though not where you wanted to be. You ARE an amazing athlete though. I'd beg to differ with your self assessment. And a humble one at that, so I'll listen to your reports (and training nuggets) anytime.

[lindsayh]

Great report, Lindsay. Looks like success from where I'm standing.
Sam Blythe runs a gym not too far from me. Might knock on his door for wisdom at some point. perhaps - when you've the time/inclination - you could give us your thoughts on the IP plan? Would be great if Glenn did the same.

thanks Gary - it was pretty good from where I was sitting too - I am not unhappy about it at all really but....

There is a lot of material on this thread from late last year about IP and PP: viewtopic.php?f=3&t=153673
If there is more then feel free to ask
Just noticed BTW for no particular reason and apropos of nothing that Glenn lives in Asheville NC - recently voted the most liveable small city in all of the USA I think

[G-dub]

Well done Lindsay - you approached it to go for a win which is very gutsy and admirable. I would have expected nothing less from a true Aussie! It was fun being in your orbit these last 6 months or so. Your positive attitude kept me going at times. I regret not getting the chance to meet you in person this time around. Hopefully some day.

Yes, Asheville gets lots of good press about its livability, artiness, ourdoorsiness and funkiness. Should anyone be passing by please pop in! Should you enjoy beer, we have an amazing line up of fine breweries and quite a fair number per capita. Good food too for a small city.

[jackarabit]

This vid of 65-9HWT is mostly Jack until 5:50 in, at which time my wife sensed the roar of the greasepaint and smell of the crowd and panned to Cooper/Hay/Kurmakov for roughly 1:45. Jean had a serendipitous pov just fwd of their beam which clearly captures the windup and sprint. [Jack carries on for a couple more leisurely minutes but get a load of the Andy Benko no thumbs grip and the water bottle "clean" afterwards!]

https://youtu.be/-D4Os2Q8FZQ