Ergomania, Seattle

[Cyclist2]

It was a dark and rainy morning… as we headed to Ergomania in Seattle. Poor writing aside, I was hoping for a bright day. I had done the work, and the mental preparation, now it was time to put it on the line.

There were only two entries in my 60-69 lightweight division. I was acquainted with the other guy from bicycle racing years ago. He was always a front of the pack guy, but like me, had decided that flipping a boat or enduring hours on an erg were a lot more tolerable than crashing a bike. He was going to be strong, no doubt. I had been watching the entries for Greg Cook and Arlene Wade, but they must have made other plans, they weren’t signed up this year. There were four of us that C2 flew out to CRASH-B last year, and we all were back. The three women beat their qualifying times handily last year, so if I wanted a free return trip to WRIC as well, I had to pull a pretty good time – never know when a “ringer” will show up.

So, the stage was set. I had developed a runny nose Friday, but didn’t feel sick, just nervous. Checked in, dropped my bag and weighed in; 151 lbs fully clothed. The hour-of-power race was in progress, the music was loud, and people were milling about or cheering the marathon rowers. I checked out the swag, and found one of the women that I was “competing” against. We chatted briefly, then she got into her warmup. I was surprised to see my wife’s boss there. He is the owner of the gym where she trains and teaches yoga. He works out religiously, but not much on the erg. We compared notes and it looked like we had the same pacing strategy, even though he is 11 years younger.

My heat consisted of all the men from 80+ down to 50; 22 guys. My direct competitor, Hank, was just to my left. We exchanged pleasantries, agreeing that bike racing is way more fun, but this sure is a lot safer.

My plan was to hold a 1:48 pace for about 700m, back off slightly for 20 or so strokes to let my body adjust to the shock, take a few deep breaths, then slowly negative split, ending with a strong last 300m. Started off well, but those first several average pace readings in the high 1:50s are sure disconcerting. Remembering Ed’s story, I just held my 1:48. At the 1300m to go point I was slightly ahead of Hank, so I eased up a little more. The rest of the race went as planned, except it was 2 sec/500 slower than I wanted. Finished at 7:16.9, a 1:49.2 pace. Hank came in at 7:22.5. Wife’s boss pulled a 7:07.2, pretty strong dude. The fast ladies beat their times again this year, plus one 67-year-old open weight guy, so I guess I didn’t make the cut.

After a cool down, perusing results, and final chats with people, we were outta there. The obligatory dry cough accompanied me for a few hours, and it sure felt good to take a nap. Next race is SWEAT in Dallas, where my brother lives. Another painful chance at glory! (but more to visit and help him clear fence lines on his ranch).

[jackarabit]

Well-rendered, Mark.

[Yankeerunner]

Good job Mark. Excellent score. It looks like most of the guys I follow are going slower this year, as am I. On Saturday I did a 7:40.1 at the Northeast Erg Sprints, 11.3 seconds slower than last year at the same event. I was at least satisfied to have moved up to 6th in the online rankings in my division. But then later of Saturday I noticed that a 70-79 lwt guy at Ergomania did a 7:39.9 to bump me back down a notch. Never heard of the guy! A 'ringer' as you say? Happens to me every time I move up an age group.

[Cyclist2]

Thanks!

On Saturday I did a 7:40.1 at the Northeast Erg Sprints

That's close, Rick. Just a little more pain for the QT . That 72 y.o. lightweight you mentioned beat ALL the 70-79 guys, a real ringer. I don't know the 67 y.o. that "beat" me, either.

I see you're signed up for WRIC. I'll decide after SWEAT this weekend.

[Edward4492]

Good job Mark! Glad I indirectly "helped" with your pacing. Seems like we're all going a bit slower. I attribute it to one of several things. The fall off may be a but more dramatic each year when we get into our 60's (7:16 a very solid time for 65+). In my case there's been a dramatic fall off due to different training. I'm 100% OTW from April to November, it's cost me about 10s on my erg 2k. Still pretty confident I can go under 7:20 this Sunday (I'll find out soon enough!). My last year of dedicated erg training(2016 comp season)prior to the boat I pulled from 7:08 to 7:11 in five competitions. In 2015 it was 7:05 to 7:10. Last year I hit 7:17 in my last three events. Again, 8-10s lost.

The other thing I attribute it to is the effort it takes to get those last few seconds. It takes a lot of meters and a lot of really brutal sessions to get the final few percent. In your case you haven't lost much. 7:12 in a hotly contested race at Boston and 7:16 this year; well under the qualifying time and not being pushed from behind. Maybe another second or two to be had in a hotly contested event? Seems to me like you've kept it pretty close.

Regardless, very nice result. Good luck at Dallas!

(NOTE: You're also giving away 20lbs to the guys like me who sit right on the 75kg mark)

[Cyclist2]

Thanks Ed!

I got the call from C2 today. I DID make the cut here (they had a bad email address), so I signed up for the heavyweight division in Dallas just to try to push for those last few seconds in a larger group (only one currently in the lightweights).

At 7:17, you can push through and get a couple more even, 7:20 is surely within sight. It's all mental, right? Have fun!

We'll see everyone at WRIC!

[Cyclingman1]

Mark, congrats on a good 7:16 time.

Ed, I did a little research on decline of time last fall and posted in the forums: viewtopic.php?f=3&t=158878&start=30

It is far from perfect. What I did find for LWts was about a 12s drop per decade for 2K times until age 60. But age 60 is definitely a break point. From there until 80 the decline is more like 32s per decade for 2K times, or 8s of pace/500m. If one was doing 1:48 at 60, that could well change to 1:56 at 70. Of course any one person could deviate substantially from these numbers. If one took up rowing after 60, then advances will occur for a while before decline, skewing the numbers.

[Yankeerunner]

I got the call from C2 today. I DID make the cut here (they had a bad email address)

We'll see everyone at WRIC!

Great news! Hopefully we can actually meet face-to-face this year. While we are in different divisions this year we can have a side competition to see who can weigh in the most pounds below 165.

[gregory.cook]

[Lots of words]

After the news of the split of crash-b and wirc, Arlene and I couldn't decide what to do but knew that we certainly weren't excited about a 2K. We started training for an hour in August. Thought about doing it at ergomania but then just decided to do it at home instead. First year we've missed ergomania since 2005.

Congrats on your race. Sorry to have missed you. Good luck in Virginia.

[Cyclist2]

Great news! Hopefully we can actually meet face-to-face this year. While we are in different divisions this year we can have a side competition to see who can weigh in the most pounds below 165.

Defiinitely, Rick.

We started training for an hour in August. Thought about doing it at ergomania but then just decided to do it at home instead.

You probably could have won this year, Greg.

Quick report on SouthWest Ergometer Amateur Tournament (SWEAT) in Dallas. I used this an excuse to visit my brother and his wife, which went great. Three days of fun, touristy stuff, and conversation. But no erging.

He and I went to Gold's Gym for a short workout on Friday to try get the edge back a little, then we checked into the hotel - it was too far to drive from his house to make the 7:30 am race time. Who chose THAT time, anyway?!

We arrived at the venue with time to check in and warm up. No weigh in this time, I decided to get in the open class. I was seated between a very overweight 70-79 year old guy, and a very fit, strong looking guy in my group. Turns out, he was last year's winner, with a 7:13 something.

My race went about as well as expected with almost a week of no workouts. The middle 500 meters were just excruciating, but my brother was a great cox, keeping the whips active. I might have really backed off otherwise. I was not going to win, but had a solid second place so I sure could have. I shortened my stroke to get the rate up and gutted it out. I was shooting for the sub 7:20. I made it; 7:17.3 to the winner's 7:10.6 (he got faster from last year, the "ringer"). In the lightweight 60-69, the winner pulled a 6:57. Wow!

The race ended, for me, with a little wait for the results and medal collecting, the younger set was just starting to show up. We still had time to get back to the hotel for breakfast. The day finished with a tour of the Cowboys stadium (amazing building!) and the long flight home.

Now it's two weeks of "edge sharpening" before WRIC. I'm excited (?).

[Yankeerunner]

Good score, especially considering the less than optimal preparation. You should do well at WIRC. See you there.