First Practice for the Green Lake Regatta

I’ve decided to chronicle my rowing here on the blog, as it’s become such a focus area in my life. There is a race coming up on March 16, 2013 – the Green Lake Spring Regatta. It’s geared toward novices and I’m happy to be able to participate in two sculling events – a master’s womens quad and double. These posts will be short, like diary entries. It seemed to me that my Facebook rowing-related status updates were getting too long and frequent.

Interesting day at the club. Woke up at 4:30, before my alarm (went to bed at 9pm.) Felt rested. Ate my tofu veggie shirataki noodle stir fry and a protein shake. Got to the gym early enough for weight training, but forgot there is no morning weights class on Wednesdays. Oops. I did some weights on my own, practiced my grip by hanging from the pull up bar, stretches, etc. Coach Battle-Axe returned with tales from his southern New Zealand bike tour. He said the “hills” there were unbelievable, like the biggest hill in Seattle stretched out for 3 miles. He said New Zealanders were very friendly and meticulous about the environment. He told us about delicious “venison pies,” which people there eat like Americans eat hot dogs. He thoroughly enjoyed his trip in breathtaking NZ.

Head Coach took us out in our racing quad – first regatta practice! Line up had me in 2 seat, which I don’t mind. I didn’t like our boat (it’s called the Prometheus) but I suspect it’s because it’s lighter than our usual – which makes it better for racing, obviously. I’ll get used to it. Head Coach had us practice starting and staying on course without bow commands. We need to be able to stay in our lanes at the regatta. He called me out repeatedly on my habit of feathering the blade too late. This has long been a problem of mine, but now it’s really important to fix it. I’ve got to get that right. As I changed my feathering time I honestly felt like my blades were just out there in the air, felt so little control. One of my boatmates reminded me to push out into the oarlocks. After several short rows I felt better about it, but it’s going to take some work. Also, our stern is a good four inches shorter than I am, so I’m having to adjust to her pace, and she’s having to slow her stroke rate a bit. I need to get my hands and arms out faster but not lose control, I know this is a problem for me because I often feel like I’m not getting full leg compression at the catch, which means I am NOT rowing with maximum power. Calibration, calibration. I so wish I could have spent another hour on the water practicing, but people have lives outside of rowing, imagine that.