Week 5 And Club Nationals

Sorry all that this post is late but it was a busy week and Then I was off to Club Nationals. To Start with the week of before club Nationals we had Monday of because we were racing on Sunday. As I did not make finals in my eight I took Monday to do some Aerobic Erging 2x 20 minutes and a total of 11500 meters. On Tuesday I lifted in the morning and in the afternoon I was in the 4+ where the focus was mainly Technique with Vince and he built the stroke up from recovery and then the hang to move quickly through the water with connection. Finally focusing on the backing in of the blade to make sure that that connection occurs earlier.

Wednesday was Steady state with Vince in the Cox Seat. he is a Vulgar little Sicilian and a amazing coach/cox and individual. We rowed at least 12 miles and were ahead of the other eights in the last half of the work out. It became clear that it is possible to accomplish almost anything with determination. If you bring that with you no one can beat you. The misconception with steady-state rowing is that it is an "off" day or a swing row. Steady state is a Hard day of rowing where the mental focus is technique. This is different than piece day where the focus is to be tough for the rowing and the technique is natural. In the evening we did 1500 meter pieces and did alright. Some of the people in the boat needed to find the motivation to do well and we pulled it together for the last piece. AS Christian said, "Winning is mental. If you don't think you can win why line-up?" It was interesting to row so hard that my legs went numb.

Thursday I lifted in the morning. In the evening we started with a Steady row focusing on the swing. Then we did 1 min pieces at a 32-34-36-38-36-34-race simulation. It was alright.

Friday in the morning was another day of Steady state for an hour and the evening was devoted entirely to Balance and Blade tricks.

Saturday was 3 by 2Km at full race simulation. We did not far to well the first 2 but then we won our third. I believe this happened because everyone finally was tired to relax in the race and also they finally got tired of losing.

We then left on Monday to head to TN for Club Nationals. It was a long 10 hour drive. We practiced on Tuesday. Then I raced in the Eight Heat on Thursday. We cam in third easily so coasted to the Semi-finals. On Friday was the Semi-Finals and We needed to place in the top 3. I feel that we could have done it. We were solidly in third and were hanging with second place. through the first 1200 meters. And that is where it went down hill. Our Coxswain called for our move at the 1300 and for whatever reason the rating dropped and the I feel the oars go heavy and the boat got heavy. Needless to say we lost all of the momentum and positioning we had. and ended up losing the Semi Race. So the rest of the week was hanging out and going on runs in Oak Ridge. Penn AC fared rather well though winning the Men's overall and the Combined Team Points Trophies.

The focus for the upcoming weeks are on Canadian Henley. Which is the first week in August.