Rowing on the River

Ouch… this boy is sore! Sunday we had an extreme practice row. There were enough rowers to take out an 8 and a four. Jason coxed/coached the four which was Trish, Chris, Will and Me. We did some drills I had never done before. We are all advanced rowers in that we all have been on the water for at least a year now. (Will has rowed collegiate; he is a pro to us!) We all have the basics down pretty well, now we have to fine tune some of the techniques.

Jason had us row with the inside hand way down on the body of the oar, and trying to come up to the “catch” (where you drop the oar into the water) so your chest is parallel to the oar. That gives you a little bit more length and more power when you push back with your legs. I was rowing starboard so I was pulling with my right arm; I can still feel it down my right side now. We rowed upstream nearly to the steel mill. We spun the boat and then rowed continuous back to the boathouse. That was 5,000 meters more or less. It was the furthest and longest we have ever rowed without stopping.

It had rained earlier in the afternoon, so it was not boiling hot and the humidity was down. What a rush to be part of a “machine” cutting through the water. I was grinning ear to ear when we docked!

Jason coached us this morning from the launch. We were rowing the “Big Sky Amigo” the eight that weighs a ton. Our seats got all mixed up and I ended up rowing the five seat in the stern. The inside four rowers are know as the “engine room”. Usually I’m at the bow seat. It was a nice change to be with the “big boys” for a change! We spun the sweep not far from the steel mill and rowed sixes continuously back to the dock. Every time we rotated in/out a pair we rowed with high pressure for half a minute. That really gets the old heart rate up! I was flying from endomorphins released from that exertion when we docked.

Working out at the Y a couple hours later I was able to stretch out my sore right side so it feels much better now. Today I was psyched to burn out on the Concept II trainers. First I warmed up doing 2,000 meters in about ten minutes. After working out chest and shoulders, I returned to try and duplicate the time we rowed in the regatta when we took 2nd place. Starting with a racing start ½, ½, ¾, reach and then full slide I did the 1,000 meters in 3:54. I can tell I’m improving in that my hamstrings did not start to burn out till the 600 meter mark. When I started doing this it was at the 200-300 meter mark when they would hurt.

One of our rowers had her husband in the coach’s launch to film us in a practice a few weeks ago. It was not our boat that was coached that day. The best he was able to do was to get a shot of us as we passed. Things are shaky and Luna the dog hogs a bit of the video! Jamie is in the bow seat (the first) wearing the blue Tee shirt.

Black Warrior Rowing Club Tuscaloosa, AL Practice Row 6.25.09 All 8's from Amy McCauley on Vimeo.