September 23, 2010

Yesterday saw the Harvest Moon, and today ushered in the first day of fall. At 5:30 am along the river, the full moon cast a bright light on the dark waters and gave us the impression we might be able to see.

We launched 4 boats this morning: 1 eight, 2 fours and 1 double. Our four (I was in 3-seat) started off with a reverse pick drill, legs only. We worked our way upstream by pairs breaching the silvery silence. At the initial low rating of 20-22, we immediately had problems on every stroke, and wobbled from side to side--maddening! In vain attempts to correct it, we tried to apply more pressure at the drive to no avail. That was followed by an effort to get hands away faster and bodies set sooner - it still didn't come together. We may have even tried to slow the slide--but still the wobble.

My speculation is that is that some in the boat are still working on correcting their propensity for leaning with their outside shoulder opposite their rigger instead of following the arc of the oar, dropping their inside shoulder and twisting out over the rigger from the hip.

After Three Sisters, we rowed a 10-minute piece, all 4, up to the middle of Fletcher's Cove. It had its moments, but we are still struggling with some of these fundamentals. The rating on the way up to Fletcher's was about a 24--very heavy, not efficient, not powerful.

When we paused at Fletcher's to rest and get comments from Nancy, the gentle hues of the morning sky to the South spoke softly but with the certainty of a well constructed phrase. The effect of the morning was one of muted drama--the type that goes unnoticed by the unobservant: recall some paintings in the museum that don't immediately draw the attention, but with sustained observation intensify despite their subtlety.

After turning around, we had 2 10-minute pieces at a 28 rating. This is close to race pace, and the object of the exercise was to focus on:

-Overall form
-Pressure at the drive
-Controlling the slide
-Maintaing length in the water

We got it together somewhat, but we lacked power. The first 10-minute piece was a bit like rowing a grand piano--very heavy. Some of us were digging a bit and this slowed us down a great deal. We are still not together on hands down and away and bodies over together. Most of all, we are still tending towards rushing the slide--the last 6 inches--and not letting the boat do its work by letting it run out under us. Our cox this morning was Steve C., an experienced coach who kept saying "let the boat do the work" and "let the boat come up to meet you at the catch."

The second 10-minute piece was much better--more relaxed--but still rushing a bit on the slide. Tomorrow is another day.