Races!

Competition, my sweet mistress, it had been too long!

Or in other words...

All that training was for something besides self respect?!



So the last two weekends were filled with out of town racing.  The first one was in London on the Thames - the Fullers Head of the River Fours event.  Bad news though, our stroke seat was deathly ill and though we went down and rigged up the boat hoping his condition would improve enough to race he showed up that morning looking absolutely ghoulish, so we scratched.  Nevertheless, we had a good time in London.

Geoff - our 2 seat, bow side, Hertford social secretary, Crew Date Logistical Mastermind

(Yes, the boat is bow rigged.  That's how we rowll.)

Peter Morten - Mens Capn', 3 seat, stroke sider, registered badass

***

This weekend we took a much longer road trip to the east side of jolly old for the Winter Head in Cambridge.  The town was much more subdued than Oxford - had a real stuffy feel to it.  Plus the fog was so dense it got scary out there.  Hertford sent four crews to compete so it was quite a party:  men's M1 senior 4s, men's novice A 8s, women's W1 senior 4s, and women's novice A 8s - almost 30 of us.

The Cam river is narrow just like the Isis in Oxford - too narrow for a line up so the events were all time trials.  The course was 2500 meters long and had two right angle turns in it.  Since our cox is a madman this was a good thing.  He out steered the Cambridge coxes on their own waterway.  The first race was an all student class with over twenty teams competing.  It was my first boat race ever so I was nervous.  We started at a punishing stroke count of 37 and then settled after about 1500 meters of that agony.  I was focused entirely on keeping up with the other guys which was some bad tunnel vision.  Though we didn't feel like we had done well because it wasn't a smooth run we actually made decent time coming in at about 10:31 and that earned us 6th place.  

 

In the afternoon we had an official Great Britain Rowing points category race with about ten or fifteen teams.  Having cured myself of the total novice jitters I was much more relaxed for this one.  It didn't feel like I was pushing to stay in time with the other guys, the boat just flowed together.  We kept it between 31 and 33 strokes per minute for the whole race and that went much better for us.  The boat stayed sat and just ran fast and hard.  The boys were in good rhythm and looking mean I must say.  

 Pure exultation after the second race.

We had started about 400 meters behind the four taking off ahead of us and overtook them at the finish line so that was outstanding fun.  When you commit fully from the first stroke there isn't much left in the tank come time for that final push.  James, our stroke man, was roaring like a lion in the last 1000 meters and his energy was infectious.  Our cox was like a braying demon and it definitely spurred us on having so much intensity coming across that loud speaker at our feet. Some highlights: "We've got two seats on them, I want another one in three strokes!  Press them out!  Long sends!  Blood in the water!" and "That's it boys, they've broken!  Twist the knife!"  

We didn't end up winning that race but did finish 4th overall with a time around 9:33.  The top four were all within about 5 seconds of each other so it was a close battle.  Despite the loss we were all jubilant afterward.  There was the definite sense that we had raced well and as a first day of competition with this four man setup it was a great feeling to know we could row like a real crew.  

We all breathed fire for ten minutes straight and rowed until our legs were filled with molten lead, then we did it again, only better.  We lived in a realm of absolute pain that first race, but we didn't buckle.  Then we found something incredible during the second go and it felt almost effortless for those first 1500 meters.  We chased perfection and seemed to touch her for the barest of moments.  Thunder roars in your veins when you reach that place...its a dimension of sublime agony.

The Crew after racing (from right to left: Geoff, Pete, Jon (cox), James, me)

The ladies senior fours won their division so congratulations to them for sure, they rowed hard and brought home some engraved hip flasks.  We are all looking forward to seeing them take some blades in the Torpids/Bumps event.  The mens novice 8 boat also did real well in their category - should be a great team for the Christ Church Novice Regatta this coming week.  

Next semester there are a ton more races.  There will be two more fours heads at least, one in Bristol and one in a location to be determined.  Plus the big all Oxford Torpids is eights bump racing on the Isis.  Apparently its carnage on the river everyday for a week.  Sounds like my kind of party.  Everyone has to try out for that boat so I'm stoked to train hard over the break and come back with a business face on.   

That's all for tonight.  Heading to bed for a bit of well earned slumber.  

Updates

Went and checked out the Ashmolean Museum here in town.  Great thing about the museums here, they are all free.  Their special exhibit was some pre-Raphaelite work, which was spectacular.  It was mostly John Ruskin and his pupils and adherents, rather than any Italian painters.  The landscapes were particularly amazing.

 Been hanging out at the Union Society building a lot lately.  Its got some great rooms to get serious work done.  Below is the Gladstone Room, which has become my favorite place to read in all of Oxford.
Its usually empty too - an amazing space to spread out and ponder big ideas.

But when I'm not reading I'm usually to be found at the Hertford College Boat House on the river Isis that runs through town.  Training has been kicked up a notch in the last week - we are going out twice a day quite often and even when we aren't the coaches encourage us to hit the ERG machines for extended sessions.  In two weeks time the M1 fours team that I have the privilege of rowing for will be headed down to London to race in the Head of the River competition.  All of our training has been geared towards preparing for that race so we can have a good showing.  

Every day we go out the boat is looking better.  The whole thing is starting to come together in a big way.  Tonight as we were heading back in after sundown we had a real nice string of strokes where we were all in unison and the boat stayed rigid through the whole set.  From solid catches to powerful sends, we drove those knees down and pushed our chests out at backstops - all together and in beautiful unity.  I was concerned it wouldn't be coming together in time but after tonight I know we can do it.

Though more is demanded of me than I have ever known, I get to wake up and look at scenes like this...

...with four other guys all equally feeling the need to drive for perfection.  It's pure magic when we get into the rhythm and all move as one.  I wouldn't trade my time on the water for any depth of slumber no matter how sweet that bed may seem.  It can't possibly hold a candle to what we get into out there every morning.

I like the challenge of working this hard to two arenas.  Stress from the school work arises periodically but getting an oar in my hands banishes it like a shot of espresso to the dome.  I can see why students here are encouraged to engage in a sport while studying, it would weigh too heavily to be so wrapped up in the purely mental theater of exertion.  Balance serves me well.