Race Recap

(My brain is a little tired, so please take that into consideration when you read my blog:))

What a week-end, filled with so many emotions and so many “take-aways”!

First off, congratulations to all of the athletes who raced this week-end.  It was really nice to see some familiar faces and meet some new people too.  A special congrats to Lindsay and Kaelen who won silver in the U23 women’s pair, Kieren who won silver in the Junior men's single, and Kerith who won silver in the U23 lightweight women’s single (and came 5^th in the A Final!). 

Secondly, a HUGE thank you to my family and friends who have been so incredibly supportive.  I didn’t win anything this week-end, but having the support that I had just made this experience that much more meaningful, and it has encouraged me to train even harder this upcoming winter season!  My parents and Andrew went above and beyond what I could have ever asked for, and having my sister come with my two nieces, as well as Robyn and Lauren (pulling all-nighters since they each had events the night before) was absolutely AMAZING!   Thank you!  Also thanks to Stani who called me each day before my races to help prepare me physicially and mentally.  And lastly, on behalf of all the DRC rowers, thanks to Ryan, Fred and Ed for coming to help bring boats and coach.

So how did my races go?

(Image of the two boats,and my blades, on top of my car while heading to Welland)

Well, first I had to get to the course, so after working ½ day in the office on Thursday, I drove out to my parent’s farm (which is just 30 minutes from the race course).  I arrived and right away got into race mode, preparing mentally for what was ahead and resting my body.  It was an added bonus to spend time with my parents since I am often “missing in action” because of my hectic work/training schedule.  I’m lucky to have them.

Friday morning came quickly and the rush of races begun!

As a lightweight single sculler, I have to weigh in at no more than 59kg.  Although I had no problems throughout the regatta, I know that I need to make a serious commitment this year to put on more muscle!  The closer I am to 59kg, the better.  And if it’s in strength, then that’s even better.

The first heat went exactly as I had imagined.  I finished in second place and was through to the quarter-finals.  The quarter-finals would determine who would be in the A/B/C/D Finals.  The A Final is the top, that’s where everyone knew the top 3 rowers in Canada would be (Lindsay, Patricia and Tracey who are competing for the top 2 spots to represent Canada in the Lightweight Women’s Double at the 2012 Olympics).  Definitely an honour to race next to them.  Not only are they the top in Canada, but they are the top in the World!

The next day I had the Quarter-Finals, and I felt more pressure from myself.  I had my eyes/mind/body set on that A Final, so I needed to do everything possible to make it.  Again I finished in second place and made it through to the next round which would be the Semi-Finals (results would determine who races in the A or B Finals).  The closer I got, the harder the racing became.  But I knew it would be like this because I had imagined it, and I knew I needed to make that A Final.

The Semi-Finals took place that same afternoon and it was not easy (as it shouldn’t have been)!  I was in solid fourth place from the start through until the last 400m left of the 2000m distance.  I knew that only the top 3 would make it through to the A Final, so I had to find that extra gear.  Where was it and when was it coming?!  As I approached the 350m I knew I was getting closer to the current 3^rd place rower, and so I closed my eyes for a split second and imagined that “Death Crawl” video…I knew I had more in me than I thought, so I pushed my legs down hard and went for the finish (pretending that THIS was my final and I had no race tomorrow).  With 100m left I was even with 3^rd place, and with a final 15 strokes to the finish I gave everything I had.  “Beep”…“Beep”!  A difference by 0.5 seconds…and I was fortunate to be on the receiving end of that “Beep”, although I have to say that the other rower and I are a pretty even match.  It was my best aggressive race ever!

I had now done it and met my goal!  I made it to the A Final as the top 6 in Canada.  A teammate of mine reminded me that just a few years ago I sat next to him at Nationals watching the A Final and asked “how does one get there?”…he responded that it takes hard work, aggressiveness and commitment.  And boy was he right.  The heat, quarter-finals, and semi-final were the hardest races of my whole season, and I absolutely loved each race.  Unfortunately I can’t say the same about my actual final.  As soon as I realized I made the A Final, I had no feeling of that intense “pressure” I had felt just a few minutes before…I later realized that I can actually perform really well under pressure (as long as I believe in myself).  I didn’t know what to do once I had actually made the A Final, so I was a bit lost and didn’t have that same “belief” in me as I had had before.  I knew I would be content with 6^th, and so I never put any other number into my head – don’t ever do that, don’t ever settle!  As you can guess, I came in 6th.

So my lesson today after my final was that I have to be prepared for anything and everything.  I wasn’t prepared to be aggressive in the A Final and I wasn’t prepared for the strong tail wind (definitely working on that this upcoming season trust me!!).  In my final, I went hard for the first 750m, but after that I lost contact with the top 3 girls (who were all next to me in lanes 2, 3 and 4) and then I was all by myself in lane 1…completely separated from lanes 5 and 6 where the rest of my competition was.  That means I also need to work on pushing myself when I have nobody around me, versus working off of others in a race.

All in all, I have a lot of “take-aways”, more than I asked forJ.  BUT, this only means I have much more room to improve so that next year I am not “participating” in the A Final, but rather I am “competing” in the A Final.

Rowing: Now it’s time to rest for a day and then attack the erg this week with some tests that need to be submitted provincially for potential Ontario Funding.  It ain’t over yet!

Work: Back to the office tomorrow to be my “business-woman” selfJ

I will post some pictures later on.  In the meantime though, thanks for joining me on this journey!