Torino-Berlin Training Trip

"Gosh I LOVE rigging!" - Shane

Craig and I, happy it's over!
Sure am thankful he helped me get the rig right.

It was curious to be in Turin, Italy, without seeing Italy.  We saw bolts, nuts, tape measures, carbon fibre, and the bottoms of boats.  Most of the week, right up until late into the night before the race, was spent rigging our single sculls, new to us from Filippi boats.  The single is a very personal boat, your rhythm, your feel, must be dead on to race your best.  This comes down to you (first and foremost) but also the interaction between you and the equipment you're using.  Once the rigging was finally over, my coach Craig Hoffman patiently helping me late Saturday night in the rain to get my boat set up as good as it could be, it was as if a weight had been lifted.  The hard part of this race was over.

I love to race.  The piece itself was so enjoyable compared to the rest of the week.  It wasn't without its incidents: I picked up a tree branch on my fin going under the first bridge, and after getting passed by the sculler I had just passed... decided a last-ditch attempt to get it off by coming to a complete stop, backing the boat down several strokes, then picking it up again.  "It's a long race!" I thought, "heck, what's 10-15 seconds?" No denying it - having to stop made me furious.  Instead of worry about the crucial time lost, I let the emotion carry me upriver, rowing smart and to plan, but also... furious.

When there was an elder sculler turned sideways in the river and we were being asked to stop or steer around?  Furious.  When someone wouldn't yield and give me the good side of a turn?  Furious.  When my stake turn (180 degree turn at halfway) which I'd practiced over and over in the States was taken from me by another sculler blocking the turnaround point (I paddled around to the outside)... Furious.

700m into an 11,000m race- branch time! You can see the wake
being thrown off by stick stuck on my fin

Last 1000m, rowing furious

Shane Madden started several bow numbers behind me, and was dealing with his fair share of drama.  The officials called for him and several other of the lightweights around him to stop more than once for elder scullers who were caught in the strong current approaching the narrow lines of buoys guiding them through the upstream bridges.  It was a hectic race.

Two lightweight scullers, the German brothers Jost Schoemann-Fink and Matthias Schoemann-Fink, both World Champions in the Light Men's Four in 2009, and the Light Men's Eight in 2012, entered the Silverskiff but did not make the weight limit for scullers (72.5kg).  Both started behind me, and Jost blew by me before the halfway point with a power that I've never seen up close from a lightweight sculler.  The other brother, Matthias, I managed to hold off through the finish line, but he still closed on me significantly.  Jost ended up winning the entire regatta!  Lucky for me they didn't make weight.

Germany, World Champions 2009, Men's Light 4-
on the right, the Schoemann-Fink bros

Their power, especially Jost's, was so, so impressive.  It was as if he was rowing in a light men's quad, but the other three rowers were invisible.  Such incredible power on the oar handles, but also applied so, so smoothly and evenly.

So, even though I had won the lightweight single category, there were two lightweight scullers on the course that day that absolutely crushed me.  So be it.

On the podium with the Italians (Tucciardini on the left, Rigon on the right,
 and my Malvern Prep Crew hat!  The gentleman on the right complimented
me on my Italian.  I said thank you very much.

For kicks I looked up the two other guys who stood on the podium while the regatta organizers present a medal, trophy, shirt and and a bottle of wine.  Why can't more US regattas be like this with their generous prizes?  In 2nd place was Giorgio Tuccinardi from the Italian National Team, 2005 U23 Light Men's Pair World Champion, 2006 Light Men's Eight World Champion, 2007 Light Men's Eight Bronze, 2011 Light Men's Eight Silver.  In 3rd place was Francesco Rigon, also from the Italian National Team, 2008 U23 Light Men's Double World Champion, 2009 U23 Light Men's Quad World Champion, 2011 Light Men's Quad World Champion.

Sunday afternoon after the racing was pure joy, dining with Shane and his girlfriend and my good friend Katie.  From there, the next morning I flew to Berlin.  My friend there, an old friend from high school, gave me the perfect set up, with access to her swanky health club in the morning (complete with ergometer), breakfast with her on the top floor, and days of seeing the city before dining together by night.  Thank you so much Jordan, for showing me an incredibly good time in Berlin.  I am in your debt!

We even went to Yoga - twice!  A funny thing happened the second go-around.  The first class had been in English.  This class, however, was in German (I speak no German).  It's only four or five of us in there, my friend Jordan to my right, a guy or two in front to the right, and directly in front of me a gorgeous Fräulein.  I'd been guiltlessly staring at her the entire class, every pose, because I had to!  Otherwise I had no idea what to do next.  It was much easier to just watch and imitate those in front of me.  Everyone but me understands German.  The teacher had been demonstrating a pose which takes two.  You and your partner must grab hold of each other (in turn) to help your partner stretch, then finish with them lying on the floor as you press firmly on their upper back and sacrum at the same time.  For the uninitiated, the sacrum is basically your upper butt.  And the German instructor really wanted you to get in there and PRESS.  After demonstrating on Jordan (just as I'm assuming we'll have to now perform the moves on each other, but I know Jordan so no big deal, all adults here), the instructor gives the next command, in German... then in English.  To my horror:

 "Switch partners!"

The two guys switch to each other.  Jordan turns away.  The instructor abandons us to the other side of the room.

The Fräulein in front of me whips around, looking right into my eyes.  Switch partners??  She looked terrified as me.  Or eager?  Maybe a little of both.  We'll go with terrified, I knew I was.  I mean, jesus, I'm a novice Yoga-er in a one-piece spandex suit who speaks NO German and now I have to lay hands on a beautiful stranger who speaks no English?

There was a long pause as we looked at each other, unsure what to do next.  Damned if I was going to move first.

Jordan - the perfect host! Thank You
for making Berlin special

Jordan and the instructor saved us... switch to the OTHER partner they explained, not switch partners.  I couldn't stop smiling the rest of the class.

Wandering the streets of Kreuzberg alone on the last night...with swarms of happy people.  I attempted to give myself something scandalous to commit to my diary in ink, but really little was possible without an ally for the night.  It's not quite as much fun to not be able to talk to anyone.

Lessons from Italy:
- I'm moving the boat ok.
- The standard is very, very high, but not unreachable.
- We should have more world-class races on our schedule.
- Equipment does matter, but it's not necessary for it to be PERFECT just relatively familiar and FUNCTIONAL.
- Race calm.  And furious.
- Personally - I need to develop much more raw power, not necessarily "fitness", but brute strength.

Lessons from Berlin:
- Take the opportunities in front of you.
- Say Thank-You - it's the #1 word to know in a foreign country!
- When on someone else's schedule, don't impose yours on theirs, especially to get workouts in.
- Give the weird street food a whirl.  Might as well while my body is young and healthy enough to still take it.
- The Germans love right angles.
- Within this though, they also admire the out-of-the-ordinary, the quirky, the new.  They are so happy, a little change of pace and some excitement is what they will respond to best.  Smiling at all the German women, it was like that had never happened to them!  They welcomed the attention as happy healthy smart beautiful people will.

More to come soon, including coverage of the Schuylkill Navy Run (Turkey Trot) and other Thanksgiving Miracles.  It's good to be home, training again instead of racing, and ironing out weaknesses and giving over to the process of improving.  As Drew Ginn says in his blog, "The Process is the Result", a guiding principle for me over the past one and a half years since disc injury.  It still holds very true.  Fall racing is fun, but now is where the real task comes in - to experiment and be open to learning what will improve speed, power, technique, going into the racing season that "matters", the spring and summer.

At The Berlin Wall

Getting back in the swing of things at Malta Boat Club in Philadelphia, PA