I finished my last meeting of the day around 3pm and decided to get my boat and all my stuff together and head out for the first row of the season.  No training objective other than to see how things felt and enjoy a nice warm afternoon.

One purpose was to get my boat moved onto it’s rack, down in Newton.  I setup my boat, got the rigger back on, put on the speedcoach, put my iphone on it’s new mount and launched without any fuss.

First I headed up stream to my old boathouse and to get the feel of rowing again.  I was a bit tentative for the first dozen or so strokes, but I quickly noticed that my balance was good.  I was keeping one or both blades off the water right away.  I also noticed that I was easily keeping my recovery sequenced right, with my legs all the way down until my arms were extended and my back leaning forward.  I also didn’t feel like I was rushing into the catch.  I need to take some video and get RIM set up to make sure that I am not deluding myself, but I think spending the winter on slides was a very good thing.

It will take a bit of time to get my on the water pacing right.  I was pushing the pace too hard and my HR shows it.  I need to just relax a bit and ease up on the pressure to get a good UT2/UT1 rhythm going.   Anyway, it is all good.  I’m back on the water and I think I am going to row better than I was last season.

Start_|_Dist_|_Split_|_Pace_|_Strks__|_Rate_|_DPS_|_AvgHR_|_Remarks
00020_|_0760_|_04:44_|_3:06.6_|_077___|_16.3_|_09.9_|_099___|_warmup
00780_|_1420_|_06:49_|_2:24.0_|_137___|_20.1_|_10.4_|_157___|_downwind
02420_|_2340_|_11:23_|_2:26.0_|_222___|_19.5_|_10.5_|_161___|_downwind
04760_|_0380_|_01:35_|_2:04.3_|_040___|_25.4_|_09.5_|_173___|_sprint
05160_|_3000_|_15:30_|_2:35.1_|_302___|_19.5_|_09.9_|_162___|_upwind
08160_|_1920_|_10:40_|_2:46.7_|_203___|_19.0_|_09.5_|_154___|_cooldown

It was a bit of an adventure trying to carry my boat over a giant snowbank to get it to it’s rack.  But now it is safe and sound and I can get out and row now!