Well, I'll be racing this weekend. I wasn't expecting to, planning to, training
to, or even particularly wanting to, but it seems that I'm going to.
I'm not really training or planning to race at all this spring --
maybe in summer. I did consider doing this one, because it's local; the final
thing that made my decision was when they said thes races would all be 2000m. The
standard Master's racing distance is only 1K, and I'm better over shorter
distances.
Rudder mentioned that part of it to AussieCoach, who's
setting up our local
href=http://www.riosaladorowing.org/html/index.php">regatta. AC emailed me
just a day or so ago to tell me that he'd signed me up for a race, having changed
the W1X distance to 1K. I was annoyed to be told instead of asked to race, and
told him so, but he'd implied that he'd done it because he needed more competition
in my category. I couldn't refuse, because of course we all try to support the
sport locally and give a good race to people coming here from elsewhere -- in fact
there's someone all the way from Dallas in my event.
I am one of the
best rowers on the lake in terms of form, mostly because I've done this for longer
than most people here. However, I'm not anywhere near one of the fastest, because
I'm not one of the tallest, strongest or fittest people out here. But because I'm
experienced, they know I can race at the drop of a hat -- may not do well, but I
won't fall in or anything.
So I guess I'm racing. Oldtimer just asked
me to race a double with him; which I emphatically don't want to do. It would be a
very slow boat and the competition is stiff -- Rudder's been practicing in a
double with She-Hulk. Fortunately it's right after my singles race so I can't do
it anyway.
The real test will be the competition against Hardcore. I
don't know the woman from Dallas. I know exactly where I stand against Dr. Bosum;
she's a little faster in a club boat and should beat me easily if her own new top-
of-the-line boat has come in, but then she's much bigger. Hardcore is my size, and
has the same exact (excellent) boat. She's been rowing a lot more than I have
lately, but is less experienced. Don't know if she's trained to race the single.
She's tougher than I am mentally(having raised 4 kids, been a nurse for years, and
run marathons) but isn't in the ideal shape I've seen her in other years. Or
wasn't a few weeks ago. Her endurance is much better but this is a sprint. On the
other hand, having not expected to race until the last minute and then had a rainy
week, I haven't done a single racing start this year. Should be interesting.