Nottingham Autumn Head and 2km TEST!

Sunday 3^rd November was the first head race of the season. It was hosted by Nottingham Rowing Club and saw a large entry of local athletes along with some who travelled over to Nottingham. It was a 5450m race downstream in singles for division one and a 3850m race downstream in crew boats for division two. I only raced in division one but helped marshal the second division in the afternoon up at the start. It was interesting to see how difficult this part of an event is and I now appreciate the people who do this at all events, it’s not easy!

After a cold, wet and windy week building up to the race day, it was very up in the air whether the race would go ahead. Turning up at 7:15am for a pre-paddle I can’t say I was looking forward to racing in the conditions that I was staring at from the boathouse. The landing stage we (the HP squad) use was underwater so wellies were scattered everywhere. Once boated, a challenge in itself, the paddle to the start began…with what felt like an eternity I eventually made it to the start line and prepared myself to race down as best I could. It was a very fast stream so steering was a crucial part of the race not just pace. I have to say I had a fantastic race down and couldn’t have steered myself down the river any better. But the sight of the landing stage and thought of me getting out of my boat was heaven…I had only been in it for over 2 hours!

Dry clothes, warmth and food were on the agenda next whilst I waited for the results to be released. A hot chocolate has never tasted so good J  You know when the results are out as everyone rushes around one person who appears to be holding sheets of RESULTS! I won my category, WSen1x, came 3^rd out of 21 female entries and positioned 40^th out of 80 entries including both males and females. I was chuffed with my performance and now feel very prepared for the 5km water trial on 17^th November.

But there is no rest for the wicked…Wednesday 6^th November was a 2km ergo test to prepare us for the 2km ergo part of trials on the 16^th November. This is an extremely challenging ergo and pushes you to your limits. I approached this as a mini run through of what I will do at trials from the warm up, mental preparations to the plan of how to approach the 2km. I felt rather relaxed throughout the test and came out in the end with a PB – 7:14.9 J not bad for a U23 lightweight.

Final preparations and sharpening up for the rest of the week until I make my journey over to Boston for the 2 day GB trials; I am extremely excited and raring to go!

British Rowing Championships 2013

On Saturday 19th October and Sunday 20^th October it was the British Rowing Championships 2013. This is a compulsory event for all athletes wishing to trial for GB for the 2013/2014 season. The event consists of a 1900m time trial followed by being positioned into the relevant 2000m semi-final, and then concludes with a 2000m final race.

I raced only on the Saturday and as there were no single sculling events I teamed up with a fellow lightweight squad member in a double scull. There were 49 entries in this category all together; lightweights, U23s and open weight athletes all race against each other so that racing is much closer and more enjoyable. Unfortunately there is only a medal for the top three places so as a lightweight double we never really had a chance at gaining one of those medal positions, especially when nearly the entire current GB team entered. It was going to be a challenging day of racing!

Our aim for the day was to get as high up in the rankings as possible and with 49 entries we were required to race hard. The day started with the time trial for all crews so that we could be placed into the relevant semi-finals A/B, C/D, E/F or G/H. We ranked 17th so got placed into the C/D semi-final. We now aimed to come in the top 3 of our relevant semi-final so as to be placed into the C final. We had a great race and finished a very close 2nd, with the current U23 GB squad members (who gained a bronze medal at the U23 World Championships 2013) just beating us. We made it into the C final and were both as determined as each other to win this. We had another great race and pushed from 5th position at the start to come through and gain 2nd place in the C final. We had no chance of catching the winner of this race, a U23 open weight double, who smashed it from the start but it was a great race, I loved every minute and couldn’t have asked more from my partner in crime!

Overall, we finished 14th out of the 49 crews that entered, we were the 4th fastest lightweight crew and I can proudly say I was the fastest U23 lightweight athlete that entered as a lightweight :) My double partner didn’t fall into the U23 criteria so we were unable to enter that category but the leading U23 lightweight crew came 18th overall.

My next big event will be trials on 16th and 17th November where I will need to perform a 2km ergo and a 5km water test, so I am training hard for that. I am feeling pretty ready and determined so roll on 16^th November!

2012/2013 Season in a nutshell!

Please watch the below video. It is a quick summary of what the Nottingham High Performance Squad have got up to in this last season. This is who I train with every day J I think we’ve done pretty well as a squad this season, let’s bring on bigger and better things in the 2013/2014 season!

 

Henley Women's Regatta 2013

Friday 21^st June saw the first day of the biggest women’s rowing event of the year. I had been entered into the Senior Lightweight Single Scull event and this had a total of 15 competitors, 14 racing on Friday with one woman having a by-pass into Saturday’s quarter final racing. The semi finals and finals were held on Sunday.

I woke up early Friday morning to drive down to Henley for my first race at 2:25pm. I raced to the scales to check my weight and when I saw that they said 59.3kg I could have cried and ran away from the weekend happening! I had been safely under 59kg all week so how that happened is a mystery! Luckily for me my parents reassured me that by 12pm (weigh-in time) that weight would have disappeared and I would be okay to race. Yes I was fine weighing in at 58.8kg (phew). My first competitor was a local Upper Thames woman who was a previous lightweight world champion in 1998 in a pair so my nerves were beyond sky high, she clearly had a very good ability with rowing. I was suddenly on the start line and in my zone to push, push and push against her. The trick at this regatta is to dominant the race by getting ahead first and staying ahead. The first 400m was very competitive and I am sure she wanted to break through the start; I was not going to let that happen. With it being an instant knock event with each race you had to win! I started to get past her and just kept pulling away with the final verdict easy; I was through to the quarter finals J YES!

Rest and light food Friday night was the plan for me. I was camping with my family at a nearby campsite so we headed back and I was asleep by 10pm (even with kids yelling and the light sky coming through). I woke up bright and early Saturday morning ready to get weighed in again at 8:30am and get racing! I was an eager beaver and just wanted to get out on the water again. I passed weigh-in and before I knew it I was positioned on the starting blocks and ready to fire my legs down and get ahead once again. I was on fire and came out with another easy verdict; I was still yet to be pushed for the entire 1500m race. That was the end of racing on Saturday for me so I rested, ate light food (again) and watched some racing.

Sunday morning arrived and so far my weekend had gone to plan; I had made the final days racing experience. I started stressing over my weight again and just managed to scrape into the weight barrier…58.95kg. My heart was beating so hard as being slightly over would be the end of the road for me; I just managed it to my relief. Now I could eat and not worry about the weight of the food, it was so much FUN J my semi-final race was at 10:55am and I had another local Upper Thames woman to race. This was a harder start but I got through and managed to stay ahead…I could see the final race for sure happening when I had 500m left. Verdict 3 and a half lengths, I had made the final! Rest and food for the following three hours and then I was up and raring to race for the last time. I was against a Tideway Sculler’s woman and took the same approach that I had done for my previous three races…push hard from the start and do not let her catch me up! This was the fastest and hardest start of the event for me and once I broke her (as I knew if I was feeling pain she had to be too) I continued firing down the course until I had a good enough lead. With 750m to go and in front of the crowd I got caught by a gust of wind and caught a crab! Panic stressed all over me but I got it back and fired away until I was happy again, she nearly passed me but I was so determined not to let that happen. I couldn’t let myself lose due to the wind catching me out. Before I knew it I was over the finish line and could declare myself a Henley Women’s winner. I had just won the Fiona Denis trophy for the Senior Lightweight Single Scull event, I was over the moon. I could not tear the smile of my face J

 

 

I got changed into a dress and went down to the ceremony for the winners. Here we were lucky enough to be presented our award from the legendary female rower champion Katherine Grainger. This felt such a privilege and makes you realise how big an event it was.  We drove home that evening and I went to bed smiling. I have had a great season racing and loved every minute. It is now time for a little break and then back into training for next season.

May Madness

First of all sorry for not being very up to date with my latest racing and training news. May has been a very busy month for me with having my exams for university and lots of races in between.

The month started off with the annual BUCS regatta on 4^th-6^th May. I entered the Intermediate Lightweight single scull category and raced on the Sunday. The day started very early having to get up at around 5:30am so that I could make weigh in 2 hours before my first race which was at 8am. I weighed in fine and straight away ate as just knowing you have to make a weight makes you hungry as you are nervous to eat in case the dreaded scales showed 59kg +.  The first race was a 1500m time trail so that we could then be seeded into appropriate semi finals. The weather was perfect, you couldn’t have wished for better especially when at the permanent windy venue of Holme Pierpont.  I wasn’t expecting to be the fastest boat in the time trial but when I saw the results that I was I was one very, very happy girl J This positioned me in a good place for the semi final with a positive outlook that I would make the A final. The semi final took place at 11am and you had to come in the top 3 to be put into the A final. My aim was to sit comfortably within the top 3 places throughout the 2km race; I managed to sit in 2^nd place and didn’t need to push to maintain the position. Tack tics for lane preference wasn’t needed due to the wonderful conditions. Rest, rest and more rest filled the afternoon until my final at around 5pm. Nerves kicked in as my racing so far showed potential to medal and I was determined to get a medal! Positioned and attached at the top, the wait for the green light and beep seemed to last forever, and then suddenly we were off. I wasn’t the fastest off the start but I held onto it quite good and pushed through 3 girls. Then it was time to keep the medal but now I was aiming for the best medal position. I slowly creeped into 2^nd position and was catching the leading girl up. We pushed each other to the end and I gained silver medal but only 1.5sec behind the gold. I was over the moon and my first regatta of the season was one massive success J

Training was very enjoyable as I was fired up to achieve more successful races and I was now focusing on my next event which was Notts City Regatta on 18^th May. I entered two categories so that I could get as much racing practice as possible, these were the elite lightweight single scull and the intermediate 2 single scull. The latter is the level I am at with sculling when it comes to races. You gain points for each race you do and as the points increase your category entry level for a regatta increases; you can race up but never down.  The first race was in the morning of the elite lightweight single sculls, I needed to weigh in again 2 hours before. This race was all about practice as I am not at the elite level yet with racing so I was nervous about whom my oppositions were.  I raced very well and felt I had improved from the BUCS Regatta so when I found out I finished 2^nd I was chuffed and pleased with my performance.  The rest of the field were a way behind so I had pulled away and was attempting to chase the winning opposition down.  After rest and food the afternoon bought about a heat and final but only if I positioned in the top 3 of the heat. I managed to win the heat but I knew the woman who came 2^nd had lots more to give. Just to make you aware this race is open weight so being a lightweight I was up against some very big women.  I raced well though and had only 2 hours until my final so I ate and rested again. I was nervous for this final and very tired but I gave it my best shot and finished 5^th overall. All in all it was another good days racing.

Two weeks later and I was racing again. This was a two-day event down at Dorney Lake; it was Met Regatta. On the Saturday I was entered into the Intermediate 2 single sculls event with the hope of actually winning and moving into the intermediate 1 category. However, when I saw the draw and the names of the clubs that had entered I was nervous and didn’t think I had a chance in winning. On the day there were 14 entries so I had a lot of people to beat.  The day started with a heat at lunchtime. You had to finish in the top 2 to have a place straight in the final or if you positioned 3^rd or 4^th you had a chance to go into the rep to have another go at getting into the final however only 1 place remained. In other words you had to win the rep. The heat was a good race; I did a strong first 1km and then slowly eased off as I was in 2^nd place so saved myself for the final. Our heat was the fastest overall so I started to think I had a good shot at winning.  The final was much later, 6:30pm so I had lots of time to rest and prepare myself for it. The warm up seemed to last forever as I just wanted to get it over with, I was more than ready and once the green light showed I flew down the course. I was in first position the entire way down and won easily, I could not believe what had just happened. I had actually won J as there were so many entries I got not one but two points and I am now an intermediate 1 sculler! YAY I did it. The medal was worth it all along with winning the trophy: W J M Harris.

On the Sunday I was racing elite lightweight single sculls, again for practice to see how I get on. This was a straight final at 4:30pm so I had to wait until 2:30pm before I could weigh in and eat…the panic if you’re going to make weight is a biggie so I had some breakfast at 9am and nothing else. The race I knew would be tough but I didn’t expect it to start off as fast as it did! At one point I didn’t think I would make it all the way down the course as we were all flying at such a fast pace. It did eventually settle after 500m (thank god) and I was pushing in 4^th position. I tried to get up to 3^rd but I didn’t quite manage it. I put in a good performance and went away happy (mostly because I knew I could eat whatever I wanted for a little whileJ).

So that was my May for you folks, I am now training very hard as I have Henley Women’s Regatta on 21-23^rd June! I am racing in the Senior Lightweight single sculls and the draw tells me I could potentially have 4 races with 13 oppositions…WISH ME LUCK!

Training Camp in Brive, France

I kick started my summer training and racing season by going on a training camp with the Nottingham High Performance squad and Talent Identification Squad from Loughborough University on 22^nd March. This consisted of 10 days full training with a variety of sessions from distance paddling to race pace pieces.

 

I was finally back up and running from illness and injury free from about the middle of February, when I started training again, therefore I was really looking forward to an intense stint of training to get my head back in the game! The weather and condition of the lake made the camp a very pleasurable and enjoyable experience. Whilst everyone in the UK were freezing and having the coldest Easter in over 50 years, all of the squad were sunbathing and enjoying the spring sunshine. I sure know where I would rather have been… anyone jealous yet?

Despite getting up at 6:30am every morning the days consisted of 3 sessions, usually 2 in the morning and then a technical session in the early evening. On a couple of days we did just 2 sessions so that we could recover and make the camp worthwhile. In between the sessions we usually all had a nap due to the exhaustion we all experienced. Bedtime slowly got earlier and walking pace decreased especially up the hills to dinner by the end of the camp.

 

Overall, I loved my first experience of a rowing training camp abroad, and I am really looking forward to many more in the future! But for now, bring on the regatta season… I am ready and raring to go! J