English Indoor Rowing Championships (EIRC) 29th March 2015.

[gregsmith01748]

Dave, John and Gillian: Congratulations on your achievements and a tough day of racing.

Your accomplishments bathe all of us Free Spirits in the light of your reflected glory!

[Jill]

Great going David, John and Gillian and 3 cheers for all your courageous efforts.

" Hip, Hip Hooray. =D> Hip, Hip Hooray. =D> Hip, Hip Hooray. =D> "

Jill

[Liefcat]

Had a great day at the venue - though must say FS participation was a bit poor...

Didn´t see Gillian´s race - but saw her medal ceremony - most impressive effort

Very nice talking to David (exactly like I imagined him) and John (not exactly what I imagined - but don´t know what I imagined... ) Interesting talk about erging history and personal life - and also a history of Free Spirits, the philosophy and how it may differ from other teams...

Luckily, David managed to weigh-in for the race still in good time after some initial minor problems. John seemed to be well after his injury - but his training was a bit flawed up till the race, so he wasn´t sure where he was, but "6:40 would be a dream-scenario". I was sure that David would be able to do 7:20 if he wanted to - and as an extra motivation he told himself "this might be my last 2k"...

They both had a good start - but very soon John seemed to be struggling, and at some point it seemed as if he settled with 1:42 splits, though still fighting to see if it would come down - but 6:40 seemed out of the question. After the race he looked like a knocked out boxer, but well fought and a very deserved Silver =D> =D> David seemed rather comfortable at 1:50 pace at the start and he even pushed to 1:49s and 1:48s as the race progressed - so I knew he would definitely make the 7:20 and with a good sprint he managed a considerable "2 Season´s Best" - and by a small margin also got him a rather unexpected ("Look - there is a 3 in front of my name" - said in total disbelief ) but also very well deserved Bronze Medal =D> =D>

Obviously saw a lot of ergers known from the internet - it was really overwhelming, so I could only remember I had "seen" this person before - but couldn´t figure out their name... To mention a few: talked with Jef Gay, Peter Snelson and Jason McCormack, all Paddy Power and very sympathetic In hindsight I should at least have entered the 500m - though not being a sprinter, but just to show the flag, so next time I will definitely want to be racing as well... The venue seemed very well organized, it just suffered from the lack of the "usual" microphone man. A very cozy atmosphere (big - but not too massive). Entry fees being a little high for my taste - but David explained that the Velodrome was a very expensive place to have but also with some considerable advantages compared to a "small gym"... So thumbs up for the organizers =D> =D>

Really nice of David to drive me to my "hotel" and to tell me a bit about Manchester, thanks Must say I really loved Manchester with the compact city centre where "everything" is more or less within walking distance As David says, there were actually some rays of sun coming through Monday morning, but then the rain set in again in the afternoon and it was time to go home

Wanted to post a few photos but still having some trouble with the file size, I might get them sorted out later...

[Recess]

After the race he looked like a knocked out boxer

A very good analogy! I felt like it too...

It was great meeting you - enjoy your time on the bike, it's amazing being outside and enjoying the undulation of this precious planet. Hopefully you'll fall back in love with the erg soon - but don't force it.

Looking forward to seeing some more photos when you manage to get them up here.

John

[plummy]

Thanks for the write up Erik. I was very generous of you to travel all the way over and be the support crew so I'm glad you met a few "faces" even though they were from other teams. I'm also glad the weather made a small effort to allow you to explore Manchester a little - even I learned something as I had no idea there was a hotel there.

I'm still hoping there is a bit of video out there somewhere with me in the background so I can take a look at my technique

[Liefcat]

Some photos (apologies for the poor quality):

And sorry for not taking any videos, David... You appear to me to have a very good overall technique. If you really want to find flaws I guess you can find them. The only thing that sprang to my mind was that you have bent elbows. I guess if you were analyzed on a video one could find that you tend to overlap your "sequences" - perhaps opening up a bit too early with your back. But then again your strategy for the race was very practical - get the best possible time - and it seemed to work very well for you

[Liefcat]

John: you displayed a good, long and powerful drive As we discussed especially in the race situation a tendency to "rabbit wrists"...

[Liefcat]

Faces looking more and more agonized during the course of the race...

[Liefcat]

After the race: John at first still sitting up, then lying down for a very loooong time - Plummy looking more composed...:

[Iain]

Well done all, you did FS proud! Thanks for the photos Erik, they show John's state excellently!

- Iain

[Recess]

'State' is a good word for it. I was in one hellava state...

[Jon]

Thanks very much for the write up Erik, a commendable effort to travel such a long way, I'm only sorry I didn't get to meet you on this occasion. Congratulations to those who did compete.

I would like to return to competing, but would need to feel I'd actually trained and that I could do some justice to the term racing I am changing my work pattern now to less shift work which I'm hoping will dramatically improve opportunities to exercise on a more predictable basis.