Crash-B 2017

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Recess
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Crash-B 2017

Post by Recess »

The date has been announced!!!

February 12th 2017

SERIOUSLY considering it!!
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Paul Victory
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Re: Crash-B 2017

Post by Paul Victory »

With the way you've been progressing lately, you would have a great chance of winning. Go for it!
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Re: Crash-B 2017

Post by plummy »

I agree. Medal for sure, good chance of it being the very shiniest one. If money doesn't stand in your way, I'd go for it.
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Re: Crash-B 2017

Post by Recess »

Flights booked, hotel booked. I hope they don't randomly change the date! Good to have it in the distance to focus on. 2K sucks right now. Need to knuckle down.

John
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Re: Crash-B 2017

Post by commodoreann »

John,

We hope to see you in Glasgow in September and at CRASH-B, Boston in February!
I will be competing and hopefully as a light weight again. I have been rowing OTW and loving it.
Your blog is truly inspiring. :D

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Re: Crash-B 2017

Post by Recess »

Hi Ann,

Great!! At least i will know someone there this time round!!!

Apologies for not replying to your message yet - I'm still waiting to find out if I can shift the edit dates to be able to spend a decent amount of time with you guys. Otherwise, it may have to be dinner or something instead I'm afraid.

Glad to know you're enjoying my blog. It never occurs to me that people read it...
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Re: Crash-B 2017

Post by mgcsoptom »

Can anyone advise on where to stay and when entries open for the event? We are planning to go for 16 days as our big holiday for the year.
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Recess
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Re: Crash-B 2017

Post by Recess »

I splurge and book the Loews in Back Bay when I go. But it's pretty expensive - especially for 16 days!! Back Bay is a good area though - walking distance to most places (yes, I do still walk around Boston in -10 temperature...)

I've never stayed anywhere else though, so I'm not the best person to answer this.
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Re: Crash-B 2017

Post by Peter_S »

Hello mgcsoptom, welcome to Free Spirits.

Tell us more about yourself, if you want, or at least let us know if there is shorter name you would like to go by. :lol:

We have stayed at the Hotel Marlowe, when it had a CRASH-B rate, and at the Sonesta Cambridge last year at the CRASH-B rate. The Sonesta room was probably larger, but the Marlowe wine hour more than made up for that. :oops: Anyway, for one or two nights, it was nice to be among other rowers at the "event" hotel.

Are you planning to stay all 16 days in the Boston area, or tour more widely? From almost any lodging in Boston you will require transportation to the Arena, either taxi or rental car. If you will be driving (on the wrong side of the road?), there is a wide range of options for all or some of your trip. If you are planning on taking public transportation between a few large cities, stay in either Cambridge or Boston, depending on which hotels offer a good rate. Boston is an easily walkable city from either location, even if the temperature could be below freezing. Then again, if cost is no object, pick a fancy luxury place with the amenities you want! 8)

I do not remember when entries usually open, perhaps around November, but the date for 2017 was announced earlier than usual, so entries and hotels might also be announced earlier. Hotel reservations can usually be changed/cancelled if a better deal is announced.

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Re: Crash-B 2017

Post by Rodger »

Results can be found here:
https://www.herenow.com/results/#/races ... ergresults

I don't see any competitors with Free Spirits as their official affiliation, but I did notice:
- Haico Aaldering (Senior men, 40-49): 12th in 6:32.2. ^O^
- John Steventon (Senior men, 40-49, Lwt): 5th in 6:39.0. ^O^

Any other FS related rowers, that I missed?
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Re: Crash-B 2017

Post by Recess »

I didn't spot any unfortunately. Thanks for sharing my time. Not too pleased with it - I'd have missed a medal anyway, the three that got em were plain faster than me. But having done 6:38 last week, I was hoping to PB. (6:37.8)

Must double my efforts if I have any thoughts of next year.

Hope everyone's well here!!
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Re: Crash-B 2017

Post by CamiCrew »

John I know you're not thrilled, but massive congrats for nailing a 5th in a world level comp!

You train so hard as it is, what would doubling down mean? Just curious if you mean more hours or just different focus?

Safe travels and thanks for checkin in!
-barbara

F Hwt 53 yrs 5'10"
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Re: Crash-B 2017

Post by gregsmith01748 »

John, Congratulations on a great result in a tough venue. They say you give up a couple seconds for the race start any way.

Barbara asks an interesting question. What does doubling down mean? Will you change you training strategy or just try to increase volume and intensity?

Haico: Fantastic time in a very tough division. The winning time was a 6:01.3, and they beat Sam Blythe!
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Re: Crash-B 2017

Post by Paul Victory »

Well done John and Haico. =D> =D> =D>

Thanks for posting the results Roger. Some very strong performances, with the first 14 in the open men's heavyweight finishing in under 6 minutes.

But the result that impressed me most was the youth boys 4 minutes (race 86) which was won by a margin of over 100 meters! :shock: ^O^ The winning distance was 1274 meters - an average pace per 500m of 1:34.2! The winner, Isaiah Harrison, is only 13 according to the online rankings. A future Olympic champion?
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Re: Crash-B 2017

Post by strider77 »

Great result from Haico no wonder you come so high up in the CTCs with that speed to burn =D>

Good to hear from you John, there is always next year =D>
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Re: Crash-B 2017

Post by Recess »

gregsmith01748 wrote:John, What does doubling down mean?
Focus.

I've been putting in the meters, doing the sessions - but the races last week and yesterday reveal how much I leave myself with at the end of training sessions. Whether it's making excuses when it gets tough and not pushing on, or whether it's taking the easier approach - it's not helping!

To have not got any faster in a year is very disappointing. It's like all the work has been about stopping me going slower instead of making me go any faster. So in order to move forward, I need to put more sessions at full-whack in there, or at least when I'm meant to hit it hard I damn well hit it hard instead of taking the easy out.

I met the guy who won the 30-39 Lightweight Men race in 6:15. He's 40 in 2 year's time. So that would be the end of me coming to Crash-B!! I'm going to try to keep this productive anger burning to get faster over the next year. If I can get down to 6:32 (which I'm sure I'm capable of) I'll consider coming back. But if by August that hasn't happened - that'll be me done with Boston until I hit the 50 age group.

As for the 'best race of the day' yesterday - the junior lightweight boys race was stunning. Fella from Dallas pushed a 6:08.2. I sat next to his Dad, who said he would have been frustrated at not getting 6:06. For a lightweight... simply amazing. (Though even more amazing was the end of the race, when he just stood up and walked off as though he had just done a warm up.

Saddest vision of the day was seeing all the juniors in the recovery area. I don't think I ever saw an adult on one of the beds - it was always kids. Pushing themselves too hard - not knowing when to stop. Whether this is the pressure from coaches / families / themselves - who knows? But although some may see inspirational levels of effort - the state some of these kids were in was terrifying.
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Re: Crash-B 2017

Post by danfennell »

Well done John! =D>

Traveling across several time zones, rowing at a time and place not of your choosing and doing that well is impressive. Clearly a lot of the times were a couple of seconds slower. Several people I saw recently go sub 6 (Luke W, Charles G.) didn't accomplish that in Boston.

Just a few random thoughts/musings about the 2k. I noticed a sentence in your post - "Pushing themselves too hard - not knowing when to stop." For a long time I was able to see this in others but it took me a while to see it in myself. I think it's a pretty common scenario.

As middle aged guys with jobs, families, lives, etc I think we need to regularly ask ourselves what is realistic in terms of goals and training and listen to what our bodies and minds are telling us and try to steer clear of comparing ourselves to others. There will always be someone faster.

I accomplished quite a bit in a short time on the erg but got so consumed with #'s (particularly 6:30) that I took all satisfaction out of the equation. I had a bit of a "breakdown" and resolved to never again feel like that about exercise. Since then (Nov 2015) I have not even rowed an all out 2k. I'm not advocating doing what I did but as a more of a casual observer these days I see so many people cycle through the same phases. Maybe that's the way it's supposed to be and my search for balance will never get me to the podium, which for some is the ultimate goal.

My strategy is not to get burned out so maybe I'll head over to Boston at 70 when everybody else is burned out. :lol:
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Re: Crash-B 2017

Post by Recess »

I get ya. There's a line you have to cross to push yourself past what you normally consider pushing past!! But I convince myself that this is why I do it. I don't think (right now) I could train for the sake of it. Being an "almost" gives me drive. It's painful, I'd rather be the best and not have to scrape every 10th - but I think I wouldn't carry on if it weren't for the thrill of the chase.

At least I know when I've gone too far. Almost too far doing the CTC this morning!! A bit too soon after yesterday's effort I think :-)
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Re: Crash-B 2017

Post by danfennell »

Funny thing with me is I've lost the will to push beyond on the rower and picked it up in the world of Crossfit doing strange things like burpees, wall balls, double unders and box jumps. I'm in better overall shape now then when I rowed a 6:35.5 2k but just don't have the desire/courage to enter deep in to the C2 pain cave like I used to. I shudder when I look at my training diary around that time. I was redlining every workout!
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Re: Crash-B 2017

Post by zootMutant »

Well done John and Haico. =D> =D> =D>

Dan - very interesting perspective. I find I am much more interested in eating well, getting all around exercise (cardio + strength), stretching and meditating than I ever was when I was younger.

Life is very good. :P
danfennell wrote:My strategy is not to get burned out so maybe I'll head over to Boston at 70 when everybody else is burned out. :lol:
I just read about a guy who set the world bicycling record for his age group of 14 miles in one hour -- he is 104 years old!
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