Schuylkill Navy Regatta: Don't Forget the Medal!

June 17, 2011: Pre Race

Loaded Izzy all by myself!

Since Philly is about four hours away from Poughkeepsie, I wanted to stay overnight somewhere closer. Marissa, my friend and a fellow Marist rower, lives in Jackson, NJ, which is about an hour and fifteen minutes from Philly. Her family was kind enough to feed and house me before my race (and also let me play with their cats!)

Amusing Dexter with a flashlight

Marissa's mom's AMAZING dinner: chicken and potatoes and salad

Tigerlily is happy for the attention

June 18, 2011: Race Day

Rigging in the sunshine

Marissa and I only had to get up at 5:45 a.m. to hit the road for Philly. We left at about 6:30 a.m. and despite very confusing Google Maps directions, we made it to the course around 8 a.m, just in time to set up and help Sean launch.

Sean launching

View from the launching dock

Sean Clarke, 1st racer on the water

 

My race was at 10:35 and Sean had recommended that I launch about half an hour before. Even though my race was not a 2k (it was a 1k), he said that I still had to follow the traffic pattern for the people in the 2k races. I assumed that this meant I had to go all the way to the 2k start and once I launched, that’s where I headed. I had a decent amount of time to warm up once I was down there but suddenly, it seemed like I was the only boat on the river. I had to row up the course until the Strawberry Mansion Bridge before I saw anyone who looked like they were in my race. Apparently, all the other novice singles had waited at the Bridge for our race to start. Well, at least I got a good warm up in…about 3k more than my competition!

 

I raced from the 1st blue line (1000m) to the 2nd yellow line (finish line)

The Race

I was in lane 2, with my competitors in lanes 3, 4, and 5. Even though I’ve raced in Philly tons of times, I had never only raced 1000m. The start for my race was at the dock of the St. Joe’s boathouse, which is the halfway point during the collegiate spring racing season. I hoped that this would make the race feel easier. However, even though 1000m is shorter than 2000m, it still feels really long. 

Once again, as soon as the official said “GO!”, my brain shut off. I know I did a start, and I think I did some power strokes but I was focused completely on keeping my bowball ahead of the other racers. After about 250m, the girl in lane 5 went off course and veered into the middle of the course. Fortunately, she was behind the pack so she didn’t interfere. The three of us pushed a little bit over to the middle of the course, so I was in lane 2 ½ (if there was such a thing) when I passed the start of the island. I knew that, even though there was a good chance I was going to win, I wanted to push it. My body seemed to know that the island meant “sprint” without me even thinking about it.  I passed the island and knew that in an 8+, the end of the island meant 20 more strokes. 20 strokes in an eight is definitely not equivalent to 20 strokes in a single. I think I took 30 more strokes before I finally heard the “BEEP” signifying that I had finished the race.

 

 See more video from Schuylkill Navy Regatta on my Youtube channel. 

After the race, I was my normal oblivious self and missed the fact that the officials were waving me to the medal dock to get a medal. I knew that winners got a medal, but the thought didn’t even cross my mind after the race. Like I said before, I think my brain shuts off when I row…and sometimes forgets to come back on. This meant I had to walk all the way back to the grandstand to get my medal. The officials thought that it was pretty amusing, at least. 

After much ado...

Schuylkill Navy Regatta medal

Since Sean unfortunately didn’t qualify for his final, we de-rigged the boats and headed off an adventure for authentic Philly cheesesteaks. We ended up at Dallesandro’s, which was AWESOME. I definitely plan on making a return visit when I head back for IDR.

Small place, big cheesesteaks

Perfect for hungry rowers!

Results
Can be found here.

Overall Impressions of the Race
This was a good step up from Derby. The officials were more official, but it wasn't so crazy or crowded that they were intensely scary. I got to race on a course that I have raced on many times throughout my rowing career, but I got to experience it in a different way. It was a relaxed atmosphere while still being a competitive race. And the medals were cool, once I made it to the grandstand to get mine! I think this was a good race for me at this stage, worth the travel time and money.

Acknowledgements
Thanks to Marissa and her family for being generous enough to give me a delicious meal and a place to sleep. It was also great to have Marissa at the race for support and a lot of laughs. Once again, thanks to Sean for taking video and lending me oars. And special thanks to my beloved car, Izzy, for not hating me for the 450+ miles that we traveled.

Maybe if I can just get my bow close enough, I can spear a watermelon! (Picture taken safely at a red light on the trip home)

Rebel Race NY: Why I Will Never Take Up Mud Wrestling

Rebel Race, NY: June 12, 2011

Modena, NY

 Pre-Race

Although I was doing the race with my brother, he was supposed to meet me at the course. Because my native PKNY friends thought Modena was 40 minutes away from my house, when it was in fact 20 minutes away. At 9:05, I got to this race very early. So early, in fact, that the parking field had three cars in it and nobody from the race directing anyone (or, luckily for me, charging $10 for parking). However, I was confused because the website said to arrive an hour before the wave started. The website had also said that there were “sold out” waves at 10:00 and 10:30. The 10:00 people should have been at the site already. Confused, but unworried, I took a half hour nap in my car. At  9:35, there were still very few cars in the parking lot. Like me, the handful of people that were there didn’t seem to know where to go. I wandered down to the entrance of the parking field and tried to figure out where to go. I was stopped by a security guard, who told me I was going the wrong way and that I needed to be chaperoned to the registration because I was alone.

And that’s how I showed up to the race course on the back of an ATV. The security guard pointed me towards check-in. I tried to check-in, but at 9:50, they still weren’t ready. This really confused me, because there should have been waves before ours, at 11:00. I started wandering around the festival area to try to figure out where the start and finish were. I met some people who were also wondering where the earlier waves were. Their theory was that the event organizers had written that the 10:00 and 10:30 waves were sold out in order to make it seem like the race was in high demand. It made sense, but it also made me a little mad. We had picked our wave time based on the fact that we wanted to see other people race before we did. Not getting to wasn’t a huge deal, but it seemed wrong to falsely advertise the event.

People lined up at the registration tent

At 10:05, check in was finally open and my parents and brother had arrived. We checked in and wandered around the area to try to scout the course. Most of the course was not visible from the main area and we had no idea where the start was until 10 minutes before the race. There was also no course map, which would have made sense to have posted somewhere since it was a confusing course. So confusing, in fact, that all of the volunteers I talked to didn’t know what was going on either. I still have no idea where I ran.

The "Before" (i.e. clean) Picture

We lined up at the start at 10:50 and waited. It didn’t seem like there were that many people in our heat, but everyone seemed into it. This was definitely the best part of the day. Even though it was cloudy and muggy, everyone at the venue, whether they were racing, watching or volunteering, seemed to be in a good mood. The mood at the start was one of camaraderie rather than cutthroat competition, which was definitely a nice change from the last eight years of my racing life. People were dressed in everything from regular running gear to flannel onesie pajamas to a Goodwill inspired wolf-print tank/Hawaiian shorts combo. There was even a guy dressed in full Superman gear, complete with a cape and ­­– what every good superhero needs—a pre-race beer and cigarette.

 The Race

The gun went off, fireworks went off and we were off. Because this race had so many different components, I’m going to put my thoughts about the different obstacles in bullet form. Overall, I thought that the obstacles could have been planned a little bit better. There were too many bunched together in the beginning, in the middle and the end. There were points during the race that I felt like I was running forever without encountering an obstacle. That could, however, have been due to fact that I was not used to running while covered in approximately ten pounds of mud. But here is my rundown of the obstacles along with a grade for each:

Obstacles I Liked

Fast Twitch Tires: what’s an obstacle course without tires? A-

Creepy Creek: Walking through water was very doable. I think some people ran, but I would rather not risk my delicate ankles. B+

Rebellious roping (dragging myself through a pond by a rope): This was super easy and probably the only obstacle that I actually passed people on. A+

Cross the Ditch Bitch: I can handle a giant hole of water. It’s like being at the trailer site at the Knecht Cup every year, the bonus here was that I didn’t have to carry a boat through it. A-

Hay Dude and Hay Dude, Jr.: Climbing over hay is really easy and it dried off some of the mud. Win-win. A

Lunatic Lagoon: Walking through water is also really easy, even though the guy in front of me managed to find the only place in the pond where the water was more than waist deep and  had to be saved by another racer. F for him, but A- for the obstacle.

Ninja Turtle Sewer: Clambering through giant pipes for 10 yards was very doable. And who doesn’t love the Ninja Turtles? A+ for ease and giving me a costume idea for next year.

Obstacles I Didn’t Like

Hell at Himalayas, Backwoods Brook and Welcome to the Jungle: These were all pretty much the same thing: lots of mud. Hell at Himalayas was a mountain of mud, Backwoods Brook was a river of mud and Welcome to the Jungle was a forest of mud. These would have been way more fun if I was not worried about ending my competitive athletic career with a broken ankle. Maybe I’m just a wuss, but these obstacles seemed more unsafe than I liked. But then again, I also have really delicate ankles. C+

Flaming Fury: I don’t like fire, so this is a personal bias. Even though it looks like I jump over it in the video, I actually jumped to the side. Hooray for camera angles. C

Prison Break: Rebel racers had to climb two poorly constructed walls – which had very few handholds – with muddy sneakers. I thought this was really dangerous. In order to get up the wall, most people had to get a running start. I have pretty good upper body strength and I still thought this was hard. I don’t know how some of the less-fit racers managed it. F

Does a campfire mean we get s'mores?!

Obstacles that were (in my mind) Pointless

Sergeant’s Sprint: Within the first 500 yards, we were supposed to “sprint as fast as we could”. However, there was no direction from anyone to do so, so we all saved our legs. I don’t think a single person sprinted. D-

Drop and give me 10 (10 pushups, 10 leg lifts, 10 sit-ups): This one was bad because obviously everyone who doesn’t have a strict moral compass, like me, cheats. Apparently one person didn’t know what leg lifts were, so she skipped them. The race inventors should remember that humanity stinks. I give her an F, but I give this obstacle a D-

Slimy Slope Slide: This consisted of a tarp on the ground. No water, no mud, just a tarp. Booooring. D+

And as for the rest of them (Military Mud pit, crawling under barbed wire over a pit of water; Cargo Crawl, crawling under a cargo net; and Cargo Climb) they were fine. B’s all around.

Post Race

The "After" Picture

I don't think I'll ever want to be a mud wrestler

I was covered in mud. Obviously. Everyone was. I think I finished in 45 minutes but I didn’t really look at the clock, assuming that they would post results online (they did not). We grabbed the coconut water that was being handed out at the end of the race and took our “After” picture. We then headed to the hosing station to try to make ourselves presentable for lunch. 

That water was NOT warm

It was time for the best part of the race: the “free” beer. I lied when I said the other racers were the best part of the day. It was actually my beer. I had never thought of drinking right after a race because usually I’m so dehydrated I just want a Gatorade, but this definitely hit the spot. 

Never have I been so happy after a race

Cheese curds at The Gilded Otter

The wash before the wash...had to clean my tub after this

In case you didn't get a good enough idea how dirty I got, here's my race number, post-race

Overall Impression of the Race

I had a good time at this race, but I definitely have some suggestions for next year:

-put a course map at the start

-inform volunteers better

-put results online

-get rid of the pointless obstacles

-organize the flow of the start/festival/finish area better

-spread the obstacles out more

-don’t market a sold out wave if there isn’t one

But overall, it was definitely a hard race to pull off so I give whoever ran it credit for that. The idea of an intense race with great entertainment at the end is a good one. I had a good time, I just have high race day standards. It could have been better but I don’t regret going. I think if the Rebel Race people put as much time into running the event as they did marketing it, it could be great. 

Acknowledgments
Thanks to John Clancy, Marist weight coach, for telling me about this race and putting me through workouts that made me tough enough to survive; my parents, for coming, supporting us and taking all the great video footage you see here; and to my brother, who cheered for me through the end of the course and for being brave enough to attend the US Naval Academy next year, because without people like him, people like me would have to defend our country. Then we'd all be screwed.

Derby Sweeps and Sculls: Pants Would Have Been A Good Choice

Saturday June 11: My First Race in the 1x

Pre-Race

Since my race was at 8:28 a.m., a 4:50 a.m. alarm was required to be on time to meet Coach Sean (Clarke, the Marist men's varisty coach) at the boathouse to load the boats. Even though I usually wake up at 5:15 a.m. for practices during the year, I was getting a little spoiled with sleeping in til 6 :00 a.m. and 4:50 a.m. start hit early. I groggily made my two packets of raisins and spice oatmeal and coffee and stumbled down to the boathouse. One of the first new things that I would have to deal with for this race was getting my own boat there. We were going to load the Jody right on the crossbars of  Izzy, my 2008 Subaru Forester.

Coach Sean, making sure the Jody is tightly fastened

I was nervous about driving with the boat, especially because the Jody belongs to my coach, Tom. Since I didn't know where I was going, Sean and I planned to caravan to the race. The drive was not too eventful except for the second we crossed into Connecticut, we hit what seemed to me like a monsoon. Trying to follow another person (especially one who drives at 15 miles over the speed limit and believes "yellow light" means "go faster") is hard enough, it’s nearly impossible when you can’t even see the road ten feet in front of you.

View out of the front of Izzy...don't worry we were still on the Marist campus at this point

We arrived around 7:30 and I ran to registration to check-in and pick-up my bow number while Sean very kindly started rigging my boat. Having packed in my 100 degree house the night before, I had stupidly not packed rain gear or any warm clothing. Since it was raining and cold, this was a rookie mistake. Luckily for me, I never clean my car and managed to find a rain jacket. Pants, however, would have been a good choice.

Rigged and ready to go!

We finished rigging and I ran to the bathroom one last time. When I got back, Sean was grumbling and cursing over my boat. Apparently the spread was off by over a centimeter, something that had been causing me to overcompensate to my port side. At that point, I got really nervous because they had made the last call for my race and I was on land when I needed to be on the water. But he fixed everything quickly and I walked my boat over to the launching area. Since this race had no docks, I had to “wet dock” or wade knee-deep into the water, place my boat in the water and then climb in without flipping. I was definitely glad I had Sean and Brendan there to carry my oars and explain how to get in, even if they did make fun of me the whole time. I was all set and headed off to the start.

Other singles wet-docking at the launching area

Lane "5"

The race course, as seen from the finish line

On The Water

The race itself was fairly uneventful. I was in the second heat, and two of the racers scratched so there were only three people in my race. I was originally supposed to be in lane 5, which is the outside lane. The officials moved me to lane 4. The start was staggered so it felt like I started way behind. Even if the start hadn’t been staggered, I probably would have started behind anyway. My start was fairly sloppy and I was definitely not very aggressive from the beginning. I picked it up after the first five strokes. I didn’t really stick to any plan in terms of a high twenty because I was concentrating on the girl in lane 1. She was probably a boat length ahead of me off the first twenty strokes and I wanted to catch her. I kept my rating high (I think anyway, I don’t have a stroke coach) and thought about something Sean had said about single racing:

“When you’re racing a single, it’s not like the eight. People don’t make huge moves out of nowhere. The races are usually decided by the 1000m mark and if they’re not it’s because the two or three guys are really close to each other. No one who is behind by a deck will take ten strokes to move up an entire boat length on you, and if they do it’s because you let them.”

And I was not about to let this girl go. By the 500m mark I had moved back and was probably up a deck on her. I kept telling myself that all I had to do was hang on, because she wasn’t going to make a move unless I let her. At 250m, my lead was probably about a length. We had practiced sprints the day before and I wanted to try and see what I could do. I started cranking as hard as I could in order to get across the line and finish the race. Afterwards, the guys made fun of me for not taking a single stroke past the line, but once I heard the “beep” for my bow crossing, I was done.  Even though it was “only a thousand meters”, I was tired!

Post Race

Brendan: You got disqualified.

Tory: You’re kidding. That’s not funny.

Sean: No, seriously, you got disqualified.

Tory: WHAT?! FOR WHAT?!

Brendan: There’s a weight limit for Novice Singles. You can’t be over 200 pounds so they disqualified you.

(Sean and Brendan kill themselves laughing)

Tory: I hate you guys.

Which I think is their backwards way of saying “Good job.”

After I raced, I got to watch Sean and Brendan race in their respective heats of the Open 1x, of which I snagged some video.

Brendan, headed out to race

Sean, headed out to race

Just chillin' in the river after the race

Packing up the cars

Once they were done,  we looked at all the results, packed the cars and headed off for some food. Sean had “droid-ed” a restaurant on his phone, but once we got there, we decided that the BBQ shack, which turned out to be RiverView BBQ, we had passed previously looked better. And it was amazing. It was right on the river, probably 10k or so upstream from the course. It was very pretty and I had a super delicious BBQ pulled pork sandwich.

Big flavor from a little shack

Enjoying a well-deserved meal

They weren't kidding about the river view

Between the three of us, we ate everything on the sign: ribs, chicken and pulled pork

Overall Impression of the Race

I definitely think this was a great venue for my first race in the single. The registration people and the officials were very friendly and helpful. The other rowers were also friendly and I met some really nice people. There were enough rowers there to make the race fun, but not so many that I was intimidated or lost in the shuffle. The race course is very pretty and it helped calm my nerves because I had raced there before with Marist, at Head of the Houstonic. It’s also close enough to be a one day trip and doesn’t break the bank on paying for gas (definitely a plus for me).

Results

Can be found on the New Haven Rowing website here. I was in the Women's Novice 1x, and yes, my real name is Victoria.

Guess who ate my other peanut butter and honey sandwich?

Acknowledgements

Obviously, I didn’t do everything by myself. so I’d like to thank the following people: Tom, for lending me the boat to race in; Brendan for pushing me to enter the race, even though I didn’t want to; Ben for still being my friend after I whined in between every practice piece and Sean for lending me the oars, adjusting my equipment, pushing me through hard workouts, and telling me to “just be quiet and pull hard”. 

Friday June 10: Pre-Race Prep in Pictures

The Jody's hardware and wrenches

I'm pretty sure that this is the first time the Jody has been de-rigged in 10 years

Dirty, dirty boat

What Hudson River grime?

Izzy the Subaru gets packed with oars, rigger, an extra strap and hardware and wrenches stuffed in my "track bite sock"



Pre-race meal: Twisted Soul on Raymond Ave in Poughkeepsie



Pork dumplings, fried chicken coconut curry and BBQ mac&cheese are all gone

Laying out my stuff...yes, that's two peanut butter and honey sandwiches

Tory's Top Ten: Tips for Mentally Preparing for a Race

Endurance athletes spend so many hours training and preparing for the physical aspect of racing that they often forget about the mental fitness that is also required. This used to be one of my biggest flaws as an athlete. I would be more than adequately prepared for a 2k erg test or a 100m free race but I would psyche myself out and do poorly. Years of racing have calmed me down a bit and I am able to handle race day nerves much better than my hyperventilating 12-year-old self. However, this weekend I will be tackling not one, but two semi-unknown races. The first is Derby Sweeps and Sculls, where I will be rowing in the single for the first time. The second is Rebel Race New York, a 5k run and obstacle course. Even though these races are very different from each other and from races I have done in the past, I know how to handle my nerves to the best of my ability. Here are my ten tips to keep race day nerves to a minimum.

Have A-B-C goals. Set three different goals for yourself, ranging from an A goal, or the best possible scenario, through to a C goal, an acceptable finish. Also, know what a race means for your racing season.  For example, Rebel Race is just a random race that my brother wanted me to do with him because he thought it would be fun. I have no intention of winning, I just want to finish in order to enjoy my free beer and finisher’s medal. I don’t need to have an A or B goal, because the race is a C race for me. However, Derby is important to me. I want to have a good racing experience because, in terms of rowing after college, the single is my best option. I would love to be top 3, my A goal, but if I cross the finish line with a good start  and good sprint and row a straight course without going swimming (my C goal), I will be satisfied.

Double check all equipment. In triathlon and rowing, equipment is vital. It’s possible for me to swim without goggles and a cap or even run without shoes, but I am not going anywhere without a functioning bike or shell. In the first triathlon I did, my goggle strap broke two minutes before my swim wave went off. Goggles are easy to fix, bikes and shells are not. I like to double check everything so that I can be confident in the fact that, if anything should break, it’s not because of my lack of attention to detail.

Wear something comfortable. This seems like a no-brainer but I think people sometimes go a little crazy with over-thinking a race day outfit. The first piece of advice I got when I started triathlon is “never wear anything brand new on race day”. Train in everything that you might race in. My outfit for Derby and Rebel Race is going to be the exact thing that I train in every day: black spandex shorts and a white tank top. I know it’s comfortable, and as an added bonus, I know I look good.

Rockin' the white tank and black spandex at Crash-B's, February 2011

Know as much as you can. Getting to a race late because of not knowing the parking was a 30 minute walk to transition or realizing the morning of that your GPS doesn’t recognize addresses located on state routes causes unnecessary stress. I like to know as much as possible about the venue and race rules beforehand. Sometimes certain places have funky rules that might throw you off if you only learn them on race day. I like to pick my packet up the night before if possible. That way, I can scope the course set up and meet some friendly volunteers who might be more willing to have my back on race day.

Have a routine. The weirdest thing about doing triathlons for me was travelling to a race by myself. I’ve always raced with a team. However, I stuck to my race day routine as best I could to combat the weird feeling of not having my teammates around. I made my coffee with skim milk and sugar, listened to my acoustic Eric Clapton and ate some oatmeal and half a power bar. Sticking to the regular routine that I follow with my teammates helped calm my nerves and get me into the racing mentality.

Oatmeal with raisins and apples, my favorite pre-race food!

Pack the night before…and pack extras. I like to lay everything out and double check it before I pack. Then I know that everything is going into the bag at the same time. If I pack over a span of a couple hours or rush around to pack the morning of, I am more likely to think that something is in the bag when it’s not (i.e. my unisuit, Dad Vails 2010). I also try to pack extras of easily misplaced things like socks. That way, if I meet someone else who is also forgetful, I can make a friend by sharing. 

Breathing exercises aren’t just for yoga instructors. Of all the tips I’ve researched, this one comes up the most. Personally, I just like focusing on my breathing because it gives me something to focus on besides the “what if” game. Also, slowing your breathing helps calm the Sympathetic Nervous System, which is what causes our fight or flight response. Calming down the SNS allows you to use energy more efficiently instead of wasting it on stressing out.

Positive thinking. This is definitely hardest for me to do. My brain loves the “what if” game and often enjoys “what ifs” erring on the side of failure. My main workout partner (one of the most mentally tough people I know) often tells me that I just have to turn off my brain and get on with the workout because too much thinking quickly becomes too much negative thinking which leads to a negative result. A lot of people like to walk themselves through the perfect racing scenario but I prefer to think about all the hard work I’ve put into my sport. I know that I might not be the most gifted athlete out there but I know that I have put in the hard work and time. This gives me confidence to make it through a race successfully.

Marist College's Erg Room: where the hard work happens

Practice to the best of your ability. I like to simulate a race situation as much as possible in order to give myself confidence that I can handle every part of the race and execute my race plan. Before I tried my first triathlon, I practiced transitions over and over  (much to the confusion of the Marist men’s lacrosse team, who had conditioning near where I set up my fake transition area). I wanted to have the muscle memory of going through those specific steps. In order to prepare for Derby, on Tuesday, my practice consisted of rowing 5x1k at just under race pace. If all else fails on race day, I can at least be confident in my ability to complete 1000m in the single. As far as Rebel Race goes, I don’t plan on climbing a mountain of mud over and over but I am confident in my ability to run three miles without stopping. Knowing both of these things will definitely calm my pre-race nerves.

….but be prepared to handle anything. It’s true that anything can happen on race day. The people who perform well through unexpected mishaps are not the ones who are thinking “THIS ISN’T SUPPOSED TO HAPPEN” but rather the ones who are thinking, “Okay, that happened, what am I going to do next?” Even with massive amounts of preparation, crazy stuff can still happen and someone with the ability to handle it without stress can still perform well on  race day.

In my opinion, preparing for anything that could happen as much as possible is the best way to calm race day nerves. However, I feel that Laura Farres, a mental performance consultant with the Canadian Sport Psychology Association and founder of Mind in Motion Consulting Inc. in Vancouver, sums it up best:

“You get there and feel the jitters and all sorts of things can happen,” says Farres, “You have to be prepared for potentially any challenges that might occur.”