Today was my 17th or 18th Crash B, Indoor Rowing Championship held at the New Balance Track in Boston. Up until a few years ago, this race held in Boston was the World Indoor Rowing Championship. Now they move the World’s around to different cities every year. Just last week the Worlds was held in Toronto, Canada. So the Crash B’s is now a regional rowing championship, a much smaller event than the past year when 2000 rowers from across the globe came to compete. CRASH-B is an acronym for the Charles River All-Star Has-Beens. This irreverent collection of outdoor rowers, many of them members of the 1976-80 Olympic and national teams, launched these competitions 35 years ago. Anyone can race these events that registers. You put your predicted 2k time on the form along with your weight, and age and this info determines the heat you will be racing in. While erging started with rowers, now people like myself, use it for training that have never laid a hand on an oar. Many years ago, ergs could only be found in the corner of local gyms. Now with the Cross Fit boom, ergs can now be found in most gyms in more prominent locations. There are many kinds of rowers now, but Concept 2 reigns supreme in championships, and collegiate rowing teams across the globe. They are made locally in Vermont and founded by the Dreissigacker brothers Peter and Dick, who had competed in the 1976 Olympics.
Pre Race
I have been “erging” since the late 1990s as a way to cross-train during the cold New England winter to stay in shape for the Surf Ski racing season. It is a wonderful machine for overall fitness! Concept 2 is the gold standard of indoor rowers seen across the world in the rowing community. Rowing colleges use your 2k erg time to qualify you for their collegiate rowing teams. It is a tough workout, that can be tedious, tiring, and mind-numbing at times but in the end, your fitness level will soar to new levels. I have encouraged many surf ski paddlers over the years to train on an erg. At one time there was a group of 8 or so of us that made our way to Boston, Mark Ceconi, Sean Milano, Bob Capalini, Tim Dwyer, Chris Chappel, Roger Gocking, Greg Lesher, Mary Beth, Chris Sherwood, even the late Joe Glickman raced one year. Today it was only Matt Drayer, and Bernie Romanowski of the “surf ski paddlers”.
2009 Crash B with Wesley, Sean, Mark, Chris
Matt, always a top finisher at the Blackburn Challenge, clocked a 7:18 and Bernie 7:20. While Matt and I did not have as much training as we would normally due to Covid and colds, we gave it a hard effort through uneven 500-meter splits were the order of the day. Bernie’s 500m splits were fairly even which is the preferred method of racing. The 200o meter is broken down into 500-meter pieces and your pace is derived from how fast you can row the 500 meters. So go out too fast and you “fly and die” as the saying goes. Go out too slowly and it is very hard to make the time lost.
Wesley, Bernie, Matt
My first 500 meters as depicted below was very good at 1.56 per 500 meters, then I slowed to 2.03, and 2.02, and finished at 1.58 for the last 500 meters with Betsy urging me on to keep up the leg drive and reach! So pacing was pretty good, but my only complaint was my mouth was so dry, I wanted to stop and drink! Matt quipped before the race, a camelback like our friend Dave Grainger might do the trick. My cardio fitness was good since I have been mainly running this winter but strength is where I need to focus for the upcoming surf ski race season.
2 minutes away from start!
Ergometer noun. er·gom·e·ter (ˌ)ər-ˈgäm-ət-ər. : an apparatus for measuring the work performed (as by a person exercising) also: an exercise machine equipped with an ergometer.
