Bucket List Check: Head of the Charles 2019
Months and months of training, and poof! Over in a flash. Three days back and there’s still much to process. I didn’t update during the regatta because I wanted to absorb the experience–and I needed to sleep at night. I did make this short video, the 7 Days Countdown to HOCR. I wanted to capture […]
Week 6: It’s all about the taper
I just finished my final workout on the training plan. Tonight I pack the bag and tomorrow I’m on an airplane to Boston. I realized about four minutes into the piece that this was it. My final erg session before the big day. Wow. It snuck up on me. There is nothing else I can […]
Week 5: Race Prep Brings on the Nerves
All was well. The house, quiet. Lights, dark. Bed, cozy and warm. Alarm snoozed. Out of the darkness: “Next week this time, you’ll be heading to Boston.” I blinked. Crap. In my mind, HOCR was nine days away, but I hadn’t thought about it like that. Who’d have thought one simple sentence would be a […]
Week 4: Getting Comfortable With Speed
One of my boat mates texted about her on-water training that morning and said, “What’s it, like, 17 days now?” “16. Get it right,” I answered. My little reminder. It’s getting real. I bought this sticker at last year’s Head of the Hooch, when I decided going to the Charles was the goal for 2019. […]
Week 3: Listen to Your Body
Casey continues her journey towards the Head of the Charles. Halfway there! As the countdown ticks down, two of our women’s four suffered sickness this week. Better sick now than in three weeks. The moral of this week is it’s great to push yourself and your boundaries. It’s also imperative you listen to your body. […]
Learning pace judgement
This month we are talking Head Racing – long distance rowing races with Marlene Royle and Rebecca Caroe. Timestamps to the show: 01:00 Head Racing – top tips. Own the river. Be aggressive from the start. Focus on your rhythm. 04:00 How to be a strong stern pair in an eight for head racing 07:39 […]
Our first Faster Masters Medalist
Gordon Williams is our very first medalist training on the Faster Masters programme. He won Mens F 1x at Lake Ruataniwha in New Zealand’s South Island during September, beating a long-time winner into second place just before the line. How the race went Truth be told I rowed like a lumberjack for the last 15-20 […]
Week 2: Rowing the Long Game
The Head of the Charles is 26 days away as I sit and write. Less than four weeks. Somehow I found time to create a past history spreadsheet for my event. I used the last five years’ results to calculate the average winning time, the average top 5 finishers time, plus their corresponding benchmarks at […]
Backstory to Faster Masters
You may be wondering what is Faster Masters? Let me answer by telling you a story. Grab a comfy seat and a drink because this will take you 5 minutes to read. Rebecca and Marlene are your coaches were both competitive younger rowers and (eventually) reached the end of their careers and wondered what to […]
Six Weeks to Get This Master Faster
Faster Masters is following one athlete’s progress towards the Head of the Charles 2019. Casey McKenna is a 35 year old single sculler, a mom fo a 2 year old. She trains alone since her job relocted to Kentucky and she was massivly excited when she got her entry into the HOCR this year – […]