6:52.2

The 2k went perfectly...After four weeks here in New Zealand, I pulled a 6:52.2 which beats my personal record by 7 seconds. The plan for the 2k was simple, hold 1:43 splits and smash the 3rd 500.

For all non-rowers out there, the third 500m is the most painful part of the 2000m race. In the first 500, you feel good because the lactic acid hasn't settled in yet. In the last 500 you're almost done, but in between you have 1000 meters of pure pain.

The 3rd 500 has been my weakness in the past, but today I turned it into my strength. It was the fastest part of my race barring the starting 500 meters. I felt amazing. With 900 meters left in the race, I roared something at the erg that I will have to censor for younger audiences. My split came down 2 for a couple strokes.

Everything I had been working on in the last month came together. Malcolm had me focus on driving more with my legs and really getting every bit of power out of them. I had been wasting a lot of speed by engaging my upper body too early. 

Something I still need to work on is my sprint. The last 250 meters were a good bit faster, but the 250 meters before I slowed the pace a little bit. That cost me about a second. 

Luckily, I still have one more week here and one more erg test. I feel as if I have more to give, especially with some more training and a full taper. Next week I want to break 6:50 at least. 

As most of the guys are leaving tomorrow morning, we all ate dinner together at the boat shed. All the coaches and some of the Uni guys came along. Between us, we prepared something like 7 kilos of steak. It was a nice reward for a good erg test. 

Just barely enough. (Note: That's a serving tray..)

Turns out a long distance race was rescheduled from last weekend to tomorrow. We're racing a 7k in an eight tomorrow morning! Always a nice surprise.