Rowing, Biking and Eating - It's What We Do

Another weekend same as the last. Lots of rowing and a morning bike ride. Friday was a day off and I was at the boathouse and out on the water by 8:15. It wasn't hot yet, but very humid. I rowed up past Ryan's Dam and turned around at the 5 1/2 mile mark from the boathouse. As i turned to return to the boathouse, I noticed two scullers coming toward me (from even further up river). On a weekday, its not that common to see others out rowing. It's even rarer to see rowers that far up river. Most turn at Fountainhead Park or at Ryan's Dam. They turned out to be two women I know. Both have previously been members of my sweep rowing club, which is where I originally know them from. Both have given up sweep rowing for sculling. We chatted for a few minutes before they continued on. I was in the middle of taking a water break and let them go. After several minutes i decided to see if I could catch up with them. They had about a 1/2 mile lead and i was never able to quite catch up with them. After about a mile, I was fairly close to them as we approached Ryan's Dam, but I slowly ran out of gas and they pulled away. Just goes to show that I need to work on my endurance. After the row, I was just soaking wet and just beat. I rowed a total of 11 miles and it felt like it. After driving home and showering, i felt a lot better. After lunch Ann and I went and did some shopping at Target and then just relaxed the rest of the day. On Fridays we usual just go out for pizza. It's the end of the week and Ann really isn't in the mood to cook. Frankly I enjoy going out to eat so it works for me too. However now that The Son is gainfully employed again and not subsisting solely on Raisin Brand, decided we shoot eat something a bit healthier then a three topping pizza. Our local Giant had ground turkey on sale this past week so I decided we would have grilled turkey burgers. To the ground turkey I added Worcester Sauce, some onion, red bell pepper and formed into patties. They came out pretty well and combined with a salad healthy as well.

Saturday consisted of rowing practice in the morning. We're concentrating on our catches and not mossing water at the catch and our ratio. Things are slowly starting to come together. We only had 9 guys and only 1 coxswain for the practice and we took out a 4+ and a Quad. Ten minutes into the practice, one of the guys in the Quad felt something go in his back and had to be swapped out. Once that happened we proceeded with the practice. Drills and slow stroke rates up to Ryan's Dam. We were rowing at 12 and 14 strokes per minute, which is incredibly slow. Hurt your back slow. I was in the 4+ and surprisingly the set of the boat was fairly good. We had a tendency to tip to port right at the catch so we need to get that corrected. After arriving at the Dam (which really isn't a Dam anymore, its been torn down for years, but parts of it on the Prince William side of the Occoquan still remain as a landmark), we took a water break , spun the boats and headed back. We leaped frogged with the Quad on the way back although still at low stroke rates to work on our ratio and rush. The rates varied based on the Coach;s whim but they were in the 16 to 18 strokes per minute area. We were able to move the 4+ well even at the low rate and it was fun leap frogging with the Quad. Keeps practice interesting. After practice, I came home showered and started in with lunch. I fired up the grill and cooked some hot dogs for Ann and I (Nathan's - great hot dog) and another turkey burger for The Son. After lunch it was off for the weekly grocery shopping. Dinner that night was grilled steaks. The grill definitely got a work out over the weekend. Speaking of the grill, I'm still pretty old school using a Weber that requires charcoal versus a gas grill. I just haven't been impressed with the gas grills I've owned in the past.

Sunday I schedule a bike ride since I had gone rowing the previous three days. I wasn't sure what condition the trail would be in as we had very heavy storms roll through the area overnight. The parking lot I use was only about half full when i arrived, which I thought was great but strange as it fills up quickly. I usually get one of the last spots even though I'm there right around 8:00 in the morning. From the Rt 28 lot, I headed east toward Vienna figuring to get in a 25 mile ride. It's a 12.5 mile ride to Vienna. As i started out, I noticed that traffic heading west was heavier then normal and moving very fast. Turns out the Reston Bike Club was holding a bike race on Sunday morning. I'm glad I was going against the grain so to speak and didn't get caught up in all that traffic. After my ride, The Son cam to the house and made some scrambled eggs and sausage with some onions and red pepper thrown in, which turned out rather tasty. For dinner, Ann turn some Boston Butt Pork Roast into some great tasting BBQ. We do love to eat. Overall I'd give the weekend and "A".