Age Handicap

As the weatherman predicted correctly, today was a day of rain with gloomy skies. Sunday is usually a sculling day for me with an informal group of LMRC scullers. This morning, we had 1 men's single and 2 women's singles (including myself) out on the water. Though sorely tempted to go to breakfast instead of rowing, we braved the rain and wind, which were both light and mild, but rain and wind nevertheless, and went out.

The workout started with a quick warm-up to the finger followed by 3x finger-to-log-boom pieces (approximately 2,000m each, which takes me a little more than 9 minutes in my single) with active recovery in between as we paddled back to the finger. My pieces were solid in effort at about 26-28spm, but somewhat sloppy in technique and balance with the wind upsetting the set and my blades occasionally digging deep on one side or the other. That is the joy of rowing a single--you get instant feedback about what you are doing wrong.

The other female sculler and I are pretty comparable in speed, and it is great having the other person there to push each other. In a real masters race, however, she would win without a doubt. Being almost twice my age, her age handicap on me is more than TEN SECONDS! In college, everyone talks about being able to pull your weight. In masters rowing, you have to pull your weight and age. Well, this makes it interesting for me since I am one of only a few rowers on my team who are under 30. I do think that age handicaps are great because now, you have something to look forward to as you get older, thank God! At the same time, they are depressing because everyday, I get constantly reminded that there are women out there who are twice my age and can out-pull me. After all, I am not getting any younger. I do not think I will get any faster with age!

In other sports, such as running or triathlon, masters athletes are often called "age groupers" because they compete in their age group. I remember a middle-aged triathlete complain once that he had always looked forward to turning 40 because it put him in the next age group, but once he was in the that age group, he only found it to be even more competitive than his previous age group! He now figures that the only way he will ever win in his age group is if he outlives his competition!