Paul Rosenquist

Well being a bit late at work this morning I had to cut my morning training a bit short. Immedeatly my stupid mind comes with an altarnativ plan…let’s give the Kungsholmen runt a shot! Kungsholmen is one of the big islands in central Stockholm. More or less 9km’s depending on steering. Just in t front of the office we have a 5knot marker and that is my start and finish bouy. The trick is (or at least one of them) is to choose what way round to go. Depening on the wind etc…Riddarfjärden, the northern shore can be very choppy and a bitch in head wind. The otherside is a sheltered channel. Today I think I choose wrong, not sure…but it was more or less side wind and choppy on the outside and stiff headwind in the channel. I was trying to break the magic 40minute mark, but had to settle with 41:40….A good warmup for the coastal champs next in a few weeks!
will try to get some pics on soon!
see ya!

Ok, I’m back at work and life has changed a bit. Training has te be done earlier or later or both in order to fit in the 8 to 9 hours at the office…and also a few hours to paint the new appartment Louise and I just bought. Yep, life is fully booked. We can perhaps put you on the waiting list…I sort of came to the conclusion that, if it is not like this,…I go mad. But having so much shit I need to do and want to do makes me go mad as well… Conclusion?

Anyway, I am saving a lot of time thanks to Wim from ROW Scandinavia who is trying to sell Coastal Rowing boats in Sweden. I have now got a Coastal single lying on the dock at the office. Early mornings or late eavenings, in pitchblack are now the tune.
This boat is really different of what I am used to. 11.8kg’s of carbon fibe, stiff as hell and 830cm’s long is what I have been rowing for the last few years. A coastal rowing boat looks like a Laser (sailing dinghy) without a mast. 35kg of glassfiber. The first outing was a shock. Could it be this heavy and slow? But as the kilometers tick on I am falling more and more in love with this funny little boat. I have got no clue what people use for kind of settings on the oars etc. I see this boat as a floating ergometer. It feels a bit dead to row as it moves so heavy and slowes down a lot on each stroke due to its short lenght. But it is so nice to just sit there and work your but of, not worrying of traffic, waves, wind what ever. Just cruising around the islands is town. It is now time to try to work on some more speed sessions. I have just been doing these things I call ‘an hour of power’… Its pretty basic…just row hard for an hour.

We will be heading to the races in Cannes with a good bunch of folks from the club. Ruairi in the single as me, Elin, Kathrine Lynn aned Ewa in the 4x and Louise in the single as well.

Exciting stuff..where rowing usually the probably the worlds most orginized sport, six boats, six lanes, bouyes every 20mtr or so, very straight course and very strict rules on how and where to warmup and cool down…Here everything will be different…Mass start, a triangular course with only 3 bouyes, 8km long waves and I guess chaos. LOOK FORWARD TO IT!