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This post takes a look at the ILS (I Love Sushi head race series in Seattle) Mixed 2x Smackdown 2023 edition and considers the question of how well the US Rowing handicap adjusts for age in this 5.2K race.  Course description The start was off the Pocock dock with crews heading east under the University Bridge into Portage Bay. The course continues tight along the houseboats until the "Diabolical Turn", close to the Seattle Yacht Club. A miscue on this turn can cost lengths or worse.  The course continues east through the Montlake Cut to Fox Point. The Big Turn (180˚+) begins at the navigation buoy off port at Fox Point and continues until crews are pointed back at the Cut. Another opportunity to lose lengths and to hit things. The line to the finish follows the shoreline with a slight turn to starboard and ends at Fritz Hedges Park, approximately 5.2 km from the start.  The competition 26 crews

Hey Magda and Dale, this is a goofy follow-up to your brief conversation I overheard where Dale feigns mock concern that we'll never be able to match our reference 6K due to such favorable rowing conditions.  Well, I got to thinking about it and, while I agree last Friday (1/26) had exceptional conditions, it probably did not represent the fastest conditions we'll encounter on the 6k sushi course. In particular I was thinking about water temp, the cold temp of last Friday versus the warmer temps we see at the beginning of sushi. Plus there are other considerations like eastbound head-currents from rain runoff and actually-not-that-great wind. All contribute to slower than the fastest conditions. In this note I consider water temp differential. Today's Lake Washington water temp is reported as 8.3° C.  Believe it or not, the water temp was around a degree colder last Friday, but to err on the conservative side let's call it 8°. You can find historical as well as current

12k, 7 mph sse wind, rain, warm.  https://connect.garmin.com/modern/activity/13753223229?share_unique_id=12  

Recently I downloaded annual summaries for the years that I've owned a Garmin watch - 2016 to late May 2020, Fenix 3 HR, and late May 2020 to Dec 2023, Fenix 6x Sapphire. Methods I used the Progress Report function in Connect to download activity summaries for 2017 through 2023. I then wrote a script to merge, massage and format the data. This step could have been done faster in a spreadsheet. But now having written the script, hopefully I can repeat this process without less manual effort.  Purpose I was curious to see how volume and other statistics trended over the 7 years. Since I compete in masters rowing, I also wanted to know if there were any trends that would show areas for improvement or anything that worked well. I retired in Jan 2021. Would the data  show the expected increases. Background I row, bike, walk, hike, ski, erg, do winter sports and a few other activities, all of which are represented in the Garmin data. The mix of activities h

Katherine and I had a really nice day hike yesterday from Sunrise to Fremont Lookout. We initially planned on Burroughs, but rather than negotiate snow on the trail, we headed north to the Lookout, our first hike there. From Fremont Lookout We left Seattle around 8:30, arrived at Sunrise 2 hours later and were on the trail a half hour after arrival. A spectacular clear day with a nice breeze that kept temps cool; it was over 90 in Seattle. Lots of fellow day hikers, but not unbearable. Katherine packed an ample picnic lunch, much of which was packed back down the trail. From Fremont Lookout The view from the Lookout was great. To the north was Mt Baker, Mt Shuksan, Glacier Peak and others. Looking west we could see the skylines of Seattle and Bellevue. Looking east we could see the lift towers of Crystal's Campbell and Rex chairs. Lots of climbing parties - ascending and descending - could be seen on Rainier with binoculars. This is an easy day hike. The visitor maps put the dis