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I’ll let you in on a secret, just between you and me. I’ve always been a big guy. I’m just under 6 ft 3 inches and I’ve been so since high school. Football coaches never really gave me a choice of positions. They would look at me compared to the other players and say, “Ritchie, you’re playing line”. My only choice was between playing offensive or defensive line.
So being a big guy, boat racing is an unlikely choice of sport for me both back when I raced as a teenager and now. From my first race at 15 years old in ASH to my most recent race in CSH at Millville, NJ last month in an Arltralite carbon fiber boat, I’ve never had to add lead to my boat or even worry about being close to making weight.
But I’ve noticed a strange coincidence that happened when I raced as a teen and now.
I lose weight on weekends that I race boats.
After trying to lose weight all this past winter, or at least trying to hold steady through the holidays, and only seeing the scale change very slowly, I’ve had a quick four pound weight loss after racing at Wilson, NC and Millville, NJ back to back.
How do I account for the weight loss? It’s not dieting in the real since. I sat elbow to elbow with everyone else at Wilson, NC eating my plate of pulled pork bar-b-que and potato salad. And several times I successfully maneuvered around Ryan Runne who was guarding the Yuengling tap until it went dry mysteriously under his watch.
I think what happens is this. Beginning when I get ready to leave for a boat race, cursing myself while finishing all the things I should have done over the winter that I never got around to, while running around my house and garage collecting all the things on my checklist, to the morning of a race when I never feel like I have enough time to get my rig together let alone help Austin get his boat set up and I’m darting place to place, to grabbing the camera and rushing to a vantage point on the race course to shoot a series of photos then back to the pits, to delaying lunch and then delaying lunch again because of a postponed race schedule (and you just CAN’T go and race on a full stomach, can you?) I’m in such a frenzy of activity that I don’t even notice that I’m eating less or that I’m even hungry at all. My mind is simply too busy thinking about other things and my body is burning calories at a rate far above my normal metabolism.
So why am I sharing all this personal information with you? It’s my contribution to help the sport of boat racing. The next time your spouse/girlfriend/significant other remarks that you may be carrying some extra flab that needs to be removed, you can proudly answer, “Honey, I have the perfect solution. It’s a proven way to lose weight. I need to go boat racing!!!"
So being a big guy, boat racing is an unlikely choice of sport for me both back when I raced as a teenager and now. From my first race at 15 years old in ASH to my most recent race in CSH at Millville, NJ last month in an Arltralite carbon fiber boat, I’ve never had to add lead to my boat or even worry about being close to making weight.
But I’ve noticed a strange coincidence that happened when I raced as a teen and now.
I lose weight on weekends that I race boats.
After trying to lose weight all this past winter, or at least trying to hold steady through the holidays, and only seeing the scale change very slowly, I’ve had a quick four pound weight loss after racing at Wilson, NC and Millville, NJ back to back.
How do I account for the weight loss? It’s not dieting in the real since. I sat elbow to elbow with everyone else at Wilson, NC eating my plate of pulled pork bar-b-que and potato salad. And several times I successfully maneuvered around Ryan Runne who was guarding the Yuengling tap until it went dry mysteriously under his watch.
I think what happens is this. Beginning when I get ready to leave for a boat race, cursing myself while finishing all the things I should have done over the winter that I never got around to, while running around my house and garage collecting all the things on my checklist, to the morning of a race when I never feel like I have enough time to get my rig together let alone help Austin get his boat set up and I’m darting place to place, to grabbing the camera and rushing to a vantage point on the race course to shoot a series of photos then back to the pits, to delaying lunch and then delaying lunch again because of a postponed race schedule (and you just CAN’T go and race on a full stomach, can you?) I’m in such a frenzy of activity that I don’t even notice that I’m eating less or that I’m even hungry at all. My mind is simply too busy thinking about other things and my body is burning calories at a rate far above my normal metabolism.
So why am I sharing all this personal information with you? It’s my contribution to help the sport of boat racing. The next time your spouse/girlfriend/significant other remarks that you may be carrying some extra flab that needs to be removed, you can proudly answer, “Honey, I have the perfect solution. It’s a proven way to lose weight. I need to go boat racing!!!"
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