Online Workouts...

[[old] eparizeau]

Been thinking that with all the creative horsepower on this forum we might be able to come up with some creative online workouts that help keep us all inspired. I think handicapped races are fun from time to time, but they do take some work to calculate the "head starts", and are tough to organize on the fly. <br /><br />Here are some possible (possibly crazy) ideas:<br /><br />1. Follow the leader - Each rower in the race agrees to lead the pack for a certain distance (say 1000 meters). Everyone else has to do whatever the leader does, but they don't know what he/she is planning until it happens. <br />I did this earlier this season and it was a fun mix of easy steady state with crazy sprinting for 20 strokes, etc. kept me on my toes.<br /><br />2. Biathalon #1 - After every 1000 meters, you have to get off the erg and do 20 pushup, 20 situps, 1/2 pullup etc. Never tried this one. Might increase the risk of injury from diving off and on the erg. <br /><br />3. Biathalon #2 - Not sure how to do this....but I was inspired by watching the Skiing Biathalon during the Olympics....Row 1000 meters, and then shoot at targets on the computer. If you miss then you have to row an extra 100 meters penalty lap...DigitalRowing, we might need your help in RP version 3 on this one.<br /><br />Any other thoughts? Ernie

[[old] Alissa]

<!--quoteo(post=58097:date=Mar 2 2006, 07:45 AM:name=eparizeau)--><table border='0' align='center' width='95%' cellpadding='3' cellspacing='1'><tr><td><div class='genmed'><b>QUOTE(eparizeau @ Mar 2 2006, 07:45 AM) </b></div></td></tr><tr><td class='quote'>Been thinking that with all the creative horsepower on this forum we might be able to come up with some creative online workouts that help keep us all inspired. I think handicapped races are fun from time to time, but they do take some work to calculate the "head starts", and are tough to organize on the fly. <br /><br />Here are some possible (possibly crazy) ideas:<br /><br />1. Follow the leader - Each rower in the race agrees to lead the pack for a certain distance (say 100 meters). Everyone else has to do whatever the leader does, but they don't know what he/she is planning until it happens. <br />I did this earlier this season and it was a fun mix of easy steady state with crazy sprinting for 20 strokes, etc. kept me on my toes.<br /><br />2. Biathalon #1 - After every 1000 meters, you have to get off the erg and do 20 pushup, 20 situps, 1/2 pullup etc. Never tried this one. Might increase the risk of injury from diving off and on the erg. <br /><br />3. Biathalon #2 - Not sure how to do this....but I was inspired by watching the Skiing Biathalon during the Olympics....Row 1000 meters, and then shoot at targets on the computer. If you miss then you have to row an extra 100 meters penalty lap...DigitalRowing, we might need your help in RP version 3 on this one.<br /><br />Any other thoughts? Ernie<br /> </td></tr></table><br /><br />Hi Ernie,<br /><br />I'm not sure I'm up to participating in such a high-powered group (and I don't have the computer set-up to do it...), but when I read your post, I had an idea for you...<br /><br />4. Biathalon #3 - Since control of heart rate is such a big part of Biathalon, use that directly (less focus on can you hit the target, and more on can you control your heart rate...and doesn't require getting on/off erg or having everyone with the same video game & computer/erg arrangement). At planned distance points, each competitor must stop and wait for their heartrate to drop a stated % of total heart rate at that point (not sure what sort of drop should be required...); only then can the competitor continue. Race for total time. <br /><br /><b><i>ETA:</i></b><a href="http://www.findarticles.com/p/articles/ ... _105518168" target="_blank">Here's</a> a link to an article w/ an overview of the techniques. This is from the article:<br /><br /><!--quoteo--><table border='0' align='center' width='95%' cellpadding='3' cellspacing='1'><tr><td><div class='genmed'><b>QUOTE</b></div></td></tr><tr><td class='quote'><!--quotec-->To be steady enough to fire, an athlete has to bring his heart rate down from 200 or more beats per minute into the 140s, and this has to happen within seconds of arriving at the range. The better trained you are, the lower the lactate level in your blood and the less stress on your body--and therefore the faster your heart rate can drop, explains Algis Shalna, head coach of the U.S. biathlon team. "In untrained people, it can take three to five minutes; for trained people, around a minute; and for very, very well-trained people in very good shape, 20 seconds." </td></tr></table><br /><br />Good luck w/ your plans--sounds very interesting!<br /><br />Alissa

[[old] Ben Rea]

man when you said creative you sure meant it! wow! those sound so exciting and inspiring!

[[old] akit110]

<!--quoteo(post=58097:date=Mar 2 2006, 10:45 AM:name=eparizeau)--><table border='0' align='center' width='95%' cellpadding='3' cellspacing='1'><tr><td><div class='genmed'><b>QUOTE(eparizeau @ Mar 2 2006, 10:45 AM) </b></div></td></tr><tr><td class='quote'>2. Biathalon #1 - After every 1000 meters, you have to get off the erg and do 20 pushup, 20 situps, 1/2 pullup etc. Never tried this one. Might increase the risk of injury from diving off and on the erg. <br /> </td></tr></table><br /><br />I like your suggestion #2. I used to something comparable but substituting jumping rope for 3 minutes for the 1000m row. I found it very good for general conditioning. Your suggestion sounds similar to some of the workouts posted on crossfit.com. If you row strapless, the transitions would be fairly easy.<br /><br />

[[old] Marilyn]

Hi Ernie<br /><br />When I was watching the olympic games I was thinking about the same, but any creative idea<br />was coming, the idea of Alissa with the heart rate sounds fine, ok maybe with a big disclaimer<br /><br />There are biathlons in gyms with different ergometers (bike, rower, etc) but we not all of us have those ergometers at home<br /><br />I think you are on the right way, let me know when you have the idea ready, count with me<br /><br />I am looking methods to motivate myself too after a long break<br /><br />Regards<br /><br />Marilyn<br />

[[old] Thomas]

I had an idea today during the 10k on rowpro.<br /><br />The fastest 2k in the last 2000 meters of a 10,000 meter piece is the winner. You would have to have a 1:50.0 average or faster prior to begining the last 2000 meters, otherwise, you don't qualify.<br /><br />You could make the average anything you want. I thought about this because of those present today during the 10k were Nigel, Rob, AndreasBM. All four of us could row to the 2,000 meter to go mark with a 1:50.0 average pace or better and then fun would begin.

[[old] mpukita]

<!--quoteo(post=58206:date=Mar 2 2006, 08:18 PM:name=Thomas)--><table border='0' align='center' width='95%' cellpadding='3' cellspacing='1'><tr><td><div class='genmed'><b>QUOTE(Thomas @ Mar 2 2006, 08:18 PM) </b></div></td></tr><tr><td class='quote'>I had an idea today during the 10k on rowpro.<br /><br />The fastest 2k in the last 2000 meters of a 10,000 meter piece is the winner. You would have to have a 1:50.0 average or faster prior to begining the last 2000 meters, otherwise, you don't qualify.<br /><br />You could make the average anything you want. I thought about this because of those present today during the 10k were Nigel, Rob, AndreasBM. All four of us could row to the 2,000 meter to go mark with a 1:50.0 average pace or better and then fun would begin. <br /> </td></tr></table><br /><br />Thomas:<br /><br />Since my 2K best pace is 1:49.75, I'll have to be in the heat <b>AFTER </b> you!<br /><br />These are all great ideas. You could modify the heart rate option to be something like ... row 2K, if HR is over X, stop until HR reaches Y. Go again, another 2K, same deal. Older guys (like me) might have some built in "handicap advantage" because we can't get our heart rate up as high as the young bucks.<br /><br />Ernie, this was a great question ... I'm sure others will come up with more and more creative ideas. I'd like to try some of these.<br /><br />-- Mark

[[old] eparizeau]

Thanks everyone. Some great ideas. I like the HR option a lot. <br /><br />Does anyone know if chat will work during a RP race if we stop midstream? Here's why I ask. I'm thinking about a Trivia Contest Rowing Biathalon (patterend after the cross country ski & target shoot version)<br /><br />Would go something like this:<br /><br />1. 6 k race (but would be set up to be longer...for obvious reasons...read on)<br />2. Everyone races first 2k and then stops rowing<br />3. Once you get to 2k you have to stop and wait for your HR to fall to 70% of Max HR (So for me...my max is 183, and 70% would be 128. Can't restart rowing until HR < 70% max<br />4. While you are waiting the Admin would throw out a Trivia question...."Who won the Gold Medal in the Mens Single Sculls in 2004 Olympics (Olaf Tufte - Norway)" If you get it wrong you have to row a 200 meter penalty...i.e. It becomes a 6200 meter race for you.<br />5. Row another 2k and repeat.<br /><br />So actual race will be either 6000, 6200, or 6400 depending on how you do on the questions.<br /><br />The thing I like about this is that old slow folks (like me) have been around longer to collect useless info in their brains. It might just give us the advantage we need when taking on younger, faster competitors. And I also thing I read somewhere that scientists think that really tall people are a bit mentally slower that the rest of us...another possible chance to catch up to the rockets around here.<br /><br />Obviously, this would require use of chat during the race....I've never tried that. Not sure if it would work with RP version 2. Probably would also require the Admin to agre to not participate...i.e. a "designated driver" so that he/she would be available to ask the questions, keep track of penalties, etc.<br /><br />Will give this some more thought, and will test chat next time I'm in the middle of online piece.<br /><br />Thanks all, Ernie<br /><br /><br />

[[old] michaelb]

In 1.8 I am almost sure you could bring chat up during the race if you wanted. We used to regularly do that back in the days when we had regular problems. I am not sure on 2.0. Everyone's status is going to show they are racing, so I wonder if they will get the message and if they can respond in chat while their status is racing. So I bet we can get to the chat app; the question is what can we do while we are there. If we can't chat, or that causes stability problems, it would also be possible to just have a race related thread here on the forum, and have people switch to their browser and respond in the forum. We know that would work for sure.<br /><br />I would get killed if it was rowing trivia. I am not sure how you could extend the distance of an online SR row from 6000 to 6400. I think you would have to impose time penalties, like an extra 20 secs to wait before starting the next 2000. If we care about the results, we would want to be careful that someone couldn't get an advantage if they had a large monitor, and could see the chat/browser while they were rowing, and get an headstart on thinking of the answer.<br /><br />But I think some form of rowing biathlon would be a riot, and I would sign up for sure just to get the experience (there is little chance I could win something like that though).

[[old] michaelb]

To follow up on Hennie's suggestion, this is something I suggested to Frank over the fall for the fall handicap series. Handicaps are fun, but the problem with them is that when they are based on your PB, some people will beat their PB by a lot, and some people that day won't get close to their PB. So we are still usually all spread out.<br /><br />Since we do these for fun, I would run a handicap where you got to pick the pace you would actually row, and your handicap would be set based on that. It could be PB pace or it could be a lot slower, but you would be required to actually row that pace during the race up to the last 1000m (Hennie says last 2000m, but that detail doesn't matter to me much); the final bit, either 1000m or 2000m, could be a sprint at any pace anyone wanted.<br /><br />this would be much easier to set up, since you wouldn't need to know anyone's PB, people could say in chat what they were going to row at what pace, and would guarantee that all the rowers would be tightly bunched at 1000m for the final sprint.

[[old] John Rupp]

<!--quoteo(post=58206:date=Mar 2 2006, 05:18 PM:name=Thomas)--><table border='0' align='center' width='95%' cellpadding='3' cellspacing='1'><tr><td><div class='genmed'><b>QUOTE(Thomas @ Mar 2 2006, 05:18 PM) </b></div></td></tr><tr><td class='quote'><!--quotec-->The fastest 2k in the last 2000 meters of a 10,000 meter piece is the winner. </td></tr></table><br /><br />Let's make it a bit tougher, i.e. more realistic, the first 8000 meters at 2k + 10, then the closest to their 2k PB for the last 2k wins the race.<br />

[[old] whp4]

<!--quoteo(post=58325:date=Mar 3 2006, 10:59 AM:name=John Rupp)--><table border='0' align='center' width='95%' cellpadding='3' cellspacing='1'><tr><td><div class='genmed'><b>QUOTE(John Rupp @ Mar 3 2006, 10:59 AM) </b></div></td></tr><tr><td class='quote'><!--quoteo(post=58206:date=Mar 2 2006, 05:18 PM:name=Thomas)--><table border='0' align='center' width='95%' cellpadding='3' cellspacing='1'><tr><td><div class='genmed'><b>QUOTE(Thomas @ Mar 2 2006, 05:18 PM) </b></div></td></tr><tr><td class='quote'><!--quotec-->The fastest 2k in the last 2000 meters of a 10,000 meter piece is the winner. </td></tr></table><br /><br />Let's make it a bit tougher, i.e. more realistic, the first 8000 meters at 2k + 10, then the closest to their 2k PB for the last 2k wins the race.<br /> </td></tr></table><br /><br />Oh, are you planning to join in the fun?<br />

[[old] Thomas]

<!--quoteo(post=58325:date=Mar 3 2006, 10:59 AM:name=John Rupp)--><table border='0' align='center' width='95%' cellpadding='3' cellspacing='1'><tr><td><div class='genmed'><b>QUOTE(John Rupp @ Mar 3 2006, 10:59 AM) </b></div></td></tr><tr><td class='quote'><!--quoteo(post=58206:date=Mar 2 2006, 05:18 PM:name=Thomas)--><table border='0' align='center' width='95%' cellpadding='3' cellspacing='1'><tr><td><div class='genmed'><b>QUOTE(Thomas @ Mar 2 2006, 05:18 PM) </b></div></td></tr><tr><td class='quote'><!--quotec-->The fastest 2k in the last 2000 meters of a 10,000 meter piece is the winner. </td></tr></table><br /><br />Let's make it a bit tougher, i.e. more realistic, the first 8000 meters at 2k + 10, then the closest to their 2k PB for the last 2k wins the race.<br /> </td></tr></table><br /><br /><br />A bit tougher? A bit more realistic? Hey dude, show us the way. . . show us the way.

[[old] FrancoisA]

<!--quoteo(post=58325:date=Mar 3 2006, 06:59 PM:name=John Rupp)--><table border='0' align='center' width='95%' cellpadding='3' cellspacing='1'><tr><td><div class='genmed'><b>QUOTE(John Rupp @ Mar 3 2006, 06:59 PM) </b></div></td></tr><tr><td class='quote'><!--quoteo(post=58206:date=Mar 2 2006, 05:18 PM:name=Thomas)--><table border='0' align='center' width='95%' cellpadding='3' cellspacing='1'><tr><td><div class='genmed'><b>QUOTE(Thomas @ Mar 2 2006, 05:18 PM) </b></div></td></tr><tr><td class='quote'><!--quotec-->The fastest 2k in the last 2000 meters of a 10,000 meter piece is the winner. </td></tr></table><br /><br />Let's make it a bit tougher, i.e. more realistic, the first 8000 meters at 2k + 10, then the closest to their 2k PB for the last 2k wins the race.<br /> </td></tr></table><br />I like John's idea! It would give us, old lightweight, some chance at winning! <br />I am pretty sure I could do those last 2000m under 2K+3 pace, if not faster!<br /><br />Cheers,<br /><br />Francois

[[old] Thomas]

I tried to think of a series of races where it would be done over the course of a month where the total time of all distances would determine the order of finish. So, an idea would be:<br /><br />1st weekend: 1000m<br />2nd weekend: 2000m <br />3rd weekend: 6000m <br />4th weekend 10000m<br /><br />It would stay relatively close for the first half and perhaps the first three, but the 10k would allow someone to get big chunks of time if they were not good with the shorter stuff. <br /><br />Then, there are races that are already in place like Nigel's 6k and 10k he organizes on Tuesday and Thursday. You could add up the times over the course of a month.<br />