What OTW Training have you done today

[Rockin Roland]

Roland, where are you? Aus or kiwi would be my guess.

Roy, I'm an Aussie. Hence the days down under are getting longer and warmer which would be the opposite to your situation. However as it's early Spring here it also means we're getting a lot of windy days whereas you'd be experiencing a lot of calm days and flat water. That's the way the seasons go. Fortunately I'll now be doing more rowing in eights so the wind won't trouble so much compared to the single.

[tewbz]

first regatta of the season yesterday!
1st place in the 2nd heavy weight varstiy 8 with a time of 18:03 (i think)
and then 5th in the lightweight varsity 8 with a time of 17:23.
wasnt to happy with the lightweight 8 but i guess we will just have to improve over the next few weeks to come back and win that. my boat has made huge progress from the begining of the season, and i hope to keep making progress like this for the rest of it

Nice double!
What will be your major head race this season?

thanks!
I don't think were going to anything big this year, we were going to go to head of the hooch (which we won last year in the 8) but we are no longer going. regatta schedule is all in ohio from here out with the speakmon regatta which is pretty big, the columbus fall classic which is medium sized, and the blake haxton invitiational. so far its shaping up to be a good season!

[mikvan52]

Nice double!
What will be your major head race this season?

thanks!
I don't think were going to anything big this year, we were going to go to head of the hooch (which we won last year in the 8) but we are no longer going. regatta schedule is all in ohio from here out with the speakmon regatta which is pretty big, the columbus fall classic which is medium sized, and the blake haxton invitiational. so far its shaping up to be a good season!

Sounds like a full season... best of rowing...
How many days a week do you and teammates train in the fall season?

[mikvan52]

Sculling 5 to 6 days a week thru September... and now October began with a low key Head on the South River (annapolis/edgewater maryland)
16 boats of all classes in an overly large head wind...
Couldn't keep the rate up as the 1x got unbalanced... Fun though!
I came out with the 2nd fastest time and had the pleasure of being reeled in by some kids I've helped coach who sculled in a 2x.... a joy to behold!

[tewbz]

Nice double!
What will be your major head race this season?

thanks!
I don't think were going to anything big this year, we were going to go to head of the hooch (which we won last year in the 8) but we are no longer going. regatta schedule is all in ohio from here out with the speakmon regatta which is pretty big, the columbus fall classic which is medium sized, and the blake haxton invitiational. so far its shaping up to be a good season!

Sounds like a full season... best of rowing...
How many days a week do you and teammates train in the fall season?

6 days a week,and we avg around 20k a row.
once we start regattas we train 4 days a week load the trailer the 5th then race the 6th. sunday is always off though so we can have 1 rest day. we have been doing pretty well the last few years winning some regional races and being in the grand finals of nationals. i hope to be on a boat that goes to nationals next year and hopefully medal

[Byron Drachman]

I did 16K of a mild effort, with a few breaks to take pictures like this:

fall_colors_oct_9_2011_c_r.jpg (86.05 KiB) Viewed 10020 times

[Rocket Roy]

Beautiful!

Lovely water too. And not much traffic...

[Byron Drachman]

I did a very short row this morning: about 3 K with light pressure. It was windy so the mantra was big tapdown in order to keep the blades clear of the waves during the recovery. I'll do another short paddle tomorrow, so I am well rested for the Head of the Grand on Sunday. My plan was to do a quad with my oldest son and two coaches from the MSU Crew Club, but both coaches are sick so my son and I will do a double. The son is recovering from a hamstring injury and I am trying to recover from wimpishness. At least my son has a good chance for recovery.

[Bob S.]

I did a very short row this morning: about 3 K with light pressure. It was windy so the mantra was big tapdown in order to keep the blades clear of the waves during the recovery. I'll do another short paddle tomorrow, so I am well rested for the Head of the Grand on Sunday. My plan was to do a quad with my oldest son and two coaches from the MSU Crew Club, but both coaches are sick so my son and I will do a double. The son is recovering from a hamstring injury and I am trying to recover from wimpishness. At least my son has a good chance for recovery.

Watch out for the wild eights roaming around all over the Grand.

[Rocket Roy]

. The son is recovering from a hamstring injury and I am trying to recover from wimpishness.

It aint wimpishness, it's pre race nerves or adrenalin, you will feel nervous up to a point, probably when you get in the boat and start to paddle to the start, then the adrenalin will kick in....

[Byron Drachman]

Watch out for the wild eights roaming around all over the Grand.

Hi Bob,

Yes, they are a menace. Heh, heh. Although come to think of it, the infamous crash last year was the only one I've ever heard about on the course.

It aint wimpishness, it's pre race nerves or adrenalin, you will feel nervous up to a point, probably when you get in the boat and start to paddle to the start, then the adrenalin will kick in....

Hi Roy,

How true. I did a mixed double earlier this year and was totally composed and relaxed until I heard the commands: Attention, Row. Up to the start I had been taking good (relative term: good for me, terrible for Xeno) strokes and all of a sudden once the race started every flaw I have been dealing with and thought I had fixed came back with a vengeance.

[Rockin Roland]

Byron,
The picture of your river makes me envious. I wish I had a river like that to row on. However, with such flat water and straight river I wouldn't be doing 16 km of mild effort. I'd be priming those muscles up for that race with sharp catches and long powerful controlled strokes looking for maximum efficency and glide.

Contrasting to your peaceful river I had to boat my single at first light 6.10 am this morning to avoid all the school traffic on our river. I did some work and was happy with my technique and boat run despite the unusual conditions (small tidal roller waves). Tommorow I have the eight. Crew selection is still in progress for Head of the Yarra(biggest head race in Australia). I did my 20 minute erg time trial this week (first time I've been on a C2 erg this season) and comfortably passed the required 5700 m standard with meters to spare. I hated every minute of it though. I guess I've been too spoilt with all my off season Rowperfect training. C2 ergs just feel so awfull to row on now.

I wish we had a quite tranquil river to row on. Your so lucky Byron(except in winter when your river freezes).

[Byron Drachman]

Byron,
The picture of your river makes me envious. I wish I had a river like that to row on. However, with such flat water and straight river I wouldn't be doing 16 km of mild effort. I'd be priming those muscles up for that race with sharp catches and long powerful controlled strokes looking for maximum efficency and glide.

Contrasting to your peaceful river I had to boat my single at first light 6.10 am this morning to avoid all the school traffic on our river. I did some work and was happy with my technique and boat run despite the unusual conditions (small tidal roller waves). Tommorow I have the eight. Crew selection is still in progress for Head of the Yarra(biggest head race in Australia). I did my 20 minute erg time trial this week (first time I've been on a C2 erg this season) and comfortably passed the required 5700 m standard with meters to spare. I hated every minute of it though. I guess I've been too spoilt with all my off season Rowperfect training. C2 ergs just feel so awfull to row on now.

I wish we had a quite tranquil river to row on. Your so lucky Byron(except in winter when your river freezes).

Hi Roland,

I hope your crew selection goes well.

I agree I need to do more hard training. I have some shoulder issues lingering from some surgeries about ten years ago, and I mostly avoid middle training bands. I am usually at a ridiculously low heart rate or else I am doing a high intensity but very short interval.

Byron

[Rockin Roland]

Flat water and calm conditions yesterday after work for crew training in the eight. Seat selection for the eight is still in progress. Yesterday the fat bloke who had been rowing in 4 seat was cut from the crew and replaced by a fit & slim 85 kg well skilled oarsman. We immediately noticed an improvement in boat speed. I'm glad because I hate rowing in masters crews full of fat men. The bloke who was in 4 seat had a bit of a gut which caused him to row short. Fat men, due to limitations cuased by body shape, can't bunch right up at the catch and also have difficulty pulling the oar right through to the finish and tapping down. This was breaking up the rythmn in our boat. I call these types of blokes "boat stoppers". That's because the combination of their excess weight causing drag on the boat and balance issues when they shift off centre, plus their short strokes and rythmn issues have adverse affects on the rest of the crew and boat run.

Unfortunately, in our club like many others around the world, the obese men are usually the wealthiest and have the most political clout. Hence one needs to be very diplomatic in removing them from otherwise fast crews when they self-select themselves into those crews. There is one more of these fat blokes that needs to be tapped on the shoulder and told to sit out of our crew. It's going to be very tough because his political clout just got us a $50,000 grant from local government. The crew selection panel will truly be tested in the next few weeks. At what point should club politics override ideal/fastest crew selection?

[Rocket Roy]

Unfortunately, in our club like many others around the world, the obese men are usually the wealthiest and have the most political clout. Hence one needs to be very diplomatic in removing them from otherwise fast crews when they self-select themselves into those crews. There is one more of these fat blokes that needs to be tapped on the shoulder and told to sit out of our crew. It's going to be very tough because his political clout just got us a $50,000 grant from local government. The crew selection panel will truly be tested in the next few weeks. At what point should club politics override ideal/fastest crew selection?

It'll be interesting to see how they bin the guy. Tell him it takes a big man to take being ousted from the boat, it was close but he just lost out------ now over the next year if he could just lose a few pounds and get in shape.....

At Vesta we apparently have many ex president's and captain who because of their long service to the club seem to have a rack for life and no one has the balls to ask them to shift their boat into the loft space until they want their yearly outing.......some of the dust is inches thick on the 1x's. I may write something pithy in it................