Ranger's training thread

[ranger]

each day he somehow finds the energy to come here and post about how great he thinks he might be

Naw.

I'm already great.

The issue is whether I can be unprecedented.

A lwt 6:16 2K would break the 60s lwt WR by 26 seconds.

And the 55s, 50s, and 40s lwt WRs, too.

In historical terms, a row of that quality would be _wildly_ unprecedented.

In the male age groups under 70, I suspect that Paul Hendershott's mashing of the 60s hwt WR by seven seconds back in 2003 was the most impressive besting of a 2K standard.

If I can pull a lwt 6:16 this year, at an older age (61), I will best Hendershott's 60s _heavyweight_ WR (6:24) by eight seconds, rowing as a lightweight.

ranger

[Rocket Roy]

Ranger, I expect to do a 6.40.0 at Boston next year.

What do you expect to be doing that day?

You mean that your target is 6:40?

So, if you rate 35 spm, you'll pull 10 SPI?

Sure, that's a reasonable target.

However, neither of us will know what to "expect" until we do a blither of 2K predictors

ranger

I will do a 6.40.

That is my target and my coach, PaulS, has laid out a training plan to get me to that time. All I need to do is hit his targets.
I usually rate at 34 for a 2k so I envisage pulling about 10.2 SPI.

2 Question's;-

a]...Why don't you get a coach and listen to him?

b]...Race at Hwt, because you will never beat me at Lwt. You would be a good Hwt.

[aharmer]

Roy will do plenty of predictor workouts and trials prior to WIRC. You will still have done zero. We all know it and you know it. You've been days away from the FM trial for 5 years. What makes anybody think this time it's going to happen? You were just about to get there, then a convenient injury. What a joke you are.

In the remote possibility you show up at WIRC, you will not race. In the even more remote possibility you do race, it will be done without showing any predictive trials or workouts so you are able to claim you again pulled unprepared. Cue the "next year" will be 6:16.

As usual, you reserve the right to prove me wrong by actually showing something of substance prior to WIRC.

[ranger]

We all know it and you know it. You've been days away from the FM trial for 5 years

A FM at 1:48?

Sure.

Nothing wrong with that.

I have been working at it, though, developing the skills I need to succeed.

That's all you can do, no?

Roy is five years from a FM @ 1:56, and he _hasn't_ been working at it.

Given this, I like my chances better than Roy's.

Good investment pays off.

No one gets better just by preparing to race and racing.

The 60s lwt FM WR is 2:00 pace.

A UT2 pace of 2:01?

ranger

[ranger]

Why don't you get a coach and listen to him?

Sure, if PaulS could train you to row well, I'd listen to him.

But he can't.

10.2 SPI misses rowing well by 30%.

You're taking 2/3 of a stroke.

There is no need to row so badly, even if you are 60.

ranger

[pmacaula]

Rich - As you have suggested in a number of posts, you can only do your best.

It would be great if you could show up and race at WIRC 2012, do your best (whether it is 6:16 or 7:02) and be gracious in victory (or defeat). In accepting the fact that you have done your best, you would enjoy the event and possibly taste some of the camaraderie that top level competitors invariably share.

Likely because they don't have crew-mates to share the experience with, the top male single scullers are a very close and friendly community, despite being relentlessly competitive with one another on the course. These guys, by your definition, ALL row well. While some have bad days at even the biggest events (e.g. Mahe Drysdale at Beijing '08), excuses are not acceptable in that crowd.
Drysdale holds the World's Best 1x 2k time, but Olaf Tufte has two Olympic gold medals over the same competitive period. Who is the better sculler ?
I don't know, but Ondrej Synek has been schooling both of them for the past year.
The winner is the best on the day and that is what counts. Even in erging, conditions have an impact on performance.

All the best for your training up to WIRC 2012 & best wishes for a result that you will stand by, saying 'that was my best' - win, lose or draw.

Cheers. Patrick.

[mikvan52]

The rowing world no longer waits anxiously for ranger to make good on his predictions. The man is washed-up when it comes to WR rows.
Roy is the man to watch as he set a 55-59 lwt record in RECENT history. His training is abundantly transparent and honestly reported with his current body weight always reported.
Such open reporting would be welcome from ranger... He chooses otherwise...

I anticipate yet another empty erg seat at Boston in Feb. 2012... What a twerp!

If ranger were to show (be still my heart) THe order of finish would be BROOK 1st, SIMONSEN 2nd, CURETON 3rd
I like predictions too, you see

[TomR]

a]...Why don't you get a coach and listen to him?

b]...Race at Hwt, because you will never beat me at Lwt. You would be a good Hwt.

Jesus wept, Roy!

For the first time in a couple of months, I stop in to view the wreckage that is the ranger thread, and I find you here, being sensible.

That Haye fight must have totally disrupted your psychological balance. You're offering ranger advice, as though after a decade of deranged thinking, the man might actually behave reasonably.

You have a better chance of convincing Rupert Murdoch to donate his fortune to the communist party than you have of getting ranger to train sensibly.

[lancs]

There is absolutely no chance whatsoever of Ranger turning up to Boston in 2012, particularly now Roy will be there.

The Prof is simply too yellow to turn up and compete against Roy.

But of course, he won't have done his FM by then and so won't be fully prepared for a 2k. Better instead to let his VO2 fall yet further for another year before trying to break 7 mins again..

[ranger]

The winner is the best on the day and that is what counts. Even in erging, conditions have an impact on performance

Sure, if you are fully prepared to race, as much as a second per 500m, I would expect.

In 2003, my normal row was 6:32, which I did three times.

But once, I did 6:30.

And once, 6:29.

An once, 6:28.

This spread in times was a second per 500m.

If you are fully prepared to race, given your 2K predictors, this spread in performances of about a second per 500m, I would say, is about the norm.

Not much more than that, though.

If you are fully prepared to race, and are an experienced racer, no one races two seconds per 500m faster than their 2K precdctors, or two seconds per 500m slower.

ranger

[ranger]

Why don't you get a coach and listen to him?

Those with lots of experience in individual endurance sports don't need a coach to tell them how to prepare for racing OTErg.

For people of this sort, like me, preparing to race OTErg is a no-brainer.

I was four seconds under the 50s lwt WR in my first race (6:27.5), even though I didn't know how to row and therefore just hauled anchor at max drag.

I was certainly well prepared.

Learning to row well is another matter.

For many, coaches have a large role to play in this process, I suspect.

There might be some "natural" rowers, who get it all right the first time out, but I suspect these folks are pretty rare.

For most, the search for a perfect (i.e., maximally effective and efficient) rowing stroke is a lifelong affair, and any help they can get with it is a bonus.

Given my age, I am just rowing for the fun of it, though, and being a teacher and researcher all my life, and therefore an autodidact in other matters, I have enjoyed teaching myself how to row well, too.

I like being my own coach.

Being my own coach, both OTW and off, has made rowing a double pleasure for me:

the pleasure of being a successful rower _and_ the pleasure of being a successful coach.

Why detract from the pleasures that the sport has to offer?

Like training, the rowing stroke is a fascinating affair.

Double the pleasure, double the fun.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K7sWPtJ8E4M&NR=1

Two, two, two mints in one.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cSfvnodHCRY

ranger

[ranger]

I will do a 6.40.

That is my target and my coach, PaulS, has laid out a training plan to get me to that time. All I need to do is hit his targets.
I usually rate at 34 for a 2k so I envisage pulling about 10.2 SPI.

My 6K target is 1:40 @ 29 spm (12.2 SPI).

6K is an important training row when you are preparing for the 2K.

Hitting this 6K target during my distance trials this year will be _very_ important for me.

My 6K pb, from many years ago, is 1:44 @ 32 spm (9.8 SPI), rowing poorly at max drag, on my toes, hauling anchor with my back. dragging my legs behind, short=sliding and then rushing the slide for the next catch, peak force at 90 kg.F.

ranger

[ranger]

You would be a good Hwt.

No need for the conditional, Roy.

As a 50s hwt, I pulled 6:27.5, 6:28.5, and 6:29.7.

I qualified for WIRC three times as a heavyweight.

I won the heavyweight silver at WIRC 2003, pulling 6:30 as a lightweight.

Sure.

In addition to my rowing as a lightweight, I'll do lots of racing from now on as a heavyweight.

Why not?

If I hit my targets, I will be eight seconds under the 60s hwt WR.

Only one 60s hwt has ever pulled sub-6:30--Paul Hendershott.

Rowing well at low drag, fully prepared, I will now pull sub-6:30 pretty easily.

I'll only have to rate 30 spm.

ranger

[ranger]

you will never beat me at Lwt.

When I am fully prepared to race, weight is irrelevant for me.

My hwt pb is 6:27.5.

My lwt pb is 6:28.

As a 50s veteran, I had three sub-6:30 heavyweight rows and three sub-6:30 lightweight rows.

ranger

[PaulH]

For people of this sort, like me, preparing to race OTErg is a no-brainer.

And yet after sharpening for 7 weeks (when you say only 6 is necessary) you couldn't get it done. What do you think it says about your coach that you're not even able to complete "no-brainers"?