Sharpening Up
Posted: March 24th, 2008, 8:02 pm
Hi Everyone
I used to post occasionally on the older C2 Forum - I don't know if the accounts have been switched over, but I can't seem to log in, so have created a new one. I may well have just forgotten my login details, it's been the best part of a year since my last visit!
Basically I'm wondering if any of the people here can help me out with a programme.
I'm a 21 year old final year university student, and on-water rower in the UK. I'm 6 feet tall exactly, and around 90kg/200lbs. I know I'm currently carrying too much fat, as when I was pulling my PB times in 2006, I weighed about 82kg. I have not pulled a PB on the erg since Autumn of 2006, when I pulled 6:35 for 2k, and roughly 8200 for 30 min rate 20.
Having had various health complaints over the 2007 season, I went to see the doctor, and found that I am Asthmatic - I got badly ill with a chest infection in Christmas of 06-07 and that may have triggered something. 2007 was a horrible stop-start year for training when just as I felt like I was getting somewhere, I'd come down with breathing problems again. So far, I've had a mixed winter's training - horrible from October-January, but finally feeling as though I'm starting to find some form from mid January onwards, since my diagnosis and starting on Asthma medication. My last 2k test was a 6:42 in November which all things considered at the time wasn't too bad.
So, that's the background, here's the problem - I'm really desperate to hold on to my seat in the Uni's first boat. At the moment I have a lad breathing down my neck who's much bigger and stronger than me, but I am technically a better technical rower than him. The distance we'll be racing over with the eight in the summer is 2000m, and if the previous years selection criteria are the same, we will be raced off against each other over 1000m, aswell as having 2000m ergometer test times taken into account (he pulls around 6:15). So, I really need to improve my power and sprint work, and was wondering if anyone here can help.
Since January, I have been working roughly to this training programme:
Monday - 1/2 Hour at 20spm - UT1/AT (not sure which band it would be classed as exactly - as hard as you can pull at 20spm), followed by heavy weights.
Tuesday - 20 Min Run, 20 Min Erg, 20 Min Run
Wednesday - Water session, usually 12-16k UT2 with some higher rate pieces around AT, heavy weights.
Thursday - Same as Tuesday
Friday - 50 Minute (6 mile) run.
Saturday and Sunday - 2 water sessions per day, 1st one around 16K UT2 with some pieces, second session 8-10k Technical.
I've been running a lot as I'm trying to get the weight under control, and it is slowly starting to creep down. In the transition to the summer season, I did my first interval session last week - a pyramid of 1 minute, 1 minute rest, 2 min then 2 min rest etc up to 4 mins and down again. I averaged around 1:40/1:41 which I was reasonably happy with, but I think I need to be getting down below the 1:40s really. (On a seperate note that was on a Model D - has anyone else noticed they don't seem to be able to get as good splits on a D as a C?)
Anyway, if anyone can help me to put together a sprint programme, that would be greatly appreciated. I'm currently just under the remit of keeping myself fit as I'm in a university holiday at the moment, so have no set training I have to do. I can only really fit in about 1 session a day though as I'm having to live in the library writing up my final year project, which is due the first day of summer term.
Timescale wise, I am training on my own until Saturday 5 April, when I go on a week's training camp with our squad. After that, I have one week until our 500m Universities sprints regatta, 1 week after that until our main universities regatta (over 2000m), then the squad system breaks up for exams so I will be doing my own thing again - I imagine the racing and testing for the boat for Henley, which is the ultimate aim, will be in the third or fourth week of May.
Apologies for rambling on for so long, if anyone's managed to fight their way through my post and can offer any advice, that would be greatly appreciated!
Many thanks,
Simon
I used to post occasionally on the older C2 Forum - I don't know if the accounts have been switched over, but I can't seem to log in, so have created a new one. I may well have just forgotten my login details, it's been the best part of a year since my last visit!
Basically I'm wondering if any of the people here can help me out with a programme.
I'm a 21 year old final year university student, and on-water rower in the UK. I'm 6 feet tall exactly, and around 90kg/200lbs. I know I'm currently carrying too much fat, as when I was pulling my PB times in 2006, I weighed about 82kg. I have not pulled a PB on the erg since Autumn of 2006, when I pulled 6:35 for 2k, and roughly 8200 for 30 min rate 20.
Having had various health complaints over the 2007 season, I went to see the doctor, and found that I am Asthmatic - I got badly ill with a chest infection in Christmas of 06-07 and that may have triggered something. 2007 was a horrible stop-start year for training when just as I felt like I was getting somewhere, I'd come down with breathing problems again. So far, I've had a mixed winter's training - horrible from October-January, but finally feeling as though I'm starting to find some form from mid January onwards, since my diagnosis and starting on Asthma medication. My last 2k test was a 6:42 in November which all things considered at the time wasn't too bad.
So, that's the background, here's the problem - I'm really desperate to hold on to my seat in the Uni's first boat. At the moment I have a lad breathing down my neck who's much bigger and stronger than me, but I am technically a better technical rower than him. The distance we'll be racing over with the eight in the summer is 2000m, and if the previous years selection criteria are the same, we will be raced off against each other over 1000m, aswell as having 2000m ergometer test times taken into account (he pulls around 6:15). So, I really need to improve my power and sprint work, and was wondering if anyone here can help.
Since January, I have been working roughly to this training programme:
Monday - 1/2 Hour at 20spm - UT1/AT (not sure which band it would be classed as exactly - as hard as you can pull at 20spm), followed by heavy weights.
Tuesday - 20 Min Run, 20 Min Erg, 20 Min Run
Wednesday - Water session, usually 12-16k UT2 with some higher rate pieces around AT, heavy weights.
Thursday - Same as Tuesday
Friday - 50 Minute (6 mile) run.
Saturday and Sunday - 2 water sessions per day, 1st one around 16K UT2 with some pieces, second session 8-10k Technical.
I've been running a lot as I'm trying to get the weight under control, and it is slowly starting to creep down. In the transition to the summer season, I did my first interval session last week - a pyramid of 1 minute, 1 minute rest, 2 min then 2 min rest etc up to 4 mins and down again. I averaged around 1:40/1:41 which I was reasonably happy with, but I think I need to be getting down below the 1:40s really. (On a seperate note that was on a Model D - has anyone else noticed they don't seem to be able to get as good splits on a D as a C?)
Anyway, if anyone can help me to put together a sprint programme, that would be greatly appreciated. I'm currently just under the remit of keeping myself fit as I'm in a university holiday at the moment, so have no set training I have to do. I can only really fit in about 1 session a day though as I'm having to live in the library writing up my final year project, which is due the first day of summer term.
Timescale wise, I am training on my own until Saturday 5 April, when I go on a week's training camp with our squad. After that, I have one week until our 500m Universities sprints regatta, 1 week after that until our main universities regatta (over 2000m), then the squad system breaks up for exams so I will be doing my own thing again - I imagine the racing and testing for the boat for Henley, which is the ultimate aim, will be in the third or fourth week of May.
Apologies for rambling on for so long, if anyone's managed to fight their way through my post and can offer any advice, that would be greatly appreciated!
Many thanks,
Simon