Stroke rate and pace?

[jamesg]

why my race graph looks different compared to competitors in may age group.

You slowed at about 2 minutes, as is often done, but then tried to pick it up again. However, still having another 1500 to go, you could have continued slow and then picked it up nearer the finish, if necessary.

[iain]

Its all about experience, I refer to the 3rd 500 (assuming this is a 2k) as "the dead zone" everything hurts and the end seems impossibly far away. That is where you need mental tricks to keep you going such as thinking back to previous successful attempts, focusing on 100m at a time, counting out strokes, whatever works for you (I use a combination). While 35SPM is used by some competitors, these tend to be some of the very best, so I suspect that you might be able to do a quicker time 1-2SPM lower with practice as you are using a lot of energy going up and down the slide rather than accelerating the chain (the only thing measured for pace). I suspect that your stroke deteriorated. Some loss of power is common and many of us aim to slowly increase the rating to compensate (another reason for getting used to a lower rating at start). But loss of a third of power is excessive. It suggests to me that major technique faults crept in such as trying to drive with bent arms, or having a weak back at the catch so that some of the leg drive is lost to moving your body (lengthening arms or rotating forwards), &/or shortening your slide. The latter is fine at the very end to allow very high rates or compensate for loss of leg power, but you need to preserve your stroke at least to the end of the deadzone. If you do 4 min or 1k intervals at 2k pace, you should be able to recreate the issue. Try and find the fault and then concentrate on checking for it in a TT or race. I can sometimes find 3S/500m from tightening my technique with no increased effort during an all out effort.

The other area is practice. You need to have done race pace work a week or so before a race to confirm your current pace. For 2k many people "like" to do 4 x 1k with long (5-8min) rests. These can be done close to race pace, so having this under your belt gives you a pace you know you can maintain for a 2k whatever your head is telling you! If you go too fast then you pay for it, so the "slow-down demons" have a weakness to attack as the race reachs its hardest parts. My former coach used to say that if you don't doubt that you can keep rowing at your pace to the end at 40% through andy all out piece, you can go faster! Like you I once "had" to slow significantly in a race (in my case 3.5 - 4.5k in a 5k). I slowed 7-9S /500m below target 600m from the end. However I managed to take the pace 3S/500m above target at the end so was not as near exhaustion as my body was telling me (this was 2 weeks after a 24hr row, so I was unsure of my pace despite being recovered and fit).

But well done at finishing and particularly giving your all at the end, it should be easier next time.

[Zeebies]

A belated thank you to MPx, Mystic Melody, jamesg and iain. I particularly appreciate the detailed info as it is very very interesting to me. And helpful! Little did I know only a few months ago that I would get all wrapped up in this rowing thing….

Would a reasonable goal be to work to keep my pace and stroke rate even during most of a race or practice? In addition to building endurance so that I don’t lose power again, can watts be used somehow to guide my practice?

And thanks for the words of encouragement.

[Dangerscouse]

Would a reasonable goal be to work to keep my pace and stroke rate even during most of a race or practice? In addition to building endurance so that I don’t lose power again, can watts be used somehow to guide my practice?

That's very subjective. You might benefit from neg splits (going faster as it progresses), positive splits, a flat pace or what is referred to as the French protocol (it broadly starts off faster, slows down a bit in the middle and then speeds up at the end). There is no right or wrong for them, just what is a preference.

Stroke rate is purely a means to an end, so you find where you're the most efficient. There will be a tipping point that it becomes detrimental as you're unable to either breathe properly and/or explode out of the catch properly, so then each stroke is very subtly becoming less powerful and your leaking energy. I find anything over r32 is generally a tipping point for me, but I'm happy with rowing a hard effort HM at r29.

You can definitely use watts if that's your preference, as it's a very defined measurement. Just don't use calories as that's very ill-defined.

[iain]

Would a reasonable goal be to work to keep my pace and stroke rate even during most of a race or practice? In addition to building endurance so that I don’t lose power again, can watts be used somehow to guide my practice?

As Stu says there are differences, but I believe that it is optimal to have a plan and stick to it as best you can. IMHO Which approach works for you is primarily mind games. Physiologically a slight negative split is probably optimal, but that is tough as it requires you to speed up as it hurts more. French protocol has benefits on the water as you can keep an eye on your competitors. It also allows you to capitalise on the relatively easy early pace. The issue is maintaining a good pace while carrying the oxygen debt built up at the start. Does a better current position motivate you enough to dig deeper? Personally I prefer a more even pace upping the pace at the end when the proximity of the end provides the necessary encouragement. In any event we are only talking varying pace (if you exclude a finishing sprint) by 1-2S/500m. As for rating, I need to increase this as the race progresses and muscles tire and the form of my stroke deteriorates despite my best efforts.

As for practice, it is essential to develop a good consistent stroke. Poor strokes show up in the instantaneous pace dropping so trying to keep rate and pace constant really helps. As power and pace are calculated from each other, it makes little difference which you maintain. Some people try and maintain "work per stroke" (aka SPI or stroke power index), this is power divided by the rating. This ensures that the quality of your stroke is maintained when you train at lower pace. "Not losing power" could be from multiple sources that need different adjustments. Going at a pace you can maintain is the most important solution. Unfortunately as my coach used to say, if you haven't worried about not being able to maintain the pace to the end by 40% through, you could have gone quicker! So this is often making sure you are confident that you can maintain the pace. This comes with having done so before or having the confidence in a formula that predicts the pace you can do for the race from another workout. It is obvious, but frequently overlooked during the discomfort of TTs and races that you will have done a faster pace for 50%+ of the distance, focusing on this should help you get past that point, endorphins help the "dead zone" and approaching the end always provides a final boost.

[jamesg]

Would a reasonable goal be to work to keep my pace and stroke rate even during most of a race or practice?

That's the usual procedure. Just make sure that the stroke itself is good enough to offer a training effect even at low ratings. Which means full length and at a high but sustainable handle force (see Ergdata); with good style, using the legs.

Such strokes are not easy; so keep the rating low (18-20) or you will be forced to stop within a minute, if unfit. However they are very effective trainingwise, so keep at it.

Our Stroke value is easy to see on C2 machines: Watts/Rating. This gives a parameter called Work, measured in Watt-minutes.

Your graph showed 200W at 34 so stroke value 200/34 = 6. This value depends on sex, age, style and size.

At rate 20 using the same stroke you could be working at about 120W. To evaluate this you could use your fit weight: W/kg. Over 2W/kg would be very satisfactory at rate 20.

In ISO units, One Watt-minute is 60 Joules; and 1J is 1 WattSecond, Ws.