CRASH-B 2018....

From the CRASH-B's to an online challenge, discuss the competitive side of erging here.
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hepting
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CRASH-B 2018....

Post by hepting » February 20th, 2017, 11:13 am

Okay - so figured I might be the first to post about next year! If making a goal public is one of the first steps here it goes.

I want to go to Boston in 2018, (I'll be 50) and row a sub-7 minute 2k and here is the key... as a lightweight.

A little history - rowed in late 80's as a Lightweight in college (6' 1"). Erged (and rowed a OTW a little) on and off over the years - never paying attention to weight. I own a Model C with a PM4 and slides. I am fairly confident with some focus I can row sub-7 but I have no clue if I can do it (while remaining healthy) as a LWT. So I have enlisted the help of a Nutritionist and have started Pete's 26 week intro plan to start and build the base. Officially started that part of the journey last night with an easy paced 5k at 2:06/500. I do have RowPro and live in NC so if anyone is interested in an online workout let me know.

I am 190lbs+ today - I've been as low as about 170 in the last year but normally sit in the low/mid 180's. So a big part of this plan is going to be around proper eating while building strength.

I am goal driven - but this is going to take focus for a much longer time than other challenges I have laid out. I hope to gain some motivation from this forum as I work through the journey. I would love to hear from other 50+ year LWT rowers that might struggle to make weight. This goal is really for "fun" and I have no interest in doing any damage as I work to get my weight down and my strength up. My near term focus is general fitness and slow and steady weight loss.

So there it is - written down. ;-)
Dyson 49yo - 6'1" on a long road back to lightweight....
"<165lbs and sub 7 2k or bust!"

Rod
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Re: CRASH-B 2018....

Post by Rod » February 20th, 2017, 12:25 pm

Hi hepting,

Good luck with the challenge and hopefully I'll see you in Boston next year when I'll be a 60-64 Lwt.(I hope !).

I made Lwt this year but it's not easy, I've been sticking to around 2000 to 2200 Calories per day and training pretty hard. The Pete Plan should be good for you as while I don't follow it as such I do use some of it's sessions and the general principles are sound.

I'll be following your progress with interest so hope to speak again soon..cheers...Rod.
67 year old, 72 kilo (159lbs), 5'8''/174cm (always the shortest on the podium!) male. Based just south of London.
Best rows as an over 60. One Hour.....16011 metres. 30 mins.....8215 metres. 100k 7hrs 14 mins.

hepting
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Re: CRASH-B 2018....

Post by hepting » February 20th, 2017, 1:08 pm

Rod wrote:Hi hepting,

Good luck with the challenge and hopefully I'll see you in Boston next year when I'll be a 60-64 Lwt.(I hope !).

I made Lwt this year but it's not easy, I've been sticking to around 2000 to 2200 Calories per day and training pretty hard. The Pete Plan should be good for you as while I don't follow it as such I do use some of it's sessions and the general principles are sound.

I'll be following your progress with interest so hope to speak again soon..cheers...Rod.
Thanks Rod!

Do you use RowPro at all? If so would love to get my butt kicked sometime for motivation. Look forward to staying in touch - and nice row on the 15th!
Dyson 49yo - 6'1" on a long road back to lightweight....
"<165lbs and sub 7 2k or bust!"

Cyclist2
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Re: CRASH-B 2018....

Post by Cyclist2 » February 20th, 2017, 1:47 pm

hepting wrote: normally sit in the low/mid 180's
If this is your "normal" weight, then I recommend you do the erg training, eat a healthy diet, and don't worry about weight. Over the course of a year, your weight will settle into something that works for maximum erg performance and feeling good at the same time. I've seen people struggling to make LWT and their performance and general health both suffered. At 6'1", getting to 165 lbs is going to make you a pretty thin guy, probably not too healthy. You're not 18 anymore!

Use all those motivators you mentioned and stick with your plan, and LWT or not, you'll be strong and competitive. Hope to see you there next year.
Mark Underwood. Rower first, cyclist too.

Edward4492
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Re: CRASH-B 2018....

Post by Edward4492 » February 20th, 2017, 3:54 pm

A lot depends on your current body composition. Bottom line.....are you fat? If you're a msucular 190, making LWT is gonna be difficult. Over a 4-5 year period I went from being 185lb, in average shape and a little chubby, dropped to a 175lb bicycle racer, then to a 170lb crossfitter, and currently at age 60 (6' 0") I consistently have no trouble weighing in as a LWT (161.8 at "B"s this year). I've found I can get from 170 to 160 very easily. Cut out out all (and I do mean ALL!) of the junk. No alchohol. No sugar. No bread, pasta bagels, etc. That leaves meat, fish, chicken and eggs. Nuts and oils. As much fresh vegetables as you want. If I have trouble losing it fast enough I cut out the fruit.Otherwise I eat a fair amount of fruit and berries. In 2014 at age 57 I pulled 6:59.1 at 164lbs. I've lost a bit since then but as recently as last season was consistently under 7:10, and I'll be back there again.

I was a personal trainer for two years and had a helluva time getting clients to lose weight. Bottom line? People simply will not eat the way they need to eat to make weight loss happen. They always had a reason, an excuse, or just failed to conform.

If I were you I would carve out a 6-8 week stretch and simply commit to 100% clean eating and see what happens. Not 80%. Not 90%. No "cheat" days. Just....commit! Be curious to see where it takes you.

Good Luck!

hepting
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Re: CRASH-B 2018....

Post by hepting » February 20th, 2017, 4:53 pm

Edward4492 wrote:A lot depends on your current body composition. Bottom line.....are you fat? If you're a msucular 190, making LWT is gonna be difficult. Over a 4-5 year period I went from being 185lb, in average shape and a little chubby, dropped to a 175lb bicycle racer, then to a 170lb crossfitter, and currently at age 60 (6' 0") I consistently have no trouble weighing in as a LWT (161.8 at "B"s this year). I've found I can get from 170 to 160 very easily. Cut out out all (and I do mean ALL!) of the junk. No alchohol. No sugar. No bread, pasta bagels, etc. That leaves meat, fish, chicken and eggs. Nuts and oils. As much fresh vegetables as you want. If I have trouble losing it fast enough I cut out the fruit.Otherwise I eat a fair amount of fruit and berries. In 2014 at age 57 I pulled 6:59.1 at 164lbs. I've lost a bit since then but as recently as last season was consistently under 7:10, and I'll be back there again.

I was a personal trainer for two years and had a helluva time getting clients to lose weight. Bottom line? People simply will not eat the way they need to eat to make weight loss happen. They always had a reason, an excuse, or just failed to conform.

If I were you I would carve out a 6-8 week stretch and simply commit to 100% clean eating and see what happens. Not 80%. Not 90%. No "cheat" days. Just....commit! Be curious to see where it takes you.

Good Luck!
Great advice - appreciate you taking the time. My ego refuses to call myself fat... but lets just say I have plenty of room to slim down... ;-) Body fat is in the low 20's so I should have success in dropping. I agree completely with your advice, as it has worked well for me in the past. I do tend to lean towards towards the protein based foods - my vice is I tend to eat too much fruit when avoiding junk but to your point a simple thing to adjust. Now my love for a nice bourbon on the weekends is another issue.... What is going to be interesting for me to balance is the increased workout load. In the past I have focused on diet and not intense workouts - or the reverse. So doing both together with a plan will be a great drill and I too look forward to seeing how this pans out.

As cyclist2 posted - I am going to do the work and see where the weight falls. My gut says this is feasible but have to see what the body tells me.

I did take my old single out of the woods this weekend - I was unaware that squirrels liked to eat vespoli shoes until yesterday! But do look forward to getting on the water to break up all the erg workouts.
Dyson 49yo - 6'1" on a long road back to lightweight....
"<165lbs and sub 7 2k or bust!"

Rod
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Re: CRASH-B 2018....

Post by Rod » February 20th, 2017, 6:12 pm

hepting wrote:Do you use RowPro at all? If so would love to get my butt kicked sometime for motivation. Look forward to staying in touch - and nice row on the 15th!
No, sorry, I don't use it. I'll be happy to do some of the same sessions though and see how we compare....and how we (hopefully!) improve.

I'll be doing 30 minutes at 20 spm on Wednesday and a 10k at free rate on Friday so if you fancy either of those it would be good to see how you go.

I report my sessions on the ''What training have you done today'' page so look forward to staying in touch....happy rowing!
67 year old, 72 kilo (159lbs), 5'8''/174cm (always the shortest on the podium!) male. Based just south of London.
Best rows as an over 60. One Hour.....16011 metres. 30 mins.....8215 metres. 100k 7hrs 14 mins.

Edward4492
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Joined: March 7th, 2014, 11:34 pm

Re: CRASH-B 2018....

Post by Edward4492 » February 20th, 2017, 11:26 pm

Hepting like you I enjoy an evening drink; I live in the wine capitol of south jersey and I really enjoy a glass each night. But on January 2nd, it goes. Try going totally alchohol free for the 6 week period. See what happens. I have found that the only way to get rid of the excess baggage fast is total, 100% compliance. You'll never do it if you think it's going to be a "forever" life style change. Make the short term commitment and at least see if your body composition will allow a sensible weight loss. You might not get there, but there's only one way to find out. I've found a repeatable protocol that works like clock work (four years in an row). I also do it when I'm ranking any serious pieces; although for Boston I like to get way down (161-162) so I have a cushion. Not to worried for the rankings, right now I'm sitting at 164- 165 every morning.

Or you could moderate it, see how far you go with some solid training and a 90% compliance diet plan. If you naturally drop into the 170lb range, then you'll know it's do-able.

Good Luck!

hepting
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Re: CRASH-B 2018....

Post by hepting » February 23rd, 2017, 8:32 pm

So my current plan is 90% compliance on diet - the 10% allows for a few drinks on the weekends. But no bread, etc - heavy on Proteins and veggies and a little fruit. No sweets - which for whatever reason is easier for me than having a little. I have begun to lose some weight so I am heading in the right direction. I will be working up a more formal nutrition plan over the next few weeks.

After some research I have started the Beginner Peter Plan 26 week program. I will work that to build back a base on the rower. Weaving in weights 3x's a week and maybe some HIIT from Orange Theory or something similar to break things up.

I am a bit discouraged by my times out of the shoot - I clearly have a lot of work to do on fitness - but am confident I will put the work in and am focused on slow and steady improvement. I decided to start using a HR monitor as well to try as another data point as I work on the longer distances.

In terms of weight I am going to see what my body does - I know from experience I can stick with a strict plan for 6-8 weeks. What will be interesting is trying to extend this to 11 months, while focusing on fitness and strength and avoid yo-yo'ing as I have in the past. I am not going to do anything stupid to get down to 165 - lets see where I get over the next 3 months and I'll adjust from there as needed.
Dyson 49yo - 6'1" on a long road back to lightweight....
"<165lbs and sub 7 2k or bust!"

Edward4492
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Re: CRASH-B 2018....

Post by Edward4492 » February 23rd, 2017, 10:35 pm

Sounds like you're thinking right. As much as you don't want to "yo-yo" diet, you're a little different as an athlete. Like you said, compliance for 11 months may too difficult, I don't do it. I find that I can maintain 170 - 172 with relative ease. I try and get my ranked pieces in early in the season while I'm still an honest 165. Over the holidays I'll be up in the 172lb range and for the past four years I had zero problems dropping it fast. I've found it takes about two weeks of being clean and then it just melts off me. May be a change of metabolism (?). Don't be discouraged with your times. Consistency pays the rent. I lost a lot when I ignored the erg learning to row a single. Back in October an 8:00 2k felt horrible, eventually got down to 7:17, but still 10s off of the prior year. The moral of the story is obvious....gotta erg!

Do some hard core dieting for a short period of time, plenty of volume of food; but all quality. See where it takes you.

You'll get there.

hepting
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Re: CRASH-B 2018....

Post by hepting » March 10th, 2017, 11:22 pm

Well quick progress report. I've completed week 3 of the 24 week beginner peter plan. I decided it would be a good way to build back my base fitness. Rowing a reasonable ss 6k at 2:01.4 pace. Pace is dropping gradually and getting a bit more comfortable on the longer rows. I did a "fun" 500k test at a gym with a friend at 1:34.1 and it did hurt....

I am starting a 3 day a week lifting program next week and will do that on non-rowing days.

Diet is also going well but slow. Cut out basically all crap food and staying hydrated. I am under 190lbs now and beginning to feel some positive changes .

This is a marathon not a sprint so staying focused on incremental progress and staying consistent.


Goal: sub 7 2k as a lightweight in 2018.
Dyson 49yo - 6'1" on a long road back to lightweight....
"<165lbs and sub 7 2k or bust!"

sarahJ
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Re: CRASH-B 2018....

Post by sarahJ » August 8th, 2017, 8:16 pm

Hi

Just a little bit off topic (sorry for hi-jacking :D ) but were looking to go to Crash B 2018 and need to start looking at and booking flights to America. Does anyone have any idea what date its going to be in 2018 ?or know where i can find out (i've tried emailing) It seems to very quite a bit year to year and dont want to leave it too late :?

Thanks :)

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Citroen
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Re: CRASH-B 2018....

Post by Citroen » August 9th, 2017, 1:40 pm

http://www.crash-b.org/
http://www.twitter.com/crashbsprints

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