pjc wrote:He motivates himself with outlandish goals
Well, you'll have to take a peek at a little history to justify this one.
My first outlandish goal arose when I claimed that I could beat the 50s lwt WR even though, at the time, I weighed 195 lbs.
Why?
I had just pulled 6:28.5 at WIRC 2002 and the 50s lwt WR was 6:31.7.
Responses to this goal were similar to what you are hearing now.
No! No! No!
Result:
It took me a year, but I lost 30 lbs. and puledl 6:30 at WIRC 2003 and achieved the goal.
Next, I claimed that I could get even better yet.
Why?
I had pulled 6:30 without doing any low rate rowing. If I did some low rate rowing, I thought I could do better.
Responses to this goal were similar to what you are hearing now.
No! No! No!
Result:
6 months later, after rowing at low rates every day, I indeed broke my own WR in a USIRT trial, pulling 6:29, and achieved my goal.
When I wasn't selected for the USIRT, even though I had broken the WR in my trial, I claimed I could get even better yet by just going to BIRC and racing.
Responses to this goal were similar to what you are hearing now.
No! No! No!
Result: At BIRC 2003, I broke my own WR again, pulling 6:28, and achieved my goal again.
My latest goal is just the feeling that if I learned to row well, both OTW and off, improving my stroking power to the limits of my ability, I would gain about a dozen seconds over 2K, three seconds per 500m, from there.
You have heard the responses to this goal:
No! No! No!
Result?
I bought a 1x and, working hard on technique for five years, I have now learned to row well, both OTW and off, and, indeed, have increased my stroking power from 10.5 SPI to 11.7 SPI, just what I need to improve 12 seconds over 2K at the same rate I pulled 2Ks in 2003.
You get about a second over 2K for each .1 SPI.
We'll soon see how this bears on my distance trials, sharpening, and racing.
Yes! Yes! Yes!
ranger
Rich Cureton M 72 5'11" 165 lbs. 2K pbs: 6:27.5 (hwt), 6:28 (lwt)