Ranger's training thread

[ranger]

on the erg and on the water. These two disciplines are quite different

Sure, they _can_ be.

But there is no reason that they _have_ to be.

And in the best case, they aren't at all.

The best OTW rowers are also the best ergers.

If you can do it well, a good OTW stroke is the best erg stroke, too.

So erging can be wonderful supplemental training for OTW rowing (and vice versa).

ranger

[leadville]

Byron - not to worry, our favorite coward won't show up to any races anywhere.

That's too bad, of course, but such is the way of the coward. Nope, rangerboy will be content to compete only in rangerworld. That's where poor steering, stern-checking, finish-wrenching, head-snapping, and back-flopping all ensure his victory over we mere mortals in the topsy-turvy white-is-black and black-is-white serve as reality.

If you think tight shoulders at the catch are your biggest technical problem, you truly are delusional.

rangerboy, if you're so damn fast, why aren't you racing at the masters' nationals? why miss out on an opportunity to show all of us nay-sayers and detractors what's up? where's your pride, rangerboy?

well? getting your nails done? writing another tome? can't get 'permission'?

[ranger]

rangerboy, if you're so damn fast, why aren't you racing at the masters' nationals?

I will.

Next year, when I am 60.

Next year, I will also enter the Veterans race at the Head of the Charles.

I will do as many head races as I can this fall.

I will do as many sprint races as I can next spring and summer.

I have some unfinished business to complete on the erg this winter.

ranger

[ranger]

Dang, my new boat is fast!



ranger

[Byron Drachman]

Can you do 3:50 for 1K OTW?

As soon as I am fully trained and sharpened, I will do 3:50 for 1K OTW. In the meantime I can do 5:30 for 1K OTW.

[ranger]

Can you do 3:50 for 1K OTW?

As soon as I am fully trained and sharpened, I will do 3:50 for 1K OTW. In the meantime I can do 5:30 for 1K OTW.

5:30?

Really?

It looks as though some 70s lwts can do 4:40.

No?

And some 70s heavyweights, 4:15.

ranger

[becz]

Can you do 3:50 for 1K OTW?

I suspect that I can.

Herein lies all that is comical about you. Until you show (to someone other than yourself) that you can do this, you might as well say you can row 3:30 for 1K. It would be just as believable coming from you. Until you demonstrate you can row at anything close to what you've been saying you can do, "I suspect" will get nothing but laughter, and is completely useless in a statement like that.

[ranger]

Until you demonstrate you can row at anything close to what you've been saying you can do, "I suspect" will get nothing but laughter, and is completely useless in a statement like that.

Well, what do you call "close"?

For instance, on the erg, fully prepared, Mike VB has been claiming that he can pull 6:38, the 55s lwt WR.

But this last year, he ended up pulling 6:50 at WIRC 2010, missing that 6:38 by three seconds per 500m.

I pulled 6:29 when I was 55, without even preparing for it and still working on technique, and have been claiming that, fully prepared and rowing well, I can pull 6:16, which is faster than 6:29 by just a bit over that same three seconds per 500.

I have now worked out my problems with technique and am getting fully prepared to race for BIRC 2010.

I usually get a dozen seconds or so from race preparation (hard sharpening).

So what is laughable, and what not?

Was it laughable for Mike VB to claim that he had a chance of breaking the 55s lwt WR on the erg, given his performances, again and again, when fully prepared, which have never gotten anywhere near that?

I guess you think so.

But I don't.

Seems to me that Mike's goal is a good one--not unreasonable at all.

He just hasn't figured out how to get there yet.

ranger

[PaulH]

Can you do 3:50 for 1K OTW?

I suspect that I can.

Shouldn't you be asking whether he suspects he can do that piece, rather than whether he can actually do it?

[PaulH]

Might I suggest that if a person is a 60-year-old lightweight and does his everyday rowing, 1:45 @ 25 spm (12 SPI) on the erg and 2:03 @ 25 spm (7 SPI) OTW, he rows _very_ well?

You can suggest that, of course, but you'd be wrong. In my everyday cycling I go at 50km/h, a speed that would have won today's stage of the Tour. But I don't cycle _very_ well. In fact I cycle _very_ badly. The key missing ingredient, of course, is how long I spend at 50km/h, or in your case how long you you spend at 1:45 @ 25spm or 2:03 @ 25spm

[Byron Drachman]

It looks as though some 70s lwts can do 4:40.

I saw 4:08/km on my Garmin this morning. I was in a double with an early 60's youngster and I was using hatchets instead of spoons, and we were doing a short piece. I have no idea yet what we can average (with and against the current) for 1K. A coach was in a launch giving us and another double some help. We will do some 500m test pieces to try to figure out what the best stroke rate for us will be.

[ranger]

The key missing ingredient, of course, in your case [is] how long you you spend at 1:45 @ 25spm or 2:03 @ 25spm

You mean in continuous rowing? Every day? In training?

No, it's not (unless I am racing).

These paces and rates are an indication of my technique and stroking power, my effectiveness.

Then, what is important is my %HRR when I am doing these paces and rates, my efficiency.

At the moment, my %HRR, steady state, when I am doing these paces and rates is about 85%. My HR is in the middle 160s bpm, well below my anaerobic threshold (of 172 bpm).

Then, for training, the important thing is just how much daily work I do of this quality (85% HRR, rowing well).

Doesn't matter how I do it.

I can do it all sorts of ways.

Training isn't a race.

At the moment, I am doing about 30K a day, if you count both OTW and on the erg.

I would like to make that 40K.

That's plenty.

If I want to (for instance, when I am racing), I can row for an hour, perhaps more, an hour and a half, at 85% HRR, with my HR in the middle 160s bpm.

ranger

[ranger]

The key missing ingredient, of course, is how long I spend at 50km/h

No, it isn't.

Training isn't a race.

The key missing ingredient is your %HRR, steady state, when you are going 50km/h.

Do however much you want.

Doesn't matter, as long as you do quite a bit.

ranger

[ranger]

It looks as though some 70s lwts can do 4:40.

I saw 4:08/km on my Garmin this morning. I was in a double with an early 60's youngster and I was using hatchets instead of spoons, and we were doing a short piece. I have no idea yet what we can average (with and against the current) for 1K. A coach was in a launch giving us and another double some help. We will do some 500m test pieces to try to figure out what the best stroke rate for us will be.

Oh.

You're not racing your single?

ranger

[ranger]

PaulH, Bob S. and Nosmo:

I've got a better grip now. Thanks for interceding on my behalf.

The "marathon poster-boy" is off sipping champagne instead of training. It was vain of me to try to fill the gap in his absence
In order to keep his 10 Mil. meter + 2 M.m. (erg+otw) jones going he'll undoubtably do 40k + 20k sessions when he returns to his training venues.. Which leaves me to wonder: What happened to the road trip to VT with that new Fluid

I see a new (most probable eventuality) future:

1. ranger doesn't gain entry to the 2011 HOCR as he wishes
2. ranger (on his second application does get in to the 2012 HOCR
note: Guess who will be sixty years old in 2012...? Do you give up? ....
....
....
M. v. B. (!)

Nosmo: I can be patient.

I can hear the whimpering now forthcoming in the fall '12: "I'm just learning to row! "
Having been on the water for 9 years and over 10 million meters.

" So it goes "

He'll have his excuses ready:
"No hard sharpening"
"I am a professor, not a coach"
"I think, eventually, I'll row the HOCR at 1:57 pace"

I wonder what he'll be saying at age 70?
My guess: ' No 70 year-old has ever erged faster than he did as a 52 year-old. THis is my long-term goal. '

It is hardly an embarrassment for me if you beat me OTW.

I am just a beginner.

I didn't get in a boat until I was 53 years old.

I have never had any instruction.

I have never had a coach.

I have never been on a rowing team.

I have never raced.

You have been rowing OTW all your life.

You _are_ a coach.

You have raced OTW lots of times.

Pressure's all on you, Mike.

ranger