Ranger's training thread

[ranger]

I love the three even ratios now, because they keep me right on the beat and therefore regulate the speed and timing of my drive.

At 123 df., a 4-to-1 ratio for me now is 20 spm; a 3-to-1 ratio, 28 spm; and a 2-to-1 ratio, 36 spm.

If I hold my technique together and pull 12.5 SPI, 20 spm is 1:50; 28 spm is 1:40; and 36 spm is 1:32.

20 spm is UT2 or perhaps low UT1/FM pace.

28 spm is 6K/"base pace"/AT.

36 spm is 1K/8 x 500m pace/AN.

For BIRC 2010, 32 spm/1:36 is race pace/TR.

Then, I will try to push that to 34 spm by WIRC 2011.

ranger

[ausrwr]

ranger,

Do you think three hours on your new toy is good preparation for rowing the Head of the Grand?

It's perfect preparation. He won't turn up.

[ranger]

ranger,

Do you think three hours on your new toy is good preparation for rowing the Head of the Grand?

It's perfect preparation. He won't turn up.

The Head of the Grand is just my first race OTW.

It doesn't mean anything.

It will just be a learning experience.

If I rate 24-28 spm, I'll be lucky if I even get down the course without some major mishap.

Learning is an adventure.

ranger

[mrfit]

For BIRC 2010, 32 spm/1:36 is race pace/TR.

Then, I will try to push that to 34 spm by WIRC 2011.

ranger

The ratio values on these rows being non-integer does not bother you? Suppose you could create a new time element called a decisecond (1/10th of a second) and compare the deciseconds of each segment. So rows could be described as 10:12. Which might even appear more pleasing if you wrote it as 5:6 . No more messy decimals!

[Byron Drachman]

If I rate 24-28 spm, I'll be lucky if I even get down the course without some major mishap.

I learned something new. I didn't know that rate and steering were related.

You do have one last day to practice steering the course. Morning is best because sometimes morons in motorboats show up in the afternoon. The earlier the better to avoid the morons.

If the forecast is correct for tomorrow, at race time there will be a 10 MPH NW wind. The river is sheltered enough that the water is still flat with the wind in that direction at that velocity, and there will be a tail wind. You have very few competitors in your heat. It would be tough to find better conditions for a first head race. If you do the head race, you might have so much fun that you switch your main interest from indoor rowing regattas to OTW regattas.

Cue for the usual I need to do that 6:16 2K and habituate my new stroke first.

[NavigationHazard]

At 123 df., a 4-to-1 ratio for me now is 20 spm; a 3-to-1 ratio, 28 spm; and a 2-to-1 ratio, 36 spm.

Apparently the DF creep -- whoops, make that "sharpening" -- is beginning. Yesterday the DF flavor of the day was 118. At this progression it'll be 158 in a week, a race-ready 193 in two weeks....

[ranger]

At 123 df., a 4-to-1 ratio for me now is 20 spm; a 3-to-1 ratio, 28 spm; and a 2-to-1 ratio, 36 spm.

Apparently the DF creep -- whoops, make that "sharpening" -- is beginning. Yesterday the DF flavor of the day was 118. At this progression it'll be 158 in a week, a race-ready 193 in two weeks....

Nope.

I just have the drag handle right in the middle--on setting 5.

That's where it's staying.

ranger

[ranger]

The ratio values on these rows being non-integer does not bother you?

Nope.

The issue at the moment is training--groovin' to the rhythm, habituation, infinite repetition.

Once you learn the basics involved in doing something, you can play with it, modify it, improvise, innovate, etc.

But you have to learn the basics first.

Clearly, the difficulty with 55s/60s rowers like Mike VB and Nav is that they lack a quick drive and recovery of the arms/hands, done right on the beat.

That's what the even ratios are making habitual for me--automatic, unconscious, inevitable.

ranger

[NavigationHazard]

If you keep the damper lever on 5, you're betraying your vaunted Emersonian principles. Sounds like foolish consistency to me..... And if you didn't move the damper, how did your DF go from 118 to 123 overnight?

And as for

Clearly, the difficulty with 55s/60s rowers like Mike VB and Nav is that they lack a quick drive and recovery, done right on the beat....

What nonsense are you on about now? My handle speed is way quicker than yours. My drive has a longer duration because I move a lot more chain. I can pretty much guarantee that my stroke and ratio are a lot more regular than yours -- look at the consistency in the force-curve video I just posted, even though the pace is fast and the DF is something I never row at. As for recovery, why on earth would I want a quick one?

[lancs]

did you get out on the river today or is that going to happen manana now?

Clearly he had a much more important appointment with a bottle of Vodka instead..

[mikvan52]

did you get out on the river today or is that going to happen manana now?

Clearly he had a much more important appointment with a bottle of Vodka instead..

from the annals ~~ October 10th, 5:46 pm (the end of a rip-snortin' cocktail hour in Ann Arbor):

This is his entire post!

Not only is the course short at the Head of the Grand.

I am going to row easily, too.

Just a little "stylin'" at 24-26 spm.

That should do it.

2:05 pace?

ranger

So easy to blow smoke when the event seems far away. Today? ... no mention of this 2:05 pace.

[ranger]

Nice first hour at 20 mph on the Kurt Kinetic after erging.

Out OTW when it warms up.

My thermometer here says 24 degrees F.

Hmm.

ranger

[ranger]

[removed]

[ranger]

So easy to blow smoke when the event seems far away. Today? ... no mention of this 2:05 pace.

OTW, when I do 26 spm, I go 2:05.

No need to mention it.

3-to-1 ratio

"Base pace."

Sing it:

legs&-ARMS // arms-LEGS-legs-LEGS-legs-LEGS

--drive--------//--------recovery--------------

ranger

[ranger]

As for recovery, why on earth would I want a quick one?

Of your arms/hands?

All sorts of reasons.

In a boat, (1) to clear your knees before you break your legs and (2) to get out of the bow.

But even on the erg, quick hands are important.

For rhythmic reasons, the recovery of your arms matches the quickness of the finish with your arms.

If you have a slow recovery of your arms, you tend to have a slow finish with your arms.

You don't push the boat away from you sharply and effectively at the finish, pointing your toes at the footplate.

Slow down the recovery with your legs, not your arms.

Rhythmically, the recovery of your arms is really part of the drive.

ranger