Ranger's training thread

[ranger]

No 40s lwt has ever pulled 6:20 at BIRC.

Who are the 40's lwts erging at BIRC this year... Perhaps they have a chance

Oh... btw: I was talkng about "hard sharpening" workouts only.
Please list a few sample "hard sharpening" workouts for us..
... that you have completed
...without blowing up
...since September 1st, 2010

I know the times and/or splits will not be stated... It would be nice to know, nonetheless, that you are getting an idea of just how "fast"
you are... 1:30 per 500m max speed? 1:29 ??? Yes, I'd say 1:29

Double the d add five

Hey? How about a TT 500m in 10 days/// I'll IND_V one and so can you ??
Grueling distance... that 500...

I don't understand what you are getting at?

Are you asking me about how you might improve your erging?

If so, I understand entirely.

At the moment, you are only getting worse and worse at it, even though you have never gotten much closer than two seconds per 500m from a WR.

If you are asking me how to improve your erging, I am also puzzled, because I just told you.

Improve your UT2 rowing.

Rowing fast will never make you better.

Racing your training only makes you worse--as you now know well.

ranger

[bellboy]

From what you say here, it sounds as though you're nervous as hell about it.

Eh -- how do you get to that? And why are you so hung up on 2:05? Mike can only row as the conditions will allow. It's a race, if Mike finishes well up the field then job done.

And besides, pre-race nerves are a good thing. Matt Pinsent used to vomit from nerves before all major events.

I would suggest that it's you ranger that's as nervous (and envious) as hell over Mike posting yet another good result in a discipline that you clearly don't understand at all.

ranger the great autodidact got a big FAIL in his first exam. Time to change the teacher

Nope.

No reason to change the teacher.

Just time for the student to take another class: steering.

My rowing OTW yesterday was just fine, as far as it goes.

No problems at all.

That was a huge triumph for me.

My OTW rowing continues to get better each time out, and this improvement will probably continue for the next decade.

I will now learn to steer.

ranger

TRIUMPH?!!!! I must look up the definition in my Oxford English. I have obviously been grossly misinformed as to the nature of that word.

[lancs]

this morning I did a lot of 1:49 @ 22 spm at UT2

Do you feel that 'a lot of' is an accurate description of your training? How often are you taking breaks during these rows? I would hope that someone about to set the worlds best age group row ever would share a little more info with us than 'a lot of 1:49'..

[PaulH]

I suspect that I will get steadily better OTW for the next decade.

Finally, something we can agree on; you've certainly left yourself some room for improvement. I raced OTW perhaps a dozen times, no DNS and one DNF (my stroke in a double hurt her hand, and we made the decision to abandon so she could get medical care). So while I'll happily admit to having been a slower rower on or off the erg than you, in one key respect I was much faster than you; the time taken to travel from the start to the finish.

[ranger]

Mike--

Try this as a training plan.

Row 1:49 @ 22 spm (i.e., pretty darn well, 12.2 SPI) and mark the time/distance when your HR passes top-end (1) UT2, (2) UT1, (3) AT, (4) TR, and (5) (AN).

Then note when your heart rate maxes out and you have to stop.

In each session, keep repeating this exercise until you have rowed a total of 20K .

Do this session every day until you can row 1:49 @ 22 spm for 90min @ UT2.

ranger

[ranger]

TRIUMPH?!!!! I must look up the definition in my Oxford English. I have obviously been grossly misinformed as to the nature of that word.

You know a lot of 60-year-olds who can just row along, 2:05 @ 26 spm, in a 1x?

I'm surprised.

No one has ever done it at the Head of the Charles.

ranger

[PaulH]

TRIUMPH?!!!! I must look up the definition in my Oxford English. I have obviously been grossly misinformed as to the nature of that word.

You know a lot of 60-year-olds who can just row along, 2:05 @ 26 spm, in a 1x?

I'm surprised.

No one has ever done it at the Head of the Charles.

ranger

You don't know that. Remember earlier, when you drew a distinction between 'just rowing along', and doing all of those secondary rowing tasks like looking behind you, steering, and finishing? Well that's what the people in the HOCR generally do, and what their final times take into account. So for all we know dozens of rowers do 2:05 @ 26 spm, in a 1x, 'just rowing along', but the HOCR website doesn't report their 'just rowing along' time, it only lists their time for the entire course.

[snowleopard]

TRIUMPH?!!!! I must look up the definition in my Oxford English. I have obviously been grossly misinformed as to the nature of that word.

You know a lot of 60-year-olds who can just row along, 2:05 @ 26 spm, in a 1x?

I'm surprised.

No one has ever done it at the Head of the Charles.

Has anyone ever T-boned an 8+ at the HOTC?

[NavigationHazard]

Perhaps that is because the Charles course has bridges (some of them nasty), and sharp curves, and lots and lots of other boats, with a race run late enough in October that snow (as last year, on Sunday) is not unusual along with a biting north wind and serious chop in the Basin. You've been told umpty times that comparing OTW times is usually silly -- they're hugely subject to conditions.

I was 3:30 slower yesterday at the Head of the Passaic than I was a year ago even though I rowed harder and better. The difference? Incoming tide (5 -6' shift) and wind and chop. Also the novice girls' four that pulled a Ranger and lurched into the race traffic on its way upstream, forcing me to slam on the brakes (we still clashed oars). If you're wondering, I won the event (no handicapping) by four minutes and thirty-seven seconds.

[Citroen]

TRIUMPH?!!!! I must look up the definition in my Oxford English. I have obviously been grossly misinformed as to the nature of that word.

You know a lot of 60-year-olds who can just row along, 2:05 @ 26 spm, in a 1x?

I'm surprised.

No one has ever done it at the Head of the Charles.

And you won't for two reasons. 1) You are NOT SIXTY and 2) you haven't entered and won't row the HOCR.

[leadville]

-snip-
My rowing OTW yesterday was just fine, as far as it goes.

No problems at all.

That was a huge triumph for me.

My OTW rowing continues to get better each time out, and this improvement will probably continue for the next decade.

I will now learn to steer.

ranger

'as far as it goes' was a good bit less than the actual race course, rangerboy. so, running off the course, hitting an eight, and flipping in your debut was 'a huge triumph'?

steering like a drunken snake and hitting a sixty-foot long craft stuffed with people all yelling at you was 'no problem at all'?

We know you don't need any coaching. As you are so amazingly fortunate to have the best coach in the world, advice is, as always, a waste of time. Yet I can't not try to prevent another potentially more serious accident. Allow me to quote from The Art of Sculling, page 122:

"As always you are better off racing smart in a head race than just pulling hard. Know the course, steer well and often, and be aware of what is going on around you...Keep a close eye on your course during the race. You are better off rowing three miles pretty fast than three and a half miles really fast...Look over your shoulder often during the race."

Finally, no insurance on the winderbag? you are truly an idiot. insurance, which you so obviously need, costs less than a couple hundred bucks. At least it did before the underwriters learned of your in ability to row and chew gum simultaneously.

[macroth]

Mike--

Try this as a training plan.

Row 1:49 @ 22 spm (i.e., pretty darn well, 12.2 SPI) and mark the time/distance when your HR passes top-end (1) UT2, (2) UT1, (3) AT, (4) TR, and (5) (AN).

Then note when your heart rate maxes out and you have to stop.

In each session, keep repeating this exercise until you have rowed a total of 20K .

Do this session every day until you can row 1:49 @ 22 spm for 90min @ UT2.

ranger

Is this what you've been doing? Based on your notes, at what time/distance do you go through your various training bands, and how long are your continuous rows at 1:49@22spm (before your HR maxes out and you have to stop-- come to think of it, at what HR do you max out when you do these sessions?)? Are you getting closer to 90 minutes straight of UT2 rowing?

[leadville]

Perhaps that is because the Charles course has bridges (some of them nasty), and sharp curves, and lots and lots of other boats, with a race run late enough in October that snow (as last year, on Sunday) is not unusual along with a biting north wind and serious chop in the Basin. You've been told umpty times that comparing OTW times is usually silly -- they're hugely subject to conditions.

I was 3:30 slower yesterday at the Head of the Passaic than I was a year ago even though I rowed harder and better. The difference? Incoming tide (5 -6' shift) and wind and chop. Also the novice girls' four that pulled a Ranger and lurched into the race traffic on its way upstream, forcing me to slam on the brakes (we still clashed oars). If you're wondering, I won the event (no handicapping) by four minutes and thirty-seven seconds.

congratulations on the race, Nav! Looks like the sculling is going very well. Very glad you had the foresight (that is, looked to the fore) in time enough to not 'pull a ranger'.

[KevJGK]

Has anyone ever T-boned an 8+ at the HOTC?

[ranger]

Perhaps that is because the Charles course has bridges (some of them nasty), and sharp curves, and lots and lots of other boats, with a race run late enough in October that snow (as last year, on Sunday) is not unusual along with a biting north wind and serious chop in the Basin. You've been told umpty times that comparing OTW times is usually silly -- they're hugely subject to conditions.

I was 3:30 slower yesterday at the Head of the Passaic than I was a year ago even though I rowed harder and better. The difference? Incoming tide (5 -6' shift) and wind and chop. Also the novice girls' four that pulled a Ranger and lurched into the race traffic on its way upstream, forcing me to slam on the brakes (we still clashed oars). If you're wondering, I won the event (no handicapping) by four minutes and thirty-seven seconds.

Sure.

But I am talking historically, not about any one year.

Some years, the weather at the Head of the Charles is just fine.

But historically, no veteran has ever pulled 2:05.

What pace did you hold at the Head of the Passaic?

These veteran times, I think, have been limited more by physical capacities than anything else--conditions, technique, etc.

For instance, as it turns out, old foggie lightweights don't do much better than 1:48/18:00 for 5K.

That means that, at the ideal limit of 12 seconds per 500m over erg times, the physical capacities of the 60s rowers are limited to 2:00 pace, and with the difficulties that you note (bridges, traffic, steering, etc.), 2:05, 17 seconds over erg times seems to able a limit for negotiating the course, given physical capacities.

But what if a 60s lightweight, with good OTW technical skills, could do 1:39 for 5K OTErg.

Then, given a limit of 17 seconds per 500m over erg times, that rower might be able to do 1:56 for the Head of the Charles.

Rowing isn't all technique.

ranger