Ranger's training thread

[macroth]

you will never become "comfortable" with your 13spi stroke

On the contrary.

I am comfortable with it now.

ranger

No you aren't, or you could bust out a FM tomorrow. You can't.

[macroth]

nobody prepares for racing by doing the entire range of distance trials, then sharpening workouts, then a series of at-home 2Ks

On the contrary, everybody who is anybody prepares that way.

What are the rankings? Records of distance trials.

What is the CTC? Records of trials and sharpening workouts.

For the USIRT, we were asked by Teti, etc., to do _both_ 5K trials (on a regular basis) and an at-home 2K, in addition to negative-splitting 2Ks (e.g., 1K @ 2K + 2, 500m @ 2K + 1, all out to the end).

The Wolverine Plan has its followers doing sharpening workouts every week, both long intervals (2-3K) and short (500s, 1Ks).

Etc.

No one is fully ready to race a 2K who hasn't done all sorts of trials (and maximal workouts) at all sort of distances and combinations of distances.

ranger

This is what you actually said:

When I am completely comfortably with this rowing, I will be ready for distance trials from 5K-HM, 26-30 spm.

Then, when I am done with distance trials, I need to do some training at higher rates, 32-40 spm: 1' on, 1' off, 500s, 750s, 1Ks, etc.

Then I need to do at-home 2Ks of various sorts: negative splitting, 2 x 2K, 4 x 2K, etc.

Then I will be fully prepared to race.

The rankings, CTC, Wolverine Plan and USIRT instructions are nothing like that. You don't need to do a HM trial or 4x2K before you're ready to race. Just more excuses, since you'll never do these.

[macroth]

You're just a few weeks of sharpening away from 6:16, 6:44 should be a cakewalk!

Yes.

ranger

Ok.

[ranger]

nobody prepares for racing by doing the entire range of distance trials, then sharpening workouts, then a series of at-home 2Ks

Most people in and around this forum race their training.

That is, they are always preparing to race.

They don't do anything else.

I have done the opposite.

I have worked on technique and stroking power.

Nothing else.

I have assiduously _avoided_ preparing to race.

Why?

Preparing to race never made anyone better--a whit.

In fact, there is overwhelming evidence that, after a _very_ short time in this sport, preparing to race just makes you worse and worse.

The way to get faster is to get better at rowing, to improve your technical and skeletal-motor effectiveness and efficiency, given the same physiological effort.

In this sport, you get fast by learning to row well.

ranger

[ranger]

The rankings, CTC, Wolverine Plan and USIRT instructions are nothing like that.

Say what?

They are _exactly_ like that.

ranger

[macroth]

I have assiduously _avoided_ preparing to race.

ranger

Even when you flew across the ocean or drove 250 miles out to race. Interesting.

I'm of the opinion that you are always race-ready yourself, since you do interval training (RWB) all year at paces and rates that you cannot maintain for more than a few hundred meters, which sure sounds like sharpening.

[macroth]

The rankings, CTC, Wolverine Plan and USIRT instructions are nothing like that.

Say what?

They are _exactly_ like that.

ranger

Say what? The CTC is exactly like this?

When I am completely comfortably with this rowing, I will be ready for distance trials from 5K-HM, 26-30 spm.

Then, when I am done with distance trials, I need to do some training at higher rates, 32-40 spm: 1' on, 1' off, 500s, 750s, 1Ks, etc.

Then I need to do at-home 2Ks of various sorts: negative splitting, 2 x 2K, 4 x 2K, etc.

Then I will be fully prepared to race.

When does the WP have you do a HM trial? Did the USIRT coaches ask you to do a 10k, a 60', and a 30' TT before doing your 5K and 2k TT?

[ranger]

you do interval training (RWB) all year at paces and rates that you cannot maintain for more than a few hundred meters

Nope.

I haven't been rowing at AT, TR, and AN heart rates at all, in fact, not even at top-end UT1 heart rates.

If your focus is on technique and stroking power, rather than preparing to race, there is no need.

The focus of your concern isn't physiological.

It's skeletal-motor and technical.

If you race your training all the time, you never learn to row well.

Racing encourages you to trade rate for pace and break down your technique.

It encourages you to row with a light stroke at a high rate and high drag.

Racing your training just teaches you to be bad at rowing, three times over: bad, bad, bad.

A light stroke is ineffective.

Both a high rate and a high drag are inefficient.

Rowing well (12.7 SPI) at low drag (119 df.), I now pull 1:42 @ 26 spm with just about the same effort (a high UT1 HR) that I used to pull 1:54 @ 26 spm, rowing badly (9 SPI) at max drag (200+ df.).

I am pulling 1:42 @ 26 spm in a 3.4-to-1 ratio!

ranger

[goblin]

you do interval training (RWB) all year at paces and rates that you cannot maintain for more than a few hundred meters

It encourages you to row with a light stroke at a high rate and high drag.


ranger

?

If this were true, it'd be common to see people with their fans up to 10 at erg races. Maybe you should have rephrased it to say "it encourages me to row with a light stroke at a high rate and high drag".

Give me a break, man - training your power per stroke and racing aren't mutually exclusive endeavors.

[ranger]

When does the WP have you do a HM trial? Did the USIRT coaches ask you to do a 10k, a 60', and a 30' TT before doing your 5K and 2k TT?

Well, in his level 3 rowing, Mike C. built up to 30K @ 1:48 just before he raced.

That's a pretty tough slog, wouldn't you say?

Something like a 3/4 Marathon trial.

ranger

[rjw]

The Wolverine Plan has its followers doing sharpening workouts every week, both long intervals (2-3K) and short (500s, 1Ks).

If you actually read and/or understood the Woverine Plan, you would realize this staement is false.

[rjw]

When does the WP have you do a HM trial? Did the USIRT coaches ask you to do a 10k, a 60', and a 30' TT before doing your 5K and 2k TT?

Well, in his level 3 rowing, Mike C. built up to 30K @ 1:48 just before he raced.

That's a pretty tough slog, wouldn't you say?

Something like a 3/4 Marathon trial.

ranger

Again, if you understood the WP, you would realize that this in not a trial, it is L3 rowing which Mike has designed for a specific purpose.

[lancs]

I am pulling 1:42 @ 26 spm in a 3.4-to-1 ratio!

With breaks, to stay comforatable..

[Yankeerunner]

Ranger: Actually Eskild is getting faster again (maybe because he's going for his fifth olympics) - results from open danish lw championship last weekend: 504-Herre åben Letvægt 2000m

Plac. Navn (Klub) 7 Danske Studenters Roklub 3, Eskild Ebbesen

500m 1000m 1500m 2000m

1:32.3 (1:32.3 - T40) 3:07.4 (1:35.1 - T36) 4:42.8 (1:35.4 - T36) 6:14.8 (1:32.0 - T42)

Nice to hear.

Thanks for the information.

Good luck to him.

ranger

I hope that young Eskild gets a chance to see this. It should give the guy goosebumps to be getting personal good wishes from the self-proclaimed 'Greatest Erger In The History Of The Sport."

[ranger]

you could bust out a FM tomorrow

Indeed I could.

ranger