Ranger's training thread

[BrianStaff]

In case you missed it, check out the signature line of ben990's posting.

Maybe he's trying to get 1000 pages before end of season - so he`s taken to "poking" himself to keep the momentum up.

Sad really

[NavigationHazard]

[ranger]

'm sure you'll do many 30r20's at 1:46 over the next year

You are?

I'm not.

But I think I might be getting into a position to try.

You can't pull 14.5 SPI for 30min if you normally pull 10 SPI, or 9.

ranger

[ben990]

That was awesome! Props, NavHaz!

[atklein90]

Awesome.

[mikvan52]

Rich Cureton M 60 hwt 5'11" 180 lbs. 7:02.3 (lwt) 2K

How about this?

Rich Cureton M 60 hwt 5'11" 180 lbs.
motto: On a virtual quest for continuing obscurity
"Success is measured in #'s of posts"
Click my avatar, naysayers!

[mikvan52]

Click:
ruinous

remember! avoid racing for as many years as possible... it's the only way to get better
~ TSO Von ManBatt

[mikvan52]

Why aren't these guys...
taking breaks

[ranger]

In case you missed it, check out the signature line of ben990's posting.

Maybe he's trying to get 1000 pages before end of season - so he`s taken to "poking" himself to keep the momentum up.

Sad really

When I am fully warmed up, I now do a _very_ comfortable 1:43 @ 29 spm (11 SPI, 10 MPS) at top-end UT1.

Now, I just need to keep doing it until I can ride my HR at 170 bpm for a HM.

1:43 is my 5K/AT pb from back in 2003.

So, rowing well (11.7 SPI) at minimal drag (95 df.), in terms of technical effectiveness and efficiency, I am now a whole training band (five seconds per 500m) better than I was in 2003, when I rowed poorly (10 SPI) at max drag (200+ df.) and did 1:48 at top-end UT1.

At 95 df., 29 spm, 1:43, and 10 MPS, I am in a comfortable 3-to-1 ratio.

.5 seconds for the drive.

1.5 seconds for the recovery.

Rhythmically, this is gorgeously "musical."

It's just a 4-beat meter, arm pull on the downbeats, with the drive an accelerating upbeat into the finish.

Because of this maximally "natural" rhythm, once I lock into it, this cadence at 10 MPS is entirely self-regulating.

I just stay on the beat.

1:43 for a HM would be 10 x 2K @ 1:43, exactly The Viking's hammer row in the 60s lwts at WIRC 2011.

1:43 is just about a limit for 2K by any other 60s lwt currently/possibly/soon to be rowing now, too (Rocket Roy, MIke VB, etc.).

A HM is done at 2K + 11.

1:43 for a HM predicts a 1:32/6:08 2K.

The 60s hwt WR for a HM is Oesterling's 1:50 pace.

Top-end UT1 rowing, starting easily and then negative splitting, is my favorite type of session.

When I get it going, I can do this type of rowing every day for 20K with no damage and for great benefit.

Top-end UT1 rowing is ideal race preparation for any distance event, from as long as a FM to as short as 5K.

For a FM, I just hold my technique steady and back off three spm to 1:48 @ 25 spm (middlin' UT1)

For a 5K, I just hold my technique steady and raise the rate three spm to 1:39 @ 32 spm (AT).

As I mentioned, I might also raise the drag steadily as I race from the top down, FM to 5K:

FM 95 df.
HM 100 df.
60min 105 df.
10K 110 df.
30min 115 df.
6K 120 df.
5K 130 df.

Then I might race at 140 df.

I might do a 1K at 150 df.

I might do 500m at any drag from there up to max.

I'll have to experiment to see what I now like best for a flat out sprint.

ranger

[ranger]

The difficulty with most 60s lwts is that they have an anaerobic threshold of 140-150 bpm rather than 170 bpm.

160-170 bom is therefore TR, pushing into AN--race pace, or for all but a couple of 60s lwts, somewhat faster than race pace.

For me, 160-170 bpm is UT1, _two_ training bands below TR.

ranger

[PaulH]

The difficulty with most 60s lwts is that they have an anaerobic threshold of 140-150 bpm rather than 170 bpm.

160-170 bom is therefore TR, pushing into AN--race pace, or for all but a couple of 60s lwts, somewhat faster than race pace.

For me, 160-170 bpm is UT1, _two_ training bands below TR.

ranger

And don't forget your stroke is also more efficient than most (all?) 60+ rowers. Yet you can't break the record for 2k, something which should be little more than a training row for you. Weird, eh?

[ranger]

Yea.

Once I am warmed up, at 95 df., I now do a _very_ comfortable 1:45 @ 25 spm (12 SPI).

This is what I was missing back in 2006, when I pulled a sub-6:30 2K at 12 SPI, without even preparing for it, just on the basis of low rate rowing at high stroking powers working on technique (RWBs).

I had developed fast legs and many aspects of proper timing, sequencing, length, rhythmicity, etc., but slugging along at max drag, I couldn't raise the rate and do normal distance rowing, the bread and butter of my normal training, at 12 SPI without lapsing back into anchor-hauling--short sliding, diving at the catch, engaging my back and arms too early, etc.

Lowering the drag to 120 df. after BIRC 2010 solved the anchor-hauling problem but was still not ideal. I learned to relax my shoulders and core at the catch and keep my shoulders relaxed when I swung my back. This helped me raise the rate up toward 30 spm over substantial distances, but still with quite a bit of energy cost.

Lowering the drag to 95 df. has increased my length, shortened my drive time, ballooned my ratios, lightened the chain and therefore my workload when I am using my legs with proper quickness, and therefore lowered my HR when I am rowing well over long distances at higher rates (25-29 spm).

So now I am (finally!) back to normal training!

This UT1 distance rowing at 12 SPI is _at least_ 2 SPI, if not 3 SPI, better than I used to do back in 2002-2003, when I was rowing poorly (10 SPI) at max drag (200+ df.).

2 SPI @ 25 spm is worth 50 watts, seven seconds per 500m in this sort of rowing: 1:45 vs. 1:52, 300 watts vs. 250 watts.

3 SPI @ 25 spm is worth 75 watts, 11 seconds per 500m in this sort of rowing: 1:45 vs. 1:56, 300 watts vs. 225 watts.

ranger

[ranger]

Yet you can't break the record for 2k

I haven't tried yet.

I am just doing distance rowing and distance trials.

After distance trials, I will need to sharpen for a couple of months to bring up my anaerobic capacities and then race for a couple of months to get my best 2K, given accidental conditions.

Actually, rowing as a 60s veteran, making weight is now irrelevant for me, just a bonus, no necessity.

If I hit my targets, I'll destroy Hendershott's _heavyweight_ 60s 2K WR by 8 seconds and outrow Spousta by 15 seconds over 2K.

Then, as I did in 2002-2003, I'll get to weight and pull the same time as a lightweight, unifying the two 60s weight divisions.

If I indeed end up pulling a lwt 6:16 for 2K at 60 years old, it will never beaten.

It will be beyond the pale!

If I pull a lwt 6:16 at 60, I will be rowing like this guy, the greatest rower of our time, both OTW and OTErg, who, at 38 years old, is now preparing for his _fifth_ Olympics and fourth gold (to go with a bronze):



ranger

[ranger]

Rich Cureton M 60 hwt 5'11" 180 lbs. 7:02.3 (lwt) 2K

How about this?

No, not 180 lbs.

About my normal 170-175 lbs.

I can always get to weight if I need to, as I have demonstrated repeatedly.

I make weight at 10% body fat.

Exactly like you, I have 148 lbs. of non-fat body mass.

You are taller than I am, and no smaller otherwise.

ranger

[ranger]

remember! avoid racing for as many years as possible... it's the only way to get better

Are you getting better OTErg?

Nope.

6:45 five years ago.

Now 6:56 (and injured?).

By the time you are 60, you'll have trouble pulling 7:00 for 2K.

My goal is 6:16 at 60.

Training has gone beautifully, fait accompli (I now row well (13 SPI) at low drag (95 df.)), and now race preparation is coming along nicely, too.

ranger