Ranger's training thread

[ranger]

I can do a 1K, free and clear, down the center of Europe Lake.

Which is not to say that you have done one worthy of being logged and reported.

Indeed not.

No reason to blast off down the lake at top speed.

I am still just learning to row.

I am making good progress, though.

Delighted with that.

ranger

[mikvan52]

(real advice)
train for head racing on a body of water where you can go (at least) double the head race distance w/o having to slow down and turn....

[ranger]

(real advice)
train for head racing on a body of water where you can go (at least) double the head race distance w/o having to slow down and turn....

Kangaroo Lake is exactly that, 10K around the circumference, 4K from top to bottom, and bottom to top, with gradual 1K turns at each end of the lake.

For 10K, there would only be two turns, and they would be three times as gradual as the turns I need to make every 1.5K at Europe Lake.

http://maps.google.com/maps?client=safa ... CBoQ8gEwAA

Kangaroo lake is spring fed, clean, clear of vegetation, and 6-12 feet deep throughout.

Like Europe Lake, it is also sparsely used.

As at Europe Lake, at dawn, I suspect that I would be the only one there.

ranger

[nharrigan]

You must be turning every 5 minutes.

Yep.

Exactly.

If I go around the circumference of the lake, as I am doing now, it's great steering practice for the head race season.

I have some big turns--frequently.

I am learning how to make these frequent turns--quickly, efficiently, and accurately.

Of course, it might be time now to graduate to Kangaroo Lake, which is about ten times the area of Europe Lake.

Kangaroo Lake is something like 10K around its circumference, not 3K.

ranger

Why not row in Sturgeon bay? Looks to be more than 10k long if you include the channel.
Turning on a lake you are not as constrained as turning on a river.

[leadville]

BTW, for lightweights, at least, it looks as though 8.5 SPI is "rowing well" OTW.

OTW, 8.5 SPI corresponds to 15 seconds per 500m over erg times at the same rate and 13 SPI.

For instance, 1:34 @ 32 spm (13 SPI) is rowing well OTErg.

At 15 seconds per 500m faster than OTW times at the same rate, that corresponds to 1:49 @ 32 spm (8.5 SPI) OTW.

ranger

No, dumbass, "rowing well" OTW is winning races.

Not that you would know, rangerboy, never having finished a race OTW. For you, rangerboy, "rowing well OTW" would begin with actually finishing a race. It's kind of hard to "row well OTW" when you never race and thereby know what "rowing well" means.

How someone who has NEVER finished a race OTW has the balls to try to tell others who've raced a few hundred times what "rowing well" OTW is one of life's greatest mysteries.

[whp4]

BTW, for lightweights, at least, it looks as though 8.5 SPI is "rowing well" OTW.

OTW, 8.5 SPI corresponds to 15 seconds per 500m over erg times at the same rate and 13 SPI.

For instance, 1:34 @ 32 spm (13 SPI) is rowing well OTErg.

At 15 seconds per 500m faster than OTW times at the same rate, that corresponds to 1:49 @ 32 spm (8.5 SPI) OTW.

ranger

No, dumbass, "rowing well" OTW is winning races.

Not that you would know, rangerboy, never having finished a race OTW. For you, rangerboy, "rowing well OTW" would begin with actually finishing a race. It's kind of hard to "row well OTW" when you never race and thereby know what "rowing well" means.

How someone who has NEVER finished a race OTW has the balls to try to tell others who've raced a few hundred times what "rowing well" OTW is one of life's greatest mysteries.

It's just a natural continuation of what he does in his day job...lecturing others about matters for which he has no talent or understanding.

[ranger]

This fall, these nine races are being held in and around Ann Arbor on seven consecutive weekends in September and October, starting on the third weekend of September (9/17), right around a month from now:

Head of the Cuyahoga (9/17), Cleveland, OH

Frogtown Races (9/24), Toledo, OH

Grand River Challenge (10/1), Lansing, MI
Head of the Ohio, (10/1), Pittsburgh, PH

Columbus Fall Classic (10/8), Columbus, OH
Head of the Rock (10/9), Rockford, IL

Speakmon Memorial (10/15), Columbus, OH

Hamilton Double Dam (10/22), Hamilton, OH

Head of the Hidden Dragon (10/29), Cincinnati, OH

ranger

[ranger]

Why not row in Sturgeon bay? Looks to be more than 10k long if you include the channel.
Turning on a lake you are not as constrained as turning on a river.

Too far away.

It's an hour drive each way from Gills Rock.

Kangaroo Lake is only half that far.

The turns at the ends of Kangaroo Lake are _very_ gradual.

Anyway, 4K of rowing, right down each side of the lake, without turning at all, is fine for now.

That's three times as far as I can do without turning when I row at Europe Lake.

ranger

[hjs]

This fall, these nine races are being held in and around Ann Arbor on seven consecutive weekends in September and October, starting on the third weekend of September (9/17), right around a month from now:

Head of the Cuyahoga (9/17), Cleveland, OH

Frogtown Races (9/24), Toledo, OH

Grand River Challenge (10/1), Lansing, MI
Head of the Ohio, (10/1), Pittsburgh, PH

Columbus Fall Classic (10/8), Columbus, OH
Head of the Rock (10/9), Rockford, IL

Speakmon Memorial (10/15), Columbus, OH

Hamilton Double Dam (10/22), Hamilton, OH

Head of the Hidden Dragon (10/29), Cincinnati, OH

ranger

That's nice to know for poeple who don't want to meet you on those given days. At those dates you certainly won't show you face at the venues

[ranger]

http://www.panoramio.com/photo/44139250

ranger

[ben990]

ranger,

I just checked out this clip of you from 2 months ago - Jun 9, 2011:

http://www.youtube.com/user/rcureton#p/u/0/GNpx8Gvr2fE

Is it just me, or is the ERG chain jumping all over the place? I always try to keep the chain straight, where it looks like you are up and down on the return stroke. I read somewhere that you can think of the handle as going across the top of a table on the pull, and then under the table on the way back.

[mikvan52]

http://www.youtube.com/user/rcureton#p/u/0/GNpx8Gvr2fE

Is it just me, or is the ERG chain jumping all over the place?

other "just meez"

2: Is it just me, or is this garage door sloped to the right?... the way most are built to drain moisture... thereby contravening the instructions by C2 to always use the erg on the level

3: is it just me, or is there a block against the wall cushioning the wall from the "gang-banging" that a ranger "sequence" of "rowing well" strokes would be giving it?

4: Is it just me, or does ranger come back up the slide setting the back and drawing his arse to his heels simultaneously... a real "no-no" for OTW rowing...

5: Is it just me, or doesn't the video show clearly the "mega-mantis" motion of the left fore-claw?...

6: Is it just me, or is there an absence of anything of value in this video...?

[ranger]

At those dates you certainly won't show your face at the venues

I'll try to get to as many of these venues as I can.

Then again, I am not free to choose.

I have many other responsibilities--a job, a wife, three children, etc. And they always take precedence over my rowing.

I also wouldn't be very encouraged to go to a venue if I knew the weather was going to serve up freezing temperatures and fifty MPH winds.

Not worth the time, money, etc.

Beyond this, though, heck, why wouldn't I want to row head races?

If I rate 27 spm (or whatever), I'll go 2:00 pace (or better).

Sure, lots of younger guys will beat me.

But there aren't any 60s rowers who can do any better.

ranger

[ranger]

It's kind of hard to "row well OTW" when you never race and thereby know what "rowing well" means.

Really?

Doesn't seem that complicated to me.

You just look at your speed coach.

I had never finished an erg race, either, but in my first race, I was four seconds under the 50s lwt WR at the time, pulling 6:27.5 for 2K when I was 52.

I don't think there was any mystery in it.

If you can do it in practice, you can do it in a race.

Short of racing, you can also look at your speed coach and HR monitor and figure out how much work you are getting done easily on each stroke.

That is, you can figure out whether you are rowing well--or not.

ranger

[mikvan52]

At those dates you certainly won't show your face at the venues

I'll try to get to as many of these venues as I can.

You remain a "trip"!

"You'll try"

Rich:
Cutting and pasting a list of races is not a plan.
Surely your family will give you leave for at least one of these... (!)

Which one are you GOING to go to.
(I'll side with those who guess "none")

Very few will let you sign up race morning... FYI
obviously they don't know who you ARE!