TimbukTOO Team Room

[dpw4812]

Well I am back, had a decent challenge month. But last week of military challenge I missed a whole week. I was fighting the flu, and still having issues with a strained calf muscle. But I am feeling much better and the pain is gone. So time to get my but back in the seat in the mornings. Glad to see everyone still going strong.


David

[damselfly]

All hands on deck! A solid and solidified 10 of 83 members (12%) logged 98,429 total meters Friday!

Milestones achieved:
Cindy R sped past 450K, and Keith J crushed 250K!!

Approaching milestones:
John B and Jim G are pursuing 1.2M (-15,150m and -34,874m), Kyle J is stalking 1.1M (-43,957m), and Lisa H is close to 800K (-28,738m)

Posted Meters:
Kyle J - 18,445 Glad to see this dude back in the boat!! Howzit going?
Keith J - 18,150 Awesome!
Yisroel H - 14,152 Hmmm, if he's racing, this ain' no taper...
Lisa H - 10,082 Rain-induced two-fer!
Jim C - 10,000 A veritable Sm-ERG-asbord of fitness options!
Cindy R - 9,017 Tapping into her secret fuel source! **
Jamie B - 5,326 Righteous!
John B - 5,000 A great week!
Jim G - 5,000 Even steven!
Gary G - 3,257 Quickie session!



** Cindy has started tapping her trees already... she makes her own maple syrup!

[damselfly]

Welcome back to our intrepid military men!! Chris B comes back aboard with his meters, giving us 14 of 84 members (17%) logging 2,167,150 total meters Saturday!

Milestones achieved:
Chris B pounded past 2M during his challenge!!

Approaching milestones:
Chris B is reaching for 2.1M (-10,120m), John S is aiming for 2M (-45,226m), John B and Jim G continue their pursuit of 1.2M (-9,725m and -29,874m), Dana H is speeding towards 900K (-39,000m), Kristin C is steaming towards 700K (-10,754m), Sheryl M is attempting 150K (-22,388m), Bernie J is speeding towards 35K (-825m), and Deb J is undertaking 15K (-1,568m)

This week's frequent rowers (Sat 2/22 through Fri 2/28):
Gary G - 6
Jim G & John S - 5
John B & Yisroel H - 4

Posted Meters:
Chris B - 2,089,880 Welcome back!
John S - 11,182 Super!
Matthew R - 10,000 Picking up!
Ken C - 10,000 Preparing those brackets!
Mark St - 7,500 Solid!
John B - 5,425 Unstoppable!
Dana H - 5,000 Nice!
Jim G - 5,000 Mad already!
Kristin C - 5,000 On boar for the challenge!
David R - 5,000 Another tough mudder!
Sheryl M - 4,324 Next time add just 676 more meters...
Scott W - 3,938 Sweet!
Bernie J - 2,630 Keep 'em coming!
Deb J - 2,271 Awesome!

[damselfly]

I'm jumping on board for the Mud Season Madness from March 1 to 31. How does this work with the World Erg Challenge from March 15 to April 15, do daily workouts get counted for both challenges from March 15 to 31?

Took the question right from my mouth. I look to the redoubtable Damselfly for all the info. I'm only an hour away from slogging through 5K of mud.

PS. One hr later. In looking at the MM progress list, I believe I am the first TimbukTOOian. Course, all you CAians who are actually in the mud are still snoozing. DF send my prize via USPS. Thanks.

Your prize is the surge of undying respect and admiration from your fellow teammates -- beyond price, and deliverable free of charge without worrying about if you'll be home to sign for the package.

All meters count for everything. All you do is row and report your meters as usual. The Madness is an individual challenge, like the Valentines Day thing or the Skeleton Crew. The World Erg Challenge will be a team thing, so Cap'n Izz will have to get us enrolled all official-like, and we'll do the goal-setting deal and all that. All your meters will count for both during the overlapping periods.

[johnb]

Hi team, I have a question. I have analyzed my stroke, cadence, form, and I have endeavored to understand the damper settings, drag factor & C2 monitor. What I have never seen is any content on foot position. Is there any special things I need to know, beyond having them securely strapped in & squarely positioned on the foot pads?

[Cyclingman1]

What I have never seen is any content on foot position. Is there any special things I need to know

A search for "foot position" will yield much in the way of contradictory info. It is suggested that those with relatively longer legs, especially lower leg, compared to torso move the foot holders down with no holes or only a couple showing. That allows the rower room to swing the back more forward at the catch permitting a longer stroke. However, one also wants all the power of the leg drive to be applied horizontally. When the foot holders are low, there is more of a vertical component to the leg drive, which implies that the foot holders should be higher, that is, with several holes showing. But, again, a high foot position may limit how far forward one can get the handle at the catch. Also flexibility and slimness come into play. Lack of either may imply a lower foot position.

I think it is a tradeoff that each person has to experiment with. I have rowed from 0 holes to 5 holes showing. I would think the position that feels most powerful is the place to be. Not the definitive answer you may be looking for, but perhaps some of the parameters to consider have been stated.

[Cyclingman1]

Your prize is the surge of undying respect and admiration from your fellow teammates -- beyond price, and deliverable free of charge without worrying about if you'll be home to sign for the package.

Awwh - it is so heartwarming when one's captian or junior caption shows love to his or her minions.

[johnb]

What I have never seen is any content on foot position. Is there any special things I need to know

I think it is a tradeoff that each person has to experiment with. I have rowed from 0 holes to 5 holes showing. I would think the position that feels most powerful is the place to be. Not the definitive answer you may be looking for, but perhaps some of the parameters to consider have been stated.

Thanks Jim, I will commence with my experimentation. I have relatively short legs, but wide feet and I was keeping the pedals pretty low, I will tweak it up a notch and see how it feels.

[glenmbaker]

Two vastly different 5k rows the last couple of days. First one was old me, feverish pace close to 40 strokes per minute and establish a new best 5K time for me of 20:43.5,

Ummm....40???? That's a crazy fast rate for a 5k. Heck, it's fast for a 2k. I commonly erg right next to a guy who pulls a 6:20 2k, and his idea of resting is a 1:45. No matter what we're doing he's almost always in the mid 20's (23 - 25). Faster times are not about faster rates (well...to a certain extent), they're about longer more efficient strokes. If you're rowing at a 40 for over 20 minutes I would suspect that your form is likely suffering considerably, and I would even worry about injury as at that rate most people are slamming into the catch and lurching into the drive.

Be careful out there!

[CONLEJM]

John, I generally strive for 23-26 SPM for my hour-long rows. They usually start off at 23/24 at the beginning of the row and increase to 25/26 at the end of the hour. I am 6 ft 4.5" just for reference.

One nice thing about using the ergdata app is that it provides many statistics; one of which is total number of strokes. If I am rowing 16,000 meters I try to pull fewer than 1,600 strokes. In other words, I try to get more than 10 meters per stroke.

Regarding your foot-position question, as Jim G pointed out, it is ultimately a matter of whatever works best for you. I used to set my foot-rests at # 4 or # 5 but eventually my right knee started to hurt. Now I set my foot-rest at # 1, the balls of my feet rest right at the top of the foot support. This seems to give me more power as I am pushing with more gluteus maximus, and my arms are so long that I really don't sacrifice anything at the catch. Once I set things this way I speeded right up and yet I maintained a < 25 SPM rate.

I agree with Glen that 40 SPM is way too high unless maybe you're going for a PB on the 500M or some other special circumstance. Maybe you should increase your damper setting?

[Izzzmeister]

Welcome back David Welch, whose stint with the U.S. Marines led their team in February's Military Challenge! We missed you badly! 11 of 85 members (13%) logged 85,204 total meters Sunday!

Milestones achieved: David W demolished 5.4M!!! Chuck A topped 200K!!
Approaching milestones: John B so close to 1.2M (-4,292m), Lisa H moving towards 800K (-23,718m) while Kristin C approaches 700K (-5,754m)!

Posted Meters:
David W - 5,446,644 An easy day…
Adam M - 10,500 Starting the week strong!
Ken C - 10,000 Back to back 10Ks!
Rob M - 6,374 Solid effort!
Diane M - 5,927 We need you!

John B - 5,433 Well-rounded fitness program!
Lisa H - 5,020 Back in the swing of things!
Kristin C - 5,000 Yet another!
Chuck A - 5,000 Gaining consistency!
Matthew R - 5,000 Mixing it up!
Scott W - 3,950 Pushing forward!

[Izzzmeister]

All hands on deck, maddeningly marching forward! 19 of 85 members (22%) logged 149,197 total meters Monday!

Milestones achieved: Chris B crushed 2.1M!!! Bernie J bested 35K!!
Approaching milestones: John S is approaching 2 MILLION (-39,594m), Jim G nearing 1.2M (-24,874m), Ken C (-31,367m) leading Dana H (-34,000m) to 900K, Lisa H working on 800K (-18,718m), Kristin C very close to 700K (-754m) while Marco S gains on 450K (-5,751m)!

Posted Meters:
Chris B - 17,195 First row back a biggie!
Jim C - 13,000 Mixing it up a bit…
Yisroel H - 10,750 Speedwork & pain…
Marco S - 10,022 Getting back into the swing of things!
Ken C - 10,000 Three in a row!

Keith J - 10,000 Strong!
Matthew R - 10,000 Three rows in 3 days!
Cindy R - 8,068 Great consistency!
Mark St - 8,000 Solid row!
David R - 6,500 Longer!

Gary G - 6,493 Great start to the week!
Bernie J - 5,761 Longest!
John S - 5,632 Almost daily!
Lisa H - 5,000 Chipping away every day…
Dana H - 5,000 Keep ‘em coming!

Jim G - 5,000 March Madness!
Diane M - 5,000 Also marching!
Kristin C - 5,000 A 5K a day…
Barbara B - 2,776 Starting the road back!

[Cyclingman1]

Re: Mud Season Madness Challenge.

It is a good challenge because of the need to row 4 of every 5 days. Looking at the C2 challenge stats, after today a good harbinger of being able to complete the challenge is 3 rows, although there are still enough extra days to get on track.

There has been some discussion regarding rowing stats and parameters.

This is what I have been doing after 3 rows for the challenge:
Avg 5K time: 18:31 @1:51.1. Avg SPM 29.5. Drag factor 145. Foot placement: 3 holes showing.
While I have only small deviations for total time, the 1K splits on any given day range from 2:01 to 1:46

[glenmbaker]

While I have only small deviations for total time, the 1K splits on any given day range from 2:01 to 1:46

1K split of 2:01? Wow...I knew you were fast but not THAT fast!

[damselfly]

While I have only small deviations for total time, the 1K splits on any given day range from 2:01 to 1:46

1K split of 2:01? Wow...I knew you were fast but not THAT fast!

Isn't the 1:46 side of that range more impressive?

I will never understand how you people keep your arms in your shoulder sockets rowing that hard. Kudos.