advice needed for first indoor rowing competition

[aussie nick]

thank you everyone for your advice - there's some great stuff in here and I appreciate you all taking the time to help

we're still in lockdown in Sydney, so the competition (NSW state championships) will be virtual, so all my set up is done and I've got a nice, cool room to race in.

I did my last hard interval session yesterday and I'm going to do a light taper - same number of sessions and same intensity, but about 70% of the volume for the rest of this week and then 50% volume next week. I find I have my best sessions after a complete rest day, so I won't do anything the day before. I've even committed to not have a drink til race day, which is quite something for me!

on Sunday (which is 1 week out from the comp), I'm going to do a mirror type competition rehearsal, where I row 1350m at my 2k race pace, then warm down, recover and then warm up again and do 65% of a 1k an hour later. I think this will be enough to prepare myself for the race and pace without tiring my system too much. My buddy who's gone to the crossfit games a few times and so does multiple events in a day regularly suggested 15 mins of light walking, take in liquid carbs like Gatorade and then some sugary candy to replenish and then about 50% of my standard warm up before the 1k

I'm lucky in that the first race, the 2k is the one I value most and I'm gonna go balls out for a PR without worrying about anything after that. I haven't done a time trial in almost 3 months and I've improved a fair amount since I last did it, so there's an amount of guessing involved in that pace I set out at, but I think I'm comfortable with what I'll do for the first 1k-1300. Then, I'll recover as best I can and aim to get as close to my 1k pr as possible. I'll make a decision on the 500 at the time, but I'll do the warm down walk, liquid carb & candy routine anyway so I can keep my options open.

thanks again for your advice and time you took to input. I'll update once I'm done. Really my goal is to set a really good 2k pr. If I do that, I'll be happy whether I come first or last

[Dangerscouse]

thanks again for your advice and time you took to input. I'll update once I'm done. Really my goal is to set a really good 2k pr. If I do that, I'll be happy whether I come first or last

Good mindset. The only other thing to remember is the race start, as you will probably have a shocker when compared to what you are used to.

To not end up with a false start, your reactions are more cautious so, ime, it has always been up at 2:50s average pace for the first couple of strokes, and it takes a bit of time to get that average pace down to something more acceptable, and all the while your mind can be freaking out and you forget your game plan. This is made worse as there's no anticipated finish time either, and you've got one eye on your position.

Don't panic, a 2k isn't a really long race, but there will be people who fly and die so don't let adrenaline rule your decisions early on. It is a lot easier said than done though.

[aussie nick]

thanks again for your advice and time you took to input. I'll update once I'm done. Really my goal is to set a really good 2k pr. If I do that, I'll be happy whether I come first or last

Good mindset. The only other thing to remember is the race start, as you will probably have a shocker when compared to what you are used to.

To not end up with a false start, your reactions are more cautious so, ime, it has always been up at 2:50s average pace for the first couple of strokes, and it takes a bit of time to get that average pace down to something more acceptable, and all the while your mind can be freaking out and you forget your game plan. This is made worse as there's no anticipated finish time either, and you've got one eye on your position.

Don't panic, a 2k isn't a really long race, but there will be people who fly and die so don't let adrenaline rule your decisions early on. It is a lot easier said than done though.

will this be the case if it's a virtual race too? Maybe naively, I was assuming we'd just get a 3,2,1...GO via the screen and then we start as per a usual time trial on our own machine and then verify the time at the end and send them the details/screenshot etc?

there's a briefing the day before but I'm hoping that's the case - I'd hate to false start!

[Dangerscouse]

will this be the case if it's a virtual race too? Maybe naively, I was assuming we'd just get a 3,2,1...GO via the screen and then we start as per a usual time trial on our own machine and then verify the time at the end and send them the details/screenshot etc?

there's a briefing the day before but I'm hoping that's the case - I'd hate to false start!

I assume it's the same race software as ours, but you don't get a countdown and you can be held in a start position for a while (it was about 10 seconds for my recent virtual 30 min race). The start is random so a slow start is probable but you can claw it back, albeit not as quickly as you'd like to, or comparably to a normal 2k. I always remind myself that Mo Farah is comfortable at the back of the pack to start with and it doesn't affect the end result. The shorter distances it's totally different though.

I've never false started, but I you get at least one warning, maybe two. Someone got disqualified from another 30 min race for false starting!! Now that's the epitome of eagerness.

[aussie nick]

will this be the case if it's a virtual race too? Maybe naively, I was assuming we'd just get a 3,2,1...GO via the screen and then we start as per a usual time trial on our own machine and then verify the time at the end and send them the details/screenshot etc?

there's a briefing the day before but I'm hoping that's the case - I'd hate to false start!

I assume it's the same race software as ours, but you don't get a countdown and you can be held in a start position for a while (it was about 10 seconds for my recent virtual 30 min race). The start is random so a slow start is probable but you can claw it back, albeit not as quickly as you'd like to, or comparably to a normal 2k. I always remind myself that Mo Farah is comfortable at the back of the pack to start with and it doesn't affect the end result. The shorter distances it's totally different though.

I've never false started, but I you get at least one warning, maybe two. Someone got disqualified from another 30 min race for false starting!! Now that's the epitome of eagerness.

mmm, thanks. there's a race briefing the day before so I'll find out then. and yep, getting a DQ for a 30 min race is rather futile, but imagine the frustration on the guy who'd been training for it!