Starnberg

[fischmeister]

I'm in (W50-54), looking forward!

[H2O]

I'm in 65-69. See you there.

[Two Pudding Kid]

Best wishes in The 30 minute race Susan.

[H2O]

Well, the race is over and I was able to win my age category (65-69) but it was very close and I was pushed very hard. I ended up being only 22m ahead, where the entire second 15mins my pursuer was steadily closing in on me, so I was unsure whether I was able to stay ahead literally to the last minute.
22 meters is a tad more than 2 strokes. I really suffered for a full 12 mins and was completely whacked afterwards a whole lot more than after my ranked piece. I felt it even the next day.

At home I have the benefit of rowing at about 0 degree Celsius in perfect air which is ideal. It is simply not possible to replicate such conditions in a race venue and the renovation in Starnberg has improved the air quality. Also I am now in the last race of the day when most people have already left and that drops the temperature a little. So the conditions were definitely better than before and I got close to my current PB (7851 race versus 7889 ranked).
Normally I don't care about winning, but in Starnberg I really want to win, since they have such a nice medal (for the winner only). It is the only one I ever won which I like.

My wife, Cate, also took part and it was her first race. During the Christmas challenge she rowed 200K and so her aerobic capacity was OK and I wanted her to start with regular TR and AT intervals in the remaining two months. However no intervals were performed. 10 days before the race I asked her to do 3 x 1000m rest 5mins to see where her 2K was and bizarrely it was at the same level as her PB from last year, where she did a lot more hard rowing. 6 days before the race I asked her to do a 5K and she was able to split 2:27 (at age 70), a full 10 seconds below her usual training pace. I have no idea how this is possible but it looked like she could get over 6K and from past race results this was competitive in her age group so I was able to motivate her to come along.

During the race I was allowed to sit behind her but not allowed to say anything whatsoever, since Cate does not like any distractions. So to my horror I had to watch in silence as she took off with a stroke rate of 30 and maintained spm 29-31 all the way to the end. The reason was that I told her to shoot for a stroke rate of 30 for the 3 x 1000m test which she took to mean that a stroke rate of 30 is the right stroke rate on the ergo. I expected her to blow up at any minute but she maintained it all the way through and was even able to speed up with 10 minutes to go (which I wasn't) and cleared the 6000m (6039m). This earned her first place and gave her a huge morale boost. I am extremely happy about that since I think she can improve quite a bit if she joins my more structured workouts which she promised to do.

It is a big meet and there is lots of competition with excellent results. The male high point was 8700m, M55-59: 8352m, M60-64: 8179m (a lightweight over 8000). The women were also extremely strong:
F50-54: 7122m (LW),
F55-59: 7046m,
F60-64: 6935m (LW: 6668m),
F65-69: 6792m,
F70-74LW: 6242m (a Starnberg record).
This is definitely excellent rowing.

All in all it was a very satisfactory experience and I can recommend everyone to go there. The organizers are doing a swell job and everyone is exceptionally nice. It is also located in one of the most beautiful parts of Germany. If you are travelling internationally it is worth combining it with a vacation. The possibly most beautiful place in the Alps (Königsee) and spectacular scenery around Garmisch-Partenkirchen is not that far away and the limestone mountains are even more beautiful in winter with some snow on them than in summer (at least to my taste). If you have a little more time to travel you will not regret it as the whole of Bavaria is very beautiful and has lots more to offer.

[fischmeister]

That's a perfect sum-up - thank you! Sounds like you both had a perfect race, congratulations!

It was my second race in Starnberg, the first one was 2019. Air quality has definitely improved; it's still pretty warm but not the "thick" air I remember from last time. Or maybe it was just nervousness in 2019 when it was my first race ever?

For some reason I was totally convinced that I did a little more than 7100 metres in 2019 so I decided to go for 7000 metres this time (W50-54). I'm not a rower, I use my rower on Zwift almost daily as it helps me to stay fit in a very entertaining way. I typically row around one hour, once or twice a week I do a Zwift race that usually lasts about 30-40 minutes. So I was well prepared and knew that I could manage 7000 metres. But on Zwift races you don't do a steady pace so there was a tiny little uncertainty.

And that made me start carefully with a 2:08-2:09 split. I absolutely didn't care about the others and wanted to do my own race, but you can't help but notice the others listed on the PM5. In my race all women from 19-54 were combined so it was obvious I wouldn't be competitive, and at the start i saw this confirmed by being placed last. But I quickly gained positions by keeping my constant pace. After 15 minutes I felt it would be okay to go a little faster and went for a 2:07 split. It worked fine and in the last two minutes I was even able to do a little final sprint. I ended up with 7072 metres, 5th overall. Waow! A few days later I realized that I did 30 metres more than in 2019 ... Waow, that really makes me happy!!! So I guess I have to go for the 7100 next year

[H2O]

7072 metres, 5th overall. Waow! A few days later I realized that I did 30 metres more than in 2019 ... Waow, that really makes me happy!!! So I guess I have to go for the 7100 next year

Congratulations, you seem to be a diamond in the rough. Are you following any structured training plan such as covering all intensity levels (UT1, AT, TR)?.
The C2 training guide is a valuable resource, available here:
http://www.redking.me.uk/sport/rowing/t ... ing_v2.pdf
You get the paces for the intervals at various intensity levels based on your 2K performance. See my post in answer to the thread by milsanremo
viewtopic.php?f=3&t=209424
If you have never done AT or TR (Vo2 max) intervals, you can improve a lot on the 30 minutes.

[fischmeister]

Thank you, the same applies for your wife then I guess!

I'm pretty sure I would improve with structured training, but Starnberg made me realize once again how boring rowing can be without the immersive Zwift world. With just those numbers to stare at ... kudos to everyone who manages to keep up the motivation! And Zwift races are in fact some sort of interval training, only you never know what interval is next and when it starts. You just try to hang on with those fast guys attacking again and again. So I guess there's not that much more to gain for me, at least not if I want to keep the fun part. But your links provide sooo much amazing input. Haven't seen that training guideline before, thank you so much!!!

[Two Pudding Kid]

Seeing the passion for going back through the results I found that I attended in 2012, 2014 and 2018. In those days I could do 6900m. Best this year is 6585 - although now 2 hip replacement and 7 years on. It is on my consideration for 2026 - just hope that the organisers get the date out quicker this time. Wonder if the music is still on a 35 minute loop throughout the day?

[MPx]

... this year is 6585

Well done Susan - good to see you still churning these (and longer) sessions out. I think there's still some build back you can do - its a big adjustment to make post hip surgery. So target is 2:15 or better next year!