The Road To Boston 2008

Veronique · Post by **Veronique** » February 21st, 2008, 11:20 am

4x250m R3 today & race wu. Purposefully did what I think should be enough for the actual race (about 15' incl some hard pieces) but still felt that it wasn't enough so I will add another 5' if I can find the wu erg time.

250m times 1:46.9, 1:45.3, 1:44.0, 1:42.0. It was actually a bit uncontrolled on the last 1; I almost fell of the seat. Great workout to wake up, though: I've been feeling like the energizer bunny the entire morning. Must have been the combination of high intensity and extremely low volume.

Good luck on the last preparations and good travels to everybody! Hope to see you Sunday.

Yankeerunner · Post by **Yankeerunner** » February 21st, 2008, 1:51 pm

Recovery day, and feeling decidedly neutral. Last night I wondered if I was catching some of the sickness that struck Mrs. B last Sunday and seems to be peaking. But at the Hard Nock's Gym this morning I felt fine, although not like a caged animal.

1400m 07:00.0 2:30.0 21spm (warmup)
5000m 21:25.6 2:08.6 23spm
1261m 06:00.0 2:22.7 20spm (cooldown)

S10MPS, 123df, rubbing elbows with Rocket Roy Brook on the erg beside me. Roy didn't seem to enjoy the 15 degree temperature when we headed over to Amesbury at a little past 5:00am. He erged a bit more vigorously than I did. After Mrs. B's fine cooking last night he had to do a little extra on the exercycle as well to sweat out a few calories.

Mary P. · Post by **Mary P.** » February 21st, 2008, 2:21 pm

Veronique, you're ready! Sure you'll do well under 7:30 on Sunday.

I've been following this thread the whole way & doing the IP since August. Rick, your comeback is truly heartening; you'll have a whole crowd all over the country cheering for you. Tom, have to admire your comeback. Remember we Masters (&Veterans) do this because we really want to.

Have found the IP very useful in preparing for the fall head races this fall, and for the Beach Sprints. I was one of the 11(!) qualifiers, and will be in Boston on Sunday thanks to Concept 2. Gracias!

See you at CRASH-B for 12th yr in a row (14 overall)
Mary P.

michaelb · Post by **michaelb** » February 21st, 2008, 4:03 pm

My tapering strategy appears to have been to get sick last week; so my rowing volume has been way down and hopefully I will be well rested and back to a 100%. Interesting to read the various options for race pace and tapering workouts that other people are doing.

On tues, I did 4x250 to practice race starts, and then a 1000m at race pace. Last night, I did 5x400m also at race pace (1:43-1:45) since I felt the 250s were way to short the night before. I think I am done doing any real workouts at this point, and will try to just get in some easy rowing, say 5-6k on the next few days. We are planning on taking the day off tomorrow and going skiing at Mad River Glen for the day, so that may tire out my legs a bit.

To me the main value of doing these tapering/race pace workouts is to get the feel for rowing at race pace, strapped in and at the much higher SRs (I am going to target 32 for my SR). I don't know if anyone has a mantra or internal monologue for their racing, but I am going to try to keep thinking about getting my hands away fast and rotating my hips to start the recovery. For me, the key to keeping my SR up and my pace on target is to keep that first part of the recovery fast, and the first sign that I am flailing is when that falls apart.

Good luck to everyone else on Sat. Looks like a long day at the arena watching everyone else before we get to us "seniors" later in the afternoon.

seat5 · Post by **seat5** » February 21st, 2008, 9:05 pm

Looks like we will all be raring to go on Sunday. Mary, congrats on the free ride to Boston (like it was ever in doubt!) Trevor, fantastic 1K/1400. Rick, gosh, your taper is still more than I ever row--do you think you are cutting back enough? Deb, you are going to have an awesome race--can't wait to meet you--MichaelB, hope you are back 100%--everyone rest up, stay healthy, don't shoot yourselves in the foot!

I followed my IP taper plan and have practiced a few race starts. I set the PM3 for 15 second intervals with 2 min rests to get the flywheel stopped. It takes me about 15 secs to get the av. pace down to what I want. I'm not very good at starts. But doing interval starts like that is just like a real race start, right, because it starts before you do, right?

Today, Friday, and Saturday I don't plan to even sit on the erg. This morning for the first time since April I woke up naturally (no alarm) and it was a joy to lie there looking at the ceiling and being cozy instead of getting up in the freezing dark. I am starting to feel very energetic--wow, actually 7 hours of sleep--I didn't almost fall alseep at the wheel on the way to work--what a feeling! I'm almost getting excited instead of scared. The pressure is off for me because there is no way for me to medal with all the very fast new competition this year. So I will go and do my best and pull a PB and that is all I can expect from it.

I can't decide what to do about a good warmup. My pb 1K the other day was done with only a 2K warmup. I've been doing a 20 minute one and I wonder if I should shorten it. (I've been doing 20 min total: 10 2:10,1 2:05,2 2:10,1 1:57, 2 2:10, 30s 1:50,3.5 2:10) those are sort of the bottom paces on UT2, UT1, AT, and TR). What do you guys think? everyone seems to do a different thing....

tdekoekkoek · Post by **tdekoekkoek** » February 21st, 2008, 11:23 pm

Carla, I believe in a fairly long warm-up. I've had many times when I've rowed for 40 minutes and only then feel fast. My fastest 250 in a single was after I did a 10K race. That said, I think 20 minutes is good. Or you can follow that 19 minute warm-up suggested on the UK website. In any case I like to do a few high 10s and also I do a few starts with some builds up to 30 or even 40 strokes at race pace. The starts just help me get my body used to the sudden effort, because otherwise I feel that the body never recovers from that initial sudden debt. That's why I've been doing a lot of starts for the last week or two.

Michael. One thing I've been working on to get my stroke rate up is the abs. Keeping the abs engaged at the finish prevents you from slouching. So when your rate starts dropping off, make sure you catch quickly and aren't slouching at the end. And yes, hands away! My rate has tended to be quite low, but that is also because I've been doing mostly slow distance until the last few weeks. Also I've been doing my long distance on slides lately. I find that really helps to improve technique and get your finishes quicker. Feet out also does this.

Today's workout 6*1 minute at race pace + 20 minute very easy. The lightweight team was doing 10* 1 minute tonight, but I decided 6 was sufficient. I was supposed to do them all at race pace, but most were a little faster and the last one was avg 1:30.9 (sorry just couldn't resist). Anyway I feel pretty strong right now because of the reduced volume, plus rest day on monday. Now taking tomorrow off and will do about 30 minutes on Saturday.

Good luck all!

macroth · Post by **macroth** » February 21st, 2008, 11:48 pm

warmup, then
4x250m on / 250m off
1:35 pace, 34 spm

7:57 for total 2000m

My warm up routine isn't set in stone, but usually consists of some slow steady rowing with a handful of gradual sprints and race starts. I like it to last at least 15 minutes. Basically I try to get the motor running. Your body has to be ready to go full throttle.

TomR · Post by **TomR** » February 22nd, 2008, 9:28 am

Yankeerunner wrote: at the Hard Nock's Gym this morning I felt fine, although not like a caged animal.

No need to shoot me with the tranquilizer gun either, if you see me roaming in the wild. Still more like a declawed pussy, but expecting full transformation to occur at any moment.

Did a race warm-up and then just stayed on the erg and did 2x20 strokes race pace, w/ paddling between and after.

Warm-up=21 min, 4,300 mtr
Total=24 min, 5080 mtr

Hoping the predicted snow doesn't screw up the trip to Boston tomorrow.

Yankeerunner · Post by **Yankeerunner** » February 22nd, 2008, 1:15 pm

michaelb wrote: Good luck to everyone else on Sat. Looks like a long day at the arena watching everyone else before we get to us "seniors" later in the afternoon.

If you show up on Saturday you might be a bit peeved since the races are on Sunday, although it would be preferable to showing up on Sunday for a Saturday race.

Carla, good to hear that it is excitement more than panic this year. I predict that you will do well.

Still neutral today, although that's way better than feeling bad. And way, way better than last year at this time when I was injured and therefore couldn't comete at all.

1472m 07:00.0 2:22.6 20spm (warmup)
5000m 20:29.0 2:02.9 24spm
1208m 06:00.0 2:28.9 19spm (cooldown)

S10MPS with the monitor covered except for meters, 120df, 66 degrees (hot!), no wrap on the ribs, Carlene Carter on the CD player. The rib/back seems to feel 100% just in time. Now it's down to simply whether I have the cojones to push myself hard. Tomorrow will be my first day totally off the erg since December 29th. About 9"-10" of snow expected over the next 7 yours, so there will be some snow-shoveling to do, but I'm feeling macho enough to do it with an air of haughty disdain.

Bob S. · Post by **Bob S.** » February 24th, 2008, 1:01 pm

Rick,

Great race! It looks like all that hard work of the last 6 weeks paid off. I hope that your ribs are still O.K.

Bob S.

Yankeerunner · Post by **Yankeerunner** » February 24th, 2008, 7:40 pm

Thanks Bob. Most satisfying erg race for me in over two years. I hope that it is a reversal of the downward spiral I had falllen into.

Quickly, because I just got back home and I'm wasted...

Laura Erhart (I think), who got your plane ticket, a fine 7:10.x to nab silver.

Deborah and Carla a tenth apart at 7:25.4 & 7:25.5 (PB for Carla).

Trevor, 6:29.x

Tom, I forget, even though I sat with him for hours. About 7:20 I think, which was about his target.

MaryP, 1st place Hammer!

Neil Harrigan, 6:28.x silver.

Rocket Roy, 6:46.x sliver.

Me, 7:06.5 bronze.

Didn't catch any others (sorry). For example, Veronique, macroth, michaelb how did it go?

Great stuff.

I'll try to report more fully when I recover. Zzzzzzz.

TomR · Post by **TomR** » February 24th, 2008, 9:01 pm

I pulled a 7.18, faster than I expected. The ergs in Boston seemed faster than my erg at home. I attribute that to rest and adrenaline.

It was good to catch up with folks. Rick reported that he weighed in fully clothed and carrying his sports bag, containing 3 full water bottles. Imagine how fast he'd be if he were a full-grown lightweight!

Bob S. · Post by **Bob S.** » February 24th, 2008, 9:20 pm

Yankeerunner wrote: Laura Erhart (I think), who got your plane ticket, a fine 7:10.x to nab silver.
Deborah and Carla a tenth apart at 7:25.4 & 7:25.5 (PB for Carla).
Trevor, 6:29.x
Tom, I forget, even though I sat with him for hours. About 7:20 I think, which was about his target.
MaryP, 1st place Hammer!
Neil Harrigan, 6:28.x silver.
Rocket Roy, 6:46.x sliver.
Me, 7:06.5 bronze.

Thanks for the summary, Rick. A PB for Carla — that's really great. I had not checked yet on that race. The results were not available when I was checking on the site earlier today and then I was away from home for a few hours. I know that Laura thought that she got my ticket, but on looking at the Beach Sprints numbers, it seems that she was 2.5 under the qual time and Mary was 2.4. In that case, it was Mary that got my ticket, which is quite appropriate. It was husband Rob's coaching in the race that helped me to get 9 under. There were a total of 5 of us who turned down the trip out of an unprecedented 9 qualifiers (plus two that didn't count because there were three all in the same category and only the top one was eligible). I was disappointed that Steve Krum didn't make it to Boston. He had a very solid 5.2 under and was very keen to go. His qual time of 6:20 was less than three seconds off Vegar's new WR, so he could have been right up there. I suppose that he ran into problems with cancelled flights. Laura, for one, made an improvement on her qual time by 3.3 seconds.

Bob S.

michaelb · Post by **michaelb** » February 24th, 2008, 10:34 pm

It was more fun than I thought it would be. I was impressed by the sheer number of people, the size of the venue, and the spectators. Everybody was very friendly and it was great meeting some of the people from the forums. Several of the races were really exciting, and they all were entertaining.

It was a long wait to row in the afternoon, but I felt pretty good leading up to my race. I think I was first off the blocks (100s of race starts on rowpro may help) and hit 1:43 on the second stroke. I settled into my pace at 1:45, held that until I dropped to 1:44 at 800, then 1:43 at 600, till a final sprint in the 1:40-41 range. It felt all pretty good (except for the brief moment of doubt at around 1400).

Final time: 6:55.4, a new PB, and 6 secs faster than I was 2 years ago when I was training hard (but rowing as a lightweight). The good/bad thing about indoor rowing is the next target is neverending, so 6:50 certainly looks possible.

I also got to be the cox and cheer for my sister in law, who I got into rowing last fall. She rowed great and was about 10 secs faster then what we set as her target (not sure how good a cox I am, I kept telling her to slow down). So that was really fun too.

seat5 · Post by **seat5** » February 24th, 2008, 11:17 pm

What a fantastic and exhausting day!!
Got there at 9:0?, just in time to catch most of heat 1. Anna Bailey got a PB and broke her World record but was edged out by 2 secs from the gold. I know Joan VB got the gold YAY congrats!!! but I didn't get to see her race ending because I scampered over to where I thought I could see Yvette Knight. However she was in the C section, not B, and there was no way to get over there in time, which made me very cross. Yvette got the bronze, and I think a PB but I can't remember by how much. Then I got to see Mary Perrot in Heat 2 blast to gold with a time 8 secs faster than the silver medalist. Go Mary!! I was way up on the top stair and hollered but I'm sure could not be heard. Then on to heat 3, with Frank Knight, Rick Bayko and Tom R. Everyone was in different places. We were where we could see Rick pull a fantastic PB, what a great ending sprint, and I could see Frank around the corner in the B section by his green shirt but didn't know how he did till later--a PB by several seconds, I think I remember right. I never did catch up to Tom

. Heat 4 had Roy Brok and Mike VB and that was a very exciting race and I didn't know who to yell for! In the end Mike edged Roy out by like a second to win the gold. Jon Bone raced in Heat 5 on erg 2 right next to Peter Dreisgocker (sp) and won Bronze.

I wanted to watch Heat 22 and 23 but it was time to warm up. Gene Burnham, who raced at Rick's race in January, pulled a massive PB by like 30 seconds, I heard later. Then in heat 23 the mens 40-49 hwt World record was beaten--actually today 6 world records were beat. That was the heat Trevor raced in, he placed 13th but was well pleased with a PB of 2 secs, I think.

By 3:00 I was in a high state of agitation and ready to run away but there I was in my uniform and no backing out possible. They had me on erg 18 (section B ) to start, which was somewhat dismaying as I would not know how fast the fast girls were going. Then they dumped me back to erg 41, while leaving 2 empty ergs in the A section. For some reason this sort of made me feel a little like I must not be any good at all to be moved back like that. But Mr Seat5 (Dave) who coxed me said all the right things and off we went. I had all these race plans on a post it note but in the end didn't follow any of them (they are a sort of security blanket I guess) and he was a great cox as I had told him what to tell me! First 1K felt fine, I was a bit hesitant to go as fast as I should have, then the next 400 ok, but the last 600 got pretty hard and the last 250m close to unbearable. Nothing left at the end, it was a good thing Dave was there or I might have fallen off backwards. I was happy with a PB of about 2 secs (7:25.5) though I had hoped for 7:24 or 7:23. It turns out I passed a bunch of rowers that were in that section A. Yup, I should have been up there.

We stayed and watched all the races after that, it all became a big blur. The men's open was incredibly exciting but as I don't know any of the guys I can't remember what happened except that a really huge guy that used to do canoing came in bronze and that was a very loud yelling time in general. I am so hoarse!

Afterwards Dave and I got to go out to dinner with Deborah and Bill Lubey and we had a super time. I really think rowers are the coolest people, we all go through so many of the same experiences with training, you can find so much to appreciate so quickly.

All in all a very fulfilling day--so many PBs--so many World Records smashed--so much to applaud!!! YAY EVERYONE!!

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