Rowing Program

“Heater” and the value of a good coxswain

Coxswains are tiny people in the back of the boats.  Their primary function is to steer the war canoe down the course.  Their secondary function is to use the headset and speakers in the boat and serve as the jockey for the rocking and rolling one ton beast built on loss cargo.

In college coxswains weigh 125lbs.  For International races coxswains can weigh 110lbs.  When I was heading down to Venezuela with the Pan American team my coxswain, John Stilling, was an outstanding collegiate coxswain who at 5’ 6” had to battle mightily to get to 125lbs.  Getting down to 110lbs was a full time job.  It was a job that required him to jettison from his life things like patience, a sense of humor and the god given fear of people twice his size.  Consequently, he earned a nickname – Heater.

Prior to the finals we were out for a very light pre-race workout.  We were feeling full of ourselves and a little chippy.   At the end of the workout a few of us started mouthing off as Heater was trying to bring the boat to the dock.  Docking a 70’ shell with a credit card for a rudder is no easy thing.  The stroke, the rower in the back of the boat facing the coxswain, turned around and shouted “hey shut up… it’s getting kind of hot back here.”

We didn’t shut up.  Heater stood up in the back of the boat informed us that we were all overfeed, pituitary abnormalities, mental retrogrades, and we could dock our own %$#@ng boat.  Then he dove overboard.  Rowers are built to pull; navigation is not our strong suit.  Heater left us in a jam.  Once he swam to the dock and climbed out he continued to cuss us out.  Some of us think in tongues.  He even got some of the women from the Canadian team to join in.

Our stroke, Juan Cataldo, jumped into the coxswains seat, put on the head set and informed us that Radio Free Mexico had taken over the air waves and we were to do exactly as we were told.  Juan managed to get us close enough to the dock for some coaches to grab the oars and pull us in.  Other coaches worked to restrain Heater and get him into the van and drive him back to the athlete’s village.

The moral of this story?  The day of the finals I found out that the stern four of my boat had made a side bet with the Argentina men’s eight.  Not only would we beat them to the 2000m mark, but my teammates wagered, we would beat them to the 500m mark as well.  At the time Argentina had a well earned reputation for being a very fast starting eight.  If any of you have done one of our flat out repeat 500m workouts, you can appreciate how unpleasant it is to blaze a 500m piece, and follow it up without rest with a 1500m piece.

When work loads like that start to blur your vision, and your body begins shuting down cognitive functions, you want to be very selective about just what kind of psychotic you let inside your head.  And Heater was our kind of psychotic on race day.  He knew pain and had earned the right to be there.   He was not dead weight we were lugging down the course, he was the aware, focused and articulate part of our shared barely consciousness and he helped us drive well past our limits. 

US Heavy Eight (8+) - 1:19 to 500m, Argentina 1:21 to 500m    

US Heavy Eight (8+) - 5:47 to 2000m, Argentina 6:02 to 2000m

At the Mile High sprints you can chose to have a “coxswain” for your 2k piece.  Think about what you need to hear or you want to tell yourself as you go down the course.

Primary Workout (Utilization):  Transportation – aka race pace.

1 – 1500m start piece – 7 min rest

2 – 1000m start piece – 7 min rest

3 – Sprint final 500m

Secondary Workout (Utilization):  2 x 7 min; Row at 75 – 85% of your 2K pace. 

Mile High Sprints – Coming Up

Count Down to Race Day

Mile High Sprints, January 21, 2012 @ 24 Hour Fitness - Southglenn

Denver Indoor Rowing Championships, February 4, 2012 @ Colorado Athletic Club - Monaco

Primary workout:

3 x 1000m at race pace; practice first 1000m, first 1000m and final 1000m.

Secondary workout:

2 x 9 min: Anaerobic Threshold, 75 – 85% of your 2K pace.  4 min rest.

We have one last chance to get a diesel workout in before race day.  For fun we are going to go with the prime number ladder mini-diesel workout.  The twist here is that we are going to try to hold a faster pace for these pieces than we do in regular diesel workouts.  In regular diesel workouts we hold between 65-80% of our 2K pace, today we will shoot to hold between 75-85% of our 2K pace.

Primary Workout: Prime Number Ladder Mini Diesel:

13 min, 11 min and 7 min pieces at 75-85% of your 2K pace, work to hold a slightly higher stroke rate than your regular diesel pace.

Secondary Workout:

3 x 1000m at race pace; practice first 1000m, middle 1000m and final 1000m.

Race Day Count Down

1 – Mile High Sprints, January 21, 2012, 24 Hour Fitness Southglenn

2 – Denver Indoor Rowing Championships, February 4, 2012, Colorado Athletic Club Monaco

TEST DAY - Results

Congratulations on your performance at last week’s 2K test.  I was very impressed with how professionally everyone approached the test.  Major shout outs to Andy, Berj and Scott Olson for huge improvements from the beginning of the season.

My one sense however, was that as a group we have underestimated how strong we are.  I think we all have room to dial up the intensity a bit.  If you get to a point in the third 500m where you feel  like you cannot take another stroke, that is right where you want to be.  Then you just have to find a way to trick yourself into taking one more hard stroke, about 100 more times.

This week’s workout will give you a chance to practice tricking yourself into carrying on when you feel like there is no more gas in the tank.

Primary workout:

2 min on / 2 min off x 6: Anaerobic – this is flat out as fast as you can go.  Row 2-4 strokes per minute above your 2K race cadence.  So if you raced last week at 28 spm, today you will hold 30-32 strokes per minute.  Go flat out.  Hold to the 2 min rest interval.  If you start to fade in later pieces, that is fine.  Just practice convincing yourself to take one more hard stroke, over and over.

Secondary workout:

2 x 10 min: Anaerobic Threshold, 75 – 85% of your 2K pace.  5 min rest.

TEST DAY

Rules for test day –

1 – If you are shaky after your piece and cannot operate a simple mechanical device like a car…

                That is acceptable and transportation home will be arranged.

2 – If you pass out, during or after your piece, for any amount of time up to and including 4 minutes, and you have difficulty walking once you regain consciousness…

                That is acceptable and transportation home will be arranged.

3 – If in the third 500m, you pierce the veil of consciousness and have a very pleasant conversation with your Grandmother who passed 16 years ago, and you feel her hand resting on your check, as she leans in to whisper in your ear, ‘GET BACK TO WORK!!’…

                That is acceptable and transportation home will be arranged.

4 – Any other result will be open to endless (endless) debate.  Have fun.

-          Good Luck.

-          Have a race plan in mind (split times, when you are taking power 10’s or 20’s, a single or double cadence shift sprint, etc.)

-          If you want a coxswain or coach to help you stick to your race plan talk to that person beforehand.

-          General rule is for a short race, you need a long warm up.  This is a very short race.  Be warmed up and ready to go by your start time.

-          Practice putting your race face on and building up mental energy.  When you wake in the morning, and then throughout the day, remind yourself that you creator has only one purpose for you on Dec. 14, 2011, and that is to blaze one 2000m piece.

-          Good Luck.

RACE day Preparations

We are eight weeks out from our first race.  Today’s workout is a brief discussion of how we prepare for race day followed by a Transportation (80 – 85% of Heart Rate Max) workout.

Primary –

3 x 8 min Transportation Training: Row at 75 - 85% of 2k Race pace, u pick fan setting, cadence 24-30 spm.

Secondary –

1 x 20’ Utilization Traning 1: Row at 65-75% of 2k Race pace, u pick fan, cadence 24-30 spm.

Primary Workout:

4 x 4 min w/ 5 min rest.  Transportation - 85 – 105% of your 2000m race pace. 

Secondary Workout:

3 x 7 min w/ 3 min rest.  Anaerobic Threshold – 75-85 % of your 2000m race pace. 

After doing a lot of base and aerobic conditioning work over the past few weeks.  It is time for some pure speed work.

Primary – 5 x 5:

5 – 500M pieces, at race pace on a 5 minute start interval.  Short and sweet.  Do at least two as the first 500M of a 2K race, and mix the remaining at body and last 500m sprint pieces.

Secondary –

1 x 11’ Anaerobic Threshold: Row at 80-85% of Race pace, u pick fan, cadence 24-30 spm.

Great job everyone on the 5000m piece last week.  That is a very tough race piece and you all did awesome at keeping after your pace and keeping your technique tight.  Very nice job!  This week’s workout will be a little different.

Primary –

2 X 8 (10 paddle + 30 Full Power) 5 min rest if solo; switch out with partner quickly if sharing a machine.  Follow w/ 8 x 24 weighted squat jumps on the minute.

Row at 85 -100% of your 2000m race pace.  Use the first 3 strokes of your 30 full pressure to build up the wheel speed (building momentum – 1^st stroke ½ pressure, 2^nd stroke ¾ pressure, 3^rd stroke 7/8^ths pressure, and go full pressure for 27, paddle for 10 strokes, build for 3 and go again).  Keep hitting each stroke hard and let the fatigue help you find efficient technique and a mental grove.  Nothing to record here, you’re just taking 480 very hard strokes and doing some light squats.

Secondary –

3 x 6’ Anaerobic Threshold: Row at 80-85% of Race pace, u pick fan, cadence 24-30 spm, rest 4 min.         

Over distance training or Utilization training is the brain child of legendary New Zealand track coach Arthur Lydiard.  Often called LSD, or long slow distance training, it is defined as prolonged work performed at well below your cardiac threshold.

Over distance work in rowing is so muscularly exhausting that the body is highly incented to figure out how to row efficiently – how to use skeletal strength instead of muscular strength, how to effectively use muscular strength, and how to relax any muscle chain that is not in active use. 

The other benefit to over distance training is the mental adaptation that can be achieved.  The rhythm of drive and recovery in rowing is fundamental and universal, like the filling and emptying of lungs, the beating of a heart or the push and pull of waves breaking on a beach.  That rhythm of work and rest can be meditative - can be.  Over distance training gives you an opportunity to develop the ability to shut down the left (logical) side of your brain and move into the non-verbal right side of your brain.  If you can improve this skill your perceived amount of recovery time will grow and your ability to work without regards to your limits will also expand. 

Work at your ability to park your mind by staring at a specific point in space and letting your focus go blurry, repeating a motivation phrase that fits your pace, counting your strokes, rowing with your eyes closed, or try feeling on one aspect of your form for 5 min at a time.

Please find the time to look at at least one of these technique videos:

https://youtube.com/watch?v=zQ82RYIFLN8&feature=related

https://youtube.com/watch?v=oP6OR-G7AxM&feature=related

Primary –

1 x 5000m Utilization Training 1: Row at 70 - 80% of Race pace, u pick fan setting, cadence 22-28 spm.

Secondary –

2 x 7’ Anaerobic Threshold: Row at 80-85% of Race pace, u pick fan, cadence 24-30 spm, rest 3 ½ min.