The last few days we have started to do some more intense or race-type pieces in contrast to the easy acclimation training we have been doing since arriving down here. I don't mean to make that sound like we have not been doing enough. I think coach Roock has a really good idea of what needs to be done to positively adapt to training without over doing it. It is not that he doesn't want us to put our heads down and go to work, but it seems like he is seasoned enough to recognize risk/reward balance between pushing the envelope too soon in training. There is little reward. You normally just end up injured or too tired. Hence, we have been doing enough to get the stimulus and resting before we get too tired. It's amazing how quickly the body can adapt if you let it. It is easy to forget it and just push harder--I am a culprit as much as anyone. So, I appreciate the value of having someone like Dan around to manage that urge to push ahead bullheadedly.
Alas, we have been doing some pieces! We did 12 x 1'/1' off in singles on Th. afternoon and a 5k time trial Fri. morning. Peter and I had been rowing the 2x exclusively, but after his departure, these 1' pieces were the first opportunity to see what kind of speed I had in the 1x after a few months away from the boat. It was fairly low rate, max power pieces, which are not normally my strong suit; however, one of the cool things about this year has been that I really don't know what I can do. I know I used to suck at max power pieces, but that is not necessarily the case this year, when I am more healthy, happy, and willing than ever. So, I have been enjoying kind of forgetting what I thought I used to know about myself and making something new. It has been in the works for a while, really since late summer and fall, this new version of myself, a version built from the foundation in the way that I thought might be the scariest for others to race. It's difficult for myself to objectively assess any progress /changes I have made since being a lightweight this summer, just because you always see yourself in kind of the same way. I just can pick up on the little things, like the way I feel before/after workouts, how I am sleeping, how much power I feel like I can produce, etc. Just on those three scales, training is going well. I am fueled before workouts, refueled after them, sleeping a lot, waking up recovered, and producing as much power as I can whenever I want. It has been my experience that the times when you are the fittest are the times when you feel capable of accessing every level of power output on your spectrum. To put it in car terms, being in very top physical condition is like driving a 6 speed sports car. You can shift through the gears seamlessly. From first gear all the way up to sixth gear where the car is at its MAX, then back to fifth, to fourth, hold it there, then press again into fifth, and to max again. I would call this the ability to "take what you want". Hmm, about those 1' pieces..
They ranged from 24 spm-30 spm. Steve and I were pretty even for most of them, a couple lengths ahead of the others. When the rate went up I started to get a little bit on Steve but it's difficult to tell, margins are so small over a minute. The last couple pieces I won by about 1/2 Length. Regardless, those are pieces that a bigger guy like Steve would have doored me on in the past, so it was cool to feel like I had the horsepower to run with him. Speaking of horsepower, last week we did a 1 minute test on the erg! It had a rate cap of 40 spm. Which, I know sounds high, but its not! I would definitely row in the low-mid 40's if given the chance. Anyways, it was a chance to produce some watts. So, I went 1:21.5 for one minute or 370 meters or something like that. Peter, who was right next to me, went 1.20.9. The lack of rating was definitely tough but I was fine with it as long as everyone else did as well. Well sure enough they didn't! STEVE rowed at 43 spm average! Haha...classic! Peter was pissed! Anyways he went 1:19. Which is good, BUT, I am sure that I could have been at 1.20 or slightly below if I had not stuck to the rating cap. It was fun to put up some bigger numbers though. The lightweight guys were going around 1.25. I distinctly remember doing a max 250m piece( open rate) on the erg with Tom, Peter, and Brian before NSR 1 last year. Tom and Peter crushed it. Peter rowed an impressive 1.18. Brian and I both went 1.25. I remember feeling like death afterwards. It felt terrible.
On the 5k Time trial, we did it head style against head current and headwind. Lovely! Dan started me last behind 10 other boats. I take it as a compliment, BUT, wake sucks. wake sucks a lot. The rowing felt terrible. But I kept the boat moving and tried as hard as I could. I could tell I had moved on Steve so that was encouraging. I beat steve by about 10 seconds. When it comes down to it, I couldn't care less. Beating people over 5k has never been an issue. This year it's about going deeper than ever before and believing more and longer than anyone else. My coefficient of belief needs to be the highest in the world in order to do the things I want to do.
Next weekend will be a good test. We are all racing singles down at the 1996 Olympic Course at Lake Lanier. Xeno Mueller set the Olympic 1x record of 6.44 there in '96. So that will be a good target pace.
Happy St. Patrick's Day. The girls are making Corned beef and cabbage tonight. Never had it before. Might keep that tradition alive.
Alas, we have been doing some pieces! We did 12 x 1'/1' off in singles on Th. afternoon and a 5k time trial Fri. morning. Peter and I had been rowing the 2x exclusively, but after his departure, these 1' pieces were the first opportunity to see what kind of speed I had in the 1x after a few months away from the boat. It was fairly low rate, max power pieces, which are not normally my strong suit; however, one of the cool things about this year has been that I really don't know what I can do. I know I used to suck at max power pieces, but that is not necessarily the case this year, when I am more healthy, happy, and willing than ever. So, I have been enjoying kind of forgetting what I thought I used to know about myself and making something new. It has been in the works for a while, really since late summer and fall, this new version of myself, a version built from the foundation in the way that I thought might be the scariest for others to race. It's difficult for myself to objectively assess any progress /changes I have made since being a lightweight this summer, just because you always see yourself in kind of the same way. I just can pick up on the little things, like the way I feel before/after workouts, how I am sleeping, how much power I feel like I can produce, etc. Just on those three scales, training is going well. I am fueled before workouts, refueled after them, sleeping a lot, waking up recovered, and producing as much power as I can whenever I want. It has been my experience that the times when you are the fittest are the times when you feel capable of accessing every level of power output on your spectrum. To put it in car terms, being in very top physical condition is like driving a 6 speed sports car. You can shift through the gears seamlessly. From first gear all the way up to sixth gear where the car is at its MAX, then back to fifth, to fourth, hold it there, then press again into fifth, and to max again. I would call this the ability to "take what you want". Hmm, about those 1' pieces..
They ranged from 24 spm-30 spm. Steve and I were pretty even for most of them, a couple lengths ahead of the others. When the rate went up I started to get a little bit on Steve but it's difficult to tell, margins are so small over a minute. The last couple pieces I won by about 1/2 Length. Regardless, those are pieces that a bigger guy like Steve would have doored me on in the past, so it was cool to feel like I had the horsepower to run with him. Speaking of horsepower, last week we did a 1 minute test on the erg! It had a rate cap of 40 spm. Which, I know sounds high, but its not! I would definitely row in the low-mid 40's if given the chance. Anyways, it was a chance to produce some watts. So, I went 1:21.5 for one minute or 370 meters or something like that. Peter, who was right next to me, went 1.20.9. The lack of rating was definitely tough but I was fine with it as long as everyone else did as well. Well sure enough they didn't! STEVE rowed at 43 spm average! Haha...classic! Peter was pissed! Anyways he went 1:19. Which is good, BUT, I am sure that I could have been at 1.20 or slightly below if I had not stuck to the rating cap. It was fun to put up some bigger numbers though. The lightweight guys were going around 1.25. I distinctly remember doing a max 250m piece( open rate) on the erg with Tom, Peter, and Brian before NSR 1 last year. Tom and Peter crushed it. Peter rowed an impressive 1.18. Brian and I both went 1.25. I remember feeling like death afterwards. It felt terrible.
On the 5k Time trial, we did it head style against head current and headwind. Lovely! Dan started me last behind 10 other boats. I take it as a compliment, BUT, wake sucks. wake sucks a lot. The rowing felt terrible. But I kept the boat moving and tried as hard as I could. I could tell I had moved on Steve so that was encouraging. I beat steve by about 10 seconds. When it comes down to it, I couldn't care less. Beating people over 5k has never been an issue. This year it's about going deeper than ever before and believing more and longer than anyone else. My coefficient of belief needs to be the highest in the world in order to do the things I want to do.
Next weekend will be a good test. We are all racing singles down at the 1996 Olympic Course at Lake Lanier. Xeno Mueller set the Olympic 1x record of 6.44 there in '96. So that will be a good target pace.
Happy St. Patrick's Day. The girls are making Corned beef and cabbage tonight. Never had it before. Might keep that tradition alive.
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