Cross Training: Rowing

[simonp]

Rowing on the water has been back for several weeks. I have been out since October but decided to use the chance to get back into sculling.  I never got very far with it because of spending all my time in sweep crews. So I went back to the stable single. I’d been trying to decide when to get back into a fine boat but wasn’t sure if ready. When I arrived at the club on Wednesday I was told the novice coach would be down and could offer some coaching from the bank. She told me just to row and she’d give feedback. First thing she said was “you’re quite good, why are you in the stable single?”

So this morning I went out in a fine boat. I spent 5-10 minutes getting used to it with arms and body and then working up to full slide. I’m a little surprised how well it went if I’m honest and I did not scare myself. Even did a nice landing.

I think the break helped. It has allowed a bit of a reset particularly as someone who has always rowed bow side and spent most of the last 3 years in the same crew. And the coaching I got on Wednesday was better suited to my sculling experience level whereas when in a top crew in the club the coaching is focusing on fine tuning - my sculling is not needing fine tuning it’s about the basics at the moment. So maybe I’ll get competent before we lock down again.

[Davef]

I haven’t rowed for decades but despite mainly rowing in eights my best and worst memories are of sculling. The best was a Sunday morning with water like a mill pond and the sun rising and the river to myself. The worst was my one and only regatta in the single at Peterborough in about 2 foot high waves and a monster head wind.

[simonp]

We raced at Peterborough in the four at Peterborough in 2018. Very windy and choppy but it was a tail wind on that day. Great fun - didn’t win anything but made a final in the 1000m. Could barely lift the boat out of the water at the end.

[Davef]

It was a head wind in 1987

[L CC]

I set up rowed biker so that Zwift thinks I'm on a treadmill when I use the rowing machine.
Awesome.

[simonp]

Out in the single today. I’d booked for two sessions for the first time.  Missed a couple of weeks due to tides life and weather. The rain has made the river faster and more swirly and I had a poor outing 1st session. Almost decided to can 2nd session but rowed much better, covered 12km which is a new PB for distance covered, and improved all round. 18km total. I was absolutely knackered and my glutes were burning by the finish.

Also I wasn’t the one who capsized.

[mike]

Also I wasn’t the one who capsized.

that would have been me, last week. Bit rusty..  (left blade got caught under a tree just down from First Post, quick swim to the towpath then back in the boat.  Luckily the river was really quiet and nobody saw )

[simonp]

A towpath would be nice. Our river has really high sides pretty much everywhere and lots of overhanging trees and submerged hazards to catch you out. By the time I manage to do a full 10km circuit non-stop I'll be very good at steering. Josh's capsize was caused by hitting an underwater rock with his bow-side blade. At least it wasn't November like when he and Dave capsized the pair and ended up clinging to a tree and asking a passer by to phone the club for help.

[CrazyEnglishTriathlete]

Dull day at work today, so I resolved to have a go at a half-marathon.  I focused on a particular time, thinking my PB was out of reach, but when I went to log the time on the Concept 2 website, realised I had set a PB by 3.4 seconds.   

[CrazyEnglishTriathlete]

Passed 900,000m for the year today.  The end is in sight.

[Marco Stefano]

that would have been me, last week. Bit rusty..  (left blade got caught under a tree just down from First Post, quick swim to the towpath then back in the boat.  Luckily the river was really quiet and nobody saw )

I haven't seen the incident report yet, Mike...    Yes, I'm your Regional Rowing Safety Advisor.

[Chris S]

Holy crap. It's more than 11 years since I started this thread.

The sad fact is, as we start 2020's Holiday Challenge, I can barely row at all. I've grown something of a belly during lockdown (hey, I already had a start on it even before March) and I now find rowing a pretty constricted, puffing-and-blowing kind of affair.

I'll give the challenge my best shot, but my opening target of 2000m was beyond me; I could just manage 1500m at 2:40 splits. I'm a lardy mess at the moment, and being almost 61 with lung issues probably doesn't help.

Ah well. Only way is up, right?

The gut gets in the way and I always feel like I'm not getting enough breath. Hopefully the rower will work its magic and the gut will diminish.

Not much changed in 11 years then 

(TBF, a lot changed in the intervening years - I just regressed some)

[L CC]

945,088

I had no idea it was so close...

*bling lust*

Done.

The blisters are Normal for the Time of Year, now, so I think I might try for the marathon before the end of the Holiday Challenge.

[simonp]

I'm not allowed to go to the rowing club, because it's Tier 3 and I'm not.

[Marco Stefano]

I'm not allowed to go to the rowing club, because it's Tier 3 and I'm not.

That's a bugger.

Ours is open again but I've not been out for a couple of months now (back problem), and now it seems to be permanently foggy here. I'd have to pick my time to go out; not sure if I can scull hard enough to keep warm if it's too cold.

[De Sisti]

Am working towards a marathon on the Concept 2

Now down to an 11 week wait (and counting) for a Concept 2. I'd rather buy brand new than
go for a pre-owned one on ebay.

[Davef]

Am working towards a marathon on the Concept 2

Now down to an 11 week wait (and counting) for a Concept 2. I'd rather buy brand new than
go for a pre-owned one on ebay.

They are designed for huge mileage. Most secondhand ones will be barely run in unless they have come from a commercial environment.

[De Sisti]

Not much difference (relatively speaking) between the brand new price and some of the
asking prices for pre-owned models on ebay.

[Davef]

Fair enough. Strange times.

[CrazyEnglishTriathlete]

Up to 1,100,000m for the year so far, as I'm going for the little pin they give you if you manage 200k during the Festive Season challenge.  Had a good hour this morning so only have 77,500 to go.  I did have the thought of a 50k but not sure I am mentally up to it.  Would need to have an empty house and a fairly awesome playlist to survive that.

[mike]

Trial eights next week for the university rowers - we pick 2 crews that should be the same speed and let them batter each other at flat out race pace down the course, so the coxes can get used to the corners*, the coaches can see how the rowers cope with the pressure and they get the same umpire as they'll have against Oxf*rd on easter day. Lots of pressure on them this week as we do selection, deliberately ramped up to see how people deal with it.  Fun.

And I thought I'd give the holiday challenge a go, aiming for 100km between thanksgiving and christmas, I've enjoyed it a lot more than I expected and I just went through 200km... 300 by christmas?

* There are none in the Ely course. One slight bend, perhaps 5 degrees to the left.  Winning the toss will be more important than when they're in London if it's a windy day though - the sheltered side get a huge advantage.

[Marco Stefano]

Trial eights next week for the university rowers...

Are Trial 8s running downstream (Ely - Littleport)? Hope to be watching; women & lightweights also?

[L CC]

And I thought I'd give the holiday challenge a go, aiming for 100km between thanksgiving and christmas, I've enjoyed it a lot more than I expected and I just went through 200km... 300 by christmas?

I'm doing better than I've ever done and I'm only at 78 90km so far....

[mike]

Trial eights next week for the university rowers...

Are Trial 8s running downstream (Ely - Littleport)? Hope to be watching; women & lightweights also?

yep, starting at the tiny flag just after the adelaide bridge - which lines up with the commemorative marker on the road side bank where the race started in 1948 (?).  Not sure on timings but it'll be the openweight men and women in eights, plus the lightweight women in fours and lightweight men in eights (I think) - although oxford lightweight men still havent agreed to racing in Ely. I'll post here as soon as I find out times, if you like..   Look out for me on a launch following the women!

 

[JJ]

That's absolutely without question the most depressing stretch of river I've ever rowed on.  Look over your shoulder and you can see the banks converge to a point.  It's like the barrel of a gun, a cold and windy gun with white horses and no view whatsoever.

Poor sods!