Silly Commuter Rowing

dhope

Not actually me that's doing it, but figured the title would grab rower63 at least 8)

A mate is doing an (indoor - Concept2 erg) rowing comp next month. Some short sharp efforts, mostly erg rowers rather than rowers (if that makes any difference?)

4 'events'

1. 3min row, 2min rest, 3min row
2. 75sec sprint
3. 3500m row
4. The 875m split time from 3.

For each of these, you get a point for 1st, 2 for 2nd, 3 for 3rd etc, and at the end of the day then least points wins.

Mate's times at home gym are (listed @ 500m pace)
3min @ 1:38, 2min rest, 3min @ 1:38
75sec sprint @ 1:25
3500m @ 1:45, inc first 875m @ 1:38

So, am curious.
How much do people tend to tail off between efforts. If he's looking to minimise his score then does it make sense to hold back in the first 3 min effort to pick up points in the 2nd.

Likewise in the 3500m, how hard to go out on 875 without blowing up in the remainder.

I suspect Rower has a spreadsheet somewhere

rower63

how much time between 1,2 3?

dhope

Complete all three workouts within a one-hour time-slot
The first workout starts at minute 0
Second at 20 mins
Third at 30 mins

So you get a 12 minute rest between 1 and 2
And a ~8.5 minute rest between 2 and 3

rower63

The key is that 3,500m (~12 minute) piece. Anything in the 10-20 minutes range at the sort of intensity needed to achieve a “best score” is truly, truly horrible. And that “first 875m” thing is a cunning trap. The surest way to lose tens of seconds in an effort like that is to go out too hard in an attempt to save 5 seconds in the first 2-3 minutes. So, I would ignore completely the “first 875m counts double” thing and simply approach the 3500m as a normal one.

It will also be important to go into the 3500m piece without having destroyed the legs on the previous efforts, so given they’re going to be sub-maximal pace anyway, I’d aim to do both the 3 minute pieces at the same pace, perhaps 5s/500 below 3-minute PB.

And this is how he should look at the end.

itboffin

i did an indoor rowing machine plus treadmill event a few years back, having never rowed before I can tell you now I will never again, I can still taste bile

why would you do that to yourself ?!

rick_chasey

rower63 wrote:

And this is how he should look at the end.

Honestly, rowers.

Every one has a story about how they collapsed on an ergo .

N0bodyOfTheGoat

Unless I've read it wrong, I'm surprised each of the four categories have an equal score weighting, I'd expect more for a good 3500m performance!

I'd be inclined to do a strong effort covering categories 1-3, which would be ~2100 metres, covering 75% of the ranking points. Would mean the 3500m time suffers, but it's only 25% of the ranking points.

rower63

Rick Chasey wrote:

rower63 wrote:

And this is how he should look at the end.

Honestly, rowers.

Every one has a story about how they collapsed on an ergo .

Ha. If a rower has a story of how he/she "once looked like that" then I'm not impressed. That's how you should look after every race, on or off the water, unless you won or easily lost.
(btw Rick is a cox, folks)

rower63

NitrousOxide wrote:

Unless I've read it wrong, I'm surprised each of the four categories have an equal score weighting, I'd expect more for a good 3500m performance!

I'd be inclined to do a strong effort covering categories 1-3, which would be ~2100 metres, covering 75% of the ranking points. Would mean the 3500m time suffers, but it's only 25% of the ranking points.

Ah, I neglected to read the bit about "points", I assumed it was aggregate time. Off that, then.

rick_chasey

rower63 wrote:

Rick Chasey wrote:

rower63 wrote:

And this is how he should look at the end.

Honestly, rowers.

Every one has a story about how they collapsed on an ergo .

Ha. If a rower has a story of how he/she "once looked like that" then I'm not impressed. That's how you should look after every race, on or off the water, unless you won or easily lost.
(btw Rick is a cox, folks)

This is what i was trying to tell them!!

rick_chasey

BTW, Rower's blog, especially the howtorow bit is very good on technique if you're interested.

Even if it looks like it was designed in 1997.

My only value add on the ergo side is make sure he twists his wrists forward at the end of every stroke :P.

Edit: I once tried to make my crew row with feet out of their shoes after we got a new stroke & 7.

It was obviously a shambles and they had a big sulk and refused to do it again... .