2 Events, 2 weeks, 2 much Rowing Fun!

This February I was able to compete in two indoor rowing events; a team relay( 10,000 meters) with my son, Tyler and daughter in law Jen, along with Greg Lesher and “erged on” by Mary Beth. A week later, I competed in my 17th Crash B’s (Indoor Rowing Championship) 2000 meters.

The relay was the Gronk Nation Team Rowathon held in Sudbury, Massachusetts at the Crossfit Tilt II Gym, which happened to owned by Jen’s cousin so it was a true family event. http://www.crossfittiltii.com/

This was my first ever relay event on the erg. I was especially excited to be doing it with my son and daughter in law. Nothing brings me more joy than to participate in an athletic event with them. Previously Tyler and I have run a local 5k race for the past few years and one year we did the 5 mile Pie Run on Thanksgiving day. That race, Tyler out sprinted me in the last 500 yards as we ran side by side the whole race.

I can also remember us playing one on one basketball when he was 16 and him beating me for the first time. All good stuff. I am not competitive with Tyler just the opposite. I simply enjoy being being in the game, pounding the road, or erging with him, father and son. I am not sure at this point he enjoys it as much as I do, but one day when he is older, he will be thankful for these memories, just as I am of the fond memories with my father.

About a week before the event, I called Greg to see if he wanted to be on the team and he accepted. So that Saturday night, I meet Tyler at his house with their dogs, Sophie and Max. Jen was already helping with registration on the gym. When Tyler and I walk into the gym, it was literally standing room only (300). The crowd was quite different from the Crash B crowd that is staggered throughout the day by age group. So the Crossfit athletes are young, fit, with a more muscle mass than the fit, long limbed and able rowers. Crossfit workouts are a combination of short erg intervals followed by other short exercises and repeat, think circuit training including the erg. This group over the years has brought indoor rowing from 2 machines tucked in the corner of the gym, to 4-10 ergs as you walk into a gym. It is now cool to erg. Just few years ago, unless you were an actual rower using a Concept 2 for off season workouts, most folks simply walked past the ergs on the way the locker room, spent 5 minutes on the erg to warm up for another exercise or would have the damper at 10 and decide this is way too hard to enjoy.

With about 10 minutes between the two heats, our team warmed up and discussed our transition strategy and the order. We figured Greg 1st since the fastest, then Jen followed by Tyler, then me. For each of us this would mean: 10 x 250 meters with 3 minute rest with the goal doing 10K meters as fast as your team can. Greg got to do an extra interval since, the Concept 2 computer guys put in 2k vice 10k for the clock time so a false start occured.

I went in to this thinking it would be moderately taxing. Wrong. It was hard. Going for 1 min as hard as you can, off the machine doubling over with effort and trying to catch your breath in 3 minutes before you up again caused me to see a max heart rate I have not seen in many years. By the last few intervals, I was counting the seconds until reaching the 250 meter mark, screaming for relief. My limbs on the last 2 intervals approached a near total lactic acid meltdown where I would not been able to erg another 10 seconds!

We finished with a 10k time of 36:36 with an all out effort. Greg clock a whopping 1:29 pace(per 500 meters), Tyler average around 1:40, Jen at 1:50, and myself at 1:42. The top team clocked a 31:00 and change which I believe is 1:30 pace which include transitions just like our time.

CRASH B

I start thinking about getting on my Concept 2 indoor rowing erg about November, just when it gets slightly colder and the Surfski Racing season is over. While my goal is to erg 4 days per week from November to February, I seldom achieve that goal. It is so hard to fit all the things I like to do after race season, like continue to paddle though less frequently due to weather, run, do some strength training, and of course I need more recovery time than I did 17 years ago when I first started erging for fitness and competing at the Crash B’s.

For many years, February brought with it snow, inclimate weather to New England and the premier indoor rowing event, the World Indoor Rowing Championships held in Boston. While they now move the “World” Indoor Rowing Championships from city to city each year, the Crash B’s nevertheless retains it status as an event to test your fitness, clock a PR, beat your mates or if you are much younger, perhaps get college rowing programs to take a look at your 2k time and you as a potential collegiate rower.

Realistically, over the past few years, I manage two times per week on the erg either in my basement or at the gym. This has been good enough for a 7:30 to 7:44(slowest time ever in 2015) to yesterdays time of 7:40. I always know however, that if I did 3x per week made up of my favorite erg work outs: 5k, 30 minute session, and 500m X 12 w/2 minutes rest, my Crash B time would be better. Better meaning 10 seconds faster over a 2k. That is a lot of training to gain those 10 seconds but certainly doable. In my early years I did manage the 4x per week and for years I averages a 7:20 2k time, and my best was a 7:11.

The great thing about the erg, it is a reliable and consistent machine to measure your fitness level. Like those who train on it often, you can predict within a few seconds your 2k time trial which I did yesterday. Like any sport, technique is key. The taller folks have a decided edge since they naturally have a longer stroke. So the short folks must rely on being in better shape and technique if they want to match their taller counterparts. Nevertheless everyone gives it a go for 2000 meter in heats depending on age, weight(over/under 165 lbs for men). My stroke has gotten better over the years, using more legs, straighter arms, and it feels fluid. Many ergers, use too much arm and power through. This will work for short periods but ideally, like the paddling stroke, an efficient stroke is what to strive for especially for the longer workouts of 40-60 minutes. My strokes per minute is 28-32 compared to many actual rowers or taller folks who average 24-28. Many rowers also put much more power on the front end of the stroke and have more recovery time per stroke. Like paddling, you will see all forms.

“You have to feel the Pain”

My goal was a 1:55 per 500m pace and was able to succeed, though my 3rd, 500m split was ragged, uneven and slow. My splits per 500 meters were: 1:53:0, 1:55:5, 1:57:5, and the last one at 1:54.6. Greg Lesher coxswain my efforts as he did Mary Beth’s just prior to my heat. During the last 500m, Greg said “You have to feel the Pain“. Greg’s pain threshold, I am sure is 10 fold greater than mine, but nevertheless, he was free with his advice during my last 500 meter split, seeing if his advice would resonate with me. I must admit it did catch me off guard, since I was in distress. Nevertheless more pain is required at the Crash B’s. This advice, Greg holds dear, has yielded him with so many wins, and top finishes in his Surfski Racing, and his own erg performances. He said later, he thought I was on the verge of dying as my pace slowed. I did pick up the pace, did not die and live to erg on!