Month: October 2012

High School Q&A Training & Nutrition

Question of the Day

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Hi I’m a sophomore in high school and this is my second season rowing (I’ve rowed all fall and part of summer but also rowed last fall but couldn’t row in the  last spring due to an illness). I’ve fallen completely in love with rowing and my ultimate goal is to race at the Head of the Charles my senior year. My team is quite large with four varsity girls 8s and I’m on the novice team right now. Next year and my senior year I’ll be on the varsity team. My team only sends the top varsity girls 8 to the HOCR and even though it is so far away, do you think it is possible for me to meet that category even though I will have only had three years of rowing experience? Does my not rowing most of freshman year put me at a dramatic disadvantage, even though I plan to row every season until then (most people on my team don’t do summer)? Thanks!!

Given the fact that you’ve already rowed for two fall seasons plus the summer and have two fall seasons ahead of you, I think you have plenty of time to work towards making the top 8+. Missing that one season is not going to hurt you – did you know most Olympians didn’t start rowing until college? That’s FOUR YEARS of experience they missed out on and look how many of them are carrying around medals right now. If you put in the effort, which it sounds like you’re willing to do, that one season off is not even going to be noticeable.

Your dedication is evident so that makes you look pretty favorable to your coach because he/she knows that you’re willing to do the work without them telling you to. What is the “top 8+” based on? Erg scores? Seat racing? If you don’t know, I would find out. My guess is that erg scores will play a role, as will seat racing.

Here’s a few other suggestions…

Spend as much time on the water as you can during the fall, spring, and summer. Optional workouts? Go. I guarantee your competition (the other girls on your team and the crews you’ll be racing against) aren’t wasting any opportunities, so neither should you.

Work on your 5k/6k erg times. What are the times/splits that the girls in the top 8+ this year have? That should give you a good idea of what your coach is looking for. Don’t try and take 45 seconds off your time right off the bat either – the longer you do something, the less time that’s going to come off so you won’t be able to drop a ton of seconds like you did when you first started erging. Don’t be discouraged by that, just keep in mind the splits your coach is looking for and work towards them.

Set goals for yourself – short term goals (for the week), medium goals (for the month), and long term goals (for the season). Write them down and put them somewhere where you’ll see them frequently so you can remind yourself of what you’ve gotta do.

Get in the gym if you can, at least 2-3x per week. The only way you’re going to be stronger on the erg and more importantly, on the water, is if you build up your muscles. Legs, back, and arms all contribute to overall power, but having a strong core really helps your technique and to prevent injuries so don’t forget to work that too. Make sure you know how to properly perform any exercises you do before you do them in order to avoid injury, as well as knowing how much weight you can handle. In the fall you should focus more on endurance, meaning low weights, high reps.

Make sure you give yourself rest days so that your body can recover. You’re tearing muscles when you exercise and they need those off days in order to repair, adapt, and get stronger.

Cross train. Swim, bike, or run for at least 30 minutes 1-2x a week. This helps improve your cardio and prevents your body from getting bored.

On top of all that, talk to your coach after practice and spend some time asking him what he thinks you need to do over the next two seasons to eventually make it in that top 8+. Ask him where he thinks you can make some improvements and then ACTIVELY work to make those changes happen. Being coachable will work wonders for getting you what you want. Don’t get complacent either. It’s easy to forget about your goals when they’re something that’s far in the future. Take breaks every now and then and give yourself time to relax, but when it’s time to train, focus and do the work.

HOCR: Getting to the starting line

Coxing Racing

HOCR: Getting to the starting line

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This will be my first time racing at HOCR so lately I’ve been spending some time doing research on the course and trying to find out as much information as possible. Over the next week I’ll do a series of posts tackling all the different parts of the regatta, how to handle the course, what my race plan will be, etc.

Related: Hey, I row in NZ and I see everyone talking about the Head of the Charles and I was wondering what exactly is it? And why is it such a big deal?

At FALS (Finish Area Launching Site)

Listen to the dock master. If he/she tells you to jump, you say how high – whatever they say goes. In large races like this safety is paramount so don’t take it personally if they snap at you or seem angry. They’re just trying to keep things moving and the crews safe. Make sure you know your event and bow number, as they will more than likely ask you for that information when you get down to the dock so that they know who has arrived and who they’re still waiting on.

Heading towards Eliot Bridge

Stay inside the orange buoys.These buoys indicate the travel lane and are the only place you’re allowed to be when making your way to the starting line.

Pay attention at Eliot. This turn is TIGHT so you need to be rowing continuously through the bridge so as to not impede other crews. No drilling, no stopping. Just like the dock master, the marshals may yell at you to keep moving – just do what they say and don’t take their irritated tones personally. As you come through the arch, have your starboards take it down to zero pressure so your ports can drive it around. Trust me on this – zero pressure from the starboards. Once you’ve got a straight line you can even it back up.

If you sense that you might hit another crew or it’s just getting to close for comfort in one spot, add in a pause at hands away until you’re clear of any situations. This should only be done in certain cases – you should not be doing pause drills or anything else. This is only to keep your crew out of harm’s way. Use your judgment to determine if adding one in is necessary. Tell your crew WHY you’re adding the pause – “Guys, it’s getting a little hectic up here, let’s add in a pause at hands away to let it clear out before we pick it up again.”

Newell Boathouse

Coming out of the Eliot turn and heading towards Anderson is a good spot to throw in a power 20 if you have room to do so. Be mindful of other crews, especially ones launching from Newell. If there’s room to do a 10 or 20 and you’re a little close to other crews, yell over to their coxswain and alert them that you’re about to do a short burst. As long as you communicate they should give you space. Make sure you do the same for anyone who is also trying to get in some hard strokes while warming up.

Anderson

This is another good spot to take a 10 if you’re able and there’s no one coming down the course. Remember the turn out of Weeks is an abrupt 90 degree turn to starboard so you’ll need to properly set yourself up for that coming out of Anderson. Be aware of the orange buoys and make sure you don’t drift over them.

Weeks

Have your starboards power down and ports power up to get you around the turn. Don’t rush it – take your time and be mindful of other crews who have slightly spastic coxswains. Inevitably there will be some out there with you. Always have an eye on what other boats are doing so that you can avoid dangerous situations.

Powerhouse stretch

This is another good spot to get some hard strokes in if it’s clear. Keep an eye out for traffic.

Riverside/SADL (Singles and Doubles Launch)

Scullers are awful and nowhere is that more apparent than right here. I blame it on the fact that they don’t have a coxswain to tell them they’re idiots, thus they are oblivious to the fact that they’re rowing right in your way half the time.

“But they’re looking RIGHT at me, surely I don’t need to tell them to look out or move since they are STARING at my boat?”

Wrong. So wrong. Scullers will be launching from SADL and, with the assistance of a course marshal, will be crossing over the course and into the far travel lane. Sure, if they simply look to their right they will see you coming towards them, but that NEVER happens. Now is not the time to be doing any bursts or power strokes. You need to navigate this area as quickly, calmly, and safely as possible. Be aware that there will be that ONE sculler that doesn’t pay attention, cuts you off, and then yells at you for it like it’s your fault. Ignore them and don’t let it rattle you.

BU Bridge

As you come down to the BU bridge, make sure you don’t go through the arch closest to shore. There’s a bike path that juts out over the water and makes that arch too narrow to travel through. Stick to the middle and left-most downstream arches. Coming down towards the bridge there is PLENTY of room to sort out where to go so set yourself up for it early.

Warm-up Area (Charles River Basin)

As you come into the basin, stick close to the Boston side of the river. Eventually you will see giant yellow buoys that are right in line with MIT’s boathouse. Row past them until just before you get to the Mass Ave. bridge, at which point you can turn to port, row it across, and come back down the other side. If you have time to continue the warmup, proceed around the buoys again before making your way back down towards the queuing area.

When you’re up here, you will be in a fairly large pack of boats. Keep your eyes and ears open – listen for other coxswains or marshals and keep an eye on what’s going on. Be aware of other crews that might not know or be following the traffic patterns.

Queuing Zone

Know what time your race begins and what time you need to enter the staging area. You have to get in numerical order by your bow numbers, so find the people before and after you and squeeze in near them. Try and stick close to them while you’re waiting to get called up. You must be lined up 5 minutes prior to the start of your race. Make sure you are aware of the time and when you should be moving. Do. Not. Be. Late.

Your bow number will indicate where you should begin lining up. Odd numbered crews should line up on the left side between the red and yellow buoys. Even numbered crews should line up on the right side between the yellow and green buoys.

From here, it’s a simple, painless process. The starting marshals will bring the crews up in groups of 10. As you come into the chute, you’ll need to alternate who goes so that you stay in numerical order.

Starting Line

As you come up to the starting line, begin to build into full pressure. If you take five to build, a good spot to begin your build is right before the start of the docks, that way when you row through the starting line, you’ll be at full pressure and already a few strokes into your starting sequence. Remember, you want to be at your fastest coming across the line, not still building into it. You’ll hear the announcers in the BU boathouse say “You’re ON” when you cross the starting line.

As you approach the line, make sure you’re paying attention to the crews in front of you and to what the marshal is saying. If you get to close or too far away from the crew ahead of you, they’ll tell you to either power up or power down. This is done to keep the spacing between crews as steady as possible coming across the line.

If you don’t hear the race announce say you’re on the course, just look for the giant yellow buoys.

Next up: Steering through the bridges, covering what bridge arches to use and the various penalties you can be assessed.

Image via // Boston Magazine

College Ergs Q&A Recruiting Rowing

Question of the Day

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What is a good collegiate lightweight women’s 2k if you want to get recruited?

I don’t know much about women’s times outside of the generally advertised times coaches look for. If you’re trying to get recruited the top programs tend to look for times that are sub-7:40, otherwise sub-7:50 will probably get you some looks. Outside of that, if you’re just looking at general times it’d probably be best to ask your coach since they’d probably have a better idea of what a good goal would be to shoot for.

Ergs Novice Q&A Rowing Training & Nutrition

Question of the Day

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I’m freaking out about novice tryouts. I’ve never done a 5k before and I heard we have to do one!! What should I do to prepare?

In the fall, you will do LOTS of steady state workouts – they’re part of the training for head race season but also a good way to test your overall endurance. It’s hard to prepare yourself to do well on a 5k if you only start prepping a week or two ahead of time so keep that in mind.

My suggestion is that once your coaches have taught you how to row with proper technique, just get on the erg. Start off doing a 5k piece as a baseline to see what your time is with NO preparation ahead of time. Use that number to work off of. Throughout the next 4-5 days, do some pieces that work on your endurance. Also do some core workouts and make sure you put in a rest day or two. Don’t burn yourself out before the season gets started.

Long pieces like 5ks are a totally different animal than your standard 2k. They require intense mental preparation and the ability to pace oneself. It’s easy to fly and die with any erg test but especially with 5ks. Once you hit about 4000m, you’re gonna start hitting that wall and think “I cannot physically do this anymore”. The body of long races and pieces like this are where rowers are made though – they show how mentally tough you are. Can you push yourself past that wall or are you going to let it beat you? That last 1500, start to slowly bring up the rate. Get ready to sprint. Push that split down a little bit more with each stroke. When you get to 500m left, let loose. Everything you got left goes into that 500. Find your rhythm and sustain it. Don’t back off. A 1:55 split hurts just as much as a 1:57 – the only difference is that you’re done sooner.

Novice Q&A Racing Rowing

Question of the Day

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I’m a novice rower and I’m racing in my 1st head race this weekend, any tips? I’m freaking out!

Don’t freak out … that’s tip #1.

Get some sleep

It is CRUCIAL that you get an adequate amount of sleep the night before your race. You can’t expect to be prepared to row your hardest if you only get 3-4 hours of sleep. Aim for at least eight.

Eat a good breakfast

If your race is in the morning, this can be tricky because you want to give your body enough fuel but you also don’t want to eat too much too soon before your race. If you eat a big meal too close to race time, all the blood that should be going to your muscles will instead be going to your stomach to help digest all that food. 2-3 hours before race time eat a small meal, such as a bowl of oatmeal, a slice of toast, a handful of strawberries, and some OJ. If you can’t eat that far ahead, try to eat something like a bagel and cream cheese an hour or two beforehand. Make sure you’re drinking plenty of water too.

Relax

Save your energy. Don’t be walking around a lot before your race. An hour or so before you’re supposed to meet at your boat, find a quiet spot near your trailer/tent and just chill. Throw in some headphones and relax.

Check your seat

Are your shoes tied in? Are the nuts and bolts on your rigger tightened? What about the seat tracks? Are they clean? (If not, the seat won’t slide smoothly and you can jump the tracks). Your coach or coxswain will go through and do a once over before the boat launches, but if you’ve already looked at your seat and know something needs adjusted, it will get done that much faster.

Remember your technique

The more tired you get, the better your technique needs to be. The more tired you get, the more focused you need to become. That’s when injuries happen, when rowers start rowing with poor technique. When you feel like slouching, sit up a little taller. When you feel like hunching over, push your shoulders back. One of my favorite things to tell my 8+ is to not let your brain defeat your body. Your body is capable of SO much more than we think it is and you are hardly ever as tired as you think you are.

Let your coxswain do her thing

Head races are for coxswains. It’s basically like Mario Kart come to life. It’s going to be hectic, crowded, frantic, confusing, and at times a total clusterfuck. If she knows the cardinal rule of coxing (don’t let ‘em see you sweat), you won’t know when she’s freaking because the eight in front of her isn’t yielding or because she’s totally confused by the warm-up area and the horde of boats clogging the traffic lane. Don’t try and tell her what to do or how to do her job. When you’re done racing, make sure you tell her she did a good job too and you appreciate her getting you from point A to point B.

Good luck!

Coxing Drills Q&A

Question of the Day

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Today during practice we just did 20 minute pieces of steady state rowing. My crew gets bored very quickly and their stroke rating goes down, so I decided to add in various 13 stroke cycles throughout the piece, but I regret doing it because it wasn’t steady state. I’m just confused as to how to get them engaged throughout without sounding like a cheerleader but at the same time keeping up the drive and stroke.

Steady states are kind of a catch 22 because while they have many purposes, rowers can get bored and complacent WAY too easily. Coxswains can also get bored – it’s something I’m definitely guilty of. Below is what I do to alleviate that and keep myself (and the crew) focused.

Best piece of advice is to break the piece into chunks. If you’re doing 20 minutes, break it into 5 four-minute chunks. Each of the first four chunks focuses on something different, such as leg drive/getting a good first jump, body swing, catch timing/clean releases, and lengthening out while maintaining a steady pressure. The final chunk focuses on combining all of those things to make the cleanest, most efficient strokes possible. During each chunk, spend 2 minutes talking and 2 minutes NOT talking. Before you start, explain the plan. “Guys, we’ve got 20 minutes ahead of us. We’re going to break it down into five four-minute chunks and focus on something different during each of those four minutes. I’ll spend a few minutes talking and a few minutes not talking. When I’m not talking, I want you to think about what we’ve been working on and try and apply the changes. Don’t use that time to zone out – stay in the zone and keep the focus in the boat, in your seat.”

(Note: all of this is a lot wordier – exponentially so – than I’d normally be in the boat. That’s just for the sake of explaining what I’m getting at here. It should be fairly obvious what you can cut back on and make more concise.)

1st minute

“Ok, so let’s spend this first chunk working on our timing at the catch and finish. Let’s clean it up and focus on getting our blades in at our longest points, not lunging for the catch, and keeping our hands, shoulders, and chins level. At the finish, let’s think about getting our layback, knowing where the proper layback spot is, and making sure we’re giving ourselves plenty of room to tap down at the release. This is going to rely a lot on our handle heights, so that should be a secondary focus of this first four minutes. I really want you guys to concentrate on just the catches and finishes. Let’s maximize that horizontal rotation out towards the rigger and minimize the unnecessary vertical movements coming into the catch.  Let’s go into this minute knowing what we need to work on, seeing how the boat feels, and let’s make some initial adjustments. We’ll go … on this one.”

2nd minute

Don’t talk. Take note of everything that’s going on. What were the immediate noticeable improvements? What happened to the set? What did you notice from the individual blades? What got better, what still needs work? Is someone getting their blade caught at the release? Why? Do you know how to tell them to fix it? Can you hear one sound going into the water or several? Ask your stroke if he/she feels any rush. How bad is it?

3rd minute

“Ok guys, our catches are at about 75%. They’re not perfect, but they’re not terrible either. We’re pulling over to port as we come to the finish – 4-seat, I noticed your blade is getting caught on nearly every release and that seems to be when the boat gets the most tippy. Lay back, make sure you’re not pulling into your lap. Think about where your hands are coming into on your body and try and hit that same spot every time. Let’s listen for the sound of the oars going in the water together on this next minute – one sound here. Let’s we squeeze into the finish, hold the blades in as long as possible, and keep the pressure on all the way through. Our stroke rate should be at about an 18, so let’s control our slides coming up to the catch and get a good press going back to the finish. Think about accelerating the blade through the water during the stroke – starting the catch at about 50% pressure, finishing around 75%. I want to feel the acceleration and I want to see the adjustments on timing. Let’s clean it up. Focus is really good guys. Let’s take another silent minute and really laser in on making these improvements. We’ll go … on this one.”

4th minute

Right away, what adjustments/improvements did you notice? Look at the individual blades you talked to during that last minute – are they better or worse? Why? What adjustments can you tell they made?

The last 15 seconds of the 4th minute and the first 15 seconds of the next chunk should be spent briefly talking about what you noticed on that last minute. Improvements you saw, what got better, individual achievements, etc. Be enthusiastic if there was a BIG change. “4, that looked SO much better – could you tell how much cleaner that was? Really nice adjustments, keep it up.” This shouldn’t be long and drawn out – you only have 30 seconds. Keep it to short, quick bullet points. Use this time for positive things, not negative. If you use that time for negative points, they’ll not only think they just wasted all that time, but they’ll also dread the next chunk because they’ll anticipate you being negative and ONLY harping on what is wrong or needs fixed. Be positive. You can throw in constructive criticism as necessary during your two minutes of talking time, but keep it to only one or two things. Focus on what they’re doing WELL. Play into their psyche – positivity breeds positive outcomes and better responses overall from your crew.

Begin the next chunk of time the same way. “Alright, we just spent four minutes working on clean catches and finishes. Let’s keep those adjustments in our minds, but transition our focus to our leg drive and getting a good press on the foot stretchers as soon as we lock on.” Repeat this process for each chunk.

When you get to the last four minutes, you can talk the whole time. Utilize the entire four minutes to praise the shit out of them and make note of all the adjustments. Say something like:

“OK guys, we’ve got 16 minutes down, 4 minutes left. We’ve made a lot of great improvements over those 16 minutes – now is where we apply all of them and really get this boat moving. Let’s sit up a little taller, get our chins a little higher, and hold our cores a little tighter. Keep the stroke rate where it is, but let’s bump up the pressure 10% – on this one – little more through the water. THERE WE GO, good! Now, let’s think about those catches and releases (one or two points that improved during the first chunk). I know you guys all felt the boat start to move a little better when we really focused on our swing – let’s keep that up. Think about our bodies, are we moving together out of bow, are we moving at the same speed, are we getting our bodies over or are we just hunching our shoulders? Relax the upper bodies, no tension. Keep the bodies calm and our minds aggressive. Get a good JUMP with the feet, press with the toes. Keep those toes connected to the stretchers the whole time. Don’t lose that connection. Push, send. Push, send. Can you guys feel the boat running? Let’s feel that impulse together now, pushing the legs down together – YES! – on every stroke. Let’s stay long, not shortening up our strokes – we still want to catch at our longest point and make sure we finish laying back, keeping the blade in the whole time. We’re at a 19 right now, let’s keep it here, no higher than this. Keep the bodies long, PRESS, accelerate through. Guys, I can really feel all the adjustments we made throughout the first 16 minutes. The boat’s feeling light, we’re getting a good run, catches are strong, releases are clean, feet are staying connected – this is where we win races, right here. THIS. This is why we do this. As our technique improves, we’re shaving seconds off our times. Nobody should be taking any strokes off – no passengers, everyone driving. Let’s keep the focus on for these last few minutes, make sure we’re all still breathing and watching our bodies. No slouching or sinking into our hips. Keep the core tight, sit up tall. Let’s laser focus in here … together … now.”

During the last few minutes, throw in some 10s or 20s intermittently to not only shave off the time you have left, but to also put EVERYTHING into play. Take a 10 for catches, 5 for clean releases, and then when you’ve got 30-40 seconds left, take a strong 20 to really lengthen out and finish strong.

If you know the day before that tomorrow is going to be a steady state piece, ask your coach what he wants to focus on. Ask him for a couple things and then write out a practice plan in your notebook of what you want to do, focus on, etc., that way you can remember everything you want to say/do during the piece. That kind of preparation not only helps keep practice efficient, it also shows your coach/teammates that you’re taking your job seriously which can/will earn you a lot of respect.

Q&A

Question of the Day

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Is going to the Olympics ever too big of a goal?

There’s no such thing as “too big of a goal”. I know that sounds cliche and stupid, but there really isn’t. It gives you something to strive for and depending on your situation, can be the proverbial light at the end of the tunnel. If that’s your goal, go for it. Be realistic about it obviously (can’t stress that enough) but don’t count it out. It’s not going to be easy and but don’t let anybody tell you it’s stupid or out of reach or never going to happen. If you put in the time and work you can make it happen.

College Q&A Recruiting Rowing

Question of the Day

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Is it easier for women to be recruited as a lightweight or heavyweight?

My initial thought would be that it’s easier to be recruited as a heayweight simply because there are more programs available. Nearly every single school that has a women’s rowing program is openweight. There are maybe only a handful of schools that have lightweight programs though. If you’re borderline lightweight though and pull sub-par heavyweight times but decent lightweight times, the coaches may suggest transitioning to lightweight to better increase your chances.