May 18, 2015

Trailer Thoughts

Last weekend there was a frenzy of activity on our club, because we were host to three Prague clubs visiting Brno for the youth regatta. As our club’s chairman and I were enjoying a cup of coffee on the balcony overlooking the club grounds and the lake, the best place for smart-ass comments and other wisdom from Masters rowers, our eyes fell upon this neat little trailer:

Our club owns a big trailer, which needs to be towed by a driver with a “big” driving license (class E in CZ, not sure if this makes sense on the other side of the pond). I have been thinking about buying a small trailer which can be towed by a normal car, for towing around doubles and singles, for example for our Masters races, or when our youth has to go to Prague for some selection races, or for a mini training camp at the end of the winter, where we would load a few pairs and singles and find a place where the ice has already melted.

This particular trailer caught my attention because the smart design. It can carry 9 boats, with space for 3 fours on the top. The oar container is long enough to fit long oars. We asked the owner about the price and it doesn’t sound too expensive.

So my mind is now racing through the options, because I see a win-win situation for the club and myself:

1. I buy the trailer, park it at the club and “rent” it to them for a very fair price. Pros: Clear ownership. I control who takes it and who doesn’t. In a year or two I may sell it to the club for a reduced price. Contra: I have to take care of all repairs, make sure those who drive it are properly insured, etc.

2. I lend money to the club to buy the trailer. The club pays me back in two years (without interest). Pros: I don’t have the burden of ownership. Contra: I have to coordinate with the club about who uses it, when.

3. Club buys it itself. Contra: Club needs to invest in boats and in the boat house.

Any other thoughts?

Today’s training

Today’s training was “limping on two purposes”. I thought yesterday’s training in the eight would be steady state, which would have made sense given it was the first proper training together. It turned out to be a 20 strokes on, 15 strokes off affair at stroke rates between 28 and 38. Hm.

Normally Monday is for fast intervals in the single, but I really have the feeling I need to work on technique. On the other hand, I didn’t do the planned “hard 1km” on Saturday.

So a funny compromise was born. I did a hard 1km after 7km of steady state.

|Dist_|Time_|Pace__|_SPM__|avg HR|max HR|DPS|Remarks
|01999|11:17|02:49.3| 20.6 | 136 | 160 |08.6|warming up
|04958|27:07|02:44.1| 20.0 | 146 | 165 |09.2|steady state - technique
|00997|03:49|01:54.8| 30.2 | 171 | 177 |08.6|1km
|01073|06:45|03:08.7| 19.9 | 140 | 176 |08.0|steady state - technique
|01268|07:16|02:51.9| 19.9 | 138 | 146 |08.8|cooling down


Short summary:

dist_____|time_____|_pace___|_HR__|_SPM__|_DPS|comment
1999_____|_11:17____|_2:49.3|136|20.6|8.6|warmup
7028_____|_37:41____|_2:40.9|147|21.0|8.9|Main set
1268_____|_07:16____|_2:51.9|138|19.9|8.8|Cool down
10295____|_56:14____|_2:43.9|144|20.7|8.8|_Total


I noticed that the RIM app meter counter gave me 10.7km, while I was sure it was closer to 10. The numbers I am giving here are from the RIM app, but after I recalculated the distance rowed using the coordinates from the TCX file. It was still 15m more than what I recorded on the Garmin, but that’s close enough. Both Garmin and RIM recorded a 3:49 time for the 1km. Happy with that. Conditions were cross/slight tail wind and some waves in the second 500m. I would have liked to rate up a bit more, but I was focusing on technique and nice long strokes, and that was a higher priority.

I want to be sub 3:40 in neutral weather as a stretch goal.