Relax. Lighten up.

The original plan was to work for a few hours in the morning, then go rowing at 10am, and be in meetings from 12:30 onwards. The problem was that I didn’t get the inputs needed to do work in the morning. Can’t blame the guy, he has been getting up at 3am since Monday, has been on business travel and working really hard.

So I decided to give him time and went rowing at 8am.

The weather is interesting. Nice and sunny. Just under the freezing point at night, but reaching 15 degrees C during the day. It was 3C when I drove to the lake.

This was a technique training with the following goals:

  • Technique drills to train a good tap down and a light catch
  • Short pieces at low pressure and high rate to get used to rating up

A little wind creating some chop. I apologize for the horizont not being horizontal. I forgot to align the camera before the row.

Here is a compilation of the technique drills. Switch to HD for a better view. Somehow the youtube video defaults to a lower resolution:

After the drills, I did intervals “1 minute on, 2 minutes off” and tried to keep everything light. It is hard not to pull hard. It was very hard to keep the light stroke and still rate up, but I am convinced that is something I need to improve. I cannot row a head race in 25 spm. My legs would refuse to cooperate after 2 or 3 kms. I think I can go faster if I can find the right rhythm, and I think the ideal rate is between 28spm and 30spm. Not higher, but definitely not lower.

You can judge the effort level from my heart rate in the video. Of course, pushing light but doing a lot of strokes per minute is still a high power workout. Here are the rate pieces in chronological order. Judge for yourself. I am very interested in your feedback. Switch to HD for a better view. Somehow the youtube video defaults to a lower resolution:

techniek1spm

techniek1.jpg

Here is a comparison of the water height of last Saturday and today. Quite a difference. I guess we are almost at maximum water height now.

aweekago
A week ago
vlotvandaag
This morning