Plocina Tribute

I was moved by a tribute video made for Michal Plocek, the 22 year old rowing talent who ended his life a week ago:

Michal Plocek Tribute – R.I.P from Bastian Faralisch on Vimeo.

I think the video catches very well what a tragic loss this is. Doing my steady state row of today, I had a lot of time to think about it. The Czech media and the Czech rowing community gossip is full of information around his death and I am unqualified to distinguish between facts and lies.

Still, this tragedy forces us to think about what we are doing, in our clubs, as coaches, as masters rowers, as members of club boards, to prevent. In my mind, whatever we do in rowing, building a positive community with love for the sport and being part of a team should come first, and winning races should be a result of a positive experience rather than the end goal. Sports clubs are one of the few places where the generations are not segregated and as rowing adults we may be role models, and we cannot deny that we may have a small influence on young people, and by enforcing the importance of good results in school, a positive attitude in life, or, in general, by making your rowing club a place where young people can build self confidence.

I am not and have never been a world class athlete. But still I think that rowing has taught me some very important skills that have helped make me the person I am, and I am grateful to my coaches and team mates for that. Rowing and sport have become a life long addiction for me, and I am reaping the benefits of that every day.

We should also be aware that sometimes people have such big struggles, that even though we try to be there and be positive, we cannot prevent a tragedy. There is only so much an individual can do, and it can make the difference, but sometimes it doesn’t, sadly.

So these were my thoughts during a 19km steady state row, rowed as 4km/3km/2km/1km/2km/3km/4km at 20/21/22/23/22/21/22 spm:


Workout Summary - media/20161204-1540090o.csv
--|Total|-Total-|--Avg--|-Avg-|Avg-|-Avg-|-Max-|-Avg
--|Dist-|-Time--|-Pace--|-Pwr-|SPM-|-HR--|-HR--|-DPS
--|19000|78:30.0|02:04.0|185.4|21.2|157.9|169.0|11.4
W-|19000|78:31.0|02:04.0|185.1|21.1|157.7|169.0|11.5
R-|00000|00:00.0|00:00.0|000.0|00.0|000.0|169.0|00.0
Workout Details
#-|SDist|-Split-|-SPace-|-Pwr-|SPM-|AvgHR|MaxHR|DPS-
01|01000|04:07.2|02:03.6|180.3|20.2|130.0|140.0|12.0
02|01000|04:10.2|02:05.1|179.8|20.2|142.9|151.0|11.8
03|01000|04:07.0|02:03.5|184.7|20.4|146.8|153.0|11.9
04|01000|04:07.0|02:03.5|185.7|20.2|151.0|154.0|12.0
05|01000|04:05.3|02:02.7|189.8|21.0|155.7|158.0|11.7
06|01000|04:04.7|02:02.4|190.9|21.1|158.6|161.0|11.6
07|01000|04:05.8|02:02.9|188.5|21.2|159.8|163.0|11.5
08|01000|04:02.7|02:01.4|195.8|22.1|162.6|165.0|11.2
09|01000|04:02.3|02:01.1|197.0|22.2|164.0|166.0|11.2
10|01000|04:00.9|02:00.5|200.0|23.0|166.3|168.0|10.8
11|01000|04:03.3|02:01.7|194.5|22.4|166.6|168.0|11.0
12|01000|04:03.8|02:01.9|193.1|22.3|166.6|169.0|11.0
13|01000|04:08.0|02:04.0|183.6|21.3|163.1|166.0|11.3
14|01000|04:09.2|02:04.6|181.0|21.5|162.9|165.0|11.2
15|01000|04:09.7|02:04.8|180.0|21.2|162.5|165.0|11.4
16|01000|04:12.2|02:06.1|174.6|20.6|161.3|164.0|11.6
17|01000|04:13.2|02:06.6|172.6|20.4|160.1|162.0|11.6
18|01000|04:27.6|02:13.8|170.4|20.1|155.8|160.0|11.2 - change radio station
19|01000|04:11.0|02:05.5|177.1|20.8|159.9|162.0|11.5


Steady State does give you time to think.

Lactate measurement at the end: 1.3 mmol/L. Rate of perceived exertion: Time flew by.