rowinginmotion

Jun 16 2015

Veveří Castle – technique and stroke analysis

Monday

I took a recovery day. A full day of work until 10pm, only interrupted by dinner and a hot, relaxing bath. Still feeling tired from Sunday’s races.

Tuesday Morning

Looking forward to a planned L4, steady state session with 18spm, 20spm, 22spm, 24spm rate ladders. No difficulty getting up early. It was looking to become a nice sunny day. Temperatures have dropped more than 10 degrees since Sunday, to a nice maximum temperature of 21 degrees C. It was 15 degrees when I drove to the lake.

Quite some chop, so decided to row to the castle.

Rowing to the turning point, about 500m past the castle, I did 2x10min rate ladder (4min/3min/2min/1min in 18/20/22/24spm). Paces were not particularly fast but I tried to focus more on technique.

The lake was choppy, but the river part was perfect flat water with a thin layer of mist on top. It was so beautiful, I decided to take some pictures when I turned, and then again when I passed the castle.

Then I decided to skip the rate ladders and focus on technique. I did some technique drills on the way home. Rowing with pauses, mainly.

Here are the stroke acceleration pictures from RIM:

By sanderroosendaal • Uncategorized • 3 • Tags: OTW, RIM, river, rowing, rowinginmotion, single, steady state

Jun 8 2015

Race weekend (as a spectator) and 20 strokes on/20 off

Weekend

On Saturday evening I watched “my” eight win the Masters B title at the Primatorky race. They copied the successful recipe of a year ago. For 750m they rowed in second position, took the lead under the railway bridge, and won by 0.36 seconds.

My name was announced when they collected their medals. I laughed at my replacement apologizingly. Apparently my name wasn’t replaced correctly in the program. To be clear, I was watching the race from the shore, first half on the big screen, then live. Beer in hand.

On Sunday, the main program was on. This is really a prestigious race, but since 1979 it has been won by only one club: Dukla. The reason is simple. The Dukla club is the main training center for the top athletes, and most of the national selection is training there.

Our club has won in 1940, exactly 75 years ago.

This year, we had a chance. On Saturday, we won the semifinals by 2 boat lengths, and Dukla has respect for us.

One could argue that there must be something wrong with the selection to the national team, when a club eight that has trained together for a week, can challenge the Dukla guys. To be honest, we have 2 the national lightweight pair rowing for us, and we have a couple of talented U23 rowers.

First, the Juniors. An eight with three rowers from our club won by 3 boat lengths. Great.

Then the main event. We were watching this anxiously on the big screens. Our guys were slow out of the start, rowing in third position, but about half way they mastered “the turn” very well and with 1000m to go they were half a length behind Dukla.

Unfortunately Dukla managed to keep this lead for 600m, so when they finally turned up under the railway bridge I knew we would be second. It is very hard to take over the lead in the waves in front of the fans.

So CVK Brno came second. Still a fantastic result for a club which has barely 100 rowers.

Monday

Today’s training was the familiar 20 strokes “on”, 20 strokes “off”. The session that was fatal two weeks ago. Again I was rowing against the double. Again the water wasn’t calm.

But this time I wasn’t rowing with the side camera, and the lake was slightly calmer.

It’s hard to get any statistics from this workout. I saw some 1:45 paces in the tailwind section. Rowed the tailwind set at 30-31spm, the headwind set at 32-34spm. Trying to get “swing” and keep the stroke rate high but “effortless”. Hard to explain. I think I succeeded pretty well.

I have also uploaded again the first video from last Thursday. Here it is:

By sanderroosendaal • Uncategorized • 5 • Tags: lake, RIM, rowinginmotion, single, training

May 21 2015

Proper L4s again

Finally some time for proper L4 rate ladders in the single. It was a drizzly morning, but not too cold. The lake was rowable, but I preferred to go to the castle, where I found super flat water and no wind. The cost is having to steer through a few narrow and sharp turns, which inevitably slow you down and remove the focus from technique.

However, given that I would be rowing in a forest canyon, along a medieval castle and some very beautiful rocks, that was an easy price to pay.

I used the RIM app to keep track of my technique. I like to watch “stroke efficiency”. It’s a bit of a funny metric the way it is defined, and I can’t really get a hold of why, but it seems to correlate strongly with what I believe I should be improving in my sculling. It’s also a sensitive metric so you can monitor it from stroke to stroke and usually when it changes I can understand why. So the goal was to have stroke efficiency above 2 for as many strokes as possible.

I chose to row 4min/3min/2min/1min at 18/20/22/24spm. Here are the pretty pictures:

Here are the RIM analysis pictures:

The conclusion: Yes I did succeed in working on technique.

Here are the data:
dist_____|time_____|_pace___|_HR__|_SPM__|_DPS|comment 2194_____|_12:00____|_2:44.1|136|18.8|9.7|warmup 8298_____|_40:01____|_2:24.7|158|20.5|10.1|Main set 2228_____|_12:33____|_2:49.0|151|19.2|9.2|Cool down 0236_____|_01:59____|_4:12.4|138|17.1|7.0|rest meters 12955____|_06:33____|_2:34.1|152|19.6|9.9|_Total

And all the gory details (broken up in the same way as the RIM analytics graphs above):
| Dist_ | Time_ | Pace__ | _SPM | avg HR | max HR | DPS | Remarks | 02194 | 12:00 | 02:44.1 | 18.8 | 136 | 149 | 09.7 | WU | 00772 | 04:00 | 02:35.5 | 18.4 | 139 | 146 | 10.5 | 4min @ 18spm, steering | 00636 | 03:00 | 02:21.5 | 20.5 | 152 | 159 | 10.4 | 3min @ 20spm | 00439 | 01:59 | 02:15.5 | 22.3 | 163 | 165 | 09.9 | 2min @ 22spm | 00219 | 01:01 | 02:19.0 | 22.5 | 167 | 168 | 09.6 | 1min @ 24spm | 00790 | 03:59 | 02:31.2 | 18.8 | 154 | 166 | 10.5 | 4min @ 18spm | 00621 | 03:00 | 02:25.0 | 20.9 | 159 | 162 | 09.9 | 3min @ 20spm | 00428 | 02:00 | 02:20.1 | 21.9 | 164 | 166 | 09.8 | 2min @ 22spm | 00206 | 01:01 | 02:27.8 | 22.7 | 167 | 168 | 08.9 | 1min @ 24spm, steering | 00236 | 01:59 | 04:12.4 | 17.1 | 138 | 163 | 07.0 | rest, turn | 00797 | 04:01 | 02:31.2 | 19.3 | 151 | 157 | 10.3 | 4min @ 18spm, | 00607 | 03:00 | 02:28.2 | 20.7 | 159 | 162 | 09.8 | 3min @ 20spm, steering | 00437 | 02:00 | 02:17.3 | 22.3 | 164 | 167 | 09.8 | 2min @ 22spm | 00219 | 00:59 | 02:15.0 | 23.6 | 169 | 171 | 09.4 | 1min @ 24spm | 00822 | 04:01 | 02:26.6 | 18.5 | 163 | 170 | 11.1 | 4min @ 18spm | 00644 | 03:00 | 02:19.8 | 21.0 | 165 | 170 | 10.2 | 3min @ 20spm | 00445 | 02:00 | 02:14.9 | 22.8 | 170 | 173 | 09.8 | 2min @ 22spm, steering | 00215 | 01:00 | 02:19.5 | 24.1 | 173 | 173 | 08.9 | 1min @ 24spm, steering | 02228 | 12:33 | 02:49.0 | 19.2 | 151 | 171 | 09.2 |

By sanderroosendaal • Uncategorized • 4 • Tags: L4, OTW, RIM, river, rowing, rowinginmotion, single

May 18 2015

Trailer thoughts & 1km trial

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:

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.
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.
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.

RIM analysis of today's typical strokes — RIM analysis of today’s typical strokes

By sanderroosendaal • Uncategorized • 3 • Tags: 1000m, lake, OTW, RIM, rowing, rowinginmotion, single, training

Apr 24 2015

A wider span

Romana was on the single today and she complained it is rigged too heavy. Also, my daughter Lenka will row on it.

So when I arrived at the rowing club I took a rigging hour. Increased the span from 158.5cm to 160cm, leaving scull length and inboard the same. Lowered the oarlocks by 5mm.

Did 16km of steady state today. 6km with an inboard of 89cm (using the Concept2 orange clams), the rest with an inboard of 88.5cm. The 89cm inboard corresponds to the overlap I used to row with. The 88.5cm inboard is the gearing I used to row with.

The idea is that the 89cm setting is for the girls and for me in headwind.

I did most of it at 20spm, except for 2 sets of 20 strokes >30spm, one of each with each setting. On feel, I liked the heavier gearing more.

Here are the heart rate and spm graphs for the two parts of the row:

The differences are really small. Still I will keep rowing at an inboard of 88.5cm, unless there is heavy headwind.

On the last 2km, rowing back to the club, I noticed an armada of 3 singles, 1 double and a coxed quad coming from our club. Our 13/14 year old training had begun.

I decided to hug the shore and avoid a collision course, but suddenly the coxed quad began to drift towards the shore.

I corrected my course and rowed between the boats. Then I noticed my son Robin (8 years) was coxing the coxed quad of 14 year old girls. He was lying in the front, coxing, waving at me and generally offsetting the balance of the boat.

A fun moment. Not sure if the girls appreciated it. But Robin is hooked on coxing now.

By sanderroosendaal • Uncategorized • 0 • Tags: lake, OTW, rowing, rowinginmotion, steady state, training

Apr 21 2015

Steady State: Are my easy days too hard?

Yes! They are hard. Because working on technique is hard. But I don’t think they are too hard.

Another morning row because of the wind forecasts. It is actually quite beautiful to be out in the morning:

Sunrise and all:

The problem is that when I drive to work from the lake at 7:45 I hit the main traffic jams which I so elegantly avoid with my usual route and departure time. That’s really frustrating. You know there is work waiting for you, but you can’t do anything else than wait in traffic.

I did a 10km row but the graph below shows only the last 8km. I was using the Rowing in Motion (RIM) app and I have trouble with the calibration. I push off the dock, put my feet in the shoes, and start up the app, then wait a few seconds, then start rowing. When I see “catch efficiency” around 0.5 and lower, I know the calibration is off. I need to be above 1.5, ideally 2 and higher.

I also have the feeling this is limiting the comparison between rows. For example here is a picture with three strokes,

The yellow stroke is from today with tailwind, while the purple one is from November. Stroke efficiency was 2.2 today at 18spm, which was pretty much the maximum I saw during the row, but in November I seemed to be able to hit 2.96. Or was it a different calibration? A slight offset in the acceleration may have been the problem.

Perhaps the boat should not be moving when you switch on the app, as I guess it can measure acceleration but not velocity for the calibration?

Nevertheless, I feel the “stroke efficiency” is a good metric to monitor during one row. I saw it going up when I was focusing on my flaws:

Blades not too deep at the catch, gentle leg push, not biting off more of the stroke than I can swallow
Strong middle and second half of stroke by “shoulder swing”
Clean, distinct, hard tap-down

I need to exaggerate to get (2) and (3) right. I am sure an observer on the bank wouldn’t see what I call “shoulder swing” but it feels pretty dramatic. Also, the tap-down probably is just rather sloppy when I don’t pay attention.

So today I was just alternating 18, 20 and 22spm in roughly two minute intervals, trying work on those three points mentioned above while keeping an eye on the RIM metrics every 5th stroke. This is hard work but when it works I am rewarded with splits that are 1 or 2 seconds faster, and the check factor numbers moved to values greater than 2. Sloppy rowing is between 1 and 1.5. I am guessing on the split numbers, because it is hard to judge what is due to good rowing and what is due to changing wind conditions.

Anyway, here are the pretty graphs. Slightly more noisy pace values as I didn’t use the XGPS160. It’s not compatible with RIM yet:

By sanderroosendaal • Uncategorized • 0 • Tags: lake, OTW, RIM, rowing, rowing data, rowinginmotion, single, steady state

Apr 10 2015

1:39 into headwind OTW

A technique session in the single. It was 10km in total and I was running the Rowing in Motion app. Unfortunately, the first 30 minutes of recorded data were lost.

I was rowing 20spm alongside one of our juniors. In the first part of the session, the “stroke efficiency” showed numbers between 1.3 and 1.5. Pretty strange.

Even stranger was when I did a race start. I saw 1:00.0 as a pace … !!!

Then the clock hit 30:00.0 in the app and poof! The app crashed. So I stopped and restarted the app.

Suddenly I the pace numbers were much more stable, and the “stroke efficiency” numbers were 2.5 to 3.0. Weird.

When I tried to upload the data, the first half of the training was gone.

Anyway, see the images for the analysis of the part of the trainng that was recorded. The fast strokes was a race start. Apparently 5.02 m/s, which would correspond to a 1:39.6 pace … in headwind! Well, I did it for just 15 strokes.

The metrics are comparable to what I rowed at 18 to 22spm in November.

By sanderroosendaal • Uncategorized • 0 • Tags: lake, OTW, RIM, rowing, rowing data, rowinginmotion, single

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rowinginmotion

Veveří Castle – technique and stroke analysis

Race weekend (as a spectator) and 20 strokes on/20 off

Proper L4s again

Trailer thoughts & 1km trial

A wider span

Steady State: Are my easy days too hard?

1:39 into headwind OTW

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