Rest Day 10/5/14: Good Luck Rowers at Textile River Regatta!

Rest Day:

All the oars at last years Textile River Regatta!

Good Luck to all rowers competing at the Textile River Regatta today!

I’ve been coaching the Boston College Men for the past month and while they’re not racing at the Textile I can’t wait to see the results from one of the first big regattas of the fall.  It’s the first race of the season and it’ll be awesome to see where everyone stacks up leading into the Head of the Charles!

If you’re in the Boston area, head up to the Merrimack River in Lowell to check it out.  If not, go find a race near you and see what the sport of rowing is all about!

Share your experience and pictures!

Rowing WOD 9/30/14: 12 x :40 On, :20 Off – Max Effort – Post Avg Split

Rowing WOD:

BC Men Spinning at the Canoe Kayak Dock

12 x :40 On, :20 Off

  • Max Effort

If you’re looking for an edge in Tabata This, Fight Gone Bad, or simply your Tabata Row, today’s Rowing WOD is the perfect opportunity to build your consistency on shorter pieces.   The focus is maintaining race pressure and mentally executing a race plan.  The goal is to be consistently strong through all 12 pieces.  During the 20 seconds off, paddle lightly at a stroke rating of 14 – 16 to recover.

The first three pieces should be executed like the start of a 2k race; sprint start, high ten, then settle to an efficient race pace.  The second three pieces should focus on holding a consistent race pace and stroke rating, around 32 for vets and 28 for novices.  The third section represents the third 500 of the 2k where mental toughness is key to keep the split from jumping up.  The last three pieces are an opportunity to either practice your sprint to the finish line or hold strong if you’re really feeling it.  When finished you will have 12 data points you can compare to see where extra focus will be required during your next 2k or first 2k if you’ve never done one!

Post your average 500m split and total calories to comments.

Rowing WOD 9/27/14: 29 Burpees and 5k Test – Post Scores

Rowing WOD:

Where do you test? Why? Come test yourself at the CrossFit Rowing Trainer Course!

29 Burpees For Time

5k Row for Time

It’s been another month of epic training.  How have you progressed?  Have you been consistent in your work?  Now is the time to test where we’re at and re-focus as the championship head racing season draws near.  It also happens to be the 27th of September, a great day to do 29 Burpees!  I’ll be doing them tomorrow when I turn 29 on September 28th.  Good luck, have fun, and get after it!

How well does your body process and use oxygen to do work?  How long can you sustain work?  Today’s assessment will give you an idea of both your aerobic capacity and endurance.  Set your monitor for 5,000 meters and get after it.  Be sure to record your time, average 500m split, average stroke rating, and average watts.  This will give you an idea of your work capacity over about 20 minutes.

For those wondering why we’re doing such a long test and how to attack it, think of this as a Girl Wod like “Mary”.  The athlete who can efficiently and effectively move their body weight will be able to consistently do more work aerobically without having to dip into anaerobic energy stores.  Also, when tackling “Mary”, good competitors will go in with a game plan based on what they know they can maintain.  The first couple of rounds may be used to ease into the work without flying and dying.

Whether you’re a Vet or Novice, the goal should be to maintain a consistent 500m split and stroke rating throughout the whole piece.  If this is your first 5k aim to build your confidence by negative splitting.  Start the first 1k at a moderately hard pace that you can consistently hold.  Then every 1k after that try to pull a little bit faster, perhaps 1 split second every 1k.  What you should avoid is going out to hard, say 1:45 /500m, and then dying half way through to limp in at a split of 2:00 /500m.

Novices should try to maintain a stroke rating of 24 to 26.  Vets should work on executing a race plan, maintaining their splits, and rowing at a stroke rating of at least 26 to 28.

Let us know how you do!  Post your results to Comments.

Rest Day 9/21/14: Inspire Someone Today!

IMG_2686Rest Day:

Inspire Someone Today!

Whether it’s your training partner, friend, family, or complete stranger, find a way to inspire them and fight for their goals.  Help drive their passion and pursuit of a better self.  Show them what you take pride in and how hard you work for what you believe in.  Find a way to motivate them and do what needs to be done.

Rest Day 9/14/14: Are you Ready to Rumble?

Rest Day:

Renegade Rowing Team - Racing at the Rumble on the River

Do you have what it takes to Race?

Have you ever seen an eight racing at top speed?  Are you interested in experiencing that for yourself?  Can you follow?  Can you push yourself?  Can you push others?  Do you have discipline? Will you work hard and find a way to push on even when pain and that little voice inside your head tells you to stop?

Then you should tryout for the Renegade Rowing Team.

For now though, go checkout the Rumble on the River at Community Rowing Inc. in Brighton!  Racing and Live Music on the banks of the Charles River all day long.  Have some fun and checkout this awesome sport we call Rowing.

Here’s the RRT finding some rhythm in the Quad earlier this year…