Tag Archives: mental toughness

Rest Day 8/16: What do you do during a thunderstorm if you can’t row on the water?

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Rest Day 8/16:

What do you do during a thunderstorm if you can’t row on the water?

Yesterday morning there was a large thunderstorm at Community Rowing in Boston.  Most of the morning practices had already finished up, but there were a few programs that got kicked off the water due to lightning.  This a frequent occurrence that rowers have to deal with.

If you’re not a rower yet, but just an athlete using the erg, I’m sure you have your own thunderstorms to deal with in terms of training.  Maybe a knee or shoulder has decided to flare up or your quads are burned up from a few intense WODs.  That doesn’t mean everything has to be thrown out the window and you call it a day.

At the boathouse I had some fun with the Renegade Athletes and introduced bear crawls into the workout.  While most rowers that got kicked off the water had to resort to the drudgery of a steady state erg, we had some fun crawling around them.  In the past I’ve used those days as opportunities to play dodgeball and do squats or push ups if you get hit.  If your regular mode of training isn’t available then have some fun, do something different, and challenge yourself.

On the other side of things, if you’re an athlete who needs work on the erg and your body is banged up, take some time to do a few drills and dial in that technique with slow motion rowing.  Try rowing with no pressure and then slowly building up the speed keeping the proper sequence and form.  Or just take the day to work on a couple of goats while you wait for your issues/thunderstorms to pass by.

Share your favorite thunderstorm activities!

Rowing WOD 8/14: 8 x 30 Strokes On / 30 Strokes Off – Post Max and Min Distance

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Rowing WOD 8/14:

8 x 30 Strokes On / 30 Strokes Off

(Set Monitor for Intervals Time, 1:45 On w/ Undefined Rest)

In WODs like Fight Gone Bad where you’re given a time domain to do work it helps to know what you’re capable of both when you’re fresh and when you’re fatigued.  The goal should be to put everything you have into the erg and get the most out of it.  In other words be efficient and don’t waste energy with any movement or force that doesn’t translate into spinning the flywheel faster.

Today’s Rowing WOD tests our work capacity around the one minute time domain.  If you hold a 2:00 split per 500m at a stroke rating of 30 strokes per minute you would row an 8:00 2k in 240 strokes.  This 2k race plan would be made up of eight 30 stroke segments where you travel 250m in 30 strokes and it takes each segment one minute to complete.  Splitting up a race or workout in this manner gives you something to focus on and aim for.  If you’re ever in a competition where you need to decide how hard to row to get a certain number of points it may help to split it up like this.

The goal of today’s Rowing WOD is to go all out for 3o strokes every interval and see how far you can get.  Although this is max effort, consistent intensity is ideal to last all 30 strokes and not die after 20.  Set the monitor for intervals time with 1:45 of work and Undefined Rest.  Each piece should be rowed at max effort race pace.  Count 30 strokes in sets of 10 and note the distance you reach at the end of your 30th stroke.  Then paddle out lightly for 30 strokes.  The 30 strokes off should hopefully end during the Undefined Rest so that you can stop and write down the distance you reached.  Repeat this 8 times and try to beat your score each time.

Post your max distance and min distance reached in 3o strokes!

Rowing WOD 8/7: 15 x 133m w/ :30 rest – Post Fastest and Slowest Times

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Rowing WOD 8/7:

15 x 133m Row

w/ :30 Rest

15 intervals of 133m adds up to 2,000 meters of glory.  For those with experience this is an opportunity to push that race pace and get used to the speed and intensity needed during every stroke of the 2k.  If you’re a vet you’ll want to try to hold a sub 2k pace for every interval.  This should leave you with about a 1:1 work to rest ratio, so your fresh to push it all the way through.  If you’ve only done a couple of 2k’s this is an opportunity to work on your consistency every stroke and hold a consistent pace on par with your last 2k.  Below are some goals to keep in mind.

Post your fastest and slowest time to comments!

Interval Time = :26; Goal 2k Time = 6:30

Interval Time = :28; Goal 2k Time = 7:00

Interval Time = :30; Goal 2k Time = 7:30

Interval Time = :32; Goal 2k Time = 8:00

Interval Time = :34; Goal 2k Time = 8:30

Interval Time = :36; Goal 2k Time = 9:00

Rowing WOD 8/3: 500m, 2×1,500m, 500m – Post 500m Times

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Kathryn performing a start!

Rowing WOD 8/3:

500m (Start – 2k Race Pace)

  • 2min rest

1,500m (2k+5)

  • 5min rest

1,500m (2k+5)

  • 2min Rest

500m (2k Race Pace – Finish)

Performing and reaching your goals is all about developing and executing a process that will get you there.  Whether it’s getting that first muscle up by working gymnastic progressions or learning to hold a consistent 500m split for rowing a 2k.  Today’s Rowing WOD is a chance to work on the start and finish of your 2k race plan and develop your ability to hold a consistent split.  For the first piece perform a 3-5 stroke starting sequence, a high 7-10 strokes, and then settle into your goal 2k pace.  For the 1,500m pieces settle in and hold a consistent pace that is 5 seconds higher than your goal 2k pace.  Try to keep the split within one second of that 2k+5 pace.  To end the workout hold your goal 2k pace for 250 meters and then sprint to the finish with whatever you have left.

Post your 500m times for the first and last piece!

Here are some goals to shoot for:

6:30 2k = 1:37 /500m

7:00 2k = 1:45 /500m

7:30 2k = 1:52 /500m

8:00 2k = 2:00 /500m

8:30 2k = 2:07 /500m

Rowing WOD 8/1: “Jackie” – 1k Row, 50 Thrusters 45#, 30 Pull-Ups – Post Time

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Rowing WOD 8/1:

“Jackie”

For time:

Row 1,000 meters

50 Thrusters (45 pounds)

30 Pull-ups

The Girl WODs were introduced as benchmark workouts to measure your performance and improvements throughout your training.  Today’s Rowing WOD is “Jackie”, a newer girl, aimed at measuring your efficiency and performance through three different full body movements.  It’s a great workout to test how well your technique has developed.  Ideally you’ll be able to hold a consistent split all the way through and leave your legs just fresh enough to go unbroken on the thrusters.  We’ll be adding on to “Jackie” in the future, so get used to her and crush it!

Post your time to comments!