Hartland Sessions

Keeping variability in my outdoor activities has been the theme of the past two months.  It seems as if I don't want to do repetitive actions or activities, even close as between two successive workouts.  For example, if I go for a run in the morning I definitely don't want to go for a run that evening and even the next day really have an urge to do something different.  This may be the exact shift that I needed for multi-sport enjoyment (and performance).  I think that I'm going to an early morning swim workout (let's see if I wake-up for it!)

Just the other day I had a great run with my pal Clay around Elk Lake. The classic 10km loop is a good one to push the pace on and test out what the legs are feeling like. We followed the run up with a 2hour loop of Hartland Mtn Bike trails with GPS to track it.

Hartland trails system 15min N of Victoria. 

Follow along with the link:

Rowing has been on the backburner as of recently. I find that I get myself thinking about rowing and its quality as a full body workout. But, yet I find myself not scheduling in the time to get at it. 

Why Is This?

The 2012 Canadian National Rowing Championships are in two weeks (Nov. 10 - 11) at Elk Lake. I notice the excitement building and athletes peaking for this while also trying to complete RADAR testing at the same time.  Good Luck!

The Value of Training

A recent trip to Royal Roads Univeristy to watch the Hatley Castle 8k running race I spotted an interesting "motivational message" posted on a huge billboard in the old military college gym. In my mind, it describes the process and benefit of everyday consistency in training.... and that is the true victory to carry forth into the future. It keeps my head up during the long hours of training that goes into the dark and wet times of the year.
Our training schedule was set out before us and we have to follow through with confidence that this will get us in shape for the summer racing series. A big part of this winter work is keeping the motivation and positive atmosphere going.  The past two weeks our coach(s) have gone to a training camp in California and we were given planned workouts each day but it is our own ambition to complete it with vigor.  To the most part the work was completed with excellence due to the fact the group of athletes I train with are very individually motivated personalities.
 I have felt after some long hard and wet workouts like I just want to crawl up in a ball and sleep for three months. I, however, often realize I need to quickly shower and go to work because I have patients booked long into the evening. At the end of these long days when I get home from work I realize I'm f#%*ing exhausted that I have a smile on my face for all the things I was able to accomplish. Luckily, I thoroughly enjoy my job!  So, in the end of it all, I hope I'm getting faster and more technically proficient at rowing.

The next important time-frame to work towards is the third week of March with the RADAR erg testing sessions and an on-water time-trial in early April. Till then, we will get true value for our training.

Pair Partner

Next week I leave for the National Rowing Championships in Welland, Ontario. They take place Nov. 11-13th. I'm racing in a pair (two people, two oars) with my pal Eric, aka Wolfy, or my favorite is The Wolf Pack (thanks Terry). We trained together for the PanAm Games in a pair while our 4-'s partners were busy in the double sculling. We should be able to bring it together for a very fast weekend of racing. He recently crushed a 6km erg test (at 19:57) dropping something like 15 seconds off his last personal best. For me, I had an ok 6k erg test as it was 9seconds faster than Augusts RADAR time but I still have to be 20+ seconds faster. I need to not limp through these Erg tests and understand that it is going to painful. I need to follow in Eric's example and maybe together we can represent (Ontario and BC in one boat...) See a picture of Eric below as he is often seen; endlessly doing cardio...

 

August 2011 Radar finished

And it is official. The Aug. 2011 RADAR is finished and submitted to Rowing Canada Aviron. I'm happy with with results, but I already know that I can improve on a few key tests. Have a look:
Peak Power (190 Drag Factor) 861 watts 01:14.1 [25]
Peak Power (Testing Drag Factor) 816 watts 01:15.4 [72]
1 Minute 364 metres 625 01:22.4 [47]
2000 Meter 06:22:4 time 401 01:35.6 [74]
6000 Meter 20:31:4 time 324 01:42.6 [74]
60 Minute 16529 metres 271 01:48.9 [25]
Time Trial 2000 Meter (1x) 07:20:6 time 01:50.1 [98]

The [brackets] mean points. And the totaled up score is 415.... That is 75 points more than last time. It is greater than the 350 that I was trying to hit, but the next level for me to hit is 600. A total points >600 would hypothetically mean I should be a regular at the National Training center (In theory).

My personal thoughts on this round, now my fourth, is that I dread these six tests for weeksmonths in advance unknown of my ability and motivation. At the same time, I really enjoy the feedback of systematic testing and being able to compare to others. A few distractions this round; I was able to directly "compete" against my rivals, sitting right beside them on the erg or in the water, these same guys are also now my team-mates*. They brought the best power out of me, and I hope I helped them push harder too. This is where the team dynamic comes together and makes everyone work harder.

This RADAR score gets applied to my future funding for travel to the National Rowing Championships in Welland, Ontario November 11-13, 2011. I hope it was enough.

* - Selections and confirmations for teams are not completed until early September.