A Trip To The Library

Coach Deb putting her boat away. 

74F, WNW2.  A nice day with a mix of rollers from the east and some small chop. After drills in the inlet, I took a trip to downtown as far as the library, a new distance milestone!  Upon my return I found the rest of the PLRC coming out. They were doing 2 minute pieces for distance. Coach Deb invited me to join them, so I did. Sort of. I rowed along and they were kind enough to wait for me at the end. As they turned for another round, I made my excuses and headed in.

Putting my stroke together is like assembling a house of cards. Starting with the timing of the catch, I get the oars in and start the pull with the oars still firmly in the oar locks. Next, I add the full extension of the layback. After that, arms away at the same speed they came in. If I get that far, carrying more weight of the oars on the recovery comes last. Of course, at some point something goes wrong, either an oar pulls funny or I lose balance at the catch. The house of cards collapses and I pause a moment and start again.

I also noticed myself looking down
At the stern of the boat. I must get my chest and head up!

Plenty

Of progress, plenty more to work on. 

Workout #

Workout Name

Interval #

Interval Type

Interval Start

Time

Distance (m)

Strokes

Avg Speed (m/s)

Avg Pace (/500m)

Avg SR

Max SR

Avg HR

Max HR

1

Just Go

1

Just Go

6:45:52 AM

1:25:59

7578

1024

1.50

5:32.9

12.2

35.9

0

0

(This message from my iPhone.)

Spidey Sense

I don't know why, but the spiders had decided that today was the day to spin webs. On the boats, the oars, the dock - everywhere!

Yesterday, I rode the bike down to the dock. A good thing, too, as it was too windy to row.

Today was better. I was running behind with a full day ahead, so I did drills by the dock, then rowed out to the canal where I did the drills again. Back at the dock and more drills and I was done.

I think I figured something out about my right oar. It had been squirrelly and unsettled in the oar lock. I think the problem was pausing at the oar at the catch; once in the water, the oncoming water would push the oar out of its position against the front of the oar lock. So, square, in and GO!  Much better.

After getting my bike clothes on for the trip back, I realized that I had forgotten a dentist appointment that morning!  20 minutes later I showed up looking like a sweaty bike messenger to have my teeth cleaned. They were really nice about it and quite impressed with all of my working out. I'm just glad they didn't charge me extra to hose off the chair after!

Workout #

Workout Name

Interval #

Interval Type

Interval Start

Time

Distance (m)

Strokes

Avg Speed (m/s)

Avg Pace (/500m)

Avg SR

Max SR

Avg HR

Max HR

1

Just Go

1

Just Go

6:49:10 AM

7:30

634

72

1.41

5:54.4

9.6

30.6

0

0

(This message from my iPhone.)
Charles White, Registered Piano Technician
White's Piano Service
Certified Level 1 CrossFit Trainer
Keweenawstrong.blogspot.com
404 Frue Ave.
Houghton MI 49931
(906) 483-0204

Let that be a lesson to you!

Happy anniversary from my sweetie!

60F, W0-7.

Dennis coached me on the water today. We went through three drills. Dennis wanted me to write them down along with thoughts and questions. I hope he doesn't mind that I did it in my blog! Valuable trade secrets here!

1. Sitting at release with blades feathered, lift and drop oars together.
Work balance and weighting/ unweighting oars.

2. Spin drill. Sit at release, arms away. Square both blades. Row a complete circle with one oar. Repeat on the other side. Works balance and blade work. Apparently I was supposed to go fast. Staying upright kind of took priority, though.

3. Pause at arms away. Make sure the handles go out as fast as they come in. This was to keep the hands moving. I'm stopping at the release.

4. Back it down drill. Stop the boat. Arms away, forward lean, 1/4 slide. Square the oars drop and them in. Push the oars away toward the stern, then stop. As you feel the pressure build up against the blades, pull a stroke, ending at release with arms away. This is the feeling you should get at the beginning of each stroke. Works that and was also useful to flatten out my stroke. I was lifting into the stroke. Concentrating on only pushing with the legs fixed it.

Things to change:
-More layback at the release.
-Roll-up and feather with fingers more than wrists. I wonder how to handle thumb position as the handle moves forward and backward in my hand.
-Think of oars in and out of the water like weight in the hands.
- keep the handle moving. All well. And good until something goes wrong!

There's my workout plan for this week! Big thanks to Deb and Dennis for helping out.

(This message from my iPhone.)

Chipper

I'll clean up later, promise.

Warmup: Gymnastic 2. 10 min.
Strength: DE Clean @ 60% (2 on the minute, 10 min).
WOD: Chipper.
As many total reps as possible in 7 minutes. Spend one minute on each move, and keep continuous count of reps/ calories:

Situps
Row for calories
Pushups
Jumprope
Air squats
Walking lunges
KB swings

Stretch 5 min.
Mobility: 10 min. Hip flexors, quads: do the bottom position WOD.

(This message from my iPhone.)

The Better Part Of Valor

It rowed worse than it looked.

Calm winds at 6am. As soon as the sun rose, however, a West breeze kicked waves up. I tried getting out in it twice before packing it in. I did 20 reps of recovery drills, though. Still a good day.

(This message from my iPhone.)

Trail Report: Churning Rapids Aunt Flo

It was hot.  We stopped a lot for water breaks.  It was all big fun, but the reason we chose Churning Rapids today was to try out Aunt Flo.  Jumps and jumps and jumps.  I found myself expecting it to end, then it just kept going, on and on.  Big fun!
Of course the advanced riders will jump and do tricks on it, but even modest bikers with decent brakes can have a blast.  Jumps vary from low to high, with some turning and some with two tops.

Here's some video with better riders:

Churning Rapids Flow Trail

We parked in the usual spot on Christensen Road.  That meant traversing pretty much the whole trail system to get to Aunt Flo.  Great riding, but a lot of uphill.  If you just want to try out the flow trail, park on Brooks Road at the entrance to the Trillium Trail.  That's the bottom of the roughly oval loop that goes through Aunt Flo.  The new stuff isn't all on the posted maps.  Here's a link to an up-to-date map:
Churning Rapids/Maasto Hiihto Trail Map

On the way back, we usually go through the Oaks and Lake Annie Trails.  Since by this time we were baked, we took the more direct Finney Creek Trail.  All downhill, not a jumper like Aunt Flo, more of a screamer.  It was a great reward for all the climbing we did at the beginning.

Go try it out!

Peas & Carrots On The Water

Ach!  I know, the picture.  I'll get one tomorrow, I promise!


Out on the canal in the double with Kirsten.  She got a real kick out my newly conservative technique since I've been learning to row the skinny single.  What goes around...


Here's the data:

Interval Start	7:31 AM
Time	1:05 AM
Distance (m)	8343
Strokes	948
Avg Speed (m/s)	2.14
Avg Pace (/500m)	03:53.800
Avg SR	14.6
Max SR	27.0