British Indoor Rowing Championships 2019: GBF Clients in the Mix
This year's British Indoor Rowing Championship had two of my clients taking on the challenge! Carol, who competed last year, decided to step up to the 2000m race for her age group, and Susan, a rowing champs newbie, took on the 500m challenge in her age group.
We had 3-4 months of focused preparation for both competitors. The two distances are quite different as the 2000m is all about strength and endurance, whereas the 500m is about speed and power. That means that they work different systems and, as such, our training approach was quite different. Adding to that, Susan and Carol are different types of athletes. The 2000m really suited Carol as her endurance is already good, and Susan was perfectly suited to the power/strength of the 500m.
For Carol, we did a lot of over-distance training which means effort that accumulates more meters and time than the 2000m distance. One of the first things to increase was her time on the rower. It was important to build up her general aerobic endurance by getting some long rows in. We also worked on building up her threshold with tough intervals of different distances. This allowed her to get comfortable and to work towards achieving a strong, consistent pace that she would be able to maintain over the entire 2000m distance.
In addition to the rowing program, we kept up her strength regimen since rowing (and life) requires a lot of strength. We also had to manage any potential niggles along the way, like knees, to fortify her against injuries.
Carol didn't have the smoothest run-up to the championships as she relocated to Singapore from London. In fact, she flew back especially to compete!
It's safe to say that Carol has really improved since the summer when we did her 2000m trial. She got a 10:00 then and on race day she achieved a super 9:33.
For Susan's preparation, as this was her first time working hard on the rower, other than an occasional 200m sprint, we set the goal of competing in the 500m. Her training was initially focused on making her more comfortable on the rower. We also worked on technique, stroke rate, and to build up confidence for distance at a strong pace.
In a 500m rowing sprint, as soon as you hit the 200-300m mark, lactic acid overwhelms the legs. It was part of the training to get her used to that feeling and to be able to maintain her pace, especially in the later stages. Opposite to Carol's training, Susan was doing shorter intervals with varying rest times. However, we also did do some over-distance, between 750-1000m, to build up her endurance, which is still required, even at sprint distances.
Susan's time trial in the summer clocked in at 1:56, and it was our goal to break that. In the champs, she smashed this goal with a 1:52! A great performance for her first outing at the championship, with a new skill.
I was there as part of the official GBF cheer squad (complete with GBF merch), shouting myself hoarse on the sideline. I'm so proud of what Susan and Carol have achieved and admire their hard work and dedication. Carol turned 60 last year, and Susan has the big birthday later this month. Please join me in congratulating them!
