================================================================ INDOOR ROWING NEWSLETTER #123 ======================== 29-April-2005 ========================= _________________________________________________ C O N T E N T S 1. Newsletter Special Offer: Rudy Project Sunglasses 2. Ranking Deadline 3. Interactive Weight Loss Programme 4. Mickey Pearmain 5. Cartoon By Rog 6. Tel's Tales 7. National Lottery Legends Sprint 8. New FES Record 9. First Blind Indoor Rowing Championship 10. Mad Team Marathon Records 11. Forthcoming Races And Events **************************** Feedback Back Issues Subscription Information ________________________________________________________________ With Bells On ***************** For a glitzier, HTML version of our newsletter with pictures, cartoons and all the funny jokes (possibly), go to: http://www.concept2.co.uk/email/newsletter.htm. To receive the newsletter in HTML format, send an email to subscription@concept2.co.uk with HTML as the subject title. How To Write To Us ***************** Please don't reply directly to this email, 'cos we won't ever see it. Instead send your bouquets or brickbats to editor@concept2.co.uk. ========================================================= Newsletter Special Offer: Rudy Project Sunglasses ========================================================= The Indoor Rowing News has never been famed for its looks. As a child, we were so ugly our Mum fed us with a catapult. However, we've found one sure shortcut to style, which is to get hold of a pair of Rudy Project Sunglasses. As well as being the choice of hundreds of professional sportsmen and women the world over, they've got some pretty cool style too. Furthermore, as a special offer, if you buy a pair of sunglasses before the end of May, you'll also get a free Concept 2 T-Shirt, meaning you're guaranteed to cut a dash wherever you go. To take advantage of this offer, simply shuffle along to http://www.concept2.co.uk/shop/rudy_project.php ========================================================= Ranking Deadline ========================================================= If you're proper quick, you can still make it into this year's British Ranking. The entry deadline is April 30th, so unless you're on best terms with the postie you're going to struggle to send in the Ranking Entry Form at http://www.concept2.co.uk/ranking/. However, all is not lost, because you can enter your times right now, and from the comfort of your own home/office/local library to boot. The best times in the On-Line World Ranking and Logbook where the nationality is down as British or Irish will be automatically added into the Ranking as long as they're entered before close of play on the 30th. The On-Line Ranking and Logbook can be found at http://www.concept2.co.uk/sranking03/. ========================================================= Interactive Weight Loss Programme ========================================================= Thanks to everybody who has road tested the Interactive Weight Loss Programme and sent in their feedback. We've made a couple of slight adjustments since the original version launched. The most significant is that there are now three levels to choose from, depending on your level of fitness/activity before you start the weight loss programme. The Interactive Weight Loss Programme can be found at http://www.concept2.co.uk/weightloss/interactive.php ========================================================= Mickey Pearmain ========================================================= 85 year old wife and mother Mickey Pearmain's incredible zest for life has been given a boost, thanks to the Indoor Rower. In the last few years Mickey has had both knee and hip replacement operations and was left with limited mobility. After six months of physiotherapy her doctor told her that she couldn't receive any more treatment. Not wanting to resign herself to her wheelchair she joined her local gym and decided to start her own rehabilitation. Mickey joined Wye Valley Sports and under the supervision of personal trainer Wendy Chaplin began a fitness programme designed to get her back to her active life. As part of her training programme she was introduced to indoor rowing using the Concept 2 Indoor Rower - something she was very keen to have a go at. "I love exercising on the Concept 2," explained Mickey. "It's a great machine and I've loved attempting the different distance records. I decided to do an indoor rowing challenge for Sport Relief and my trainer Wendy suggested I rowed for one mile. I didn't think that was a challenge enough in itself so I decided to attempt the distance in less than 10 minutes. I did it and ended up raising nearly £100." Since her first effort, Mickey has attempted a number of distance challenges and now rows for a mile each day on the Indoor Rower. She's also checked out the Concept 2 website and found that there is plenty of scope for tackling distance records in her age group. "These are my next challenges," she added confidently. Her personal trainer, Wendy is pleased with the progress of her new charge, adding: "Mickey's doing really well with her exercise programme, especially on the Indoor Rower. The gym is thinking of organising a Concept 2 team event and Mickey was the first person to put her name down. She's an inspiration to all the gym members - both young and old. "She constantly rises to any challenge and her health has improved beyond recognition. She continues to inspire younger members and it just goes to prove that you can take up exercise at any point in your life." Mickey only set foot in a gym last year following her operations and now she can't get enough. She even bought herself her first ever pair of trainers last month! "I feel better now than I did five years ago!" she said. "I'm at the gym four days a week and I feel so much better for it. I've even sold my wheelchair and I'm down to using one walking stick. I can't wait to get down there again tomorrow." ========================================================= Cartoon By Rog ========================================================= http://www.concept2.co.uk/email/images/cartoon123small.jpg ========================================================= Tel's Tales ========================================================= As of 14:20 pm on Friday, 29th of April, we're cautiously predicting that summer is definitely a- coming. The sky is blue and the sun is shining gloriously. In general, summer is definitely A Good Thing. The one unfortunate side effect, however, is shorts. The Indoor Rowing News has long proposed a ban on men wearing shorts in public and that goes doubly so for three-times Olympic rowing coach Terry O'Neill, who parades his knees around the office at the drop of a hat. If you've got a question for Terry, we're begging you to send it to terry@concept2.co.uk, so at least he spends as much time as possible sat down at his desk. Andy Burrows: "If, say, I do a 12,000m piece at 20 strokes per minute in the evening at my usual training time and I average 1:55 pace and my heart rate averages 149, and then I do the same session in the morning before work and I only average 1:57 pace but my HR average is still 149 does this mean both workouts were as effective and beneficial as each other or is the faster paced one better for me? "I've often wondered and this is one of the reasons I don't like training before work because although my heart has just as good a workout the pace is slower. If there was no difference though between sessions then I'd maybe do it more often." Terry O'Neill: When you look at the difference in your power output from the morning to the evening you are about 5% down in the morning. When you take into consideration the difference in your metabolic rate from a low between 3 a.m. and 4 a.m. to a peak 12 hours later, the difference can be as high as 25%. This means that the same amount of work done at the lowest point of your metabolic rate compared to the most efficient point would feel 25% harder. This is one reason why old boxers get up in the middle of the night for a run. If you are getting up at, say, 6 a.m. and performing at 95% of your evening performance I would say this is reasonable but it is quite a low intensity session; if you increased the intensity you would notice a greater difference. The real point is why are you doing it? If you are preparing for something that occurs early in the morning this makes sense. Also if you are restricted in the amount of time you can spend in the evening this also makes sense. If not, a more effective training regime is keep the early sessions at the weekends where you don't have to go to work, and in the evening do more work at a higher intensity. ========================================================= National Lottery Legends Sprint ========================================================= Sir Steve Redgrave, Sir Matthew Pinsent, James Cracknell and Tim Foster are reuniting on the water to race together one last time. The National Lottery Legends Sprint will take place at the Rowing World Cup on Saturday May 28th at Dorney Lake, Eton, and is a re-creation of the final of the Sydney 2000 Olympic coxless four final that won Sir Steve his historic fifth gold. The silver medallists from Italy, bronze medallists from Australia and the other finalists from the USA, New Zealand and Slovenia are also expected to take part in the race to be screened live by the BBC. Funds raised by The National Lottery Legends Sprint will go directly to the United Nations World Food Programme, targeting tens of thousands of children in the areas worst affected by the tsunami in Sri Lanka and Indonesia. Donations can be made now by visiting http://www.justgiving.com/legendssprint or by calling 0870 756 7979 or texting the word DONATE to 81333. You can find out more about the challenge at http://www.steveredgrave.com/diary/legends.htm. For more information on the Rowing World Cup, including on-line ticket sales, go to http://www.wrc2006.com. ========================================================= New FES Record ========================================================= Paraplegic rower Robin Gibbons has broken his own indoor rowing record by more than ten seconds at the opening of Brunel University's new £7 million indoor athletics centre in west London. Robin rowed 2,000m on a specially adapted Concept 2 Indoor Rower in 11 minutes 50 seconds, knocking a whopping 12 seconds off his previous world record time - set at the British Indoor Rowing Championship last year where he rowed against able-bodied athletes. This time Robin was rowing on his own with only the clock to beat. "I'm delighted to have broken the record but to be honest I think I could have done better," he explained. "I started off too quickly and during the second half of the row I ran out of steam a bit. However, I'm still pleased to have done it and, from not being able to even row 2,000m a year ago, it's a real improvement." Robin injured his spine in a car crash in 2001 and since then has been working with a team at Brunel University researching the use of functional electrical stimulation (FES) within exercise. The team has adapted Concept 2 Indoor Rowers with FES technology enabling paraplegics like Robin to train on a fitness machine previously off limits to them. In the last year Robin has increased his training from one session a week to up to twice a day and he can now row continually for 5,000m. Last November he took part in the British Indoor Rowing Championship and he's hoping to race in the competition again this year. He continued: "I'm hoping to have another go at the record in May. I'm sure I can do a faster time and by keeping up with my training I should be able to beat my record again!" The FES adapted Concept 2 Indoor Rower uses a multi-channel stimulator with electrodes place on the skin over the quadriceps and hamstrings. The rower can control each stroke by pressing and releasing a switch on the pull bar. This enables the rower to synchronise the voluntarily controlled movement of the upper body with the FES-induced movement of the lower body, resulting in a high intensity whole body workout. More on Robin and FES rowing can be found at http://www.concept2.co.uk/birc/news.php?story=paraplegic_rowers. ========================================================= First Blind Indoor Rowing Championship ========================================================= Most people race indoor rowing competitions with their eyes firmly fixed to the small screen in front of them. Most people block out the sounds around them and focus solely on the countdown of the metres on that screen. At the first ever indoor rowing competition for the blind held in South Korea, participants focused instead on the sounds around them and the screen was replaced by volunteer coxswains, calling out the distance left to row. Organised by Concept 2's South Korean distributor, S. H. Han, blind people from across the country came together at Daegu University in the southeast of South Korea to race over a 500 and 1,000 metre distance. The 90 participants ranged in age from 16 to 78 years old and none of them had any experience with rowing - on or off the water. Daegu University's crew team became the eyes of the participants assisting the competitors in learning the basics of the stroke and providing direction during the event to let competitors know how far they had rowed. Every participant finished their race with winners being presented with plaques and flowers. American blind rower Aerial Gilbert flew in for the event and said it was an extraordinary experience. "They saw this as a unique opportunity for blind people to get to do a physical activity that they could do instantly," says Gilbert. "It gave them the opportunity to get to do it together as a group, and compete with each other." Gilbert, who suddenly became blind 17 years ago at the age of 34, had rowed as a sighted person. She came back to the sport when she found that it was one of the few things in her life that she could do and feel competent at. Gilbert has since competed at the World Rowing Championships for the United States three times and raced in several other rowing events including a local race in a single. "It was so successful, they want to hold it annually," says Gilbert who sees indoor rowing as a sporting experience that can be enjoyed by everyone. ========================================================= Mad Team Marathon Records ========================================================= On April 16th the Countrywide MAD Team descended upon the David Lloyd Centre in Port Solent, Portsmouth, to do a little more rowing than they'd normally wish for a Saturday afternoon, and came away with a hatful of British Records as well. Their target was a clean sweep of all the marathon relay records plus establishing a mark for a 10-person 50,000m relay. Organiser Graham Benton explains: "This event was originally intended as a training weekend for the team, as well as a chance to all meet up again as the team is based all around the UK. Then it was suggested that we should maybe try and go for a marathon record. Then it became two records, and so on. In all, 22 of us were in action. Everyone has been busy not only training for this but also raising money for Cancer Research UK, as it's a cause very close to all our hearts." First off was the women's team. Claire Derham, Janice Veleke, Nadine Jenkins and Nicola Morris took almost 14 minutes off the record, lowering the mark to two hours 57 minutes 7.3 seconds (2:05.9/500m). Special mention to Nadine who was in a car accident the day before and, despite some discomfort, still rowed up to and above expectations. Double World Indoor Champion Graham Benton led the charge in the mixed team attempt, along with Celia Rumbold, Kelly Sapsford and Chris Brett, setting a new record of two hours 31 minutes 43.3 seconds (1:47.8/500m). Each person rowed 5x2,000m while Benton rowed a 6th 2,000m to finish things off and even managed a sprint to the finish line pulling 1:23s! Both Kelly and Celia managed to get within 11 seconds of their 2000m PBs during their 5x2,000 metres! The men's team included European Indoor Champion and former World Champion Nik Fleming along with Andy Sangster, John O'Grady and Steve Sanders. Their target to beat was two hours 24 minutes 29 seconds, and they made it clear from the start that they wanted to break two hours 20 minutes. They did exactly what they said they would by lowering the record to two hours 19 minutes 44.4 seconds. (1:39.3/500m) Last but not least was the 10-man 50,000m sprint relay, a distance that gives you the feeling of a 100,000m relay in just half the time. Eight heavyweights and two lightweights took their place in the first ever 50,000m. Sam Jenkins, Jon Goodall, Rob Smith, Kevin Peebles, Graham Parker, John Davies, Pete Marston, Phil Morris, Wullie Brown and Mark Mitchell did the sprinting with Martyn Low as assistant/seat holder. Rowing in 10-12 stroke bursts, Sam Jenkins kicked things off by pulling 1:08s right from the off, which ended up being the lowest split pulled, followed closely by Jon Goodall, Kev Peebles and Rob Smith who managed to peak at 1:09 splits. Mark Mitchell regularly pulled 1:15 splits, which for a Lightweight is impressive indeed. Their final time was two hours 15 minutes 38.7 seconds. (1:21.3/500m). "We're all feeling quite sore after that one," said Jon Goodall "but it's an enjoyable distance and one I think a lot of teams will enjoy racing! I certainly hope to race in another 50,000m in the near future, as do everyone else on the team." All four teams finished within a few minutes of each other, so as one team finished, they then moved on to the next team to cheer them to the finish line. In summary, Graham Benton said: "It's been an incredible day and to see so many in action was very special. We have all been busy raising money for Cancer Research UK over the last month leading up to this and are still accepting donations at www.justgiving.com/madweekend so would really appreciate any extra donations." ========================================================= Forthcoming Races and Events ========================================================= Name: Evesham Golden Mile Date: 09/07/05 Venue: Evesham Rowing Club Distance: 1,609m Organiser: Eddie Fletcher Contact: T: 01386 40050 E: eddie@fletchersportscience.co.uk Other: As well as phoning or emailing Eddie Fletcher for an entry form, you can write to 15 Coldicott Gardens, Evesham, WR11 2JW Name: Castle Combe 1 Rowathlon Date: 24/07/05 Venue: Castle Combe Distance: 2k row, 16k bike, 3k run Organiser: Rowing Triathlon Contact: E: info@rowingtriathlon.com Website: www.concept2.co.uk/rowathlon/ Other: First race in the 2005 Concept 2 British Rowathlon series. ____________________________________________________FEEDBACK You like? 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