================================================================ INDOOR ROWING NEWSLETTER #136 ======================== 13-January-2006 ========================= _________________________________________________ C O N T E N T S 1. English IRC 2. Steve Redgrave's Liverpool 8 3. Atlantic Rowing Race 4. 2006 World IRC 5. Sponsored Marathon Row: Trevor Keep 6. Reader's Stories: Nick Gittings 7. Online Ranking Challenge Sponsored by Gaiam 8. PM3 Software Competition Winner and Firmware Update 9. 24-Hour Royal Navy Charity Row 10. Distance Award Scheme 11. Training Days 12. Tel's Tales: New Year's Resolutions 13. 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. Indoor Rowing Glossary ***************** A guide to some of the more common terms used in indoor rowing can be found at http://www.concept2.co.uk/rowing/glossary.php ========================================================= 2006 English IRC ========================================================= The English IRC is the new name for the old North of England IRC. It takes place on January 29th at the Manchester Velodrome and is the second biggest race in the country after the British IRC. As well as taking place in an ace venue, and also providing you with a nifty chance to call yourself an English indoor rowing champion, this year's race will also see the TV cameras present, as Sir Steve Redgrave and his Liverpool 8 squad (see below for more details) will be attending as part of the selection procedure. The deadline for entry is Wednesday, 18th of January. Entry forms and contact details are available from http://www.concept2.co.uk/racing/calendar_uk.php?id=164. ========================================================= Steve Redgrave's Redgrave Liverpool 8 ========================================================= Five times Olympic gold medallist (and president of the British IRC) Sir Steve Redgrave faces possibly his biggest challenge yet - turning a squad of youngsters from Liverpool into top class rowers. The sporting legend has taken up the challenge of transforming eight lads into rowing stars to compete at the highest level of the sport in Britain - and take on the experts at the Henley Royal Regatta. The programme, provisionally titled Steve Redgrave's Liverpool 8 and to be broadcast on ITV in the autumn, will be an enormous challenge for Sir Steve and every bit as tough as racing for gold. Liverpool 8 is the postcode for Toxteth – the depressed area of Liverpool that still lives in the shadow of the riots that happened there in 1981. In nine days of rioting 140 buildings were destroyed, 1000 police were injured and a rioter was killed. Twenty-five years on many of the same problems that ignited the riots still blight Toxteth. Unemployment in L8 is three times higher than in the rest of Britain and the crime rate is more than double. And race is still a huge factor in L8's sense of social exclusion. Most of the young, mostly black male population have been kicked out of school, on to the dole and straight into trouble. More than half the population in the area are black or mixed race. Young black guys dominate the dole queues and the lists of those excluded from the area's struggling schools. The Henley Regatta in July next year coincides with the twenty-fifth anniversary of the riots, which is why Sir Steve has chosen Toxteth as the place to test his belief that sport and training can help repair fractured communities and give young people the personal strength they need to build better lives To get the best squad, Sir Steve is putting together a team of expert coaches, trainers and nutritionists. Among them are his wife, Dr Lady Ann Redgrave, the former medical advisor to the British Olympic rowing team, who will support the squad through injuries and accidents. In the build up to the 2012 London Olympics, the time couldn't be more right for Sir Steve's mission. Sir Steve said of the project: "I'm extremely excited about Liverpool 8. Taking a bunch of young guys who've never rowed before and giving them the tools and the motivation to try out for the Henley Regatta is a massive challenge, but I'm going to give it everything. "There are people in the world of rowing telling me that taking a team with no skills and no experience to the level required to compete at Henley isn't possible. Certainly, I would have liked more time, but that just makes me more determined. "For me it's not just about whether I can help these guys understand what it takes to become athletes. It's about what taking part in sport can do for you as a person. It can teach you that if you set yourself a goal and have the determination to push yourself to the limit, then you can achieve almost anything." ========================================================= Atlantic Rowing Race ========================================================= If you were anything like us, your Christmas involved heroic attempts to eat as much food as possible while trying to avoid all movement. Getting the TV remote from the other side of the room involved base camps and sherpas. A thought should be spared therefore, for the competitors in the Atlantic Rowing Race, who spent their Christmas chugging across a lonely ocean. Impressively, a team of four from Devon has already won the race. Finishing in a time of just over 39 days, they were over 800 miles ahead of the rest of the field, who are all still out there as we speak. At the moment, second place, and the prize of fastest pair, looks likely to go to indoor rowing legend James Cracknell and his crewmate Ben Fogle, former star of reality TV show Castaway. Ben and James, who are rowing in the nude, (something to do with chafing they reckon) are currently tearing up the course, having rowed a record 115 miles yesterday. They're currently estimated to finish on or around the 18th of January. Also doing well are Dan Darley and Rich Dewire of team Atlantic Prince, who are currently eighth and who broke the million metre two-man record as part of their preparation for the event. Former British IRC doctors Becky Thorpe and Steph Temperton are in the boat Making Waves, and they're currently just over half-way through the 2,931 mile course. You can follow the progress of all the boats at http://www.atlanticrowingrace.co.uk/ James and Ben's website is: http://www.2meninaboat.com/ Dan and Rich's website is: http://www.atlanticprince.com/ Becky and Steph's website is: http://www.makingwaves2005.org/ ========================================================= 2006 World IRC ========================================================= The 25th World Indoor Rowing Championship (http://www.concept2.co.uk/wirc/) takes place in Boston, USA, on February 25th, at the new venue of the Agganis Arena. This means we also have a new team hotel of the Hyatt Regency. To enter, simply download an entry from http://www.concept2.co.uk/wirc/entryform.php and send it into us along with a cheque for £10. As well as entry to the race, all members of the British team will receive a free team t-shirt as well as the full support of the management team and team doctor plus various organised events, such as team talks, team photographs and a post-race party at the Hyatt. This year's management team is once again made up of a team captain in renowned human performance coach Bernie Shrosbree and a coach in the shape of Eddie Fletcher. You can find out more about these two at http://www.concept2.co.uk/wirc/news.php?story=team_officials. As well as the free t-shirt, there are also other items of kit available to be purchased, including an all-in-one, a training top and a long-sleeved DryKit T-Shirt. You can find out more information, and ordering details, at http://www.concept2.co.uk/forum/viewtopic.php?t=9542. ========================================================= Sponsored Marathon Row: Trevor Keep ========================================================= Trevor Keep: "On the 13th November this year, just on the stroke of the end of the two minutes silence for Remembrance Sunday, I rowed a marathon on my Concept2 Indoor Rower, raising monies for Macmillan Cancer Relief. It took me just over 2 hours and 39 minutes, which I was extremely pleased with given that this was my first attempt at doing this. In total I hope to have raised between £3,000 and £4,000 for Macmillan, which has become a charity very close to my heart following the death of my father to Cancer last year. Following the effort I owe a big vote of thanks to my immediate family for supporting me through what was a very painful fund raising exercise and to all my sponsors for their generous donations." Thanks a lot for the report Trevor, and congratulations on both the marathon and raising so much money for a worthwhile cause. If anybody else has put the Indoor Rower to good purpose, write to us at editor@concept2.co.uk. ========================================================= Reader's Stories: Nick Gittings ========================================================= IT consultant Nick Gittings is an indoor rowing success story. Burdened by too much extra weight and a lifestyle that was far from healthy, Nick decided to do something about it, and fortunately for him, discovered indoor rowing on the way. Nick lost a stunning nine stone on his weight loss programme – going from 27 stone 11 lbs to just over 18 stone in 18 months - and got so enthusiastic about his indoor rowing and new found fitness, he decided to have a crack at the 2,000 metre race distance at the 2005 British Indoor Rowing Championship, a challenge widely acknowledged as one of sport's toughest. Here is his story… "Absolutely amazing, that's the only way to describe the feeling I had, as I "rolled" off the Model D at the British IRC this year. Having achieved the weight losses that I had, my love of the Indoor Rower had increased and I now had one at home. This was so that I could work out even more to increase my fitness, stamina and hunt those faster times! "For the three months working up to the championship, my aim was to try and improve on my 2,000 metre personal best of 6:46.3. Reality struck home when two weeks before the competition I realised that my normal three times a week on the Indoor Rower had diminished considerably and I started to panic about the competition. I then proceeded to work on my 2,000 metre sprints that culminated in a rather disappointing seven minute time two days before the competition. "I did a light session of 20 minutes on the machine the day before and got to bed early so that I would be refreshed for the race the following day. I turned up, registered and went to get changed. As I walked into the arena I realised the enormity of the event, and thought to myself 'this seemed like a good idea at the time'. I did some light stretching and then proceeded to the holding area for my race. Once we were marshalled into the race area and onto our machines it all seemed 'very real'. "I got myself settled and then we were off! That's about the last thing I remember about the race! The next thing I remember is seeing my time appear on the display showing a time of 6:41.9. Needless to say I was extremely happy with breaking my personal best. "My intention now is to take more of a scientific approach to the training and I am going to establish a tailored training programme from Eddie Fletcher, who is the coach for the World IRC team. I am looking forward to improving my times and losing more weight in the process. I am extremely excited about the future and I am looking forward to competing in the British IRC next year and have also decided to compete at the World Indoor Rowing Championship in February in the USA. Who would have thought it?" ========================================================= Online Ranking Challenge Sponsored by Gaiam ========================================================= Every month, Concept2 offers British users of the Online World Ranking and Logbook (http://www.concept2.com/sranking03/) the chance to win some excellent prizes provided by Gaiam (http://www.gaiamdirect.co.uk). To win, all you have to do is either row and log over 50,000 metres in the course of the month for adults, 20,000 metres for under 18s and 10,000 metres for under 15s, or to complete that month's ranking challenge. The challenge for December was 10,000m and the winners were: 10,000m Ranking Challenge 4 x Powerbreathe Sport John Braine, Totteridge Liz Laker, Truro Duncan Napier, Paisley Ben Smith, Plymouth 4 x Gaiam Sports Conditioning Kit Jeff Anderson, Ashignton Martin Crossley, Leicester Jackie Hicks, Long Ditton Gareth Marlow, Cardiff Distance Awards (Prize: 2 x Gaiam Stretching Starter Kits) Under 15s (10,000m+) Tanzy Leitner, Bedford Owen Williams, Hampshire Under 18s (20,000m+) Max Mercer, North Yorkshire Chris Scott, Godalming Adults (50,000m+) Alex Brown, Nottingham Andrew Lomax, London The January challenge is the O'Neill Fitness Test. Here the aim is to cover as many metres as possible in 4 minutes. You can then compare your performance to a table to give you a grading from below average up to excellent. The chart covers an age range from 10-90 for men and women, heavyweight and lightweight: http://www.concept2.co.uk/training/oneill_test.php. ========================================================= 24-Hour Charity Royal Navy Row ========================================================= Royal Navy Physical Training Instructors from HMS Raleigh have been testing their mettle on a rowing machine this week during a 24-hour row to raise money for Cancer Research UK. Commodore David Pond, the Commanding Officer of HMS Raleigh, started the 'Charity Endurathon 2005' at 9 a.m. and the event ran through the night, ending at 9 a.m. the next day. All 22 members of HMS Raleigh's PT department took part, rowing at least two 30- minute slots during the 24-hour period. In total they rowed 349,248 metres, which is equivalent to just over 218 miles, raising around £375 for this worthwhile cause. The event was organised by Leading Physical Trainer Simon Backhouse, who lives in Ivybridge and who lost his father to cancer last year. Originally from Cambridgeshire, Simon, aged 26, has previously raised around £3,500 for Cancer Research during a sponsored cycle ride and a similar event on a rowing machine during his time on the minesweeper, HMS Ledbury. Simon, who joined the Royal Navy in 1999, contributed 23,018 metres to the total distance rowed during three stints on the rowing machine. He said: "Cancer is a common illness that affects one in three people. Since my Dad contracted the illness three years ago I have done whatever I can to raise money for Cancer Research. We were all pretty fatigued the following morning. Although we intended to sleep, when we weren't on the rowing machine the atmosphere in the Gym was buzzing and we all ended up staying awake for most of the night. I'm really grateful for all the money donated. As my Gran says, every penny helps." ========================================================= PM3 Software Competition Winner ========================================================= Last year, Concept2 ran a software development competition for the PM3 monitor. The winner has now been announced and is Scott Michael from Boone Iowa, USA. His application extends the functionality of the PM3 when connected to a PC. Scott's software offers several functions, including: easy workout upload to the online log, menu driven workout setup, and multiple charting options (chart pace, spm, HR, etc.) on one graph. You can download Scott's software, for free, from http://homepages.isunet.net/smichael/rowit/. Also new in the world of the PM3 is a new version of the firmware. Version 90 of the firmware corrects a few problems such as "240" errors, the LogCard "overfull" condition, and the issue where incorrect pace information was displayed in the first stroke of an interval workout. Additionally, Version 90 offers the following features: ? Full support for Venue Racing ? Compatibility with Version 3.0.2 of the LogCard Utility ? Mac compatibility ? Shorter PM3 shut off time (1 minute vs. 4 minutes) when the PM3 is displaying the Main Menu ? Ability to switch LogCard users without removing the LogCard ? The addition of a 2-second grace period for starting intervals For more information on the update, or to download it for free, visit http://www.concept2.com/05/rower/service/pm3_update.asp. ========================================================= Distance Award Scheme ========================================================= At Concept2, we know that sometimes motivation to exercise can go missing. We also know that it's nice to receive recognition if you have managed to stick at something. The Million Metre Clubs aim to reward those of you who use the machine month after month and year after year. To join a club, you don't need to be fast, you just need to be determined. Everybody who reaches a milestone will receive either a free badge or a free medal. Once you've reached a million metres, you can also buy a nifty and exclusive t- shirt for £12.00. To become a member of a Million Metre Club, all you need to do is record your metres, either by downloading the Training Log (http://www.concept2.co.uk/training/log.php) or by using something like a spreadsheet, start rowing, then fill it in after each session. Then, when you've finished get it signed and send the first and last pages to us and we'll send you your reward. Alternatively you can enter all your times on-line in the On-line World Ranking and Logbook (http://www.concept2.com/sranking03/) and just drop us an email at info@concept2.co.uk. Remember, it doesn't matter how long it takes you to reach your goal: this is definitely something where it's just the taking part that counts! ========================================================= Training Days ========================================================= Following upon his successful pre-British IRC training days, Eddie Fletcher will be holding training days pre-Manchester and pre-Boston on Saturday 21st January and Saturday 11th February. Cost will be £88.00 per person. In addition he will be running an Instructors course on Saturday, 4th February at a cost of £117.50 per person. The location will be David Lloyds Health Club, West Bridgford Nottingham for all three events. To book your place, email or telephone Eddie on eddie@fletchersportscience.co.uk or 01386 40050/07711092733. ========================================================= Tel's Tales: New Year's Resolutions ========================================================= Prepare yourself for the post yuletide barrage of diets and detox propaganda that we will be subjected to in the coming days. Also prepare yourself for the fact that, as in previous years, they won't work. To understand why they don't work you have to get down to real issues involving evolution, nutrition, physiology, thermodynamics and social pressure. No wonder we keep looking for the quick fix. In this article I have simplified the reason why we put on weight and how best to deal with it. Man has been around for about 50,000 years. About 10,000 years ago agriculture began; until then man was a hunter-gatherer. The diet was a mixture of feast and famine, when there was game and berries available, our predecessors would gorge themselves and when they were hungry they would go out and look for more food. The body evolved a very efficient storage system that enabled man to survive long periods of starvation. Even when the agricultural age started, things did not improve that much. At harvest time there was an abundance of food and although the principle of storage existed there were still long periods of hunger. So for the majority of time man has existed, he has evolved to deal with deprivation. In my lifetime this has changed in western societies to a time of abundance. So the first problem is we are walking around in a land of milk and honey in a body designed to cope with famine. The food that we eat is broken down into its component parts via enzyme activity in the digestive process. Everything we eat converts to simple sugars, amino acids or fatty acids, which pass into the blood stream. Here the simple sugars and fatty acids can be burned off as energy through muscle activity while any surplus will be converted to body fat. Balancing the calories in to the calories out will mean no laying down of new body fat. If you want to burn off stored fat, however, you have to create a calorie deficit. Body fat is stored as globules in adiposities. These are holding cells where the fat is waiting to be called on to revert to fatty acids to supply energy to working muscles. However if in the mean time you have another meal then the body fat just piles up. It gets worse, new research indicates that the fat cells are able to grow new fat cells known as dysfunctional fat cells. In terms of scale, what are we talking about? It is not unreasonable to increase body fat by 500gms from one meal taking about an hour. This is enough fat to supply 4500cals. To shift it could take a week of increased activity for two reasons. Reversing the process of converting stored fat is far more complex and takes more time than laying it down. Also fat is used in conjunction with carbohydrates for energy, so the total energy needed to shift the fat would be closer to 10,000cals when accounting for the carbs. Applying the principle of prevention being better than cure the best thing to do is to watch what we eat. The problem here is if we go onto a regime that is too onerous then we will not stick to it. There is a social side to eating and drinking; we don't just do it to survive. Also we like eating fatty foods, they taste the best so we have to make a compromise. The first step is to try to stop or reduce the laying down of new fat. If you have a meal break of an hour, use half of it to eat and the other half to walk. This will burn the fatty acids on their way to the store. Don't eat large meals late at night but instead make your main meal your breakfast, so you are applying the principle of fuelling prior to activity. These simple changes will reduce the storage of new fat but, to attack existing fat stores, you need to cut down on the calories you take in and increase the calories you burn through exercise. ========================================================= Forthcoming Races And Events ========================================================= Name: Surrey 4.5 IRC Date: 14/01/06 Venue: TBC Distance: 805m, 3,000m, 3.5 minute relay Organiser: Phil Morris T: +353 (0)87 259 2755 E: thepirate@teammorris.fsnet.co.uk Name: English IRC Date: 29/01/06 Venue: Manchester Velodrome Distance: 2,000m Organiser: Martin Davies and Matt Rostron E: Martin.C.Davies@btinternet.com E: matt.rostron@crown.com Name: Scottish IRC Date: 05/02/06 Venue: Wishaw Sports Centre, Wishaw Distance: 2,000m Organiser: David Hislop E: DavidSHis@aol.com W: http://www.scottish-rowing.org.uk Name: World IRC Date: 25/02/06 Venue: Agganis Arena, Boston, USA Distance: 2,000m Organiser: Concept2 E: info@concept2.co.uk W: http://concept2.co.uk/wirc/ ____________________________________________________FEEDBACK You like? 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