============================================================ INDOOR ROWING NEWSLETTER #45 ====================== 21-September-2001 ====================== _________________________________________________ C O N T E N T S 1. Anna Bailey 2. Payment Plans 3. PPP healthcare British Indoor Rowing Championship 4. Spot The Erg 5. Tel's Tales #1 6. Birmingham IRC 7. Northern Ireland 100,000 Metres Team Event 8. Indoor Rowing Grand Prix 9. Ward Evans Atlantic Row 10. Instructor Course 11. Tel's Tales #2 12. Statuesque 13. Forthcoming Events ________________________________________________________________ ========================================================= Anna Bailey: New World Record Holder ========================================================= Competing at last weekend's Birmingham IRC [see report below], Anna Bailey, from One on One Fitness Worcester, had the race of her lifetime to not only win the 50-59 Hwt category in 7:09.6, but also set a new British and world record, boshing a full seven seconds off Merete Boldt's previous best. Anna has recently started working with a coach, and this seems to have helped her improve by leaps and bounds as she still reckons she's got a bit left in the tank. "My last step test predicted around 7.06, which I had scoffed at, but it would seem to be more accurate than I thought! I can't wait to try and nibble away at the time." Anna's going to be competing at the Nuneaton and Bedworth IRC this weekend, and we reckon there's a fair old chance that we'll be returning to this story in a fortnight's time... For all the latest British and World records, see http://www.concept2.co.uk/v4/brit_world_records.htm ========================================================= Payment Plans ========================================================= The last time we got involved with a payment plan, we borrowed money from Fat Harry to cover a load of garden gnomes we'd brought in a sale. That one turned pretty nasty and we had to return a couple of the little chaps sharpish rather than risk having a really bad Chinese burn. Some payment plans are pretty cool, however, and in that spirit there's now ones available for the Indoor Rower and Concept 2 DYNO. Each one is based around an initial payment followed by three further monthly direct debit instalments. Basically, you can order as much stuff as you like, add on 30 quid, divide it all by four and voila, that's your four monthly payments. Easy-peasy, and much easier to understand than Fat Harry's byzantine terms. For more information, contact sales@concept2.co.uk or call 0115 945 5522. ========================================================= PPP healthcare British Indoor Rowing Championship ========================================================= Sunday, 18th of November at the National Indoor Arena, Birmingham. Harry Mahon Cancer Research Trust -------------------------------------------------- The official charity of this year's championship is the Harry Mahon Cancer Research Trust, established after the death of one of rowing's most respected coaches and trainers earlier this year. The Trust was set up to obtain funding to support cancer research in the United Kingdom. It was Harry's wish that funds would be raised to make a substantial contribution to some area of either basic or applied research. The first goal of Harry's Fund will be to establish some significant infrastructure that will support cancer research and that can be named after him. Ideally, this will be a research laboratory focussed on cancer research in an environment where patients are regularly being treated. As a goal for this initial fund raising effort, they are looking to raise 500,000 pounds. For more about the Harry Mahon Cancer Research Trust, along with sponsorship forms and info on how to make a donation, check out http://www.concept2.co.uk/birc/news.php?news=harry_mahon.inc Training Programme -------------------------------------------------- Terry O'Neill's final 6 week training block for BIRC 2001 is now posted on the BIRC web site at http://www.concept2.co.uk/birc/news.php?news=telsplan.inc The aim of the fourth phase is to get you rowing at a pace and intensity relevant to the competition. By breaking down the race distance into smaller chunks, you'll be able to train at a higher intensity for longer and the total time spent in the range is increased. After this block, there's just the two week taper period left, and then the Big Day. Entry Limits -------------------------------------------------- We've had 10 times the number of entries as we had at this point last year, and despite the move to a much bigger venue, we're going to have to cap the number of competitors at 3,000. If you've been following Tel's training programme from the start, or indeed one of your own creation, it represents a huge amount of time and effort invested in your preparation so if you are gonna take part at this year's BIRC make sure you get your entry in as soon as possible as it's likely to hit the cap before the official closing date of October 26th. If you've sown the seed then do the deed, get those entries rolling in and avoid disappointment Go to http://www.concept2.co.uk/birc/entryform.php e-mail birc@concept2.co.uk or phone 0115 945 5522. ========================================================= Spot The Erg ========================================================= Spot The Erg is both the name of an irregular feature in this newsletter and also a highly unsuccessful range of children's books. Our thanks this fortnight go to Richard Butter and family for pointing us in the direction of the sports pages of last Sunday's People. There, Derek McCafferty talks about how he's going to beat golden boy and Olympic boxing champion Audley Harrison when they meet this Saturday. Despite the fact that on paper McCafferty's boxing record is only slightly more impressive than that of Dale Winton's - two wins and three losses - he reckons that he's got the edge this time as he's been hard in training. Anyway, what with this being the Indoor Rowing News and all, we'll leave you to guess what piece of equipment he uses regularly and which he was photographed on for the article. Unfortunately, we fear all his preparation is now in vain, as his appearance here means the full weight of the Indoor Rowing News curse (which has already sunk Pete Goss, Luke Milligan and a girl from Survivor) will undoubtedly have Mister William Hill lengthening the odds accordingly. ========================================================= Tel's Tales #1 ========================================================= If you've got a question about any aspect of indoor rowing, drop three times Olympic rowing coach Terry O'Neill a line at tels-tales@concept2.co.uk. He generally doesn't even need someone coughing to tell him the answers. Philip Dyer: "Having caught the indoor rowing bug three years ago I have been showing steady improvement from my original time of 7:40 for 2,000 metres down to 6:37. This time was achieved during the North of England championships. Having prepared by doing interval training, when I eventually entered the competition I suffered. After the race I could not stand, it took me at least ten minutes to stop panting and then I started to get pains in my kidneys, which resulted in me passing water every hour throughout the night. Is this normal? "I am preparing for the British IRC, and feel capable of a 6:28. What can I do to ensure that I don't suffer the same outcome as the last time?" Terry O'Neill: No, this is not normal, certainly in the sense that it does not happen to the majority of people. On the other hand, however, it can happen to people who generate a lot of power anaerobically. When you row 2,000 metres flat out, what makes it such a physical challenge is not the total amount of work you do, but the rate at which you are burning up the calories. Other sports that consume energy at this rate, like the 400 metres high hurdles, only last for around one minute, but in your case you are going on for 6:30. This causes a massive oxygen debt and a build up of CO2 and Lactic acid in the blood stream; the higher the anaerobic contribution, the higher these levels will be. The heavy panting is primarily to get rid of the CO2. As for the kidney pain, the high levels of lactate carried in the blood would have changed its pH from alkaline to acidic, and this would cause the discomfort and burning sensation. The repeated passing of water is the body's way of flushing out the kidneys and restoring the body to normal. During this process you need to keep drinking water to avoid dehydration, which will only aggravate the condition. If it were to persist you would need to refer the problem to a doctor. One way you could try to reduce the ill effects is to make sure you are fully hydrated before the race and rehydrate as soon as possible afterwards by constantly sipping water. ========================================================= Birmingham IRC ========================================================= The first Birmingham Indoor Rowing Championship took place on September 16th at Cocks Moors Woods Leisure Centre. The full results can be found at http://www.concept2.co.uk/v4/local.htm. Organiser Paul Robertshaw has provided the following report: With over 80 entries, the Birmingham IRC provided an excellent opportunity for competitors to gauge their fitness for the forthcoming season. About half of the entries were first time competitors, most of whom seemed sufficiently enthusiastic about the competition to commit themselves to continuing to the British Championships. The highlight of the afternoon's competition was without a doubt, the new world record in the 50-59 Hwt Women's Category. Anna Bailey, in only her second season of Indoor Rowing knocked 7 seconds off the old record, reducing it to 7:09.6. This remarkable achievement was made to look reasonably easy, and there is no doubt that Anna will further revise the record latter on in the season. Toughest competition on the day was easily the Men's 30-39 Hwt division, with four out of the top five times being posted by competitors in this division. In the final race of the afternoon, Andrew Sansom from Reading prevailed in the last few strokes over Chris Smith from Derby. With Marcus Harvey, posting the third fastest time of the day to win the male 40-49 Hwt category, and only four seconds covering these three, this final race proved typical of the hard fought competitions of many of the earlier heats. Other competitors worthy of note include James Syrotiuk, a member of a Birmingham Swimming Club, from West Hagley in Worcestershire who at 16 years old and in only his first competition posted the impressive time of 6:47.6. Second overall in the women's competition went to Maria Scotland, again in only her first competition. Her time of 8:08.0 was also sufficient to help Cannons Health Club, Northampton to a narrow win in the team competition. ========================================================= Northern Ireland 100,000 Metres Challenge ========================================================= The Depot Royal Irish Regiment hosted the first Northern Ireland 100,000 metre Indoor Rowing Team challenge on Wednesday 15th August at St Patrick's Barracks, Ballymena. The competition was open to all units serving in Northern Ireland, and after a handful of teams were forced to withdraw at the last minute for operational reasons, six teams competed. The First Battalion Coldstream Guards finished in second position in 5:34:40, while the Depot Royal Irish team took the honours with a very respectable time of 5:28:40. The Depot team also raised over 500 pounds for the George Sloan Centre and the Royal Irish Benevolent Fund charities. Full results at http://www.concept2.co.uk/v4/local.htm ========================================================= Indoor Rowing Grand Prix 2001/2 ========================================================= So last newsletter, we announced the launch of the Indoor Rowing Grand Prix series, which draws together four of the biggest regional races around. The reaction we've got since then proves that there's, like, loads of you well up for racing, and we've had a lot of questions about the nuts, screws, washers and bolts of it all. Below you can find a list of some of the more commonly asked questions. The first race in the series is the Irish IRC on the 9th of December. For entry forms and race details, check out the web site at http://www.concept2.co.uk/gp I don't fit in any of the age categories. Can I still compete? -------------------------------------------------- Each race will have its own age categories apart from the Grand Prix ones, with some races including 500 metre and team events. Check the entry forms for each race to find out what other events are on offer. What happens if I change age categories between races? -------------------------------------------------- The age category for all Grand Prix events is the date of the first race in the series, i.e. December 9th. However, this does *not* affect which race category you race in. For example; someone who turns 50 between the Irish and East Midlands IRC would compete in the Irish race in the 40-49 race category and the 40-49 Grand Prix category. At the East Midlands IRC they'd compete in the 50-59 race, but score GP points based on where they'd have finished in the 40-49 race. How many races do I have to compete in? -------------------------------------------------- You can compete in as many or as few of the races as you want. When it comes to calculating final Grand Prix standings, only your top three results will count, so even if you miss one race you could still walk away with the top prize. What are the prizes? -------------------------------------------------- The prizes on offer for podium finishes for each championship vary depending on the race and are at the discretion of the race organiser. If you finish in the top three for your category at the end of the Grand Prix series, you'll get a special Grand Prix medal of the appropriate hue. There may be extra stuff depending on what sponsorship deals get tied up. Will there be more events added in the future? -------------------------------------------------- Almost certainly. The aim is for the Grand Prix series to have a similar relationship to British sport as Godzilla does with Tokyo, so we'll definitely be looking into expanding and adding to the circuit in future seasons. ========================================================= Ward Evans Atlantic Row ========================================================= The Ward Evans Atlantic Row Challenge kicks off on the 7th of October, when 36 teams of amateur rowers set off from Los Gigantes harbour in Tenerife, all aiming to be the first to arrive at Port St Charles in Barbados, 2,900 miles away. Whilst most teams will complete the voyage in 50 to 100 days, the challenge of the 2001 race will be to beat the 1997 time of 41 days set by New Zealanders Rob Hamill and Phil Stubbs. You can follow the progress of the boats on the official web site at http://www.wearc.com. Incidentally, fellow Kiwi Garth MacLeod points out that Rob Hamill used to be the 30-39 Hwt record holder for the old 2,500 metre distance in 7:51. To celebrate the race, the River and Rowing Museum in Henley-on-Thames will be opening a new special exhibition on September 25: By Oar Across the Atlantic. Looking at the amazing feat of rowing the oceans, the exhibition will feature a boat from the 1997 Ward Evans Atlantic Challenge - the Cellnet Atlantic Challenge - rowed by George Rock and Simon Chalk. Visitors can see actual equipment used by George and Simon during their epic voyage, in addition to a week's worth of stores to show what this year's crews will need to take with them in order to survive. On Sunday, November 25, Mark Stubbs, a participant from the 1997 race, will be recounting his experiences in a lecture at the museum. The talk will start at 11:00am for 11:30am and tickets cost 6 pounds (5 pounds for members) and include coffee. For further information and to book tickets, call 01491 415605/7 or check out their web site at http://www.rrm.co.uk ========================================================= Instructor Courses ========================================================= Feedback from a recent Instructor Course in Watford: "A well structured course" "Saw benefit for unfit or GP referred clients, as in the past I was scared to put them on with injuries or heart problems" "Friendly and relaxed presenters" "Excellent course, very professional instructors" "Well presented, well structured, very informative" "Excellent instructors" "Very enjoyable day" Next courses: Watford, Thursday 20 October 2001 Nottingham, Wednesday 28 November 2001. Contact Concept 2 on info@concept2.co.uk or 0115 945 5522 for further details. ========================================================= Tel's Tales #2 ========================================================= For those of you who have been following the weights programme (http://www.concept2.co.uk/birc/news.php?news=weightplan.inc) I know that you may have been experiencing problems in setting the circuit up. There are two things that I want to do here, the first is to explain in more detail the rationale and the second is to try to get from you some feedback as to whether it is working. When you line up for a 2,000 metre race the winner completes it in the fastest time and so has generated more power. The work is the same for everyone: you have to get the flywheel to rotate a sufficient number of revs to complete 2,000 metres. (There is of course the cost of effort that will differ for everyone but we will leave that to one side at the moment). Work over time is power, you need strength to do the work and speed to develop power. Traditional weight training focuses on strength and is measured by how much weight is lifted in a one rep max. For a weightlifter this is fine because their competitions do not involve the time it takes them to get the weight up. However, when you are racing, you have around 0.6 of a second to complete the drive phase of the stroke. Compared to what some people can lift in a one rep max, the load is not that high on the rowing machine. You know the time frame that you have to complete the drive phase in and if you can move a greater load within that time frame then you are producing more power. The risk of traditional weight training, which concentrates on the load, is that although you increase the amount you lift, the time it is taking could mean that you are actually developing less power and consequently you are conditioning your muscles to work in the opposite way to how you need them to work during the race. The weight programme I devised takes into account a need to increase strength, develop speed and to bring them together to meet the specific load and stroke rate of competition. When I worked out the circuit I envisaged one bar with a fixed weight, the hand barbell and maybe a disc for the dorsal raise and crunchies and that was all the weights. With a fixed weight some of the exercises would have felt harder than others. You would only need lots of equipment if lots of people were doing the circuit at the same time. If you total up the kilos you have lifted during the circuit you will be amazed at how much it is and it will be greater than if you had done a traditional heavy weights session. The difficulty in writing programmes that you are not then closely monitoring as in a normal coach and athlete situation is that you are unable to make the adjustments that are necessary to all training programmes. What I need to know from you is has it had the desired effect? Has anyone changed over from traditional weights and found it beneficial or not? And using the principles I've explained how can we improve the circuit using your experiences?. ========================================================= Statuesque ========================================================= Steve Redgrave is a man accustomed to making sparks, but now SPARKS have made Steve Redgrave (copyright Rubbish Puns 2001). That is to say, the Sport Aiding medical Research for KidS Vice-President has been immortalised in a bronze cast by renowned sculptor, Nicholas Dimbleby, and the results are set to be featured in the Royal Academy's summer exhibition in June. The cast is a life-size copy of Sir Steven's torso and required a man known for his movement and athleticism to sit very still for hours on end. A limited edition of 6 casts have been made, and SPARKS hopes to raise much spondoolies by auctioning one of them off. Thanks to the generosity of Nicholas Dimbleby and Sir Steve Redgrave, all monies raised from the sale of these bronzes will fund vital medical research for children. The project came about after SPARKS founder Jimmy Hill asked Sir Steven if he was willing to sit for a cast. If you want to know more about the casts and their auction, check out the SPARKS web site at http://www.sparks.org.uk or drop them a line at info@sparks.org.uk ========================================================= Forthcoming Events ========================================================= Name: Dragon Boat Festival Date: 22nd September Venue: Bewl Water, Kent Distance: One minute challenge Other: Fun day out for all the family. Sponsored by PPP healthcare, all money raised goes to charity. Name: Nuneaton and Bedworth IRC Date: 23rd September Venue: Dimensions Gyms, Bedworth Distance: 2,000 metres Other: Closing date for entries 11th September Contact: Stuart Gealy Tel: 0247 631 7702 or e-mail Monique Raaijmakers at monique.raaijmakers@nuneaton-bedworthbc.gov.uk Name: Imperial Cancer 100,000 metre Challenge Date: 7th October Venue: Havant Leisure Centre, Hampshire Distance: 100,000 metre team event Other: Contact: Robert Piggott, Tel: 02392 476026 Name: Rower's Revenge Triathlon Date: 7th October Venue: Higginson Park, Marlow Distance: 4,000 metre row, 25,000 metre cycle, 7,500 metre run Other: Annual event Contact: Mike Spencer-Jones, E-mail: mikes-j@tinyonline.co.uk Web: http://www.rowersrevenge.co.uk Name: Nottinghamshire IRC Date: 27th October Venue: Newark RC Distance, 500 metres, 2000 metres, one minute event for Under 12s Other: Closing date for entry: 21st October. Entry fee: 5 pounds Contact: Graham Price, Tel: 07970 136054, E-mail: gprice@keymax.co.uk ______________________________________________________FEEDBACK Like what you read? Dislike what you read? Ideas for future newsletters? Spotted a really silly error that would have been picked up by an eight year old pruf-reader? Make sure to tell us at webmaster@concept2.co.uk. Or, of course, you could always say something at our message board: http://www.concept2.co.uk/messageboard.htm. Oh go on. _____________________________________________________BACK ISSUES Back issues of the Indoor Rowing News are now available on-line at http://www.concept2.co.uk/v4/newsletter_index.php3. New issues will be posted on the release date of the following newsletter. _______________________________________________SUBSCRIPTION INFO "Stop it, stop it at once": Reply with "unsubscribe" as the header. "Ones tolerable, two's annoying": Reply with "multiple" as the header.