============================================================ INDOOR ROWING NEWSLETTER #48 ====================== 02-November-2001 ====================== _________________________________________________ C O N T E N T S 1. PPP healthcare British Indoor Rowing Championship 2. Italian 500 metre Competition 3. Tel's Tales #1 4. Forthcoming Events 5. Training Camp 6. POWERbreathe 7. Tel's Tales #2 - BIRC Special 8. Nottinghamshire IRC 9. One Hour Team Record 10. Corrections Corner **************************** Feedback Back Issues Subscription Information ________________________________________________________________ ========================================================= PPP healthcare British Indoor Rowing Championship ========================================================= So we're all getting pretty excited here at Indoor Rowing Towers about this year's champs, which take place at the NIA, Birmingham in just over a fortnight on November 18th. ------------------------------------------------------- Men's Open Final ------------------------------------------------------- Matthew Pinsent and James Cracknell have confirmed that they will be going head to head for the first time ever in public at this year's championship. Pinsent is the current British Indoor Record Holder with a time of 5:42.6, while Cracknell is the current British Indoor Rowing Champion, having secured victory in Reading last year with 5:48.4 - but the pair know that the race will not simply be a duel between themselves. All four Brits from the world championship winning coxless four - Steve Williams, Richard Dunn, Toby Garbett and Ed Coode - will be looking to steal the headlines, as will members of the Olympic gold medal winning men's eight. Add to that the multi-national nature of Oxford and Cambridge's finest, Italy's strongest rower Mario Palmisano and a hatful of other big pullers - and the thousands of competitors and spectators expected to attend are in for a real treat. Cracknell said: "The PPP healthcare British Indoor Rowing Championship has become not only a top class rowing event, but a part of the selection process for the British Rowing Squad. That means that there will be a lot of quality competitors in our race, all of whom are capable of winning if they perform to the best of their ability." And three-time Olympic gold medallist Pinsent added: "British rowing is in a very healthy state at the moment. There will be outstanding athletes in both the men's and women's races at Birmingham, and both James and I will have to work very hard if we are to win." ------------------------------------------------------- Training Plan ------------------------------------------------------- The final two week taper part of Terry O'Neill's training plan can now be found at http://www.concept2.co.uk/birc/news.php?news=telsplan.inc ------------------------------------------------------- Important Things to remember and/or do ------------------------------------------------------- - Don't go to the NEC, unless you'd rather go to the International Hobby and Craft Fair instead. Which could be pretty cool now we think about it. The NIA is situated in Birmingham City Centre, NOT at the NEC site just off the M42. The NIA is clearly signposted once in the City Centre. - Check out the race schedule at http://www.concept2.co.uk/birc/events_schedule.htm. You can also see who else has entered your category by visiting www.concept2.co.uk/birc/events.htm. - Bring loads of supporters. Don't forget, spectators get in free. - If you and your supporters are intending to arrive by coach, please let us know beforehand as special parking arrangements will need to be made; coaches can not be accommodated in the NIA car parks. Competition only: ********************* - All competitors should register at least one hour before their race. - Lightweights can register a maximum of two hours before their race. For example, if you are racing at 10:00, the earliest you can weigh in is 8:00. You can weigh in as many times as you like. - All competitors must be in the hall and ready to race at least 10 minutes before race time. ------------------------------------------------------- Things to see and do on the lovely BIRC web site ------------------------------------------------------- - The News page (http://www.concept2.co.uk/birc/news.php) will continue to be updated as we approach the championship. Already it contains past records, maps to the venue, information on cheap race machines, features on events, race T-Shirts and Sweatshirts to buy and more besides. - Results will be posted at www.concept2.co.uk/birc/results.htm approximately half an hour after each race. Photos and event reviews will also be posted on-line. The results of previous years' Championships are here too. - If you'd like last minute encouragement or advice, try visiting our Message Board at www.concept2.co.uk/messageboard.htm where there are plenty of first timers and old hands willing to share their thoughts. ========================================================= Italian 500 metre Competition ========================================================= Sydney gold medallist, Simone Raineri, rowed 500 metres in 1:19.2 to take first place in the 2001 Grand Prix of the Champions in Genoa, Italy last weekend. Olympic silver medallist in the men's coxless four and competitor at last year's BIRC, Lorenzo Carboncini, placed second with a time of 1:20.4. In the lightweight category, the 2001 World Championship gold medallist in the lightweight men's quad Filippo Mannucci edged out Leonardo Pettinari and Lorenzo Bertini for first place in a time of 1:24.1. His top place earned him a congratulatory note from the Italian president Azeglio Ciampi. Ciampi was not the only one following the races on television - the Italian television station RAI, who co-organised the event, recorded a peak of 4 million viewers. ========================================================= Tel's Tales ========================================================= Questions, queries, querulations and quinces: Three times Olympic rowing coach Terry O'Neill noshes them all for breakfast. Put whatever's been troubling you down in an email to tels-tales@concept2.co.uk and feed his rumbling belly. Ian Ruffell: "I've been rowing for about 3 months now and have noticed a great improvement in my times. However, could you tell me, after I've done 5x2,000 metres, with 1 minute rest between each, in a total of 40 minutes, is there any benefit in rowing on at a more leisurely pace to the hour mark? I am trying to lose weight as well as increase my aerobic fitness. "Also, do you have any information on how I could increase my heat resistance. I am often uncomfortably warm when others seem fine." Terry O'Neill: Weight loss occurs when the number of calories expended is greater than the number consumed. There are two ways to burn up calories, at a high rate over a short period or at a lower rate over a longer period. For people who are very unfit, the long low rate is really the only option as they do not have the physical condition to be able to work out at the higher intensity. But if you are relatively fit you will burn more calories following a higher intensity programme than the generally excepted fat burning low intensity programmes and therefore provided you modify your diet will lose weight. You need to be aware that most people when they talk about losing weight actually want to lose fat. When you follow the higher intensity programme, apart from losing fat you will be increasing your lean muscle mass. Muscle is heavier than fat so there will come a time when the scales will stop going down and may actually start to creep up. You need to get your percentage body fat measured, which can be done in most health clubs or by your GP and is a simple process. Alternatively, you can buy a body fat monitor for home use. The Concept 2 Shop sells a couple of models at http://www.concept2.co.uk/v4/merchandise_other.php3. This may also reveal the reason you are getting overheated as people with high body fat suffer in the heat. If you were to follow your 40 minute workout with 20 minutes low intensity making up the hour, there would be several additional benefits. The first one is that there would obviously be an energy cost, and this would burn up more calories. Secondly it would act as a cooling down session and speed up the metabolisation of any lactate build up. And finally it would address blood pooling, which is created by individual muscular demands for energy. ========================================================= Forthcoming Events ========================================================= Name: BluRed IRC Date: 4th November Venue: Edgehill College, Bideford Distance: 2,000 metres Other: Commemorative T-Shirt to each entrant. Entry fee: 5 pounds Contact: Nigel Cann, Tel: (w)01237 428667, (h)01237 473805, E-mail: ncann@tycoelectronics.com Name: Irish IRC Date: 9th December Venue: Sportslink Leisure Centre, Dublin Distance: 2,000 metres Other: First event in the Indoor Rowing Grand Prix Series. Entry fee: 7.50 pounds Contact: John Hollander, Tel: 00 353 087 2592755, E-mail: iirc@eircom.net Web: http://www.concept2.co.uk/gp Name: Amstel Ergohead Date: 20/01/2002 Venue: Amsterdam Distance: 6,000 metres Other: For more information, check out http://www.amstelroei.nl/ergohead (English text available) Contact: Fred Hollander on allaround@planet.nl ========================================================= Training Camp ========================================================= A week of keeping our fingers crossed obviously worked, as Terry O'Neill managed to return from the training camp without having lost anybody by virtue of his unique approach to map-reading. Here's his report on the last three days. "The last three days of the camp were scheduled to be hard. After a day off on Wednesday, we were due to cycle up the big hill, a climb of 3,500 feet, so we planned to loosen up with 10,000 metres on the rowing machine at 7.30am to get everyone in the mood. The fickle finger of fate struck and it started to rain, so the big hill climb was postponed. We did a crew class on the rowing machine after breakfast, which was taken by Christina Nugent. She decided that it would be a good idea to do a step test which involved five four-minute steps, the last one being at 2,000 metre race pace. The troops were pretty puffed at the end off this but luckily the sun came out and the hill climb was back on. Hurrah! cried the troops and eagerly scoffed down their lunch and set off up the big hill. "It was quite dark when the last ones returned to the hotel having taken about five hours for the round trip, which was about 60 kilometres plus the climb. Friday we were going to practice the triathlon course to make sure everyone knew what they were supposed to do on the last day, so we started off with 10,000 metres on the rower and then a 35 kilometre cycle ride. There was a lack of sparkle on the bike, which I thought may have been down to the hill climb the day before. Later I realised that the cunning clients were saving themselves for the real thing the following day. "Saturday arrived, and everyone was up for the triathlon. This entailed 5,000 metres on the rower followed by a 35 kilometre bike ride and then a 10 kilometre (some say 11) cross-country run. The day was bright and sunny but overnight rain meant the cross-country run was going to be testing. Will and Ceri Whitmore finished together in 2 hours 10 minutes, which was when I realised they were holding back on Friday. "Due to the response of those who took part, we will definitely be running the camp again next year in Banyoles. There will be two separate one-week camps. The first one will be called 'THE HARD ONE'. It will be followed by 'THE EVEN HARDER ONE'. Keep your eyes peeled for details." ========================================================= POWERbreathe ========================================================= One of the official sponsors of the 2001/2 Indoor Rowing Grand Prix Series (http://www.concept2.co.uk/gp) is the POWERbreathe inspiratory muscle trainer, and we've finally managed to get some of the beauties in stock. Just as you use weights to strengthen your arm muscles, breathing in through a POWERbreathe for a few minutes twice daily makes your inspiratory muscles work harder - thereby increasing their strength and endurance. POWERbreathe is also useful for asthmatics, or anyone who suffers from respiratory problems. Numerous research trials have already been conducted, examining breathlessness, respiratory muscle fatigue and sports performance in many groups of people. There are three different POWERbreathe models for sale, all of which retail at the same price of 49.95 pounds. The difference between the three is in the strength of the resistance (and the colour), with the Sports model aimed at athletes, the Fitness model being the intermediate one and the Wellness model for older people and people with respiratory problems. For more information, and to purchase one on-line, go to http://www.concept2.co.uk/v4/merchandise_other.php3 ========================================================= Tel's Tales #2 - BIRC Special ========================================================= Just over two weeks to go to the biggest sporting event this side of Alpha Centauri and it's time to start paying attention to detail. So often I see people disappointed at major championships because they have not achieved what they expected. Their training has gone well, but for one reason or other they were unable to put it together on the day. If you are looking for a personal best of, say, seven minutes, to be one percent off the boil will mean you will miss the target by over four seconds and this is easily done. This is a new venue and strange surroundings and, although the facilities are an improvement, the fact that it is not familiar needs to be taken into consideration. Here are some tips about possible pit falls. - Make a checklist of everything you need in your kit bag and load it the day before. - Arrive early, a minimum of ninety minutes before your race time. If you are running late and get stressed this will affect your performance. - On arrival, the first step is to orientate yourself. You need to know how long it takes from the warm up machines to the competition machines, where are the nearest toilets and refreshments. Make a note of how long it takes from one to another - Allow yourself plenty of time to prepare before your race. Make sure you get to the warm-up room early so you can get yourself fully prepared and loosened up. - Make sure you know not only your own race time but also the two events immediately prior, so when you hear them called you know your race is coming up. - Watching the races is a great way to soak up the atmosphere and get yourself in the mood. It also has possible risks; it is not a good idea to be standing around too long. Make sure you find yourself a seat to watch the races from rather than just wandering around. - Don't just rely on the damper setting. Work off of the drag factor and match it to your training machine. [Check out the 'more info' page at http://www.concept2.co.uk/v4/pm2.htm if you don't know how the drag factor works] Remember the split time displayed does not show tenths of a second. - Relax and make sure you have a good time. ========================================================= Nottinghamshire IRC ========================================================= The Nottinghamshire IRC took place on October 27th at Newark Rowing Club. For a first time event, things went pretty well, with a day that saw two British records broken and only the second ever non-rower to go under six minutes. Janet Parker reduced her 50-59 Lightweight Record by 0.5 seconds to 8:07.6, as did Graham Price with the 40-49 Lightweight Record, which now stands at 6:25.0. Nik Fleming, having got close to 6 minutes at the recent Nuneaton event, achieved his ambition with almost 2 seconds to spare, finishing in 5:58.1 whilst winning the 30-39 Heavyweight Event. This makes him, we reckon, the fastest non-rower ever, beating Chris Rushton's time at the 2001 World Indoor Rowing Championship. Nik then went on to race again an hour and a half later, this time in the Open event in 6:03.4, which perhaps is an even more remarkable feat (or at least proves what a glutton for punishment he is). Other performances of note included Rose Donaghy going sub 8 minutes (7:55.8, 50-59 Hwt) and Franki Jus-Burke achieving 7:42.5 as a 14 year old. Jane Fisher was the fastest lady, winning the 30-39 Hwt in 7:17.0 despite being on antibiotics. The 2,000 metre races were followed by 500 metre sprints, with Nik Fleming not getting things his own way for a change. The fastest in this event was Graham Leach achieving 1:20.2 in 30-39 Hwt, with Jon Goodall driving all the way from Wales for 1:21.5 of racing to win the Open category. Jane Fisher was again the fastest lady, achieving a remarkable 1:35.1 The 1-minute race for 12 years and under saw technique (and rate) to put many of their elders to shame. The crowd support was vociferous, to say the least, and apart form the odd tear there was no doubt that this event was a resounding success. Full results and pictures can be found at http://www.concept2.co.uk/v4/local.htm ========================================================= New British Records ========================================================= A team from Royce's Gym in Wigan broke the Men's One Hour Team Record last week in fine style. Maintaining an average split of just 1:21, they racked up a highly impressive distance of 22,212 metres, adding nearly 1,500 metres to BG Max's previous mark of 20,760 metres. Their score is even more impressive when you consider that half their team in the shape of Alex Bennett and Paul Rees, had been playing rugby the day before, and Paul had only got back from London at 1:30am the night before. Chris Rushton and Gary Scott were the other members of the team. According to Royce, Chris is looking in good shape for the British championship, pulling 15:57 for 5,000 metres a week later. With Nik Fleming having overtaken him as the fastest ever non-rower [see report on the Nottinghamshire IRC above] the 30-34 event, which both men will be competing in, looks set to be a bit of a pearler. This week we also received news of new Men's 60-69 Lwt records for Leed's Philip Stubley for both 5,000 and 10,000 metres, breaking his own existing records with 18:13.3 and 37:28.5 respectively. All British and World records can be found at http://www.concept2.co.uk/v4/brit_world_records.htm ========================================================= Corrections Corner ========================================================= Every now and again we try and throw in the odd error in an attempt to keep everybody on their toes. In our feature on rowing prodigy Matt Langridge last newsletter, we said he was the winner in the 2001 World Junior Sculls at Zagreb when, of course, we meant Duisburg. Donny Lewis was the quickest to point out our error and Filippo Mannucci the briefest. We also claimed, in our piece on the British America's Cup team, that Ian Weighell rowed for Cambridge, when in fact he's an Oxford man. Slightly more seriously, we managed to confuse the heck out of a lot of people by saying that the Irish IRC was due to take place on the 12th of December instead of the 9th as previously announced. In fact, it's still taking place on the 9th of December, it's never even vaguely looked like being on the 12th, and we're sorry for even implying that it was otherwise. Entries for the Irish race close on the 23rd of November, so make sure you go to http://www.concept2.co.uk/gp and download an entry form as soon as possible. If you've spotted an error, send it into webmaster@concept2.co.uk, marked "Jellybrains". ______________________________________________________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 It used to be the case that time travel involved a masseeve scarf, a couple of dozen jelly babies and a sonic screwdriver with the polarity reversed. Well no longer; you can now visit the past simply by going to http://www.concept2.co.uk/v4/newsletter_index.php3 and checking out the back issues of the Indoor Rowing News. New issues are posted on the release date of the following newsletter. _______________________________________________SUBSCRIPTION INFO "The Inbox cannae take it anymore cap'n": Reply with "unsubscribe" as the header. "One for joy, two for sorrow": Reply with "multiple" as the header.