Faster Membership
The rest of this one is for members.
This article, both twelve-week training plans, and the full library of protocols and calculators are part of Faster Membership. CHF 129 for the year.
Tag: citius remex
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Swiss Rowing Championships championnats suisses d’aviron 2020
So the racing season is over. One race done, and all done for the year. Very grateful, that with everything going on around the world, and in Switzerland, we were able to come together to race together. Great organisation skills from the Swiss Rowing Federation, the organising committee of Luzern, and discipline from all the clubs, to enable a safe regatta.
In the last week, the entire training squad from Vevey, has been tapering down, and getting ready for the first and only major race of the year. The Swiss Rowing Championships, held as always, at the Rotsee Lake, Luzern, Switzerland. The central point of rowing for Switzerland, and some may say, the best natural rowing venue in the world.
In the last week, the masters squad travelled to a small lake north of Vevey, to sharpen up for the coming ‘all or nothing’ regatta at the end of the week. We completed around 4-hours of training, about 60% less than a normal week’s training volume, and each session included high intensity. As a result, we all felt fresh, and sharpened up the coordination required for the 1,000m blast.
The races were all stacked together on the Friday, meaning that most of the squad were racing 3 times. We fielded a crew in the men’s quad, 2 doubles and four singles. Took home silver in the quad, silver in the double and a gold in the single scull.
Training volumes for the 8.5-months were 5% higher than last year. 84% of training volume (time) was spent <75% heart rate peak, and 5% of training volume (time) was spent >90% heart rate peak. Average training volume c.a. 10.5 hours a week.
The race in the single scull was always going to be a fast one. No one knew the others form, leading into the race, so I made some assumptions on what would be required to win it. I figured 3:35 or there about would be the winning time, and confirmed this on seeing the still conditions at the Rotsee. My opposition always start fast, and I started well. By the 200m mark, I settled into race pace with about half a lengths lead. My opposition cranked it up, and started to creep ahead, yet I was comfortable with the planned race pace of 1:45, and knew that at this pace, I could stay aerobic and leave something for the last 350m. Eventually, that is what happened. With 350m I was able to increase the pace and go through to win.
Racing Equipment
- Filippi F22 single scull with Aliante carbon wing rigger
- Concept2 Skinny plain edge smoothies
- Bont BOA rowing shoes
- Citius Remex seat pad
- DiBi racing suit
- Oakley Sutro glasses
- Garmin 945 Forerunner
- Precision Hydration electrolytes
Big Thanks
Lot’s of people are always involved in successful campaigns, yet it simply wouldn’t have been possible without the support of my wife Angela. Angela not only supported my journey this year, she kept me healthy and incredibly strong with her knowledge of integrated nutrition and medicine. Thanks also to Giovanni Calabrese, and the team at Gavirate Rowing Club for being so welcoming all the time. To Luca and the team at the Australian Institute of Sport, that helped take our training and preparation to the next level. And finally, thanks to Urs Graf, for spotting all the areas for improvement. Urs helped us to understand what a fast moving boat feels like, and how to look after that speed.
Now the road to the Silver Skiff starts in a week….
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Training Update Week 38 Final Week Of Preparation
Last week, was the start of my taper for the Swiss Champs. Good solid week of volume and intensity. The club moved to a small lake, for the final preparation days. We are so lucky to have this lake so close by. It’s sheltered and ideal for race training.
Introducing more and more race like intensity, and the volume is dropping. Lots of race simulations with other crews and scullers. Fine tuning the start and first 250m. Sessions included 750m, 500m and 250m intervals at or above race pace.
Testing of Bont’s new rowing shoes with the BOA dial went well. I really like the fit, and subjectively, feel more ‘planted’ and connected to the foot stretcher. I like the wrap around feeling, the BOA system provides. I also made some adjustments to my seat pad. Fixing it to the boat seat with some double sided velcro. This saves time faffing around with the positioning, and avoids any chance of the seat moving. You can join my Facebook page to watch the overview.
Precision Hydration sent me some of their hydration solutions to test in training. I did the online sweat test, and then a few days later received a pretty cool package in the mail. So far so good. I don’t think I’ll change my routine in the last days, yet I certainly will test their electrolyte solutions, leading up to the Silver Skiff in November.
To summarise, the volume is down and intensity is the same. The final days leadings into the Swiss Championships on Friday, will see less and less volume yet maintaining the intensity. If you’d like to know my what I do to taper down and be ready on race day, you can purchase my ‘Ultimate Race Week Plan’, an online course that will teach you everything I do to prepare myself and my athletes to go Fast on race day.
Race day is the opportunity for you to bring all of your training and hard work over the weeks and months to perform at your best. The Ultimate Race Week Plan, will help you to avoid common mistakes, that can end up destroying your race day performance. Simple mistakes, like training too hard or not enough, or not knowing how to warm-up correctly that can be avoided when you know what to do. When you don’t, they can be incredibly frustrating.
You will learn tried, tested and proven processes, from the world’s best sports scientists and trainers, on what needs to be done in the week leading up to race day for Ultimate Performance on the day.
- Understand why the taper is so important, what to do, when and how.
- Learn how to plan your workouts day by day, leading up to race day.
- Know what to do the day before, so that you are fresh and ready to race.
- How to warm up and prime your energy systems.
- How and when to fuel for your best performance.
- Know what you need to do after the race to recover, and be ready race again.
This course can be completed in an hour. Is full of videos and easy to follow guides. It is suitable for anyone that will be racing on the ergo or at a regatta and wants to know what they need to do to be prepared.
I personally use the Ultimate Race Week Plan for all of my major races, and with my athletes, with great success. I look forward to you enjoying the same level of knowledge and awareness, to take your racing to the next level.
