recap on 20/1 and targets for 21/22

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Iain
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recap on 20/1 and targets for 21/22

Post by Iain »

Apologies to Plummy for starting the thread he has traditionally done. Also to Claudius as your "Last Row for 20/1" seemed to have a similar intention but went in another direction.

But as for previous years I at least would like to take this new season as a time to reflect and reset. I would be interested to know others similar thoughts / ambitions, but as we are FS, I appreciate others may not wish to do so.

2020/1 was a very successful year for me rowing wise. Got caught between contracts by Covid-19 and so had much more time than I have ever had to row. My new job has left me with much less time to row and frequent short nights and this has meant that from a high of an HM PM on 1 January my form has significantly declined. As a result I ended the year 1 point behind my all time best Nonathlon score unable in a last ditch attempt to get close to what seemed a "soft" SB for 10k in the dying days of the season. Despite this I beat all my previous seasons times and thereby set new Post 2012 bests for all distances except 500m. I also completed my first FM for 3 years and only my second done as an all out attempt. So how does in compare with my stated aims for the season? These were:

1) To complete the post 2012 best set
2) Beat my best Nonathlon score in at least one event (an "All Time Green"
3) Go sub 20 on 5k.

1) I failed as I didn't do an all out 500. My SB was 1.8S slower than 2015, but was the last in a set of intervals.
2) Outdid this, set best score in 5k & 6k as well as the HM PB.
3) Managed 19:44 and very nearly broke this pace for 6k (0.6S slower over the 6k).

This season I am starting behind and do not expect to row anything like the 3.6mm managed for last season. So a setting much less ambitious goals:

1) Achieve 3 meta-nonathlon "greens" and the rest no worse than orange.
2) complete all 13 CTC rows
3) Manage >2mm.

Anyone else want to share?
55 year old Lwt (in ability and in weight) trying to develop a technique that doesn't cause hysterics and continue to row regularly.
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Kevinhorne44
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Re: recap on 20/1 and targets for 21/22

Post by Kevinhorne44 »

I didn't join FS until June of last year.. I had never heard of the CTC IRL let alone the motherboard or the Nonathlon.

My ambition for last year was to have a go at an indoor race and see if I enjoyed it. Unfortunately it was cancelled due to the pandemic 😔 But if it wasn't for that I wouldn't have found this place. I eventually got to race at the BRIC in December but virtually.

My wish for this year is to stay fit & healthy and hopefully injury free. I accept I'll have little niggles along the way. So if I achieve those goals ?? I hope I'll be close to improving my 2 & 5k times from last year.
I'd also like to think I'll manage a FM & 100k on the bike-erg.

Completing all 13 CTCs sounds like a good aim too Iain 👍

I also want to continue contributing positively here too.
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plummy
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Re: recap on 20/1 and targets for 21/22

Post by plummy »

Thanks for starting a thread Iain. I did think about it but as I had so little to contribute and things have been a little "fraught" recently the whole thing just passed me by.

Last year for me was one of little to no achievement on the erging front. I managed a singular green in the Meta-nonathlon (actually my favourite "event" as I'm only competing against me). I just, barely scraped in with a HM at the last minute to give me a set if scores to work with for this year but I looked at the relative points scores for all the events and it just confirmed what I already knew - I have no stamina any more, either mentally or physically.
ScreenHunter_460 May. 01 17.21.jpg
ScreenHunter_460 May. 01 17.21.jpg (68.16 KiB) Viewed 967 times


As can be seen from the picture, the further I go, the worse my score gets.
If this year shows an uptick it'll probably be based on the fact that last year was so poor. I'll obviously be happy to see any sort or relative improvement but I'll know it's a bit of a cheap gain.

My annual total was the lowest since I joined Free Spirits and I expect something in the order of the same this year (health, fitness or injury allowing). I finally had an x-ray on my shoulder 2 days ago and await the results in a few days to see if I need an ultrasound scan or something else. It only slightly affects my rowing but is debilitating if I move it in the wrong direction/angle so it's definitely an issue that needs sorting.

I intend to go for every CTC and that's about it for challenges. There won't be any races attended (as a competitor) when it all starts up again but may visit a couple for social/support etc e.g. EIRC if it happens next Feb as it's so local to my house.
60 yrs old, 76kg, 5' 10"
43Mm metres rowed. Re-setting the bar much lower now. Getting too old for this malarky
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JonT
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Re: recap on 20/1 and targets for 21/22

Post by JonT »

Thanks for starting this thread Iain. I have often seen these annual threads and thought about writing a post but never got around to it. But this year feels a little different and so I will give it a go. Warning - I may go on a bit and roam somewhat off topic in places.

Last year was a different year for me on the erg and as a Free Spirit. In the past, indoor rowing has been part of a mixture of different forms of exercise and recreation. If anything, cycling was probably dominant but there was always a wide range of things keeping me active - mountain biking, road cycling, indoor cycling on Zwift (with the occasional race), running, personal training in the gym, being a rugby referee and the specific fitness training that that brings, and walking.

For some reason that I can’t quite put my finger on, indoor rowing has been by far the biggest focus of my exercise regime over the last season. If pushed, I would say that the big factor was someone who I met in my last job. He is a very talented otw rower and frequent user of the erg. We got talking and he gave me a lot of help and advice and the occasional session on technique in the gym. With his help I switched from being a relatively fit novice to someone who had a far better idea about how to go about rowing for reasonable results. As soon as I could see improvements and also felt far more comfortable and in control, I started to really enjoy my rowing. And of course, with enjoyment comes more motivation and willingness to put in the distances and the hard work.

Another factor was discovering proper stretching and occasional yoga. I suffered a lot with back pain during and after rowing. With a lot of focus on hamstring flexibility this has all but gone.

All of this led to what must be my best ever season. I set PBs in the 1min, 1k, 2k, 5k, 6k, 10k and HM. I am pretty confident that if I had been really focussed and motivated I could have come close to a full house. The one that I still look at in wonder is the 30min time which I actually double checked on the log book to make sure I wasn’t mistaken. I am nowhere near the pace that I achieved in 2015-16 when I set that verified time. The stars must have aligned for me that day, because I certainly had no idea what I was actually doing at that point.

I also set my highest ever score in the Nonathlon with 8059 points - my first time over 8000 points. Which is no surprise given the PB count above. I also came comfortably above 900 points in the Meta-nonathlon, finishing third with 936 points.

I rowed all of the CTC events with the exception of Valentine’s day, and finished 7th. My highest ever position.

All of this is great, but the real highlight for me was I was enjoying myself, getting far fitter and staying clear of most injuries. Having said that, all of this was done in a year when I was struck down for weeks with Shingles and also had two horrid urine infections which also floored me for weeks.

On top of all of this I became far more active as a member. Taking over the website management from Thomas who I thoroughly enjoyed chatting to and getting to know as part of the process, and who I hope to meet with this year. As part of the education process that this involved I also developed the Nonathlon Analyser and automated the Meta-Nonathlon tool and produced a number of tools to track the performance of teams and individuals during the team challenge events. These tools are used very widely across the rowing community now and hopefully attract attention to our great virtual club. I also nagged people to death to get the best result possible for the Indoor Rowers League.

So, what will 2021-22 bring?

Well, this it will be hard to repeat last year’s performances. My Meta-nonathlon position is going to be a struggle, that’s for sure.

Some of the targets are simple ones. I will compete in the CTCs and hope to get a full house (even with my disastrous Valentine row when I didn’t realise that it was a flat number of points for participating!) I would like to go over 8000 points again in the Nonathlon.

I am contemplating a goal which is something along the lines of coming in the top-20 and/or 75th percentile in every event for lightweight, 50-59 GBR, male rowers. Looking at last year, my highest position was 12th (in the 1min) and lowest was 48th in the 1:00:00 which is not surprising given my ranked row was at a slower pace than my HM! Most of my rankings were in the mid 20-30 mark. So it feels possible but also quite a tough target. I like tough targets.

I would also like to do my first ever FM.

Finally, I am quite tempted to consider the BRICs this season, but even thinking about it and the nerves I would have makes me feel slightly queasy.

On top of all of that I will keep on top of the website and the tools I have developed. The site is very complex and I can’t claim to be close to understanding how it all works. Fingers crossed we don’t have any major problems. But I do enjoy doing this work for the club and have learned a lot on the way.

My one wish would be that we saw more participation in the forums from others. Looking at the site I can see that there are a lot of members who visit frequently. I get a lot out of the discussions that we have on the forums. It would be wonderful if more people joined in.

Sorry for the ramble…..I did warn you!
57 years old, 5"10', clinging on to 75kg and frustratingly but understandably inconsistent
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duffyoz
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Re: recap on 20/1 and targets for 21/22

Post by duffyoz »

Well, last season was red hot for me from start to Christmas. PB after PB across the board. I didn't get the chance to add in a full marathon, or have a crack at my 10k since I ended up having emergency surgery on Christmas day. I qualified for the WRIC and virtual competition is fine by me. Quite excited through the season to see a well over 8min 2k get down to 7.40. However, now that I know what is needed to do that and the training involved I am hoping it doesn't stop me from getting there again.

I'm not sure how many greens I might achieve in the nonathlon after last year.

This seasons goal is a sub 7.40 2k and enter loads more erg events - Qld Champs done but there are 5 more Aussie events this calendar year. After that then hopefully I can qualify for WRIC again and since it is already going virtual and irl I can keep the 8K it would cost me to get to Hamburg and just have a few sleepless nights instead.

Complete all CTC from March on - sorry I was in no condition in Jan and Feb

Hopefully get my 6K Aussie record back - that is going to hurt

Other vagaries that would be nice include
- being able to do a situp - without someone holding my feet
- deadlift my bodyweight - better lose weight first
- work on being able to do a pull up
- lose some more weight
- interact more frequently with the freespirits (not such a vague goal)

Cheers, Lesley
(Insta- Duffyoz)
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