6000M tests.

Question
I recently completed my second 6000M test for my upcoming season on the water.  I was happy with my improvement.  I finished my first test of the off-water training season with an average split of 1:52. (Terrible but it was early Fall 2005.)  My last one was 1:49.2.  I felt really good going in the third qaurter holding just under 1:48. But I seemed to lose my drive in that section of the test.  I creeped up to 1:49.5. I did finish hard and bring it down again.  I was actually hoping for sub 1:49 that day but didn't get it due to my lousy third quarter.  Any advice on how to improve this section of my test?  My goal before I go back on the water is 1:47 or lower on this test. Are my goals too lofty?

Jon

Answer
Hi Jon: There are some unknown variables to truly answer this question: Are you lightweight or heavy? novice or experienced? High School, college, or club (I assume you are rowing collegiate V8/JV8)? Have you ever sculled or do you just do sweeps? Has your coach identified that you are rowing technically sound (e.g., not shooting your tail or rushing the slide)? Obviously, you are in pretty good shape because those are pretty respectable splits.  Also, you should be encouraged by your near 3 second drop from you first 6K piece.

Since you are complaing about third-quarter splits, my best guess is that you might not be optimized in your cardiovascular side.  Of course, I don't know too many rowers who wouldn't say their third quarter is their toughest.

You might want to focus on augmenting your erg work with some good CV land workouts.  Long jogs on flat land are not going to give you the "near-death" sensation you feel 3/4 way into a piece.  You need verticle training, like flights of stairs (start at 10 and build to 25), or ascending hills.  You are probably doing some of that stuff.

Of course, a good lifting regimen where you are doing as much weight with high reps (12-15) also helps.

There are lots of erg workouts to choose from.  To eke out those extra tengths of seconds, you probably want to do some form of overdistance training on the erg.  The so-called "hour of power" (at 3/4 psi with periodic power 10s/20s) is what you might want to try.  Or you can shoot for a 10K piece.  A 30-minute Pyramid is another suggestion (A pyramid is full pressure/paddle in intervals of 10, 10 20, 20 30, 30 40, 40 50, 50 40, back down to 10.

Finally, while ergs are great, it's the fastest boat that wins.  Given the choice between a long erg piece and the opportunity to take out a single scull for an hour, I'm going scullin'.  If you have the weather and availability to take out a small boat (single, double, or even a sweep pair), do so.  Because, whether you can do a 1:46.8 or a 1:49.2 split in the third quarter of your 6K piece, it won't matter if you don't have a boat and crew with good set and good swing.

Good luck and good rowing/AP