Practicing for Progress

Practice trials and control tests improve your racing skill and also give you objective progress checks about your fitness. They should be incorporated into your program throughout the year so you can be certain your speed and tactics are moving in the right direction, especially as your championship approaches.

Determine the types of trials or control tests you need to prepare for your event, taking into account the distance, time, and format. For example: set distance at a set stroke rate recording elapsed time; set time at a set stroke rate and monitor the number of meters rowed; set distance with an open rating for the fastest time; or set time with an open rating for maximum meters.

For stroke power or endurance, set distance/set rate is a good choice—i.e. 10K at 22 strokes per minute, 5K at 28 strokes per minute, or 2K at 32 strokes per minute. Set time/set stroke rate also can help monitor stroke output or fatigue resistance (e.g., 20 minutes at 28 strokes per minute or one minute at 32 strokes per minute for meters covered).

Distance or time with an unlocked rating can be used for practicing your race plan. Row through the details of your 2,000-meter or 1,000-meter race to tune your mental discipline and track improvement.

Be selective and time your trials correctly, because the stress of too many maximal efforts can take its toll. If you include two hard sessions per week typically, exchange one every two to three weeks for a control test rather than adding another hard session.

During your taper, designate a race-simulation day to be as near to actual competition as possible; row at the same time of day and row the same number of races with the same time gaps between starts.

Watch out for pitfalls. If your results are getting slower with the same or increased perceived effort, you are either starting too fast or not giving yourself enough recovery, or both. 

Marlene Royle, who won national titles in rowing and sculling, is the author of Tip of the Blade: Notes on Rowing. She has coached at Boston University, the Craftsbury Sculling Center, and the Florida Rowing Center. Her Roylerow Performance Training Programs provides coaching for masters rowers. Email Marlene at roylerow@aol.com or visit www.roylerow.com.

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