[Athletic Lab is putting a team together to compete at the Durham Indoor Rowing Trials to try to claim the CrossFit Cup. The CrossFit gym with the greatest number of points at the end of the day, will win the cup. To find out more about the D.I.R.T. and view age brackets, rules, and to register click HERE. Remember to add Athletic Lab – Cary CrossFit as your affiliate when you sign up.]

Like every year, a series of races, challenges, and competitions are going to hit the calendars. The Krispy Kreme Challenge and the Durham Indoor Rowing Trials are coming up in the next month. This is the second post in the series of two posts series that will discuss some training techniques you can use leading up to the competition. The first post can be read here. This second post will discuss some training guidelines for the Durham Indoor Rowing Trials.

The Durham Indoor Rowing Trials (D.I.R.T.) offers four separate events that span across a range of age brackets. The athlete can compete in as many or all of the following heats: 500m, 1000m, 2000m, and 30min row for distance. In a article published in The CrossFit Journal, Peter Dreissigacker, the founder of Concept2 and competitive Indoor Rower, discusses some race strategy and training leading into a competition.

One really great point Peter brought up is “knowing” the distance. A 400m sprinter wouldn’t come off the starting line the same 100m sprinter would. A 400m runner would have to leave some “in the tank” to finish the race strong. This same strategy applies to rowing; if you come out of the gate too hard, you will inevitably find yourself trying to hold on just to finish with a respectable time.

Rowing is non-impact; therefore high volumes of training can be tolerated leading up to the event. Rowing intervals are a great way to build work capacity as well as train power output. Intervals are generally set at a distance that is a fraction of the total race distance. Ideally, when rowing set distance intervals, each subsequent interval is rowed in less time.

Here are few interval workouts the author has listed to train for the following set distances:

  • 2000m: 6x500m with 1 minute easy paddle rest; rest for 5 minutes, 1x500m for speed.
  • 2000m: 3x1000m with 2 minute easy paddle rest.
  • 500m: 6x250m with 1 minute easy paddle rest; rest for 5 minutes, 1x250m for speed.

There should always be a purpose to any training session. According to Peter, the general purpose of these interval workouts should be to:

  • Teach your body how to row at a high intensity
  • Get mentally prepared to rowing at high intensities
  • Be able to row comfortable at your race pace
  • Develop a race plan

Reference:
Dreissigacker, Peter. Row Fast: How to Prepare for an Erg Test. The CrossFit Journal. Issue 54. February 2007. (Reprint)