Today’s choice of a rowing session was the result of having read a couple articles that mentioned the particular experience and benefits of training periodically for 30 minutes at a stroke rate limited to 20 SPM during that time.
The articles were somewhat technical, mentioning slow-twitch, fast-twitch, mitochondria, lactic acid, aerobic, anaerobic and so on but the overall message seemed to be that a 30r20 has some great benefits. It also mentioned that if it is done properly it is harder than it sounds. And it mentioned one more thing – that it shouldn’t be done more than once a week at the most.
It sounded somewhat intriguing so that’s what I did this morning.
The 30 minute session was scheduled about one hour in advance and there was one person who noticed it and joined, Andy B. in England.
Before the session started, Andy announced that he was going to row slow because he was recovering from something strenuous which may have been a race but I’m not clear on what he said it was. I replied, “Slow is relative,” which elicited laughter from him. He explained that for him, slow would be 1:59/500m. When the session was over, his pace had averaged 1:58/500m so he wasn’t as tired as he thought.
I told him, in response, that I would be trying a 30r20 for the first time but wasn’t sure what pace to aim for. (Little did I know… at a rating of 20, the right pace sort of grabs you, instead of allowing you to choose it).
He seemed to have a lot of experience and immediately asked, what was my free rate SPM and pace. I wasn’t and am still not sure what he meant by “free rate” but I considered and answered 28 and 2:05, picking 28 spm because it seems to be about the rating I settle into if rowing not very hard nor very easy. The pace of 2:05 was a bit fast, I thought, but it sounded better than something slower when I was talking with someone who considers 1:59 to be slow.
To that, he replied that I should aim for a pace of 2:12 at the 20 SPM rating for 30 minutes and “go from there.” And to that suggestion, I replied, “2:12 sounds good”. It definitely sounded easier than 2:05 and so I was all for a pace of 2:12 at 20 spm. But it was not to be… It took a lot of focus to keep the rating at 20. In fact, it took so much focus that I just concentrated on keeping the rating at 20 SPM and let the pace be what it would be, which turned out to be a pace of about 2:07 for the first 15-20 minutes and slowed down a bit as the grains of sand for the last few minutes trickled through the half-hour glass.
The fewer grains of sand that remained in that half-hour glass, the slower they trickled. When time had counted down to one minute remaining, that very last minute seemed to stretch out and last a long, long time.
I thought the theory of relativity stated something to the effect that time slows down significantly only as speed increases greatly, to nearly the speed of light. My pace was almost motionless in comparison to the speed of light, but the passage of time significantly slowed during that last minute.
Andy B. was very encouraging after the session was over and said “you did bloody well…” (that part is an exact quote) and added something to the effect that he thought I could row a lot quicker (than the 2:05 pace I had randomly chosen earlier) at my “free rate.”
Afterwards I tried doing a search for rowing terms and “free rate,” but I couldn’t find anything that explained what Andy meant. Whatever it is, exactly, that he meant… I take it as something positive.
So it was a happy ending.
Happy trails to you.