Team Pittsburgh

Info for Mercer Park

2007-09-19T00:33:00.000-04:00

Here’s the info from GWN. 200’s and 500’s. Twenty five crews including 19 Premier Mixed. The best of NY, Philly, and DC. Top 14 Premier in 500’s do 2000. Looks like 5 race day. Captain’s meeting at 8:15. Robyn and Sophie – please plan to attend. Racing starts at 9. We’re up at 9:24 against DC, GSK Spitzfire and Philadelphia Youth. Looks like we are racing for time so be ready to be at your best. Be ready to Marshal immediately after Captains’s meeting. Everybody dress for 1^st race. I’ll let you know Saturday who stands out 1^st. Uniform of the day is black top, black bottoms.

Bring your PFD’s!

Same info as attached should be posted on GWN web-site.

Drive careful. See you at Mercer Park.

Larry

Food for Saturday

2007-09-19T00:16:00.000-04:00

FYI - as we have a little cash left-over from the registration fee we'll be bringing
water, fitness drink, granola bars, power bars and trail mix for the whole team this Saturday.

:)

training video

2007-08-17T23:38:00.000-04:00

Finally managed to get the video footage online from last Friday's practice.

Hope you get the chance to review it:
Download TP_practice.wmv (5615.8K)

Practice this Friday - Aug 10

2007-08-08T12:25:00.000-04:00

There will be practice this Friday evening at 6:30 p.m. - TRRA Millvale dock. We'll be recording video footage to review later in the evening. (come looking pretty!)

No Practice on Aug 5!

2007-08-01T11:00:00.000-04:00

A lot of folks have other commitments this coming weekend, so we're canceling the Sunday (8/5) morning practice.

Next practice will be on Friday, August 10. 6:30 p.m. at the Millvale Docks.

Practices this summer

2007-07-26T08:51:00.000-04:00

Here you go folks - the schedule for practices over the next two months:

Sun Aug 5 - 9:00 am @ Fox Chapel
Fri Aug 10 - 6:30 pm - @ TRRA (video footage taping/review)
Sun Aug 26 - 9:00 am - @ Fox Chapel
Fri Aug 31 - 6:30 pm - @ TRRA
Fri Sep 14 - 6:30 pm - @ Fox Chapel
Sun Sep 16 - 9 am - @ TRRA

It would be useful to know how many people will be at each practice, so please indicate those practices you are *not* available for, by either leaving a comment on this post or emailing me.
Cheers,
Jonathan

Next Practice

2007-07-19T02:01:00.000-04:00

Will be this Sunday (July 22)
at the Fox Chapel Marina docks
9 a.m. - 11 a.m.

Please rsvp to Larry or Jonathan if you will be coming. We'd like to get as high an attendance as possible.

News Story

2007-06-20T15:18:00.001-04:00

http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/07171/795402-114.stm

Champs

2007-06-09T18:23:00.001-04:00

undefeated, 3 up, 3 down. heat 2:19, semi 2:18, final 2:17 - i think the course was a little over 500m.

First race against community teams was a blowout

Second race was closer

Grand Final race was tight, we moved on PDBA rooks and Philly police at the start and stayed up, PDBA did a great job staying on our wake at about 2 seats down for the middle of the race. PDBA called a final sprint off ours at about 80 meters to go but our crushing power was too much to handle. Final placement was Team 'burg with PDBA rooks right on our heals at 2:18.

Congratulations to all.

Parking Passes

2007-06-07T14:02:00.000-04:00

Carpools and parking passes:

1. Ben, Carolyn, Jonathan, Rachel
2. Ada, Marie, Rissa, Jordan
3. Dick, Laurie, Stefani, Doug
4. Bob, Mary B, Nat
5. Liz, Lynne, Marty, Suhail
6. Mary S, Pete, Robin
7. Larry, Larry, Larry

I will leave 4 parking passes outside my door for anyone who wants to come by and pick it up tonight. I will take any that are left + 3 with me to the hotel tomorrow am. If you want me to leave your pass outside my door tomorrow please call me at 760-8375.

Parking Passes

2007-06-05T08:48:00.000-04:00

2400 Kelly Drive, Philadelphia, PA
http://www.google.com/maps?q=Kelly+Dr,+Philadelphia,+PA,+USA&ie=UTF8&ll=40.000794,-75.196781&spn=0.057465,0.102139&z=13&iwloc=addr&om=1

I have 7 parking passes. Let me know if you want one and ill spread them evenly.

From Pete Kiliani & Ken Wong:

Entrance to parking on Kelly Drive will be from the North end of the Drive (farthest away from CenterCity), where there will be a Police checkpoint. One of the enclosed passes must be presented to enter the Drive. Then simply place it on your dashboard where it can easily be seen.

When you enter the drive, please proceed immediately to a parking slot, then empty your car of any coolers, tables, grills, food items, tents or whatever else you may be bringing.

Lastly you are reminded not to park on the grass or you will be ticketed and to remove your vehicle by 6pm or you will be towed.

Race Schedule

2007-06-04T09:11:00.000-04:00

See side tab for full schedules

First race 10:30am, must be there 9:30am

Practice

2007-05-30T11:29:00.000-04:00

Practice Sunday June 3rd 9am-11am @ Fox Chappel Marina

Address:

>Fox chapel Marina
>
>1366 Old Freeport Road
>Pittsburgh, PA 15238 USA

Directions:

1. Take Rt 28 North
2. Take the FOX CHAPEL RD exit, EXIT 8, toward WATERWORKS DR/FREEPORT RD.
3. Take the FOX CHAPEL RD. ramp.
4. Turn RIGHT onto FOX CHAPEL RD/GREEN BELT at the light
5. Go through red light and continue onto road winding to the left around the gas station
6. Within quarter mile, you'll pass a post office, then you'll see sign for Fox Chapel Marina
7. Make right at the sign, go across railroad tracks, and you'll see the parking lot on your left.
8. We meet in the parking lot in front of the main building. Docks are around the corner on the left of the building.

Next Practice

2007-05-17T13:46:00.000-04:00

Sunday May 27, 9am-11am Millvale

lodging

2007-05-17T12:45:00.000-04:00

from Pete in Phila, let me know if your interested:.

Do you need help getting rooms in Phila?

If so, send me number of rooms – singles vs doubles vs triples – and I’ll see what kind of deal I can get at the City Line Holiday Inn.

Thanks.
Pete

Team

2007-05-06T17:50:00.000-04:00

Ada	Ayala-Reyes
Ben	Ledewitz
Bob	Randolph
Carolyn	Newkirk
Dick	Northway
Doug	Cooper
Jacob	Witul
Jonathan	Mayes
Jordan	Lowe
Larry	Wentzel
Laurie	Butler
Liz	Morris
Lynne	Franks-Meinert
Marie	Ulsh
Marty	Silverman
Mary	Scanlon
Mary	Brenholts
Natacha	De Genna
Pete	Schoedel
Rachel	Blair
Rissa	Witul
Robin	Crawford
Stefani	Danes
Suhail

With 24 on the roster the drummer and steersperson will likely come from this list.

Nice job to everyone who tried out.

General Update

2007-05-03T18:19:00.000-04:00

This Sunday is the last team tryout and will be held at the MILLVALE boathouse (change from last 2 tryouts). For those who do not make the first round erg score cut we will be on the water for technique evaluations immediately following the erg trials.

Our registration forms and deposit are in. All cuts will be made by Monday. The race is $800 so each person selected will owe a $35 entry fee cash or check to Ben.

Guys where you at? if we dont have 12 guys then the spots will be taken by women. We will have good competition (philly police, PDBA, ...) so we will need a full set of guys racing!

b

Ranked scores Feb & March

2007-04-06T00:25:00.000-04:00

Female	Male
150.5	114.1
152.8	126.8
160.4	140.6
165.2	142.7
165.8	145.5
167.7	150.3
170.1	156.4
181.6
182.4
185.2
186.3
188.9
188.9
188.9
189.8
213.4

Feb 25 Trials

2007-02-27T15:07:00.000-05:00

Women's ranked scores:

150.5
160.4
165.8
167.9
173.6
181.6
182.4
185.2
186.3
188.9
213.4

Men's ranked scores:

126.8

142.7

148.4

156.4

Conversion = time in sec+(((weight in lbs/2.2046)-100)*0.31)

See you March 31.

Tapering for trials

2007-02-17T12:42:00.000-05:00

I was asked if or how to vary training the week leading up to trails...

There are 3 trial days. Assuming that you are on a good training program or just training well you should be making weekly gains. Thus you should be able to produce the best results on your last test.

Your training works in a simple cycle of breaking down muscle and rebuilding it. The way to taper (alter training to get quick gains) is by resting more and working less (more rebuilding and less breaking down) but by resting more you break the breakdown/rebuild cycle. Thus the taper gives a quick boost to your performance but delays your long term gains (in this case by a week or so).

My suggestion is to keep up your training in order to get great results in May. If you feel the need to back off some, do so in areas that do the most muscle damage - ie weights, high intensity intervals and super distance (2hrs+) work. Also if you dont do mini tapers it builds a mental focus which can help to improve performance.

Dont do time trials or other race simulating activities the week leading up to trials. If you need to practice a race plan break up the distance into short blocks with lots of rest.

"(Success) is not something you force, its something that comes naturally with time"
- new Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin in a recent interview.

TRRA Membership

2007-02-02T14:23:00.000-05:00

TRRA membership is NOT required for tryouts or the team. However if you want to practice on the ergs on your own time you must become a member.

All membership sign ups are handled online. There are several different options so read through the list carefully to get your best deal. Most people looking to use the ergs will want the Adult Fitness.

TRRA membership page: http://threeriversrowing.org/MembershipInformation.html

Payment can be done via CC when you sign up, check to be mailed with the printed invoice or dropped off at the Lambert Boathouse (Washington's Landing) and you can have monthly payments deducted from an bank account but I think you have to call (412.231.8772) to work that out. It is my understanding that you can sign up for monthly payments then cancel them should you decide to leave TRRA; though this is not a preferred route for TRRA, it does essentially turns your yearly membership into a monthly.

Facility members have access to all indoor equipment at both boathouses. The paddling ergs are at the Lambert Boathouse (Washington's Landing).

There is a bit of a catch. Teams have most of the good time blocks reserved for their use. There is a TRRA rule that 2 ergs must be left for individual member use however 30 high school kids can crowd a place up. These teams are on the rowing machines so usually the paddling machines are open for use but its good practice to ask the coach for the right space to set the erg up at.

Here is a link to the erg schedule for 2007:
http://spreadsheets.google.com/pub?key=pyLfIh1KuWGeSgOF6CsGlTQ

Post comments to this and ill respond to them so that everyone can see.

Selection Info

2007-01-31T15:30:00.000-05:00

Selection info is posted on the right bar, you can also email me (kayak360 -at- gmail.com) to get a PDF if you prefer. Note that there are no longer pre-test dates but rather 3 testing dates, all on the ergs with one water session. Here is the schedule:

Lambert’s Boathouse Sun, Feb 25, noon- 2pm Time Trial

Lambert’s Boathouse Sat, March 31, noon- 2pm Time Trial

Lambert’s Boathouse Sun, May 6, noon-2pm Time Trial, water trial

Lambert’s Boathouse Sun, May 13, 9am 11am First Practice or Rain Date water trial

Fox Chapel Marina Sun, May 27, 9am 11am Second practice

Fox Chapel Marina Sun, June 3, 9am 11am Third practice

Philadelphia Sat, June 9 Independence Dragon Boat Regatta

Preparing for Tryouts

2007-01-29T12:53:00.000-05:00

The selections are designed to find those who have a powerful stroke, the ability to adapt blade angles at high rates and execute a variety of race plans.

It is hard to practice technique without being in a boat. Paddling pool or dockside can help and TRRA has indoor rowing tanks that work so so for paddling. Your best bet would probably be combining pool time with lots of video analysis of top level paddlers (look to the Canadians for a stroke similar to what we will use). A broomstick and mirror are great tools. This is a decent video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X4DQ2vTT3O8

Weight is factored into the erg score, 10 lbs makes roughly 2 seconds difference. Additionally it is not uncommon for people to drop 15 seconds on their erg time just from gaining comfort on the machine and improving their fitness levels. Both of these are achievable in 3 months.

You have 3 months and 2 test dates before the last time trial on May 6th. This is a sufficient amount of time to develop comfort on the paddling erg even if you have never been on it. There are 2 easy ways to get paid access to a paddling erg - buy one ($1,000+) or use the TRRA ergs ($22 per month). You can get free access to an erg by getting a friend to buy one, also after the time trials any spare time can be used for a quick workout.

Training on the paddling erg is the most effective exercise for decreasing your erg time. Use a mix of hard intervals (30%), fast sprints (10%) and light endurance work (60%). Use light endurance work in place of interval and sprint rest periods to decrease your total workout time and improve muscle recovery. (intervals like one minute on/ one minute off, sprint work like 10 seconds all out, endurance work like 20 minutes easy)

If you are not currently doing this type of exercise start the first week with all light endurance work with a few sprints for fun (minimum of 100 minutes per week). The second week add an interval set of no more than 10min on 2 of the days. You can build volume and intensity slowly from week to week. Don't do more than one time trial per week and keep the resistance below 4.

If you dont have access to a paddling erg do cardio work on a machine or running. Strength exercises should focus on those that mimic the stroke (hip flexors, abs, back, & pulling. Pushups and pullups will go a long way, do sets that focus on speed and intensity with lots of rest rather than volume. Core strength and stretching are the foundation to general strength.