Author: simon.crunden

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Gray Matters

Good Evening Rowers,

Sorry I’m a bit late, Nicole said July erg, apparently though implied….she didn’t actually mean for ALL of July..

Winter Update, is now at 35 days to go. 35 being not as small a number as we’d like, I mean 35 is still a LOT of laps of the tan and LOADS of donuts, admittedly a fairly cheap pair of shoes but quite a generous jeans size and (by my standards anyway) a pretty good bottle of wine. The good news is that while it’s now light til nearly 6pm, it’s dark by the time we train and also dark til about 7.10am, which means, no one can so how bad you are! So if you’re crummy, now is the time to hit the water and fly under the radar.

Ergo’s

Ok, July is VERY nearly over, so now it’s time to hop on your favourite erg as your stats are now due. 10 min for girls and the mixed master hoty crew with an open rating (translation flog yourself silly). Don’t be concerned if the guys are yet to show their mettle on the ergs as they will be doing their 20 min ergos in early August with the results posted on their shiny new blog for the world to see…..hardcore indeed.

Nicole’s tired of me boring her silly about my prowess on the erg (and extreme endurance and incredible ability) and invites you to do your monthly ergo – hop on the website and tell us about it (no need to post scores). Do JL’s weekly ergo and hop on the Tiger Forum and tell us about it.

The aim of all these ergos is A) because we are having mini-skirts as compulsory dress at the christmas party, B) because Barwon called us Chubby or according to the head honch C) They make

us feel good and virtuous. Which is true, I believe I deserve a medal, or (possible more

befitting) a state funeral after every ergo I do.

Website

So enter your erg and check out our website which it right on brief for making us appear VERY sporty! And VERY cool.

Squad Bosses

Lemme know when you’re going out and which boat has your name on it, well not literally of course, though I await the club reunion when I meet Karen Azinger, Jennifer Campbell and Co.

The boat booking board is in use – so please book your boats through Nicole or myself and check the board before taking a boat out.

katie gray

PANS (PA to Nicole Studka, previously PA to JK until she was transferred to the Darwin Oar Rowing Society and now champions the DORC’s up there)

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This week @ RRC (26 July)

Big week last week – Two solid sessions in the eight with both outings producing good form for this time of the year.
There is still a bit of work to do on the leg drive as the horsepower is not quiet converting into boat speed but looking at the progression we have made in the past three weeks, it is only a matter of time (and plenty more km’s) before we get there.
This week is more of the same except we will look at varying the exercises to improve the timing through the leg drive. Expect a few more legs only exercises, which Tom Appleby eloquently refers to as ‘stuff the duck’ and more of the good old power strokes or ‘stuff the legs’.
Thursday we will be looking for the full hour on the water as we want to get in a few tech pieces and some quality steady state work with a few jumps in rating thrown in for good measure. Saturday will be similar to Thursday but we will aim for 1 ½ hours on the water to get a few more km’s in the legs.
I will also plan to do another 15 min chat prior to the row on Saturday to give you a bit of background to the session and an update on the forthcoming Bairnsdale camp. If we could aim to be upstairs for 1400hrs I would appreciate it.
In other news, the ‘Frequent Sleeper’ program gained its first points towards the Bairnsdale camp rehydration experience with Martin and Kevin making their first contributions for the year. The blog has been updated with a new ‘Frequent Sleeper’ page so we can keep an eye on the tab leading up to Bairnsdale.
Finally, for those who missed out on the AGM, we have some new faces on the RRC committee with Derek Begg (CM) and Troy Durham (CM) joining Emma (President), Martin (HOCD), Lucy (Treasurer), Anthea (Secretary), Nicole (HOR) and Annalise (VP) on the 2009/10 committee.
If you want to let loose with a few ideas for the direction of the club, including where the darts board should be placed in the new extension, then start campaigning through any of the above people.
See you Thursday.

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Fine free Thursday on a damp Melbourne winters day

The ‘frequent sleeper’ board worked a treat this morning and enabled the two crews we had down to get on the water on a damp Melbourne winters day in record time.
The only issue being that no fines were handed out so the beer fund is look a bit sad to say the least.
Quality row in the eight with those in the boat ramping it up the legs on the lap home backing up some good work during the power stroke exercises.
Thanks to the people who text or emailed that they would not be available this morning as it helps with organising crews on the day.
Don’t forget Saturday training kick’s off at 8 am followed by the AGM at 10:30 am.

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Look to the right

If you look to the right of the blog home page you will notice a link under the ‘Useful Links’ header to the RRC men’s squad calendar which has been expertly set up by Sam.
This calender will be updated with all sorts of information including training times, club time trials, ergo testing and regatta dates for the 2009/10 season.

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'On Time Arrival' board

I drew up an ‘On Time Arrival’ check list this morning on the white board at the club so you can check off your name when you arrive at the club for training.
I will use the board to assist me to put together crews for morning rows so please make sure you check your name off so I know you are at the club.

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Gray Matters

Afternoon Rowers,
Firstly and most importantly, 42 days of winter left to go. 6 weeks from today, so for those bottle blondes out there just the amount of time from one hair appointment to the next. Also according to this google search, we could be just 42 days away from wealth and happiness!
A lot can happen in 6 short weeks so get cracking.
Club Races
Club races were heaps for fun we had 6 fours racing, any engineers who were clever enough to move the foot stretchers in the Latham (boat not man) had better let me know so I get to rowing the night before to readjust these.
Well done to Derek for whooping Sally, Dave M, Rochelle and Kate D into first place. The crew dominated and was undefeated for their four races.
As hypothesised yes, boys can cook great bacon and eggs and Kev made awesome rum/raisin pancakes. There was a welcome absence of cheesy noodles and noodles cooked in beer as suggested by one blogger, though I’ll make a note of that gem of a recipe idea for next time Nicole busts me on ebay and sends me to do her supermarket shopping.
Tigers on Wheels
If you even want to dream of keeping up with Sarah, Sharon and I in “around the bay” in the 60km/h section join the gang as per Sarah’s emails most Saturday’s at 7am.
Election Time – Emma 09
Club elections & the AGM are on Saturday at 10:30 am followed by a club photo at 11:30 am.
People have nominated for all committee positions, except for Vice-President. We will be taking nominations from the floor on Saturday.
So, please think about running and getting involved. To nominate for VP you need to have been financial club member for 2 years. Any questions about committee stuff, please talk to anyone on this years committee or with past committee experience including Martin, Dennis, Emma, Derek, Annalise, John Latham (man not boat), Simon Crunden (man not boat, although you will probably get more sense from the boat), etc.
Katie Gray
PANS (PA to Nicole Stupka, previously PA to JK until she was transferred to the Darwin Oar Rowing Society and now champions the DORC’s up there)

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RRC Men's Squad Announces Frequent Sleeper Program

RRC mens’ squad coach Simon Crunden has announced a “frequent sleeper program” to promote promptness for early morning training sessions.
Rowers who are late for training will pay into a fund that will be used as a beer tab to fuel the thirsty men’s squad at the annual Bairnsdale camp.
Each time a rower is late to training they will be required to pay $2 into the fund. Rowers will have eight $2 credits each and if they exceed their credits, the late fee will then increase to $4.
The definition of late is if the rower is not down stairs dressed ready to row at 5 minutes before the scheduled push off time.
Mr Crunden said the program was developed after conducting an extensive physiological and psychological analysis of the mens’ squad to determine key drivers of motivation.
“Basically, they’re guys, so they like beer and sleeping in. This seemed the most sensible way to leverage those two traits and ensure on-water punctuality,” Mr Crunden said.
Mr Crunden warned that deliberate lateness in order to boost the Bairnsdale beer tab would be frowned upon, and offenders punished by extensive application of power strokes.
Frequent Sleeper points will be regularly updated on the RRC Men’s Squad blog.
with Jim Cooper

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Training this week – week beginning 20 July

Great turn out on Saturday for the eight and four. According to my calculations we should have a full quota for two eights on Thursday and Saturday…..albeit with a cranky cox on the Saturday as she will be struggling with a slight hangover.
The major change this week is that training on Saturday is scheduled for 8:00am to coincide with the Annual General Meeting which starts at 10:30am.
We will need to be prompt for 8:00am as there are a couple of committee members in the squad who will need to be off the water for 10:00am at the latest.
I encourage you all to attend the meeting as the club has enjoyed a lot of success this past season and have plenty to look forward to next year including the renovation of the boathouse. There will also be a club photo taken at the conclusion of the meeting so make sure you turn up in something other than your zoot suit.
Training this week will focus on the use of power strokes. Power strokes for those not familiar with them are maximum effort through the leg drive with controlled low rate recovery (18-20 spm).
We will be looking to focus on controlled movement up the slide and a skilful placement at the catch to maximise the connection with the water. From the catch the crew will be focusing on maximising the hang off the oar emphasising the stretch through the lats making sure the seat is moving at the same speed as the handle during the leg drive.
This is a great exercise if done properly, and we will have plenty of time to practise, as we will be doing three pyramids (10, 20, 30, 40, 30, 20, 10 strokes) with 5 minutes off in between the sets.
Given the above, we will need to budget the full 60 minutes on Thursday (so we must be on the water for 0630 and no later) and 90 minutes on Saturday as the power strokes will take up to 45 minutes of the session. We will use the additional time on Saturday to do some tech work.
Thursday is a beer penalty day, so those not on time will get their first ‘frequent sleeper points’ in the IOTC (I Owe The Crew) ledger which will be redeemed at the Bairnsdale camp later in the year.

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Video of the 8+

Mike Numa sent this to me this morning…check it out
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ul0pgHNRJzs&hl=en&fs=1&rel=0]

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testing 1, 2….3

Great turn out for our inaugural Thursday morning and the rows in both the eight and four certainly provides plenty of encouragement for the season to come.
Apologies for the teething problems….I hope to have the few issues we experienced this morning under control for this weekend and the following Thursday AM.
Firstly boats – Martin confirmed the eight will be back in the shed on Friday so we will need to do some work on that for Saturday. We need to organise for a few people to be down at the club a bit earlier (say 1315hrs) so we can section and rig the eight for the 1400hrs row. If at least eight turn up earlier that will make light work of the eight.
Sam is on the case re the coxes and will be following up Elaine for Saturday and hopefully confirming another cox for the next two Thursdays while Mike is up in Sydney.
We will need a minimum of two sets of lights for Thursday AM, two which we have already got and I suspect we should have a spare set floating around in case we need to split crews down into smaller boats. I will get these ordered today and hopefully we will have them for next week.
Kev had an idea that we have some sort of board up so people could mark off their names when they arrived so we know who has arrived (or not). I think this will be a good idea as it was a bit of mayhem this morning trying to work out who was down. Kev do you have any ideas for this (or anyone else for that matter)?
Good to see a few old faces back this morning and also good to see that some have not lost any of their bravado when it comes to dealing with the cold weather….could this be a return of the legendary wife beater?
See you all Saturday….Simon

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