Rowing resources

CATCH | DRIVE | FINISH | RECOVERY

Tutorials
http://gubernatrix.co.uk/2008/03/indoor-rowing-technique/
http://gubernatrix.co.uk/2008/03/indoor-rowing-training/
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eqVmMd7FdAA&feature=related

Enjoying this guys:

http://www.youtube.com/user/rowingwithcalmwaters

Key points (for me)

* Knees to chest

* Chin to bow at end of drive

* Chain level

* Lats with arms

* Roll core

Clubs
http://www.shorehamrowingclub.co.uk/aboutus.html
http://brightoncrew.org/crew/?page_id=1860

Peanut allergy

I'm off to Vietnam in six months so I asked my GP for a referral to the allergy clinic. Just been for my appointment and there are no desensitisation programmes available through the NHS (or privately) and I wasn't rechecked on the skin test because it's only five years since my last one.

So that's a bit disappointing.

I have private healthcare but they won't cover anything that the NHS doesn't. The chinese medicine guy at the top of the road did a pulse reading and concluded poor lung function is affecting my immune system and causing my allergy. He prescribed a course of acupuncture and some tea and pills. Kinesiology people are getting back to me.

The kinesiologist didn't ring me back!

I will look at participating in a desensitisation trial.

To be continued ...

Don Letts 6 music Spotify playlist

Hard to find his remixes, though!

Don Letts 6 Music

Channel 4 House Party Spotify playlist

http://open.spotify.com/user/1138470165/playlist/7bbEq5nqIBDJgKHqIbGJpm

Things to read after Fear and Loathing...

According to JK:

Rum Diary
    - A little calmer but great

Hell's Angels
    - Possibly my favourite

Fear and loathing on the campaign trail
    - If you're interested in politics of US in '70s.

The great shark hunt
    - Includes the seminal The Kentucky Derby is Decadent and Deprived.

Lat pull down with pelvic floor squeeze

Do a standing close-grip lat pull down, but as you reach the bottom of the movement rotate your pelvis around your hips towards the bar.

Release your psoas

I've only recently become interested in the psoas muscle and its effects on running. But is actually very well studied in yoga and other disciplines.

Resources
* http://www.yogajournal.com/practice/169/?page=3
* http://touchoftao.blogspot.co.uk/2010/10/overview-of-psoas-muscle.html
* http://earthbalance-taichi.com/2012/01/psoas-muscle-in-tai-chi/
* http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/b2/Gray430.png
* Relationship to bulging belly

Calculating optimum fat burning heart rate

From a WikiHow article.

1. Resting heart rate (calculated with the excellent Android heart rate monitor)
62

2. Maximum heart rate = 220 - 37
183

3. Heart rate reserve = step2 - step1
121

4. Lower THR is 60% of step3 = 121 * 0.6 + step1
134.6

5. Upper THR is 80% of step3 = 121 * 0.8 + step1
158.8

So my target heart rate is 134.6 at the fat-burning end, to 158.8 at the cardio end.

First run at 85 bpm

I did a 1 km very slow warmup then popped the headphones on playing the 85 bpm Spotify playlist posted earlier in the week. It felt like an insane pace, but the subsequent 2.5 km was my quickest so far.
(While the playlist is not mixed like a Dance compilation, the gaps do provide a nice pause to gather your focuses.)

Combining commute and training schedule

I have built my training into my daily schedule; but it does take some organisation.

The commute
I used to drive door-to-door but rising petrol costs have made it economically equivalent to public transport. So I catch the train and run or walk from the station. And it's great! An hour reading, or music (or a snooze) is so much more enjoyable than staring at a queue of cars. And I'm sure I've saved a few quid (and calories) on car snacks.

Per week this equates to:

    Walk:   10 km
    Run:     17.5 km
    Gym:    one hour

I use a 3L CamelBak - which is overkill hydration-wise - allowing me enough room for socks, pants, tie, 40 cm x 40 cm micro-fibre towel and an ironed shirt (which mostly comes out still ironed at the other end). Shower gel and shoes I keep in the gym locker and my trousers are in constant rotation at the dry cleaner.

I use walk days to ferry supplies of yoghurt, crackers and shower gel as necessary (rather than run with them). I also have a small umbrella should the weather turn inclement. (Or course, when you're running the weather doesn't matter.)

Schedule
All walks and runs are 2.5 km, apart from Friday morning when I alight one stop further down the line for a 5 km run. All gym sessions are half-hour high-rep upper-body training. 

	Morning	Afternoon
Monday	walk	run
Tuesday	run + gym	run
Wednesday	walk	walk
Thursday	run	run
Friday	long run + gym	walk
Saturday
Sunday	hot yoga