Since our last Wednesday Night race in October, I have been getting in my boat an average of once a week, Brandon has not gotten  in his boat at all.

Last Sunday was the Deception Dash Dash. A PNW classic, with 150 boaters coming out in the dead of winter, with hopes of cold, stormy conditions facing them as millions of gallons of water pour through the world famous Deception Pass leaving a sea of swirling seas and standing waves in its path. This year, we were greeted with a gorgeous clear day and a slight breeze and the pass met us with a quiet calm.

As for our performance, we both felt great. I was first in the women’s surfski, finishing just ahead of a group of surfskiers I can only stay ahead of at our Wednesday Night Races on a good day! Brandon had a great race too, paddling a comfortable pace that put him third.Without the Erg… well, the story would not have such a happy ending!

Thanks Bill Walker for another fabulous race…. and cheers to our Erg!!!

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Race Photo courtesy of Gary Luhm Photography

There MIGHT be a group of women

But when you consider how much depth and talent there is on the team now — including the 2010 Women’s Top Gun from the mountain bike leg, Nicola Mann — the prospects begin to seem a little slim.

Nicola trains and increases her fitness level FOR A LIVING. She and her husband Derek Shiers run Trailhead Athletics, a small-group, instructor-led training facility based out of their home in Whatcom Falls Park. Yeah, their RIGHT THERE, with access to all those amazing trails, stairs, single track, Galbraith Mountain, Lake Whatcom… the whole fitness enchilada.

And the athletes who work with them literally GLOW when they start talking about their results at Trailhead. Heather herself trained with Trailhead before last year’s Ski to Sea, and upped her numbers in pretty much every exercise she does. A highlight, I remember, was an effort of 56 push-ups in one go, and 15 pull-ups.

Yeah, that kind of strength translates to on-water gains, too. She was wicked fast and Top Gun’d as well last year.

Her training vocation also makes her a predictably great interview, and we’re excited to share this latest podcast episode with you.

Kick on the iPod or crank up your computer speakers and listen in to a half-hour of Nicola’s world. It’s an awesome one, to be sure.

I mentioned that I would explain:

• What workouts Carlos had me do;
• What he taught me;
• The tests he put me through — and the humbling results;
• And I’ll share some of the philosophies he shared along the way — and why I’ll never forget them as long as I’m an athlete.

The 30-Minute Piece

From the beginning, Carlos designed my entire workout regimen primarily on one foundational piece: The 30-minute steady state row. On any given day, 6 days a week, he would have me do 1 or 2 of these, with 5 minutes rest in between if there were 2.

I only had 6 weeks to train, so Carlos put HUGE emphasis on building enough endurance to make it through the 2000K piece — roughly a 6-minute+ test. I would gain strength and lactic acid comfort with shorter, more intense intervals, but the foundation to everything else were these 30-minute pieces.

My stroke rate on these pieces ranged from 16 to 22 strokes per minute — a relatively slow stroke rate — but with maximum power.

Every Stroke Counts

It was during these workouts that Carlos taught me, and reminded me again and again and again, that EVERY stroke was critical, every stroke mattered and should be approached as if it were the only stroke of the day.

From the end of the drive, all focus should immediately shift to the recovery phase, total relaxation, good posture, let the muscles recover, breath, hands and fingers totally relaxed, lightly gripping the handle, think about the next stroke as you glide all the way forward, arms extend to their maximum length, shins now vertical, back slightly rounded, looking straight ahead….

NOW DRIVE! Legs, legs, use the immense power of your legs. Arms are straight, legs exploding to full extension as you literally try to rip the flywheel from the machine, arms and torso now continue the drive, shoulders and arms now taking up the work, handle going straight to the sternum, elbows high, shoulders down, still looking straight ahead….. and then back to recovery phase.

600 strokes, give or take, per 30 minute piece. Each time I finished completely sweat soaked, endorphines flooding, feeling like I could take on the world. And I would hear Carlos’s voice with his trademark Spanish accent:

“Good work, Brandon. Now rest for five… and get ready to go again.”

In January 2010, I rowed a 6:18 in the 2,000 meter test against about 10 other guys in the 30-39-year-old age bracket. It was fast enough to win the gold medal that day, but I knew I had a better performance in me.

Enter Carlos Dinares. At that 2010 event, I watched lightweight women’s star Ursula Grobler break the world record in that division.  She’s gone on to rank very high in the world for on-water rowing, and is now at at the Olympic Training Center in San Diego training with the U.S. Team.

I wanted some of that same coaching, just to see what I could do. So I asked Carlos to train me, and he agreed.

From just before Christmas ’til last Saturday Carlos and I trained at his Lake Samish waterfront facility 6 days a week, for about an hour a day. Over the next few blog posts I’ll explain what workouts Carlos had me do, what he taught me, the tests he put me through — and the humbling results, and also I’ll tell the philosophies he shared along the way and why I’ll never forget them as long as I’m an athlete.

The culmination of the work was that, last Saturday, against 8 other men in the 30-39-year-old age bracket again — my last year in that group, as I’ll turn 40 next year — I put together a performance again worthy of the gold medal. This time I shaved 11 seconds off my time from last year, and rowed a 6:07.1. It was 18 seconds ahead of 2nd place in my group, and 0.2 seconds behind the fastest time of the day, in the open class.

I’m excited to tell the story and tell all about Carlos’s Olympic-level expertise in the posts that follow. For now, I’ll sign off with a heartfelt THANK YOU to coach Carlos Dinares. You’re a great coach, a great friend, and an inspiration!

Happy Paddling!

Heather, Brandon and Hayden

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1) Fuel. Whatever distance you’re racing, your fuel before and during the race matters in a big, big way. Is it a short race, like a 3.5 mile Wednesday nighter? Try eating your last substantial snack about 3 hours before race time, stay hydrated (ideally with Heed or something similar), then right before you head out to warm up pound a packet of Goo, ClifShot, Hammer Gel, or whatever high-maltodextrin, Goo-like product you prefer. Use one with caffeine, too. Wash it down with a little water or Heed, and see if you don’t feel downright bionic during the race. For longer races, I still like the pre-race, caffeinated Goo. But during the race I’m sipping on some Perpetuem or Spiz – more of a performance-oriented meal replacement. It’s rigged through a tube that stays put right in front of my lips, so I can sip without missing a beat. Now let’s be clear: I’m not talking about a floppy Camelback tube that I have to grope around for and grab, missing strokes while I’m doing it. And I’m not talking about a Goo-pack that’s strategically taped to the boat and will tear open when I grab it. I’m talking about NOT MISSING A SINGLE STROKE. I recommend you rig your fuel-delivery device so it’s 100% hands free.

 2) Drafting. If you’ve still got some obstinate, Freudian aversion to drafting for increased speed and/or energy conservation, my friend you’re truly missing out on one of the greatest (and fastest) joys of racing. I will openly admit to rolling my eyes at racers who draft 99% of a race then boogey by their host at the finish line. But working with another boat, or a pack of boats, giving each other periods of rest mixed with high-output speed-work to inch closer to the lead group… that IS the very definition of racing! And it starts when you line up for the start. Who will you position next to? Which side of them will you be on, and will that allow you to migrate to host #2 if they go zipping by? Will you be on the inside or outside of the turns? Think these questions through and have a plan, then measure the results and look to learn for the next race.

3) Dress. Comfortable is fast. Chafe, hypothermia, and over-heating are all slow. You can figure out the rest, and you SHOULD figure it out BEFORE race day. Have a race wardrobe in your car, but know exactly how you should feel during warm-ups and layer up or down based on experience, and for speed. My rule of thumb is, “If I’m not close to shivering at the start, I’m going to roast while I race.”

4) Rudder. The smaller the rudder, the less drag, the faster the THEORETICAL boat speed. But smaller rudders also mean tippier boats, and tippy is slow for a lot of paddlers. Error on the too-big side, though, and you’ve got unnecessary drag and a potential weed-vacuum. The main thing is that you don’t try a rudder for the first time on race day, or on new conditions for that rudder even if you’ve used it before race day. I’ve done that. I paid for it. (Heck, one time I lost a rudder mid-race, limped to shore, ran to my van for another rudder, swapped it out, and finished the race. And I wasn’t last! (Because I had some Goo-packs! ). If I could only have one rudder, it’d be about a 6-inch, swept, with a little weed guard bullet right in front of it. Wouldn’t be great for bigger-than-2-foot surf, but for most races in the PNW it’d be perfect.

5) Steady. It’s not written anywhere that starting like a freaking fighter jet off an aircraft carrier is mandatory, but almost every racer does it. That early-on, anaerobic burn consumes a TON of energy, especially if you carry it for too long before settling in to your cruising pace, and can leave you on “E” before the home stretch if you’re not careful. As an alternative, try calculating our your desired average speed for entire race, and holding that speed from the starting gun all the way to the start of the final kick. Be forewarned: It’s going to feel really, REALLY easy for the first 5 to 10 minutes, and you’ll be asking yourself why you’re not throwing down harder to keep up with the rabbits. Give it a shot, though, at an upcoming race. Let the rabbits go, and see if you don’t real them back on with your steady state approach. I’ve done this many times, especially on our weekly Wednesday nighters, and it almost always works in my favor.

Try each of these not-so-ninja strategies over your next handful of training sessions and races. Measure the results, and keep what’s working for you, and try some variations. The top guys and gals out there don’t keep getting faster and faster through osmosis. They’re always looking for the next trick to get an edge, and you can do the same thing with your racing!

POSTED BY: Brandon

See you on the water!

Heather, Brandon and Hayden

How do we train for race season? What races do we train through, and which ones do we rest for? When do we taper?

Being our own coaches in a somewhat obscure sport, it is fun trying to find the perfect balance of fun, fitness, and being ready to throw-down on race day!

Long paddles, short paddles, social paddles, adventure paddles, interval-training, cross-training, strength-training, weekly races, weekend races… the opportunities to turn yourself into a paddling machine are endless.

I find that planning my race calendar and workout schedule keeps me focused and on track for the races that matter. The first target race for me is the Ski to Sea (S2S), which falls at the very end of May. This 7-leg, multi-sport relay race is fondly called the ‘Bellingham Olympics’ by locals. I do the 5-mile kayak leg, and being the anchor leg I feel the weight of the team’s finish resting on my shoulders.

But it isn’t that so much that motivates me to be in peak fitness for this race. It’s the individual leg results — the golden list that singles you out, puts your time on a list with 425 other paddlers and announces to the world how YOU did. The day after race day, the paddlers aren’t talking about how your team did… they are looking at how every individual paddler ranked.

My goal is to be Top 25 overall. Last year I was 22^nd. Brandon’s ‘09 goal was Top 5, and he blazed in at 3^rd overall.

This year, I began my training 3 months out from the S2S. I paddle 4 times a week. Monday is either a 9 – 12 mile paddle or, if the wind is up, I surf on the bay. On Wednesday night I do to the 3.5 mile weekly race at Bloedel. Friday is usually an easy 4 – 6 mile paddle. And Saturday I try to do another 12 mile paddle with some interval work thrown in – or I’ll be racing one of the events listed at the end of this post.

In addition to on-the-water training, I strength train 3 times a week. This year, I asked Nicola (who also happens to be the mountain biker on my S2S team!) at  Trailhead Athletics to create a workout regimen for me. I am doing an 11-week periodized cycle which contains a 2 week foundation period followed by a strength based phase of 4 weeks and a power/agility phase of 4 weeks. At the end of each phase is a taper, then benchmark testing at the beginning.

The cross-fit type training is new to me… and I definitely feel some new muscles coming to life! One of my strength training days is Wednesday, which makes that day extra challenging. Nicola and Derek kick my butt in the gym in the morning, and in the late afternoon I race with all I have at the ‘Wednesday Nighter’.  It hurts. But, it will make me stronger. At least, that is the theory.

Last on my list is running. I go on three trail runs a week, pushing Hayden in the jogger. It is good cardio training, but, more than that, the kayak leg in the S2S isn’t just a paddle leg! After taking the timing chip hand-off from your mountain biker, you have to run about 1/4 mile to your boat, then run down the boat ramp to the dock at Zuanich with your boat on your shoulder, then, and after racing 5-miles in the bay, you have to run from your boat, up the rocky beach to the finish line. I train for the run!

This is about 12 hours a week of training. I am a planner, so, this works great for me. I love looking at the calendar and knowing what I need to do. A goal and plan keep me motivated and focused.

Of course, in the midst of the training are a handful of races to test the progress and really push the output those days. Races on our calendar leading up to the Ski to Sea:

9-mile Dan Harris Challenge, April 25

13-mile Lake Whatcom Classic, May 1

13-mile Tour De Indian Arm Race, May 16

After Tour De Indian Arm, I begin a 2 week taper bringing me to race day!

There are definitely more scientific or refined approaches out there, but with Hayden running the show most of the time and Brandon’s erratic work schedule – and his own training and racing to balance – this plan has worked well for me. Most of all, it has stayed fun and kept me super-excited about this race season!

We’ll see you on the water!

Heather, Brandon and Hayden

He recently made this video featuring he and fellow masochist Christian Carson showing off some great ways to work out “at the office.”

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y64liKaIpDw&feature=email

Don’t even THINK of trying this at home!

Check out more from Beau on his blog: http://paddlesurfnorthwest.blogspot.com/

And then read Beau’s ‘The Way I Live’ Q & A at http://nwwayoflife.com/beau-whitehead/

Thanks Beau!!!

Heather, Brandon and Hayden Storm