Setting Goals: Motivated by Olympian Giuseppe Lanzone
An Olympian, a novice, and a masters coach walk into an erg room...
Actually, this story begins long before that moment. Giuseppe Lanzone began rowing in 1999 as a student at McLean High School in Virginia. Just two years later he finished third in the junior division at the 2001 CRASH-B World Indoor Rowing Championships. The following year, he and his University of Washington teammates won the freshman eight at the 2002 Pacific-10 Championships. They took second in the varsity eights in 2003 and again in 2004, but not before Giuseppe won the Ladies Plate Challenge Cup at the 2003 Henley Royal Regatta. Three more years of training and development, and Giuseppe won gold in the eight, and silver in the four at the 2007 USRowing National Championships.
The list of Giuseppe's accomplishments stretch on, including appearances at National Team Selection Regattas each year from 2007 to 2010. In those same years, he competed internationally, racing in the Rowing World Cup, the Henley Royal Regatta, World Rowing Championships, and the 2008 Olympics in Beijing. He remained a member of the U.S. National Team until 2012, winning the men's eight at the final Olympic qualification regatta, and placing fourth at the London Olympics.
To state the obvious, Giuseppe Lanzone has a mighty fine rowing pedigree. (Not to mention, a mysterious gaze that was featured in Ralph Lauren's 2012 Olympic apparel advertising campaign.) So when I had the opportunity to meet with him this past weekend to talk shop, I shook off the initial star-struck butterflies, and let my brain be a sponge for his rowing knowledge.
But this meeting wasn't about me. And it wasn't about Giuseppe. It was about Harold.
In the winter of 2011, Harold wanted to learn to row. He had never been in a boat. Never taken a stroke on an erg. He wanted to join the winter training program I coach for DC Strokes Rowing Club, but the program is designed for experienced rowers. I apologized to Harold, and suggested he work on building cardio over the winter, then register for the club's Learn to Row program in the Spring of 2012. And so he did.
At 44, Harold got in a racing shell for the first time, part of a motley novice crew comprised of both men and women, ranging in age from early-twenties, to early-fifties. Some of them had history as competitive athletes. Others were there to meet new people and shed a few pounds. Harold worked hard alongside his new teammates to learn the intricacies of the rowing stroke, understand power application, and prep for his novice season of racing.
As a coach, it's always fun to watch new rowers as they develop a love for the sport. The excitement when they row in a four for the first time. The wide eyes when they're asked to row stroke seat. The lightbulb moments when – after hearing me explain something 100 times in 12 different ways – it clicks. Harold always shouted a deep "Yes!" when I asked the crew if they were ready to work, and offer a round of applause after a tough workout. After practice, when everyone else piled into cars or onto bikes to head home, Harold stayed at the boathouse to take more strokes on an erg.
So I wasn't surprised when, this past December, Harold asked about CRASH-B Sprints, the world indoor rowing championships. But I was floored when he told me his goal: "I want to take home gold in my age group in 2014," he said.
Let's look at the numbers. In 2013, the winner of the Senior Master Men age 40-49 was a guy named Andrew Benko. Apparently he's been on the indoor rowing circuit for several years, hovering perilously above the 6:00 mark. Last year he pulled a 6:02.6 2k (a 1:30.5 500m split). A few months later as a novice rower, Harold was maintaining a 1:52 split on the erg through 1000m pieces. His first official 2k was Dec. 10, 2012 – 7:34.1 at 24spm, with a 1:53.5 split. It was obvious his cardio endurance had developed over the past seven months, but shaving 1:34 off a 2k is a very big feat, so we've started with a smaller (but still challenging) goal of a 7:15 2k at MidAtlantic erg sprints on Feb. 1, 2014.
This is where Giuseppe Lanzone comes in. Somehow, in ways still a bit fuzzy to me, Harold was able to secure an hour-long session with Giuseppe who is now a coach at Georgetown University, just a few miles downstream from our facilities at the Anacostia Community Boathouse. When he invited me to be there, I didn't hesitate to accept.
The fog was thick on the Anacostia River Saturday morning, and Giuseppe was charming when, upon seeing our bare bones erg clubhouse, said "This is cozy."
He wasted no time getting Harold on an erg to evaluate his technique, power application and cardio capabilities. He had lots of positive feedback, helping Harold adjust his catch by raising his hands right before the end of the recovery (just like unweighting the handle in the boat) and working on quick leg turn over off the foot boards to bring the rating up. Increase the rating, ease off some of the power and you'll develop better cardio endurance. We also talked about force curves, and how they are affected by blending the catch (hands up) with quick legs down.
After a solid 30 minutes of fine-tuning his technique, Giuseppe asked Harold: "Are you ready to do some work?" 4x500m with 45 seconds rest on the paddle. Quietly but firmly, while standing over Harold's right shoulder, Giueseppe egged him on, bringing the stroke rating up 28, 30, 32 and pushing the split down to 1:50, 1:48, 1:42 ...
Three weeks until MidAtlantic Erg Sprints. Fifty-seven weeks until CRASH-B's 2015. That's a lot of cardio endurance training and thousands of strokes. Let's get started.
UPDATE: With two weeks to go before MidAtlantic Erg Sprints, Harold pulled a 2k PR, finishing in 7:12.3. Average split of 1:40.0 at 28spm.