I recently experienced in rowing the
benefits of approaching something with a plan and being flexible with
that plan. As part of my preparation for rowing head race season (head races are long distance races of about 5000 meters), I
have turned in a time for 6000 meters on an erg (rowing machine). In
the last two weeks or so, I gone on the erg three times. The first time
was to get a feel for what 6000 meters feels like on an erg, so I
rowed three 2000 meters pieces. The second and third times, I rowed
6000 meters straight.
This story requires an explanation of
the information the erg provides me (or to anyone else) rowing on it.
The machine has a digital display that displays a simulated distance
that you have rowed. It shows how many strokes per minute you are
rowing. It also displays a 500 meter split time based on (I believe)
your most recent two strokes to give you an idea of the pace at which
you are rowing. You can modify the display to show other information
such as calories burned or to show a graph illustrating the power
curve of the effort you put into your stroke. I prefer seeing the
power curve.
In the trio of 2000 meter pieces that I
rowed on my first outing, I rowed an average of 25 strokes per
minute. When I added the three pieces together – which,
admittedly, had three minute rest periods between each piece – I
had a 6000 meter time of 25 minutes and 41 seconds. I didn't know
what to expect in terms of a time, I was neither pleased nor
displeased with the results. I determined that I needed to improve
that time when I talked to some of my teammates who were turning in
times in the 24 minute range.
The next week, I rowed a 6000 meter
piece on the erg. I rowed it in 25 minutes and 31 seconds at an
average stroke rate of 23 strokes per minute (spm). I was happy to
not go backwards in comparing my time to aggregated time of my
previous outing, but I knew I still needed to improve. I noticed a
couple key facts on this outing. First, I was able to basically
maintain the same time rowing 6000 meters straight as I did rowing
three 2000 meter pieces that had rest breaks. I did this with a
lower average stroke per minute rate. Rowing is funny in that a
higher stroke rate doesn't necessarily equate to a better time or a
faster boat. I also noticed that during my warm up I had started at
an 18 spm with an estimated time better than what I was rowing at the
23 spm or 25 spm range.
For my third outing, I incorporated my
observations into a plan for improving my 6000 meter time. The first
step in my plan would be to reduce the effort I was expending in my
warm up. My strongest power curves (taken from the digital readout)
were coming from those 18 spm warm up strokes. I would use the warm
up just for that: to warm up my muscles. My next step would be to
lower my stroke rating at 22 spm. I have observed in the past that I
felt I could “row all day” at 22 spm on long erg workouts or
outings on the boat. I would start out with a very strong press –
the kind I was seeing in my 18 spm workouts – take a long recovery,
and press hard again. I knew that, over the course of the 6000
meters, that strong press would diminish. I would still get a very
strong start. My last portion of my plan was to bump up my stroke
rating at the very end, two spm at a time so that I would close out
the piece rowing at 30 spm.
I started out rowing my 22 spm with
strong strokes getting a 1:52 500 meter split estimate every two
strokes (according to the digital readout). I held that split for
about 1000 meters. I fell off that split in the next 1000 meters, so
that my first 2000 meters came in at about eight minutes. I
maintained my stroke rating and kept pressing so that my 500 meter
split estimate remained between 2:00 and 2:10 for the next 2500
meters. During the last 500 meters, I had planned to up begin
increasing my rating, but when I did that, my 500 meter split
estimate worsened. I was increasing the stroke rating my lessening
my recovery time and loosing power on my drive. I made a quick
decision to hold onto my 22 spm rating for a little bit longer and my
500 meter split estimate improved again. I rose my stroke rating in
the last 150 meters or so to about 27 and finished the entire piece
in 24 minutes and 44 seconds.
24:44 still isn't a great time, it is
in the middle of times worldwide for my age group (just below the
50th percentile). I was still pleased with my 47 second
improvement and attributed it to approaching the piece with a plan
and being willing to make quick adjustments to my plan while I was
rowing. I could have just told myself to row as hard and as fast as
I could and hope for the best, but I did better with having a plan.
The same concept can be applied to any
of our endeavors. For years, I have done well in many of my efforts
at work by just applying more energy and animation to whatever I was
doing. That can be effective to a point. There are limits to what
anyone can do by himself or herself by just applying more energy. At
some point, applying that energy is just flopping around really fast.
Planning our actions and working with others multiplies what we are
able to accomplish. I realize as I type this that this is a basic
concept, but my experience on the rowing machine provided me a
concrete example of the benefits of having a plan.
I am using this experience to think
about times at work or in volunteer work when I could have done
better with a plan and with the willingness to be flexible in that
plan. What experiences do you have where you know you benefited from
having a plan?
