Because of Moe breaking the record, indoor rowing grabbed the headlines, making the mainstream news as Rich Stock, who was working at the event, remembers.

He said: “There had been a lot of chat in the build-up to the race as to whether Moe might be able to beat the record, but the experts at Concept2 were advising that the conditions weren’t great for a record attempt. I remember the excitement on the race floor as it was confirmed that Moe had beaten the record.”

The news quickly spread beyond the velodrome, as Stock explained: “That year, the event managed to reach the top trends on Twitter for the UK and Moe’s record was on the front page of the BBC News and Sport page which was a real breakthrough for indoor rowing.”

Read on to see how the British Rowing website reported it.

Moe Sbihi says he was inspired by the race between Matthew Pinsent and James Cracknell at BRIC 2003 and hopes his performances have proved inspirational as well

Olympic gold medallist Moe Sbihi has thrown down the gauntlet to anyone competing at the British Rowing Indoor Championship (BRIC) on 10 December, challenging participants to get near the British record time he set 12 months ago.

I was there when teammates James [Cracknell] and Matt [Pinsent] went head-to-head in a real hammer of the race

It’ll be no mean feat, with Sbihi smashing Sir Matthew Pinsent’s 11-year-old record at the Lee Valley VeloPark in 2015, stopping the clock at 5:41.8 for his 2km effort.

The Indoor Championships is the competition that made Sbihi see the sport of rowing in a different light and inspired him to pursue his dreams of reaching the top.

“It’s a really exciting event to be part of. It’s evolving and changing,” he said of BRIC.

“I remember in 2003 I was there when teammates James [Cracknell] and Matt [Pinsent] went head-to-head in a real hammer of the race. Cracknell ended himself and Pinsent just sat back and just pipped him at the end.

“There was the contrasting feeling of Pinsent looking relaxed and a little bit out of breath, while Cracknell was on the floor.

“That affected how I saw rowing, and hopefully what I did last year will inspire someone to give it a go and try and beat my score. My score is out there in public, so go and beat it.”

See more of our highlights of the decade: numbers 6 to 10

The post Highlight 7# of the decade: Moe Sbihi smashes 2km record at BRIC 2015 appeared first on British Rowing.

As a self-confessed ergo monster, here are my tried and tested secrets for getting the best out of that 2km race at the Mizuno British Rowing Indoor Championships next Saturday.

1 – Look on the bright side

This is your chance to see how much your fitness has improved. See it as a measuring exercise.

2 – Never stop

Providing you are fit, never ever stop partway through a session – whether it’s training or a test. If you’ve gone off too hard, feel sick, whatever the voices in your head are telling you, never stop.

Even if you limp home with 3 minute splits, you always have to complete the distance or time.

The only exception to this is if you injure yourself or feel seriously ill. You need to train your brain to be tough.

3 – Do some physical preparation

For a 2km race, you need to do at least 2 x 1,000m with a short break between, and some shorter pieces. I like to do 1,250m or even 1,500m to boost my lactate tolerance about a week before.

When you get down to the last week or so, you should be doing a practice piece every other day. Do a long piece a week before, then 2 x 1,000m, then 2-4 x 500m, and finally 2 x 250m the day before the test. These should each target a specific section of the race, and you should be at your goal split and rate, even if it feels easy. So practise starts, mid-race pace and finishes, and rehearse your mental plan at the same time. Alongside this, minimise your other training if you can.

Think about what really motivates you, what gets you excited and fired up

4 – Know your pacing

For your target time, work out your required average 500m split. Aim to be a second quicker than your required average in the first and last 500m, which is mostly achieved in the first and last 100-200m! Aim to be a second slower than your average in each of the middle 500m sections – this is your mid-race pace and you’ll actually do most of the test at this pace.

You need to know what rate works for you too; for most people this is somewhere between 28 and 34.

If you are huge it’s probably lower, if you are lighter and quick then the higher end is all yours. It’s about what is most efficient and natural for you, so play around with it a bit until you find your sweet spot.

Practise hitting your rate and split with your eyes closed. Look at your previous test splits to see where you were weakest and target this with your best motivational thoughts. Use the power curve display if possible – it’s great feedback that lets you know if you’re falling apart technically and keeps your mind off how far you’ve got to go.

5 – Have a plan for your head

We all know that rowing machine tests are the natural home of the darkest thoughts and the deepest self doubt. This is normal and afflicts everybody, and the key to dealing with it is to have a plan to fight back. Think about what really motivates you, what gets you excited and fired up. It could be a person you want to make really proud, the mental picture of racing past the enclosures at Henley, or the crew or individual you really want to crush. Break the test down into sections and use one of these thoughts for each section. During your preparation pieces, try to conjure up these feelings and images as realistically as possible. It’s a big help!

You want heroics? That’s what the last 500m is for

6 – Take control

If you’ve done your prep then you know your pacing and mental plan; you know your warm-up routine and you know the drag you want.

Do a short warm-up a couple of hours before the race. I usually row 2km at steady state, with a few bursts at race pace, and visualise the race.

Then rest. Warm up again for 15 minutes before the race, doing some mid-pace bursts and a start or two. Do learn to set the drag so that it is consistent during your preparation and the test, and always check this before you start.

Take food and drinks that you know will sit easily on your stomach. Don’t eat or drink too much beforehand – you don’t need that many calories and you don’t want to be sick, but do make sure you start the day well hydrated.

Sit on your machine. All you have to do is start, and then follow your plan. This is your territory now, in 6/7/8/9 minutes it will all be over so use those minutes to do something to be proud of.

If you’ve done your prep then you know your pacing and mental plan

7 – Don’t go off too hard

When the race starts, allow yourself ten strokes flat out and then start to think about gradually coming onto your mid-race pace and rhythm so that you hit it by about 250-300m. The start of a rowing machine test is no place for heroics. Once you’re on pace, stay consistent, relentless and stoic. Just grind it out.

You want heroics? That’s what the last 500m is for. I start counting strokes with 600m to go, I find 2 x 15 and 3 x 10 is about right, trying to ramp it up each time. More power, more rate, whatever you have, half slide is common at this stage; you’re in pain anyway so you might as well… Just remember to undo your feet before you fall off at the end!

Good luck!

The post Racing at BRIC21? Olympic champion Anna Watkins provides her top tips appeared first on British Rowing.

Saturday, 8 December saw over 2,000 competitors take part in the 2018 Mizuno British Rowing Indoor Championships. With 120 races over 83 events it officially became the biggest indoor rowing event in the world.

Racing started at 9am and went on non-stop into the evening, culminating in the men’s 4,000m relay event. The team relays are always a bit of a showcase event. “We love the relays at BRIC as they create such a cool atmosphere of teamwork, competition and celebration,” said Cam Nichol, founder of RowingWOD and part of the winning men’s relay team.

Lee Phillips, double Firefighter Games World Champion and member of the Turf Games men’s relay team said: “There was great camaraderie amongst the competitors and an electric atmosphere as soon as the racing started. We will definitely be back next year.” No doubt they will, coming a very close second to the RowingWOD team.

Demonstrating the inclusivity of the event there were 94 overseas competitors; 41% of the entrants were female; the oldest competitor was aged 87; and, for the first time at the event, para and adaptive athletes were able to race over 500m as well as 2,000m and the 4,000m team relay.

Naomi Doughty, taking part for the first time having won a spot at the event by entering the Go Row Indoor #BRIC18 indoor rowing challenge said: “The atmosphere was great and there was awesome energy coming from the crowd. I’m not a rower but…the experience has made me want to keep up with rowing and try again next year. For anyone considering trying indoor rowing I would totally recommend it.”

Have you been inspired to try indoor rowing? Check out our Go Row Indoor workouts here.

The post #BRIC18: ‘I’m not a rower but the experience has made me want to keep up with it and try again next year’ appeared first on British Rowing.

I came late to the sport of triathlon at the age of 47, and with lots of training and support from my family, qualified to represent GB as an age group athlete at World and European Championships in 2013, 2014 and 2015.

I then stepped back from all the training and competing in 2016 and 2017, and with a more relaxed lifestyle (along with plenty of good food and wine), managed to put on almost three stone, and lose much of that wonderful fitness I had gained.

This autumn I decided that I’d like to qualify for the triathlon World Championships in 2018, which will mean getting in shape again and re-building my strength and endurance.

Running has always been my weakest discipline in triathlon and I am keen to ensure I have a reasonable level of cardio fitness and strength (and to be carrying less weight) before I start regular runs again.

It was as I was contemplating getting in shape again this summer that I saw that the British Rowing Indoor Championships were taking place on December 9, 2017. It felt like a reasonable target to train for, and as my PR agency are working with British Rowing to increase the profile of the Go Row Indoor campaign, it was the perfect opportunity to experience the sport for myself at first hand.

About 20 years ago I had set a 2,000m PB of 8 minutes 36 seconds. In July this year, I managed 9.56 for the same distance. Quite a lot of work to do then if I wanted to break 8 minutes in December.

Starting training

I’m following the intermediate plan provided by the team at British Rowing which includes three rowing sessions a week over nine weeks. I’m supplementing this with two or three strength and conditioning training sessions a week.

I managed to rope in two lovely friends, Nicky and Brenda, who were my regular gym partners when I trained for a triathlon. Both have agreed to train for and compete at the British Rowing Indoor Championships too, at both 2,000m and 500m.

Our gym sessions have been put together by our PT (my husband Matt) and include a fairly simple (but increasingly hard) six exercise circuit which can be done three times in about 45 minutes including warm up and stretching at the end.

1.           Deadlift

We started doing this with a large dumbbell, progressed to a barbell and are now using a trap bar.

We’re in the fourth week and have progressed to 6-10 reps at 55 kg

2.           Pull Ups

10 x pulls on the TRX

3.           Chest press

10 x chest press on the TRX

4.           Seated row

Fast powerful pulls on elasticated bands

5.           Squats

Again we started with a dumbbell and now have a barbell at the back of our necks and take these deep squats down to the level of a bench. Now doing 6-10 reps at 35kg

6.           Jump squats

Something to make your legs really wobble and your lungs hurt.

10 x fast squat jumps – initially just jumping and now holding a weight. Trying to reach the ceiling on the up jump

Goal setting

To reach my goal of under 8 minutes for 2,000m (and my secret goal to reach 7.45) I’d need to row the whole thing with an average pace for each 500m of around 1min 56 seconds.

Starting out for my 10-minute rows, my pace times for 500m have been between 2.18 – 2.25. My 500-metre rows sets have been at a pace of 2.07 – 2.18.

That said I can already really see some improvements in my fitness and the pace at which I can row.

This week I did 4 x 500m (low to high intensity with 2 minutes recovery) and it’s suggested that if you add the four times together it will give you a good target for the 2000m time trial next week. By massive coincidence, this time was 8:36 – the same as my PB from 20+ years ago.

Great to have that goal for next week’s big row… but still, a long way to go if I want to get under 8 minutes. Fortunately, I still have 7 weeks training left.

6 weeks to go

It’s been a tough weekend as I seem to have trapped a nerve in my leg or back which is making my groin very uncomfortable to walk. I rested completely on Saturday (after a tough weights session on Friday) but decided to get back on the Concept2 indoor rowing machine this evening.

Really pleased with the times and pace I achieved for 4 x 2 minutes with 1-minute rest.

Average 500m pace was 2.04.6

1 – 2.10.1

2 – 2.05.5

3 – 2.02.9

4 – 2.00.2

There is still time to get race ready, sign up to enter the British Rowing Indoor Championships, presented by Visit Sarasota County, . If you are already signed up why not share your training progress with us on , and .

The post #BRIC17 training blog: New to rowing and taking on a 2,000m challenge appeared first on British Rowing.