National Ergo Test

A quick update since we had to do a National ergo test yesterday. The days before I was tossing up how to best approach it. Not wanting to really go to the wall at this stage prior to the National trials I decided that I would do it at 90-95% capacity. The score I got was 5.58.7 and to be honest I was quiet satisfied was the result. The importance of get a good score or personal best was out weighed in my mind by the greater importance of preparing for the build up toward the trials.

The approach I took was to go out pretty intensely and settle into rhythm for the middle 1000m and then have a couple of surges near the end. The splits I achieved were,

1.26.6/1.30.8/1.31.5/1.29.8

Last year I did a PB of 5.56.7 and to go with in 2sec of the score I was happy with. Going out in 1.26 was a plan to ensure I could settle into something that I would feel comfortable doing. When the 1500m mark come up I was thinking that it had gone well. The breathing pattern I had set up was effective and I used a similar focus on acceleration as what work for the 6km ergo early in the year. After a fairly light week recovering from the Nationals I did notice that with 200m to go I felt comfortable, but didn't feel like I could really push it. This leads me to think that some of the things I can work on personally sit around dynamic power. What I mean by this is that ability to drive the stroke when the rate, intensity and distance are getting closer to racing.

What excited me about this test was that I could see how in four weeks I will be in good shape to take some steps forward when we go to trials. It is becoming very competitive and the importance of moving forward is critical. Ergo's don't float, but I like them as an indicator for physical and mental capacity. How this translates into boat performance is less clear and often debatable. I personally think the best measure is a relative one and I know for my past performances that yesterday's score is quiet positive.

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