23 May 2009 - The Awesome ('all-sng') Pyramid /^\

It was a special Saturday.

Coach Patrick was on special assignment in Malaysia,
Ah Ben made a surprise appearance after an early morning landing from Houston,
And Papillon, being short on numbers and coach/coxswain, spontaneously hijacked a boat as Jon, Dawn, Xiuhuan, Joe, Lin and Ben gleefully hopped in with our friendly guys from the mens + vets teams.
(Must thank the guys for gallantly welcoming us to join the boat!)

But most of all, what made it special(ly xiong/terok), was the combined training led by Wee Kiang and Adrian. After a good warm up row towards Sheares Bridge, we were introduced to... The Pyramid. This endurance training consists of ascending sets of 2-min, 4-min, 6-min rows, before descending symmetrically in 6-min, 4-min, 2-min rows. During the sets, hard10s were freely called, and Papillon limbs threatened to give way. *Oof poof* - This must be the most punishing session so far this year.

And so my memory became a bit hazy. But I vaguely recall that we did two pace sets with the guys, both times employing the hard-30 start - and that worked well to bring the boat up. Although we were tired out by the time of the second set, I must say that our 'cut & paste' combined boat didn't do too shabbily at all! The surge was definitely there, but maintenance could be improved, if we want to keep up a powerful glide.

Overall it was an exhausting session, but it felt really good to work our core muscles hard. Post-rowing, the motley bunch of Paps + Mens + Vets gathered for a mass warm down by Cowan Lee-Gym-Trainer-Wannabe, followed by debrief. Our boat's coxswain Derrick rightly highlighted that we lacked stamina, and this showed in the pace sets when we couldn't sustain the power.

To overcome that, let's maintain a good balance of cardio and weights training in our gym routine! Interval training on the rowing machine and/or running will help alot in building our heart and lungs power, so that we can pull harder for longer without feeling faint during water training.

Build it up, build it up...
And keep the attendance coming!

PS: Please stretch your backs properly and rest well!

= Chief Editor D.L. signing off =

9 May 2009 - I smell blood.

New blood - that is.

Our EM orientation boat that has been quietly manufacturing future champion rowers the past weeks, has finally finished its run - and the newly passed-out recruits were seeded into our assortment of EM corporate teams.
So this week, we are happy to have Eileen Cai and Tan Yan Geow (conveniently renamed "Yan" / "Yan Dao") join Papillon at training. The two arrived in matching yellow tops - perhaps to highlight "I am new to the boat - please be nice to me"?
No problemo - Paps are always nice to everyone in our company - we all laugh and suffer together! *evil laughter*

(Sidetrack: Earlier in the wee hours, there was a raging thunderstorm which eerily made not a few Papillons smile secretly in their dreams. But the rain stopped, day broke, and the dream shattered - yes, training would go on as usual. Valiantly fending off the sleep monster - Jon, Desmond, Dawn, Jessica, Ah Ben, Yen Nee, Lin, Eileen and Yan Geow turned up to form a good crew of 9.)

Warm up was a friendly 50 push ups after 30 uncoordinated jumping jacks.
While launching, our tipsy boat was observed to be near drowning after excessive water intake from the thunderstorm earlier. A line of 5 boats threatened to break away from the pontoon as our dreamy(dreaming) Captain Jon uncharacteristically flailed in vain to pass the rope over while trying to berth our boat for safe loading. Miraculously, we still managed to eventually load up and row away... (Must be the blessing of Vesak Day.)

Our boat was listing to the right due to an imbalance of yin yang - too many guys on the right and girls to the left. A box of water soon restored equilibrium as it partnered Ah Ben as a silently supportive benchmate.
In between rows, while Coach Patrick imparted the Papillon stroke to our freshies, Jon tried in vain to introduce himself - but nobody seemed to be interested - to the amusement of the very entertained Dawn, Des and Jess who would have rolled on the boat laughing if it were not for safety concerns and space constraints.
Awww... where is the love?? Respect lei???! (HAHAHA.)
Meanwhile, a few of us were secretly happy that Patrick was well-occupied with questions from earnest student Lin! Wah good, can rest more.

Technique and coordination being the order of the day - we did 1-min pair rowing and the 20maintenance-10hard routine. We rowed from bridge to bridge - from 'Suicide Bridge' (aka '奈何桥'), to 'a Bridge too far'. Focus was on pulling hard in the water, not fast. I guess we must be getting it - because Patrick didn't have to correct us as frequently as he did the previous sessions. With the power and glide, when he asked "How do you find the boat movement?" - our answer was unanimously "GOOD!"

60 dips and a customary Papillon whoosh drew a nice (wobbly) fullstop to the session.

Paps - we are picking up now, the power and glide is there, and coordination improving too. Fitness-wise, will be restored with regular gym training. Let's build up to our peak and aim to repeat our feats of last year! As I remember a wise saying (from Crissa): "Winning does not grow on trees." We cannot expect to do well, if we don't put in the effort. I always believe: If you are going to do something - might as well make it good.

Some notes... (not meant to 'scold', but to remind) -
Warm up: If we cannot manage 50 push ups... it's time to hit the gym, really. We will eventually ramp this up to 80 (the number last year) - if anyone really cannot do it, then just stop and step out while the rest attempt to. Let's not stop others among us from achieving what they are capable of.

Punctuality: As a mark of respect for fellow teammates who arrive early (and bring out the paddles/life vests/bum pads for the team) - I'm sure we can all make the tiny effort to come on time so that as a team, we make the most of this once-weekly water training. 7:55 AM is the magic hour for starting warm up.

Attendance: If you are not able to make training - please inform Jon and myself in advance, so that we know the numbers to expect and hence whether we need to book the big boat, how many paddles/bumpads/life vests to take out, who to wait for... etc. Jon always makes the effort to email/sms a reminder to EVERYONE - so let's show him some love and just email/sms your one reply back.

Rest well Paps and have a great week ahead!

= Chief Editor D.L. signing off =