So now, I’ve finally gotten it all done after being up WAY too late working on it last night, and fighting off some crazy server errors this morning.

Here is the latest version of the blog. I have updated the layout to feature the parts that people care about (the standings, mostly). The new layout/theme is hopefully a little easier on the eyes as well, it was a necessary change as the old theme was linked to the old forum directly.

In the process I have updated a couple of the scripts behind the scenes. The sig images are the most important. All data has been transferred to the new forum system, so you should be able to seamlessly update anything you already had. If you think you’ve lost some data, let me know. I still have all of the original data backed up. I have also implemented some new ways to access the sig images so that they can be even EASIER! The last step of that process that I am working on is allowing you to use a username instead of a user_id to access those images. Learn about that process here: c2TC Forum – Sig Images

That brings us to the MASSIVE update to the forums!

The old forums were a pain to use, hard to navigate and basically useless in light of all the other types of communication around. So, I upped the ante by installing Simple Machines Forum software and importing all of the necessary data. So, go over and get signed it. You’ll need to reset your password, or I can reset it manually for you (just email/DM/FB Message me). I am working to add a Shoutbox (simple style chat box) to the software so that we can foster slightly less formal communication.

The new forums should work like most of the other forums people use. If you have any questions about it’s operation, let me know.

Things still left that I’ll be updating soon:
– Shoutbox on Forums
– Facebook Group Integration (researching this possibility)
– URL Shortener (c2.tc is pretty short, and bit.ly keeps making my links longer!)
– Ads (I’m hoping to figure out how to do some non-instrusive ads to help pay for the bandwidth/time that I spend on this endeavor)
– Forum Banner

If there’s anything else you’d like to see integrated with the site, let me know and I’ll get working on it! My goal is to make this site the HQ for the team and a great repository of rowing knowledge.

These are the basic prices I am looking at:
Shox-Box:
– Complete system: $389.98 Model D, $479.98 Model E
– Rear Shox-Box: $149.99 Model D, $249.99 Model E
– Front Shox-Box: $249.99

Shimano System:
– Foot Stretchers: 51500 Yen (~$663.14US)
*What I think you could actually use:
– 2 Binding Assemblies (R & L): 43300 Yen (~$532.33US)
*Required either way:
– Rowing Shoes: 18600 Yen (~$228.67US)

First, let me explain what VO2 Max is, how it’s calculated, and why it’s important, then we can discuss some of the other factors. VO2 Max in it’s most basic terms is a calculation of how much oxygen your body can use. It’s typically presented either as Liters/Min, or mL/kg/Min. So, as you might expect, the higher this number, the better. More oxygen absorbtion by your body means more oxygen for your muscle. And more oxygen for your muscles typically results in better performance. But as with any physical statistic, VO2 Max has to be taken with a grain of salt, especially coming from a formula.

Any “calculator” or other formula to calculate VO2 Max is just a “best guess”. To get true results you have to get a REAL test with a physician/lab. In the real tests they strap all manner of gear to you to measure the oxygen going in and the oxygen coming out. These tests are typically very expensive, due to the equipment and training required to perform them. But as far as most of these calculators go, they can be a decent predictor of your VO2 Max and are also a good indicator of any change you may be able to create in your VO2 Max.

VO2 Max is only important to know as an athlete in terms of measuring against yourself. There are no VO2 Max contests. No Gold Medals awarded. Knowing that value simply tells you where you are now, and if you track it, it may tell you which way your fitness is trending. It is not important to your actual fitness goals, because your VO2 Max may be different from the norm because of body weight, age, or body chemistry. Rowers tend to have very good VO2 Max as far as atheletes go, with some Olympic athletes gulping 8-10 Liters or more per minute! And VO2 Max typically only improves in large amounts when going from untrained, and out-of-shape, to trained (better scores, better muscle use during the exercise) and in-shape. VO2 Max measurements will plateau as you reach your body’s true VO2 Max.

As far as influencing your VO2 Max, there are several major factors that you can control:
– General Fitness Level: The more in-shape, the higher this number will be.
– Weight: Especially when measured as a function of weight (mL/kg/min), this is probably the biggest controlling factor you can influence.
– Technique/Training: For whatever exercise/activity you are using to measure your VO2 Max, you want to be well trained. The proper technique and training can greatly help your body in being able to sustain the effort required to measure VO2 Max.

And then there are the factors that are out of your hands:
– Age: Ultimately, VO2 max trends down over time, so the older you get, the lower your VO2 Max will likely be. Though, this is not always true.
– Body chemistry: This one can be good and bad. Some people simply process oxygen better than others. And some people seem to out-perform their VO2 Max. This is why it’s important to really only measure your stats against yourself over time, because you never know what outside factors may be influencing somebody else’s statistics.

Concept2 does provide a calculator online that is a good tool to show you how the different factors play in to this value: http://www.concept2.com/us/interactive/calculators/vo2max.asp

As you can see, there is a big influence from weight. To show you here are my numbers:
– My personal best 2k time is 6:49.8
– My weight at the time was 185 lbs.
– I considered myself “Not highly trained” at the time

This gives me a VO2 Max of 54.14, which falls into the “Excellent” category according to Concept2. But, if I dropped 5 pounds this number would go up ~1.5. However, my goal for this year is to train harder, with a coach and get my time down below 6:30. I expect to be about the same weight. This performance change, which I consider a large improvement (dropping 20 seconds off a 2k time), results in an up-tick to 57.68, which is a lot more work than 5lbs, for marginal improvement.

But, simply going from “untrained” to “trained”; by kicking your training into high-gear and getting your body into shape, you can very quickly influence that number. A highly-trained athelete with my numbers processes nearly 20% more oxygen. (54.14 vs 64.87 or 19.82% improvement) With my training, these days, I am probably closer to “highly trained” than I was last year, and we will see how that pays off in both erg scores and VO2 Max.

In summary, use VO2 Max to plot your improvement, and measure your general fitness over time, but remember that it is simply a boiled down way to look at your fitness. That value can always be influenced (for good AND bad) by your habits, so strive to keep that number high if you are going to track it, and remember to look at other areas of your fitness as well!

See the Concept2 chart for the classifications and to approximate your VO2 Max!

http://www.concept2.com/us/interactive/calculators/vo2max.asp

Also, check out the Wikipedia article for more information:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/VO2_max

UPDATE:
I was thinking more about this and had one more thing to mention. There is one area where VO2 Max is actually a very poor predictor of performance. That is in endurance sports/races/distances. This points out, again, what VO2 Max is measuring. It’s looking at the maximum uptake of oxygen that the body can manage. For endurance sports your are often nowhere near this threshold, and as such, the limited impact it has is simply that if you have a particularly low VO2 Max, it could restrict your oxygen uptake and limit your ability to perform for a long time. Now, on the flip side, VO2 Max can affect endurance in the sense that the better your VO2 Max, the more likely you are to have better uptake at lower exertion, which means you wouldn’t have to work as hard to breathe during the endurance effort.

Most meters – For a free bumper sticker:
STUART THORP! @yorkie2906 rowed more than half a million meters to start the new ranking year!

Random Participant – Another free bumper sticker
Den-J! Congrats and thanks for participating!

I will send a note to each of the participants, but the prizes are contingent that you send a picture of you or your erg “wearing” the prize! Bonus points for creativity!!!!

Thanks again for participating. This one wasn’t quite what I had hoped for with my job change and life getting in the way, but it was a start and it is only up from here!

If you have any issues getting an avatar to work, let me know!

Here are my full goals:
– 3 million meters (Roughly 58km/wk) <- Working on a good way to track this visually… keep an eye out for that.
– LP: 1:20
– 100m: 16s
– 500m: 1:25
– 1000m: 3:00
– 2000m: 6:30 (Hoping to be competitive at next year’s erg-sprints in Atlanta for the open class)
– 5000m: 17:30
– 6000m: 22:00
– 30min: 8250m
– 10km: 38:00
– 60min: 16000m
– HM: 80:00
– FM: 3:00:00

What are your goals, and how would you like the team/site to help you reach them?

For the overall meters, I am looking to add some more functionality to the sig-image, but would you like to see a season’s goals section on there as well? Just like the current image, if you don’t fill that section in, it won’t show up, but if you’d like to see it, it would.

It would add one more line, would that be too cluttered? Would you like a separate tracking image/page?
**UPDATE: I have updated the profile groups to add the “Goal” group. If you enter this data, it will now show up on the bottom line. If you leave it blank… it won’t show up. That simple.**

I will also be starting a secondary tracker that will show your progress against your Season Meters goal and if you are falling behind your average, or even ahead!

There will be a few c2tweetcrew prizes at the end! Prizes will be given away as follows:
– Most points (Free t-shirt)
– Most meters (Free bumper sticker)
– Randomly drawn participant (Free bumper sticker)

If anybody else would like to donate prizes, send me an email and we’ll get you included!

Points can be earned several ways:
– 1 point per day that you log meters on your erg.
– 1 EXTRA point for anything over 10km
– 1 EXTRA point for a high stroke rate (a HARD workout)
– 1 EXTRA point per day for posting your results
– 2 points for setting a season’s best (May only be earned once per qualifying distance/time)
– 3 points for setting a personal best (May also only be earned once per qualifying distance/time, and supercedes the season’s best points)

*Definition of a HARD workout: Because this is designed to be an open challenge for all levels of rowers, this is really up to you. If you feel like your 30SPM 10km was hard, GREAT! If you’re on the national team and that 18min 5k was just a warm-up, then don’t count it. Just make sure to note in your thread whether or not you though it was a hard workout.

So, if you row at a high stroke rate for an hour and go 15km, you’ve earned 2 points, and if that’s a new personal best for that distance, you get 3 bonus points. But if you beat that distance again tomorrow, you still only get the original 3 bonus points. But, if you post about your workout each day, then you’ve earned an those extra points.

Now, the most important part of this contest is that it’s on the honor system. If there is a general feeling that this is taking a turn for the worst, I reserve the right to alter or cancel the challenge, but given how great everybody here is, I don’t see that happening.

To enter yourself in the contest, join this group:
http://c2tweetcrew.com/groups/c2tweetcrew-may-hem/
And start a thread here:
http://c2tweetcrew.com/groups/c2tweetcrew-may-hem/forum

Everybody have fun and start rowing for points! Happy erging!

***UPDATED to help with the definition of a HARD workout***

The first thing I learned was that I am a very determined person and I do a pretty good job of setting and reaching goals. I have not set a single goal this season that was easy, but I accomplished all of them. The two biggest were my first full marathon:

Proof of Charles' first Full Marathon!

Second was to reach 1 million meters:

Along the way I set little goals, starting with the really small goal of GOING TO THE GYM! My Concept2 journey this year started in October, and I got a LogCard right away to keep up with my meters and use it as way to track my progress.

The second thing I learned was that there are so many great people out there who want to teach you, learn from you, help you, support you and so on. As far as support goes, I don’t know that I’ve found a better group than the #c2tweetcrew. This group came out of nowhere to be some of the biggest motivators around. We all lean on each other, and in the end that makes us stronger. As we move forward, this site will continue to evolve to suit the needs of the group and the rowing community. However, it’s goal will always be to serve the individual rower. My hope is that this site brings people together and everybody continues to gain from it.

So, after all the support from the community and completing a pile of goals this year, it’s time to start setting goals for next year.

Post up the goals that you’ve met this year, or what you’ve learned or accomplished!

Also: Check back later tonight or sometime over the weekend for a BIG update. There are great things coming, and I hope everybody will participate!