The Concept 2 Cross Team Challenge is a UK-based website which hosts a monthly rowing challenge. Each one is different and can be quite interesting. Instead of a standard set piece, like a 2000m, the challenge usually consists of some mix of intervals or time-based challenges. The fun part of these type of challenges is the strategy for achieving the best result requires some forethought and planning.For example, the November challenge was 2x20' with 5' rest, the goal being the maximum number of meters rowed over the 2 20 minute intervals. The trick to that one, of course, was determining at what pace to row the first 20 minutes and whether is should be closer to a 10K best effort or more like a 6K.
The December challenge is even more of a brain bender. Called the Rote87 (not sure where the name came from), the test consists of 10 x 300m with 2' rest. Sounds easy enough. The trick is that each interval must increase in watts by at least 10 watts or there is a 2.5 second penalty. The result is the total time for the ten 300's plus any penalties.
I took a stab at this and here is my result.
time (500m pace) / watts / stroke rate / watt difference
1:04.5 (1:47.5) / 282 / 30 / na
1:03.7 (1:46.1) / 292 / 29 / +10 1:02.8 (1:44.6) / 305 / 30 / +13
1:02.0 (1:43.3) / 317 / 30 / +12
1:01.3 (1:42.1) / 328 / 30 / +11
1:00.6 (1:41.0) / 340 / 31 / +12
59.9 (1:39.8) / 352 / 32 / +12
59.1 (1:38.5) / 366 / 32 / +14
58.4 (1:37.3) / 380 / 33 / +14
55.0 (1:31.6) / 454 / 38 / +74
total: 10:07.3 (1:41.2) / 337.5
As you can see I started very conservatively and played it straight, just aiming for a 10-12 watt increase each rep. A huge watt difference on the last interval indicates I should have started at much higher watts. The rest period of two minutes is sufficient for a near complete recovery between reps due to the 1:2 work/rest ratio.
After looking at this site, put together by Team Oarsome, it is clear that there is a big advantage to gaming the test somewhat. Instead of rowing all ten reps with a slight increase for each rep, it is beneficial to break it up into three mini-sets. Starting with three reps increasing to max watts, three more again increasing to max watts and then the last four with each rep increasing to max watts. Despite incurring two penalties of 2.5 seconds each, this would results in a much faster overall time. I am going to take this approach next time and will post my results.