Here are some more workouts we've nicked from the last edition of US Magazine Rowing News. These workouts are the favourites of some of the world's top athletes and coaches.The Athlete:Olaf Tufte, 2003 World Champion in single sculls. Best 2,000m time: 5:46.8. We only do this test once a year. If I trained for it, I would go a few seconds faster.The Workout:Six times 10 minutes at 170-180 heart rate, with three minutes rest between the pieces.The Commentary:This is one of my favourite workouts on the water or on the erg. I always know what score I had the last time, and I [judge intensity] by heart rate and feeling - I was like a kid - I always had to beat everybody, every time. I'm still like that, but I've learned that the easy has to be easy so the tough can be even tougher. This is a tough one.The Coach:Dan Lyons, Penn A.C. elite coach; world champion, Olympian and seven-time member of the U.S. national team as an athlete.The Workout:Hold a world-record split as long as you can, rest 15 minutes and repeat. A.K.A. Till The Cows Come Home.The Commentary:This is strictly a psychological workout. You put people in a position to break through their mental barriers. Lyons chooses the target split based on his crew's championship ambitions. A freshman crew that wins the IRA [national championships] probably averages about 6:10 for a 2,000m erg, and the best freshmen in the country are pulling around six minutes. So I had my freshmen pull 1:30 splits [6:00 2,000m pace]. The elite guys go 1:25.The Coach:Volker Nolte, former Canadian men's lightweight coach, men's head coach at the University of Western Ontario.The Workout:Eighty minutes steady state, in which three or four athletes take turns choosing stroke rate, drag factor and intensity.The Commentary:Eighty minutes on your own is very difficult. With these variations your mind is always working. The major demand in rowing is aerobic-based, so you need to do long distance training. This takes a long time to develop, so you need to spend a long time on it.=========================================================Lee Saunders=========================================================Every week, the On-Line World Ranking and Logbook has a prize draw for those people who have rowed 50,000m in that week. One of the recent winners was Essex's Lee Saunders, and he's sent in the following letter and picture.Lee Saunders: I have been a keen fitness trainer and 'gym rat' for most of my life, but had steered clear of the Rower for some time as I found them intimidating - they are a hard piece of kit when you are vertically challenged! The gym that I had been using locally closed down and, while there was another one opening locally in approximately six months time, I needed something to maintain my fitness in the interim. I ordered the Indoor Rower Model D and followed a heart rate based regime that I am finding helpful to maintain and improve a good fitness base. Now that I have invested time, effort and money into the ergo I find that I don't want to lose the rowing fitness that I've acquired! The website and message board is an excellent motivational tool to share training tips and enthusiasm. I'm even thinking of attending competitions in the summer to put names to faces from the message board.Winning things has never been a strong point for me so it's actually a nice thrill to receive this acknowledgement of the effort made to achieve it.For more information on the On-Line World Ranking and Logbook, visit http://www.concept2.com/sranking03/log.asp=========================================================Marathon Day=========================================================National Indoor Rowing Marathon Day takes place this year on April 18th. If you take part in the day, make sure you send your stories and pictures to [email protected] so we can feature you in the next edition of the Indoor Rowing News.For more information on National Indoor Rowing Marathon Day, visit http://www.therowingcompany.com/marathon/ =========================================================Top Tips=========================================================This week's Top Tip comes courtesy of Sandy Sproule. If you've got anything you'd like to share with the world, then make sure you stick it in an envelope and send it to [email protected]. Sandy: My top tips are to do with the distractions I have in the exercise room I keep my Indoor Rower in.1. I have a small TV on in front of the rower2. I have a combined CD/Radio/Tape player next to me3. I have a large map of the UK pinned up on the wall in front of me4. I have the remote controls for 1and 2 on a chair next to me so I can alternate between them on the fly.My workouts are typically 30 minutes duration so I chop and change my entertainment source at will. If all else fails I study the map on the wall to figure out where to walk my dog at the weekend!