Day: December 21, 2012

Ergs Novice Q&A

Question of the Day

Related to what the other girl asked about mental issues with the erg – I have the same problem and can’t do anything without covering my split & predicted time. I recently pr’ed on my 1k (4:14, I’m a novice lightweight) but have only finished one 2k which was over 9 minutes. I need to be able to do an 8:40 2k, but I just don’t know how to do it. I can easily do 4x10minutes so I know I’m physically capable, but I don’t know how to do it. I just panic and stop. Help.

This is a really hard question to answer because it’s so personal. Only you know why you stop. I think in order to get past it you have to first figure out why you panic and what you’re afraid of. Only after you’ve done that can you actually acknowledge what’s making you stop so that when the point comes during a test, you can ignore it and keep going.

Related: Hi there! Your advice is absolutely wonderful and I love your blog. I am a second-year varsity rower at a D3 school. My question is about ERG tests. Recently I’ve hit a mental block on my 2ks. My PR is 1:58.3. Last year, my 2ks were my best test, but on my past 2 I have literally stood up at about the 700 mark and the 1000 mark, respectively, somehow afraid of the pain/speed. I’ve never done this before. Do you have any advice on how to push through that moment in tests where you want to stop?

It starts with baby steps … first think back on your previous tests. Why do you stop and what scares you about continuing? Once you have that figured out, think about a solution. If you’re scared because you know it’ll hurt, that’s just something you have to accept. You can’t be a rower and not be a low-level masochist. Then try erging with just your splits uncovered. When you can comfortably do that, uncover your split and projected time. You can row with your eyes closed too, there’s not really a “rule” against that. For me though as a coxswain and a coach, I’m a firm believer that you have to look at the screen and be aware of where you’re at, otherwise how are you going to know how to approach the rest of the test or where to start sprinting, etc? Having a plan going into the piece tends to help alleviate a lot of nerves because you’re not just blindly erging – you’re actually completing mini-goals each time you pass a certain meter mark.

I hate to say you have to just “suck it up” because I know it’s harder than that, but at some point that’s what you have to do. You have to sit down and tell yourself that you are NOT going to let something stupid like an erg test defeat you. Between you and the erg, you have to be the bigger person.

High School Q&A Training & Nutrition

Question of the Day

So this might sound funny but why am I always hungry?I I’m a high school girl and I began rowing about a year ago so while I have my general bearings, I’m still learning something new about the sport everyday and I was just curious. Ever since I’ve started rowing I’ve noticed that I have a much bigger appetite than when I participated in other sports. Is it just cause I’m a growing teenager or is this every rower?

It’s partially because you’re a growing teenager, but it really is every rower. Rowing is a full body sport in that it requires a LOT of muscles from nearly every major muscle group. In order for your body to have enough energy to fuel those muscles during practice or a race, you have to eat … a LOT. The number of calories you burn is a lot more than with any other sport, so the calories you take in has to be significantly higher than what you’re probably used to. Elite rowers (and I’m sure many collegiate rowers as well) tend to eat something small when they wake up before practice, something small after practice, breakfast, lunch, a mid-afternoon snack, followed by dinner, and maybe another small snack after that. During the Olympics I remember reading many articles that talked about the diets of some elite rowers and they were taking in something like 6,000 calories a day at the peak of their training, which is (hopefully) 2-3x what the normal person would eat.

If you have a bigger appetite than normal, don’t ignore it. Make healthy decisions on what to eat and recognize the fact that it’s just your body telling you that it’s working hard. As long as you’re not shoving Willy Wonka’s chocolate factory down your throat every time you sit down for a meal, the likelihood that you’ll gain any weight is slim since you’re burning it off through practice/racing and daily living.

Q&A Racing

Question of the Day

Can you explain Canadian Henley to me? People keep telling me it’s a national team thing.

Canadian Henley is held at the beginning of August in St. Catharines, Ontario – it’s one of the three big summer regattas (the other two being IDR and Club Nats). It’s fairly large too with something like 3,000 rowers competing – it’s similar to the Henley Royal Regatta except on the other side of the pond. It isn’t strictly for national teams, although I think some do compete. I doubt any raced this year since the Olympics were happening at the same time but in non-Olympic years I’m sure some go. A lot of junior and college rowers will race with their club programs or U23/senior teams at Vesper, Penn AC, Riverside, etc. When I worked at CRI over the summer a lot of the junior rowers that were training in the latter half of the summer were preparing to race there.