Category: Training & Nutrition

How to Survive Winter Training: Passing the time with music + TV

Ergs Training & Nutrition

How to Survive Winter Training: Passing the time with music + TV

Previously: Rowers || Coxswains

Does anybody actually like erging, especially in the winter? Everyone’s always wondering what they could do to make them easier or at the very least, more bearable. To make them easier, that’s simple – get stronger, build your endurance, and turn that voice in your head that says you can’t do it off. To make them bearable, you’ve gotta get creative.

There’s no shortage of good playlists on Spotify (you can follow me here) but you can also find good ones on the rowing sub on Reddit if you just search “playlists”. Podcasts or audiobooks are another good thing to listen to if you’re into that. Another thing if you’re on your own and doing a long steady state piece is to put Netflix on and erg while you catch up on shows, movies, documentaries, etc. If you’re into sports, watch a basketball game. You can take a 20 at a few splits below your current pace whenever there’s a time out, a player gets fouled, etc. It’s up to you how you do it.

Now, as a disclaimer: not all coaches are OK with their rowers listening to music (either on the stereo or their iPods) while they’re erging at practice so most of these suggestions might be best saved for on-your-own workouts. Some think that if they’re focusing on their music then they’re not focusing on the piece or they just can’t stand your taste in music so they avoid having to listen to it by banning music altogether. All of my coaches in the past have been cool with us playing music but make sure you ask first and be cognizant of other people who might be in the boathouse – don’t have the music up all the way to the point where a trying to have a meeting with their team has to shout over the noise.

Image via // @brianrenesorenson
How to Survive Winter Training: Rowers

How To Training & Nutrition

How to Survive Winter Training: Rowers

Winter training is rarely something rowers look forward to. To them it means four to five months of running, erging, pain, burnout, stress, boredom, monotony, and frequent questioning of why you participate in a sport that makes you so damn miserable. Unless you live in a warm and sunny locale, you’ve most likely started the process of closing up your boathouse for the winter and begun the transition indoors. The question that now arises is “how am I going to survive until March?”

Have a positive attitude

I will be the first to admit that when someone tells me to be or stay positive, I want to hit them with the nearest blunt object within arms reach. It sounds SO cliche, right? “Be positive!” What is there to be positive about? Well … that’s up to you. Going into winter training you can either have a negative attitude and drudge through everything because “it’s what you’re supposed to do” or you can look at things positively. Find out what makes you look on the bright side and make that your focus. Attitude is everything. Your attitude at the beginning of the winter training season is going to decide how successful you are over the next several months. Besides, what did being negative ever get anyone?

Set goals

You’ve got at least four months of running, lifting, and erging ahead of you – having goals for each aspect of your winter training is going to give you something to work towards besides the umbrella goal of getting stronger for the spring season. When setting your goals, think about the short term and the long term. Think of things you want to accomplish by the end of the week, by the end of two weeks, by the end of the month, in two months, in three months, and by the end of winter training. Write them down and keep them somewhere visible – either on the mirror in your bathroom, as the background on your phone or laptop, on your refrigerator, etc.

Take some time off

Everybody needs a break. It doesn’t mean you’re weak or not as “into it” as everyone else. Be your own advocate and know when you’re putting too much stress on your body. If you can, don’t jump straight into winter training from the fall season. Take a week off to relax, recover, get caught up on school work, make that doctor’s appointment you haven’t had time to make, etc.

The key to taking time off though is knowing when that time is up. If you say you’re going to take a three day break, make sure it’s three days and not four. Plan ahead! If your team’s winter training starts on November 26th, circle it on your calendar and be ready for it.

Do something fun with your team

What better way to start off your winter training season than with a team activity? Something like a team triathlon, perhaps? Remember what #1 said … attitude is everything. If you go into winter training pumped and excited with the rest of your teammates, that enthusiasm is going to carry over throughout the season. Come up with something fun that your team can do together – not just the men, not just the women, not just the varsity, and not just the novices – the WHOLE team. Think of it as one big team bonding smorgasbord of fun. Some ideas include a team triathlon, an ergathon (Princeton does “CRASH-Ps”), a team dinner or potluck, a rowing related scavenger hunt, etc. Let your minds run wild.

Strategize

Most coaches will give their teams some kind of workout plan/schedule to follow throughout the winter. Sometimes they tell you to just make sure you do something over the winter that doesn’t involve Xbox or Food Network marathons. Regardless of whether or not you’re given a strict schedule, you need a plan. What is your schedule like during the winter? When do you have midterms, finals, study days, doctors appointments, family get togethers, holiday parties, etc.? Figure out your personal life first then work your training schedule around that. Remember, it’s not about finding the time, it’s about making the time. Come up with your schedule and stick to it.

Strategizing, part 2 – erg tests. You’ll do plenty over the course of the winter and assuming you want to improve each time, you’ll need a plan on how to approach them. Just sitting down at the erg, popping in your earbuds, and hauling ass for however many meters isn’t going to cut it. Think about the race plans your coxswains have for races – you should approach your erg tests the same way. With a plan.

Next week: Coxswains and winter training

Image via // @oh.genevieve

Ergs Novice Q&A Training & Nutrition

Question of the Day

Hi there! I just wanna start off by saying I really enjoy your blog! I started rowing in June, and was in an eight this fall. The season is now over and I really wanna continue in the spring, but the coach I was with said I should erg and train in the winter for the spring. I have been on the erg once, and my split wasn’t very good. Around 2:19.0/500m. I was wondering what I should do to improve and how often I should erg? Thanks!

Your coach is right – to be prepared for the spring season, winter training is a necessity. Strength training and core exercises are two things that you definitely want to make a part of your routine. If you have the time and access to the appropriate equipment/facilities, adding in some kind of cross training will help your endurance and get you in (better) shape. Running, biking, or swimming are all great options. You can get your cardio in as part of your warmup on the days you’re not cross training. Those are the days when you can do some erging.

Strength training and doing core exercises consistently will help build muscle, which in turn will help you generate more power when you erg, leading to lower splits. When you erg, you shouldn’t be going for any kind of PRs…you just want to focus on getting the technique right and building up your endurance. As you get stronger, the splits will fall. Don’t force anything.

If you have trouble deciding what to do when you erg, check out Concept 2’s website. They have three different workouts posted daily depending on how long you want your erg session to be. You can also sign up for their daily emails to get the workouts sent to you in the mornings. When you’re just warming up on the erg, keep it short – no longer than 15 minutes or so. A good warmup to do that also works on your technique is the pick drill (arms, arms + bodies, 1/2 slide, full slide). Do each for 20 strokes, then switch. Take your time with this and don’t rush through it. Focus on really nailing each part of the stroke and then connecting all of it when you get to full slide. Once you’ve done that, row at a steady pressure for the last 10 minutes or so at around 18-20 strokes per minute. Work on slide control and keeping the recovery controlled while at the same time getting a good strong press with the feet on the drive. Aim for a split and try and maintain that. Every week or so, shoot for a lower split (by 2-3 seconds) than the one you went for the previous week. Every week or two, test yourself. Do a 2k and record your times and splits. See what the difference are between the times. You’ll start to notice consistent changes as you progress through your training.

Here’s an example of what a winter schedule might look like:

Monday: Erg warmup + strength training (3 sets of high weight, low rep exercises)
Tuesday: Cross training + core (3-5 sets of 10-12 exercises with at least 15 reps each)
Wednesday: Medium – long erg session (45-70 minutes)
Thursday: Erg warmup + strength training
Friday: Cross training + core
Saturday: Long run/bike/swim (80 minutes)

Some things to remember:

Give yourself time to rest. When you exercise, you produce small micro-tears in the muscle. In order for you to get stronger, the muscles need time to adapt to the stress and repair. If they don’t have that time, you’re risking serious injury.

STRETCH. After your erg warmups or a quick lap around the track spend at least five to seven minutes stretching. Your muscles are more flexible when they’re warm vs. when they’re cold, so stretching is key. Not stretching can also lead to injuries such as pulled or torn muscles/tendons/ligaments. ALWAYS STRETCH BEFORE AND AFTER YOUR WORKOUT. If you have a foam roller, use that at the end of your workouts.

Maintain a proper diet. Your body needs proper and adequate fuel in order to give you the necessary energy you’ll need to train effectively. Make sure you’re eating well balanced meals and not skipping any of them. Have a small snack before you workout and another one after.

Get some sleep. When you sleep is when your body repairs itself…if you’re pulling all nighters or just not sleeping for as many hours as you should be, your training will suffer because you’ll be lacking in energy.

Find a time that works for you to go to the gym and make that a daily part of your routine. Don’t blow it off. Manage your time properly around school, work, family, friends, etc. so that you can spend at least an hour every day training. Remember your goals and why you’re doing this. Making training a non-negotiable part of your routine will not only show your coaches how dedicated you are but it’ll also subtly reinforce in your own mind how and why this is important to you.

College Q&A Rowing Training & Nutrition

Question of the Day

I’m 5foot 7inches and I am a heavyweight right now. I weigh 155. Should I consider losing weight to be a lightweight since I’m sort of short to be a heavyweight (compared to the other girls on my college team)?

My initial thought when reading this was no, mainly because 25lbs seems like a lot of weight to lose before the spring season (assuming you mean you want to be a lightweight THIS spring). The reason I say that is because you’d have to lose around 6-8lbs/month between now and March to be at or close to 130 by the time the racing season starts. With the holidays coming up and the major overhaul you’d have to do to your diet/exercise routine, I just don’t think it’s practical. Not that it couldn’t be done, because I’m sure it could be … but like I said, it doesn’t seem practical.

If you’re actually set on doing this and have a goal to be a lightweight NEXT year, that sounds more reasonable because not only are you giving yourself a decent chunk of time to lose the weight, but you’re also giving yourself time to get used to a healthier diet (because you just cannot maintain that weight and vigorous workout regime without a healthy diet). You’ll also have a substantial amount of time to build up your muscle mass, which is critical as lightweight.

You obviously know your teammates better than I do and know what your coach looks for in the rowers so I would talk to them and see what advice they have. My guess is they’ll probably tell you to just stick it out as an openweight, which can be tough at first if it means you’ll “peak” in the 2V or 3V but your health is the biggest factor here and it all comes back to whether or not transitioning to a lightweight is a viable option.

Q&A Rowing Training & Nutrition

Question of the Day

I know it’s silly but staying a lightweight is consuming me. Literally every moment of the day I’m thinking of ways to be smaller and I hate myself for even worrying about this so much, like 123 is a FINE weight but at the same time … I hate being like this. It’s really worrying and I’m not eating as much anymore and I just need advice.

There’s two qualities that indicate an athlete’s potential to be a lightweight rower: they have to meet the weight standards, obviously, but they also need to be mentally tough. It’s tougher than being a heavyweight rower in nearly every aspect for exactly the reasons you stated … it consumes you if you aren’t careful. Monitoring your weight, watching what you eat, preparing for weigh-ins – all of that is constantly on your mind.

It’s not silly. If it’s literally all you’re thinking about, that’s serious. I’m obviously not a nutritionist or anything like that, but I’ve studied it and sports psychology enough to know the signs of eating disorders. If you’re frequently preoccupied with thoughts about your weight or how to be smaller and you’ve started to lower your intake of food, that sounds like you are dangerously teetering on the edge of an eating disorder.

123 is a good weight, especially for a lightweight rower. Even if you had a reason to worry about your weight, you’ve got seven pounds to play with. What made you start worrying about your weight to begin with? Did a coach or teammate say something to you or was it just the “lightweight” title that pressured you? What was your diet like before you started worrying about your weight? What was your exercise routine like? Before you do anything, I think you need to ask yourself WHY this is bothering and consuming you much. What triggered it? If you can isolate that, then you can take the necessary steps to feeling better.

Think about your diet and what you can change to make it healthier so you feel less guilty when you eat. Most importantly though, you must eat. This is not an option or a suggestion. Athletes put an incredible amount of stress on their bodies through exercise and performance and you simply cannot perform without the proper fuel. You’re just inviting on injuries, colds, etc. if you don’t have an adequate diet that is providing the necessary nutrients that you need to survive, let alone thrive as a rower. Try and add some small snacks to your diet throughout the day – apple slices and peanut butter, smoothies, chicken salad, tuna and crackers, yogurt, etc. Have a solid breakfast when you wake up so that when lunchtime rolls around, you aren’t starving (leading you to overeat). Make SMALL changes to your diet by adding in more nutrient dense foods. Try and get your intake back up to an acceptable caloric range (it should never be less than 1200 calories).

You have to remember that you’re an athlete. The likelihood that you are 123 pounds of flub is slim to none. You are more than likely 123 pounds of mostly muscle, owed to the fact that you’re constantly working out and strength training. Muscle is denser and weighs more than fat. Keep that in mind. You DON’T need to lose any weight. Do you maybe have some fat that you could lose? Sure, who doesn’t? Don’t let that put you in a negative mindset though. For a lightweight rower, you are at a solid weight.

If you’re really having a hard time with being a lightweight, talk to your coach, your parents, your school counselor, your coxswain, or just a friend on the team and explain what you’re feeling. Explain that it’s taking a toll on you and it’s making you uncomfortable. If you’re limiting your food intake, you’re going to have a serious drop in energy, which means you’re not going to be able to go as hard as everyone else on the water. You’ve got to maintain your strength. If that’s not something you can do without the constant mental toll, maybe being a lightweight isn’t for you. If it’s not, that’s OK too. Talk to your coach about what your options are. To hang with the heavies at your weight you’ve got to have some really solid erg scores, which can be difficult for a lightweight simply because of the difference in power you’re able to generate, but it is still an option. Talk to your coach though and see what he/she says. Do not let them write you off. If they value you as a member of the team, they should already be picking up on the fact that something isn’t right and they should listen to your concerns.

Don’t ruin this opportunity by worrying about something as insignificant as your weight. In the grand scheme of things, when you look back on your time as a lightweight, do you want to remember worrying about a number on a scale? You can’t attain any kind of success if you’re letting something as meaningless as this distract you, especially when you’re already well below the weight standard.

An Irresistible Pull

College Novice Rowing Teammates & Coaches Training & Nutrition

An Irresistible Pull

I found this a few months ago and thought it was a great story, as well as good motivation. There’s definitely a lot parallels to be drawn between it and most of our own rowing careers.

During freshman week, he saw his first racing shell.  The crew captain was recruiting and stepped forward to introduce him to it.  The magnificent lines of the shell seemed perfectly sculpted.  How could a boat be so beautiful and narrow, the freshmen thought.  The captain said it was 64 feet long and held eight men.  The freshman noticed the captain’s weathered face and his developed quadriceps.  When they shook hands, the freshman felt the captain’s calluses.  Come row, the captain said.

The freshman went to the boathouse and tried it.  His first float onto the river filled his with pleasure.  He assessed the world from his sliding seat.  The river was wide and gray.  His coach told him that soon he would learn every turn of it.  He liked the idea of being a river man but knew little of what it meant.

He began long rows, experiencing the yoke of the river.  When he pulled hard, his car dove too deep into the currents.  He concentrated on rhythm.  The coxswain banged the stroke count on the gunnels.  Slowly, he learned to pull with power.  Afternoon practices ended in early darkness.  Half the freshmen quit, in doubt.  The captain said everyone must pull harder.

At Christmas, he shook his father’s hand and his father commented on his blisters.  He tried to talk about rowing but his tongue grew swollen and dull.

In April, the skim ice buckled the shoreline.  His boat was launched in light snow.  The varsity shaved their heads and wore T-shirts.  At spring break, he stayed for double practice.  His legs were always tired.  In sleep, he dreamed uneasily about water, of the river scrolling by.

His family came to the first race.  They stood a mile and a quarter from the start.  Because of a bend in the river, they only saw the last 20 strokes.  In victory, they thought it looked easy.  Two men vomited.  The freshman’s sister said she would never come again.  He threw the coxswain into the river, and the shirt that he wagered he collected from the opposition.  It was washed in collegiate sweat.  It was the finest trophy he had ever seen, and he wore it for a week.

Sophomore year, only six of his boat returned.  He was still green, and the competition was greater.  He, too, thought of quitting. He still resisted the river and blamed her when it hurt.  He imagined that his face looked troubled.  He wondered how much more he could give.  He saw the upperclassmen pull hard, sometimes even with pleasure.  He didn’t know what he was learning, but he suspected the lesson was patience.

In the junior year he rowed on the varsity.  They wagered and won many shirts.  He accepted the equation of practice to victory.  He grew mature about pain and work.  He saw the river as a strict teacher, helping him grow stronger.  His technique was exemplary.  But he did not row to win.  He rowed for a motion called swing.  In swing, he found a clearing to rise above grueling circumstances.  He suspected it was transcendental, where life became more than it seemed.  He suspected that if he got to know this clearing, he could find it again, away from the river.

He started his last year aware of an ending.  He went to the gym during freshman week and stood by a new shell with his quadriceps bulging.  His lobster hands engulfed the hands of recruits.  He was tanned and ready.  He was cordial but did not try to tell them why he rowed.  Instead, he explained the boat and the river.

In his fourth fall, he was bored.  He became intrigued with the perfect stroke.  His roommate studied physics, so they spent a week diagramming torque.  They discussed an oar’s effect on ultimate boat speed.  They placed values on leg drive and arm strength, and he graphed the motion on paper.  He was tested for body fat and had almost none.  He was training harder than ever because he could not do less.  The river was ever-changing, but he trusted her mass.  He saw a picture of the Harvard crew in Sports Illustrated, and wondered about the Olympics.  Then he looked at the seven-man and wanted his shirt.

His boat was chosen to win the league.  They won races but the swing was elusive.  He sensed that there was a struggle in the bow seats, but nothing was said.  His coach studies the ancient Greeks.  The motto of the boathouse was When dying, die in virtue.  But first, they were taught to endure.  Then they could die.  Of the two, enduring seemed more difficult.

Before his last race, the river was brown and foaming.  In a practice start the bowman crabbed his oar, throwing the boat to port.  He heard the strike to the bowman’s ribs.

They drifted in the current, waiting.  They had bet shirts, winners take all.  The opponents rowed by to impress them.  He stared at the seven-man, measuring the size of his shirt, a tall basketball washout from Michigan’s Upper Peninsula.

A race is six minutes.  Thus, a season is thirty-six minutes.  But he had practiced two hours a day, from September to June.  When icicles dripped from the oar locks, they went to Florida to row double sessions.  In addition, he ran stadium steps, lifted weights, and practiced in the tanks.  It seemed a dismal, inequitable equation.

Before the start, his stomach hurt.  He eased up the slide, legs sprung.  He heard the ripping of the water.  Waiting was harder than pulling, harder to contain.  His heart, which had strained to starting commands for four seasons, pounded for the gun.  When the pistol cracked he lashed out in relief.

At 500 meters the race was even and he longed for swing.  The starting sprint was over, but the coxswain had kept the cadence too high.  The boat struggled, not yet fluid.  He knew fatigue came in stages, but there was already too much in his legs.  Steadily, he shadowed the stroke before him.  His ears filled with static.  He wondered if the bowman was pulling.

At a thousand meters the coxswain wanted more.  At each catch the boat jumped, and he felt awake, lightened.  They responded-all eight-with legs and backs in symphonic motion.  The coxswain rapped the gunnels, sounding the beat with his hands.  He wanted more lead-another deck length-but the rowers only wanted rhythm, to hold the cadence, to extend their pleasure.

At the 1500-meter mark, there was a wake.  The boat twisted to port; and in a moment, they felt the swing depart.

With new pain, he searched the shoreline for clues.  How much farther?  How much longer?  How much more?  The stroke gasped to raise the beat by two; but slipping, it only went one.  His legs were gone, his back burned, his throat was numb.

With 20 strokes to go, he heard another coxswain yell that they were dying.  He thanked him, needing anger to penetrate his numbness.  He began counting but thought that 20 was too far.  He told himself to quit at ten-quit the race, quit rowing.  He was in deep suffering.  He once dreamed of falling off bridges in locked cars.  He was now back in the river, on the bottom; the inexorable swim to the surface was far.

On the eighth stroke, he heard his raspy coxswain, hoarse from a season’s yelling, calling his men to their oars.  The voice without panic.  It reminded him of his connection with the others.  He renegotiated with his legs, which hurt the most.  He asked his heart for tolerance, his back to bend.

He counted each stroke to the finish.  He felt his own last surge, making the oar shaft bend.

They drifted to regain their breathing.  Their coach yelled that they had won by a foot.  They wondered when, in their years on the river, they had learned to go that much faster.

At the dock, a small crowd was cheering.  After throwing in the coxswain, then the coach, the oarsmen quickly jumped in.  Himself, he floated in the brisk current, looking at his family on the bank.  The water was cold beneath the surface, but he barely felt it.  He was certain that this race was his last, then he thought better of it.

Image via // @benrodfordphoto

High School Q&A Training & Nutrition

Question of the Day

Hi I’m a sophomore in high school and this is my second season rowing (I’ve rowed all fall and part of summer but also rowed last fall but couldn’t row in the  last spring due to an illness). I’ve fallen completely in love with rowing and my ultimate goal is to race at the Head of the Charles my senior year. My team is quite large with four varsity girls 8s and I’m on the novice team right now. Next year and my senior year I’ll be on the varsity team. My team only sends the top varsity girls 8 to the HOCR and even though it is so far away, do you think it is possible for me to meet that category even though I will have only had three years of rowing experience? Does my not rowing most of freshman year put me at a dramatic disadvantage, even though I plan to row every season until then (most people on my team don’t do summer)? Thanks!!

Given the fact that you’ve already rowed for two fall seasons plus the summer and have two fall seasons ahead of you, I think you have plenty of time to work towards making the top 8+. Missing that one season is not going to hurt you – did you know most Olympians didn’t start rowing until college? That’s FOUR YEARS of experience they missed out on and look how many of them are carrying around medals right now. If you put in the effort, which it sounds like you’re willing to do, that one season off is not even going to be noticeable.

Your dedication is evident so that makes you look pretty favorable to your coach because he/she knows that you’re willing to do the work without them telling you to. What is the “top 8+” based on? Erg scores? Seat racing? If you don’t know, I would find out. My guess is that erg scores will play a role, as will seat racing.

Here’s a few other suggestions…

Spend as much time on the water as you can during the fall, spring, and summer. Optional workouts? Go. I guarantee your competition (the other girls on your team and the crews you’ll be racing against) aren’t wasting any opportunities, so neither should you.

Work on your 5k/6k erg times. What are the times/splits that the girls in the top 8+ this year have? That should give you a good idea of what your coach is looking for. Don’t try and take 45 seconds off your time right off the bat either – the longer you do something, the less time that’s going to come off so you won’t be able to drop a ton of seconds like you did when you first started erging. Don’t be discouraged by that, just keep in mind the splits your coach is looking for and work towards them.

Set goals for yourself – short term goals (for the week), medium goals (for the month), and long term goals (for the season). Write them down and put them somewhere where you’ll see them frequently so you can remind yourself of what you’ve gotta do.

Get in the gym if you can, at least 2-3x per week. The only way you’re going to be stronger on the erg and more importantly, on the water, is if you build up your muscles. Legs, back, and arms all contribute to overall power, but having a strong core really helps your technique and to prevent injuries so don’t forget to work that too. Make sure you know how to properly perform any exercises you do before you do them in order to avoid injury, as well as knowing how much weight you can handle. In the fall you should focus more on endurance, meaning low weights, high reps.

Make sure you give yourself rest days so that your body can recover. You’re tearing muscles when you exercise and they need those off days in order to repair, adapt, and get stronger.

Cross train. Swim, bike, or run for at least 30 minutes 1-2x a week. This helps improve your cardio and prevents your body from getting bored.

On top of all that, talk to your coach after practice and spend some time asking him what he thinks you need to do over the next two seasons to eventually make it in that top 8+. Ask him where he thinks you can make some improvements and then ACTIVELY work to make those changes happen. Being coachable will work wonders for getting you what you want. Don’t get complacent either. It’s easy to forget about your goals when they’re something that’s far in the future. Take breaks every now and then and give yourself time to relax, but when it’s time to train, focus and do the work.

Ergs Novice Q&A Rowing Training & Nutrition

Question of the Day

I’m freaking out about novice tryouts. I’ve never done a 5k before and I heard we have to do one!! What should I do to prepare?

In the fall, you will do LOTS of steady state workouts – they’re part of the training for head race season but also a good way to test your overall endurance. It’s hard to prepare yourself to do well on a 5k if you only start prepping a week or two ahead of time so keep that in mind.

My suggestion is that once your coaches have taught you how to row with proper technique, just get on the erg. Start off doing a 5k piece as a baseline to see what your time is with NO preparation ahead of time. Use that number to work off of. Throughout the next 4-5 days, do some pieces that work on your endurance. Also do some core workouts and make sure you put in a rest day or two. Don’t burn yourself out before the season gets started.

Long pieces like 5ks are a totally different animal than your standard 2k. They require intense mental preparation and the ability to pace oneself. It’s easy to fly and die with any erg test but especially with 5ks. Once you hit about 4000m, you’re gonna start hitting that wall and think “I cannot physically do this anymore”. The body of long races and pieces like this are where rowers are made though – they show how mentally tough you are. Can you push yourself past that wall or are you going to let it beat you? That last 1500, start to slowly bring up the rate. Get ready to sprint. Push that split down a little bit more with each stroke. When you get to 500m left, let loose. Everything you got left goes into that 500. Find your rhythm and sustain it. Don’t back off. A 1:55 split hurts just as much as a 1:57 – the only difference is that you’re done sooner.