Concept2 Forum

I am currently training for a 5,000m Head race the 1st of October. I have been rowing at least 5 times a week at my rowing club and erging as well. But when I am erging, I have no idea what exactly I should be doing to prepare myself for this race. I was wondering if anyone had any ideas about what kind of workouts I could do to get ready for the "big race". I was also wondering if anyone knew what kind of time difference between erg rowing and single rowing might be. I am rowing a single in this race and I don't know what kind of time I want to be at for 5,000m to expect to be around 20 minutes in the actual race. thank you very much.<br />amy.

Hi Amy!<br /><br />A 5k head race in a 1x is roughly equivilant to 6k on the erg. Although others will probably have better advice than mine, I thought I might suggest the following:<br /><br />-if you have a speed coach, do a 5k piece in your 1x going all out and get your average splits /500m for the piece. This information can be really helpful for pacing during a head race so you don't go out too fast, build up huge amounts of lactic acid, and then crash and burn. Keeping a steady pace will be more efficient than going out too fast.<br /><br />-although exercise physiologists indicate that a 2k race is about 70% aerobic/30% anaerobic, the estimates I've seen suggest that head races are 90% aerobic. A good aerobic base is a wonderful thing, and can be a very useful thing to work on. However, it takes time to build. Given the short period you have coming up before the race you may want to throw in a good deal of anaerobic work since you will notice improvements faster. <br /><br />-good steering and good catches are worth their weight in gold<br /><br />Have lots o' fun!<br />David

<!--QuoteBegin--><table border='0' align='center' width='95%' cellpadding='3' cellspacing='1'><tr><td><div class='genmed'><b>QUOTE</b></div></td></tr><tr><td class='quote'><!--QuoteEBegin--> was also wondering if anyone knew what kind of time difference between erg rowing and single rowing might be </td></tr></table><br />In my limited experience, splits in a 1x will be about 17-18secs/500 slower than on an erg.<br /><br />I've recently done with low wind and no stream:<br />500m 1:49 single 1:32 erg<br />1000m 3:50 single 3:15 erg<br /><br />I'm only a novice sculler so I'd expect that gap to come down as I improve, actually S4 now but only since last week.<br /><br />obviously, if you are rowing with wind/stream it will be faster and if against wind/stream it will be slower.

<!--QuoteBegin-dakotas dakota+Sep 3 2005, 01:30 PM--><table border='0' align='center' width='95%' cellpadding='3' cellspacing='1'><tr><td><div class='genmed'><b>QUOTE(dakotas dakota @ Sep 3 2005, 01:30 PM)</b></div></td></tr><tr><td class='quote'><!--QuoteEBegin-->I am currently training for a 5,000m Head race the 1st of October.  I have been rowing at least 5 times a week at my rowing club and erging as well.  But when I am erging, I have no idea what exactly I should be doing to prepare myself for this race.  I was wondering if anyone had any ideas about what kind of workouts I could do to get ready for the "big race".  I was also wondering if anyone knew what kind of time difference between erg rowing and single rowing might be.  I am rowing a single in this race and I don't know what kind of time I want to be at for 5,000m to expect to be around 20 minutes in the actual race.  thank you very much.<br />amy. <br /> </td></tr></table><br /><br />Firstly, the erg is based on a quad scull rather than a single so you cannot make a direct comparison. I find that my times in a 1X race are about 1.5 minutes slower than on the erg but can be as much as 2 minutes slower depending on wind and river current.<br /><br />In the last couple of months I have done two distance races in a single scull. A 6.5km race and a 10km race (scullers head of the Yarra). I did the 10km race in about 40 minutes however I was 12 kg too heavy for the weight limit of the scull I used consequently creating too much drag. 20 minutes sounds about right for the 5Ks in a scull. Hence on the erg you should do 30 minute pieces and some quick 5K pieces at 2K + 5 pace to build for it. If your doing plenty of time on the water don't bother with any slower paced distance work on the erg. Your time would be better spent doing high intensity stuff on the erg.<br /><br />Make sure you have a fast boat for the race because distance really shows up a slower boat. That's why last week I just placed an order for a new boat. For the cost of a new scull I could buy 3 new model D ergs. However once a rower experiences good run and balance in a boat the choice between a boat and an erg will always end up being the boat. <br /><br />Keep it smooth, keep it relaxed<br />Roland Baltutis<br />

Thanks for all the great advice, I feel much more prepared just knowing what I can do to make this race a PB. Thanks!<br />amy.