Can't seem to erg for longer periods.

[KMC1993]

Hi, I took up rowing in september and its been great but i'm starting to, try, doing longer erg sessions. We havent done much in training as the majority has been getting the technique correct on the water and the erging we have done has been mostly 2k tests. Recently i have attempted a 5k, which went very badly, and a couple of 30 minutes, again went very badly. I dont know why but i just can not seem to keep myself going for these sort of pieces although I have no problem with long sessions on the water. Any advice on how to get past this would be great.

[jvincent]

Perhaps you are trying to go to hard on the longer sessions and are experiencing the "fly and die" phenomenon?

Use your 2K pace/time as a guide and put it into the Paul's law calculator and it will give you a target pace for the longer rows.

[KMC1993]

I am pretty sure i'm not going out too fast, for my 30 minute i started with a split around 20 seconds lower than my 2k split. So it shouldn't be that.

[Quatroux]

Are you in good shape? Do you have any background running or cycling? It could be that you've done most of your work in short bursts and simply need time to develop endurance. Twenty seconds off you 2k pace seems a bit much for a 5k or 30min piece, but you are new to the game.

You appear to have some knowledgeable people helping you with technique so I'll skip that as a possible problem.

If this was happening to me, I'd start by rowing the distance at my warm-up pace. A day or two later, I'd set a pace boat on the monitor to that pace and try to beat it. I would attempt to be just a second faster per 500m during the entire piece and sprint the final 500 meters. I'd repeat this daily with the pace boat set at my last best pace and repeat until no improvement was evident. Then, I'd start putting easier workouts (or rest days) between attempts. The time between attempts would continue to increase. You should be able to do this forever.

Improvements should come quickly at first, but you'll eventually hit a point where improvement is no longer possible. If that point comes very quickly I wouldn't rule out asking your doctor for an opinion.

[KMC1993]

I am in reasonable shape, I run regularly and can do so for long periods so dont think its that. Will try what you have suggested and hopefully that will work, I think it may be more a mental issue than physical so just getting it done no matter what pace without stopping may help.

[jamesg]

Set the drag low (even zero) and make sure your legs are working full length.

[Citroen]

Set the drag low (even zero) and make sure your legs are working full length.

How can you set zero drag? You're confusing damper lever (0 to 10) and drag factor (min 65, max 230 (depending on machine cleanliness)).

[Quatroux]

I think it may be more a mental issue than physical

I wouldn't underestimate that. I'm convinced that my brain is the main thing stopping my body from going faster. When I started rowing, I never would have thought that could be the case. I assume most people don't have this issue, but you aren't alone if you think you do.

[Pararowing]

Several ideas

1) negative split the piece that way you should prevent any "blow up" and also be able to keep getting faster as the piece gets on and this will provide a positive mental approach

2) are these 5ks and 30mins pieces or Steady State / aerobic development?

If you are not blowing up and the pieces are bad and you can't keep on it for the hole piece then you need to look at how you approach it and it could be a mental thing.

Anyone can row outside when it is sunny, the birds are chirping and the turtles are smiling. Sometimes with the erg you just have to suck it up and get on with it.

[Cyclingman1]

There is no secret to going further in almost any endurance activity. Some may take to it more easily than others.
I would suggest rowing easily with a low damper/drag factor setting for say 1.5K (interval). Stop, get up, walk a few steps, take a drink. Then row another 1.5K easily. Repeat 2,3,4,5 times. Gradually increase the distance and speed of each Interval over a span of several weeks. I would not think it would take too long to gain endurance.