Fair Comparison?

[littlezuck]

As an ex-runner and new rower, is it fair to compare distances at the end of the week? At the end of each week I would total my miles, among other things this would give me an idea as to how good of a week, month or year I had. It seems as after I convert my meters to miles, my weekly totals are much lower rowing than they were running. Is this a fair comparison after the conversion?

[bobkwan2007]

You are either a very fast runner or very slow runner. I found in the beginning, my rowing miles were similar to my running miles, but as the progression in my rowing was much faster, and near the end, my rowing meters far exceeded my running miles. I.e., I was rowing much faster than I could run.

It's not really a fair comparison. In terms of calorie expenditure, I think a 20-tempo run would burn a similar number of calories as a 20-minute tempo-like row.

[Citroen]

Is this a fair comparison after the conversion?

It's entirely illogical.

I can cycle 25 miles in just over an hour, I can row a marathon in under three hours. I certainly couldn't run 26.2 miles that fast.

[gregsmith01748]

There have been other threads on the forum comparing running times and rowing times, and it seems like the fastest rowers are about as fast as the fastest runners at most distances, but that most people were faster at one or the other. I suspect that stamina would go the same way. I know that for me, I can last way longer rowing than running, and my calorie burn per hour is lower, but I think that someone who is skinnier than me might see different results.

[littlezuck]

It's not my times comparing meters to miles that I question. It's my overall distances. For instance, I would run about 40 miles a week averaging 160 miles per month. For the month of April I logged 100,000 meters, only 62.13 miles. So it's distance I am concerned about, not time. It's not many meters granted, and it's my first month so I am sure my distance will increase. Just not sure if I should be thinking in terms of rowing close to 300,000 meters a month or not.

[gregsmith01748]

Well, I rowed 4000K this year, or almost 90K per week.
If I tried to do that running, my knees would have crumbled to dust. I think that since rowing is non impact it is possible to rack up a lot more distance.

[Carl Watts]

Just did a PB of 12:06 for a 2.4Km run which is a joke compared to my Erg time, in fact at the run test there was no one at any age or fitness level running at a time fast enough to beat me over that distance on an Erg ! The conclusion I would come to is that you would have to be a very fast runner and a very slow rower for the times to even out.

[DavidA]

It's not my times comparing meters to miles that I question. It's my overall distances. For instance, I would run about 40 miles a week averaging 160 miles per month. For the month of April I logged 100,000 meters, only 62.13 miles. So it's distance I am concerned about, not time. It's not many meters granted, and it's my first month so I am sure my distance will increase. Just not sure if I should be thinking in terms of rowing close to 300,000 meters a month or not.

I would think you would want to put in similar total times per month, not distance. This is because, as mentioned by others, your rates will be probably be different for running and erging.

David

[littlezuck]

It's not my times comparing meters to miles that I question. It's my overall distances. For instance, I would run about 40 miles a week averaging 160 miles per month. For the month of April I logged 100,000 meters, only 62.13 miles. So it's distance I am concerned about, not time. It's not many meters granted, and it's my first month so I am sure my distance will increase. Just not sure if I should be thinking in terms of rowing close to 300,000 meters a month or not.

I would think you would want to put in similar total times per month, not distance. This is because, as mentioned by others, your rates will be probably be different for running and erging.

David

When running I was usually more concerned with my overall mileage for a week or month. Times came into play when I was doing speed workouts in order to lower my race times. I might just be too caught up on distances for now. I'm sure they (distance) will increase as I get the kinks out and work on technique becoming more efficient.

[nharrigan]

Littlezuck- You should be able to do an equal time per week on the erg as you did running. Or more.

The power curves between the two sports are not comparable, even though the paces seem close. WR times for running are much faster. However, it is easier to get a decent erg time relative to running, as Citroen pointed out.

Running Erging
FM- 2:03:xx 2:25:xx
2000m 4:44.79 5:36.6
500m 1:00.8 1:10.x