first day rowing, awesome stuff

[dgoodrich]

Hello everyone,

I hopped on a C2 erg for the first time in my life today and I think I'm hooked. My friend on the crew team here told me there's nothing like rowing for a workout and I believe him. I 21, male, 6' even, 175-180 lbs, in good shape and have a decent athletic background... I'm a vol. Firefighter and a USMC Officer Candidate... both professions require good overall strength and great cardio endurance. My only real physical benchmark of note is my PFT score (290s out of 300 on a good day) which consists of 20 pullups, 100 crunches in 2 min, and a 3 mile run (between 19-20 minutes for me). Today my "workout" on the erg was 5x500m with about 1.5-2 minutes rest in between... the damper (?) was on 5. Here are my times:
2:30
2:10
2:00
1:53
1:52

I had no idea what was going on in the first few but by the last couple I thought I was doing a little better. I don't really have a clue as far as form goes other than watching videos online/here... so I assume its heinous. I'm going to enlist my friend on the crew team to help me out/haze me into gear. My heels were lifting up a bit, which can't be good, so I'll work on that tomorrow.

Any advice, comments, insults, would all be welcomed. Also, this website is awesome. Thanks a lot everyone, have fun

David Goodrich

[Bob S.]

I don't really have a clue as far as form goes other than watching videos online/here... so I assume its heinous. I'm going to enlist my friend on the crew team to help me out/haze me into gear. My heels were lifting up a bit, which can't be good, so I'll work on that tomorrow.
Any advice, comments, insults, would all be welcomed. Also, this website is awesome. Thanks a lot everyone, have fun
David Goodrich

Lifting the heels a bit at the catch isn't a real problem. It is mostly a matter of flexibility. The major beginner errors are in sequence and timing. Check out:

http://abcnews.go.com/Video/playerIndex?id=2747064

A couple of key features are that, on the drive, it is legs, back, arms, and the reverse on the recovery, and that the drive should be fast and hard and the recovery slower and relaxed. On the drive, the legs should be about straight before the elbows start to bend. On the recovery, the hands should be away and well past the knees before the knees start to bend.

Bob S.

[Tyn]

A couple of key features are that, on the drive, it is legs, back, arms, and the reverse on the recovery, and that the drive should be fast and hard and the recovery slower and relaxed. On the drive, the legs should be about straight before the elbows start to bend. On the recovery, the hands should be away and well past the knees before the knees start to bend.

Bob S.

Sounds pretty easy!!

Sorry Bob we are mortals!
.....most of us are!!

Bob is right, but it ain't easy


Have Great Weekend!

BTW, Bob how about Santiago de Compostela??

[coggs]

When people say:

catch, drive, release, recovery, repeat

or

legs, back, arms, arms, back, legs

How hard can it be?

Remember that at a 30 stroke rate that it brokes down to a transition every half second or so. Now try and remember to make sure the recovery should be taking about half the time alone. It's no wonder my knees come up too early most of the time.

[Bob S.]

BTW, Bob how about Santiago de Compostela??

There are only a couple of weeks to go now. My plans are rather loose. I don't plan to make it all the way to SdeC this time. The first time, in 2002, was the big one. Starting at Arles, it was just about 1000 miles to SdeC and on to Fisterra (Finisterre). In 2001, I started from Lisbon and made it to SdeC, but walked only about 2/3 of it (about 440km out of 660). In 2002, I took the more conventional route from St. Jean Pied de Port, but started from a bit further north, i.e. from Saint Palais. I made it to SdeC on that one, but took a bus from Burgos to Sahagún because I felt that I was running out of time and I took the bus again from Astorga to Ponferrada because I had fallen ill and had lost an other day in Astorga, going to the clinic. I also took the bus to Fisterra on that trip.

This time I plan to just take it as it comes and see how far I get. I have only 6 weeks, including air travel time and getting back to the airport. I figure that the whole trip, LePuy to SdeC would take at least 2 months. There is some question in my mind as to whether or not I will make it to the Pyrenees crossing. I might skip some of the flat area after Moissac, in order to spend a little more time in Spain. I might even switch from the GR65 to the GR 653 and repeat my year 2000 crossing at Somport. The two routes are only about one days walk apart in the vicinity of Pau or Oloron.

Bob S.