Concept2 Forum

Hi everyone! I started rowing last April and my first 2k time was 10:44 but I wasn't really sure how good my form was or how hard I could really go. Since then, I've been doing a 2k about 2-3 times a week and have managed to get my time down to 8:44 with splits all between 2:10.7 and 2:12.0 and 26-27 spm. I cut my time from 9:07 to 8:44 in a week so I am guessing I can go harder than I mentally want to. I am 5'3" and weigh about 115. I'm wondering if this is a good time for my size and experience level, and how much more it might be possible to improve by. My goal is 7:59 but I don't even know if that is a reasonable goal for me. Thank you!!

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rowmania wrote:Hi everyone! I started rowing last April and my first 2k time was 10:44 but I wasn't really sure how good my form was or how hard I could really go. Since then, I've been doing a 2k about 2-3 times a week and have managed to get my time down to 8:44 with splits all between 2:10.7 and 2:12.0 and 26-27 spm. I cut my time from 9:07 to 8:44 in a week so I am guessing I can go harder than I mentally want to. I am 5'3" and weigh about 115. I'm wondering if this is a good time for my size and experience level, and how much more it might be possible to improve by. My goal is 7:59 but I don't even know if that is a reasonable goal for me. Thank you!!

Hi there and welcome
Age and training experience will help with advice. Sub8 is a good and probably reasonable goal.
It is natural to have good improvement when you start and that will continue for a while yet.
Spend a few hours on the Training thread above looking at some of the well populated new rower threads and you will see a lot of really good advice and links to good training material and videos for technique.
Search the concept2 site here for rankings and you will see how people of your age are performing and the possibilities.
Find someone who knows about erg technique to give advice - join a club or find a rowing coach or find a gym that knows about the erg (that is more risky).
Have a video taken of you erging from the side and post it here via youtube.
Train well with good technique and you will definitely improve.
If you want to get good at the 2km then you will need to spend much more time working on fitness - 30-40 minutes of aerobic training 3 or 4 times a week with the odd hard session is needed.
Best of luck

You're doing very well, I'd say. 8:44/2k is over 150W, so at 52 kg, 3W/kg.

If rating 26-7 then you have a solid stroke too (almost 6W'), especially if seen in relation to your weight and height.

A LWF 4x might welcome you, as that stroke and your 52 kg could come in very handy: LWF average 57, none over 59.

Hi Rowmania,
Sounds like you have made good progress on your 2k time. This season my goal has been to improve my 2K time - ideally below 8 min as well. I am female, 53, 5'7 and 158lbs.

For the past 17 weeks I have been following the Pete Plan https://thepeteplan.wordpress.com/the-pete-plan/ and have definitely seen my 2K time improve (see attached). Going into it, my 2K PB was @ pace of 2:06.8 but that was from 3 years earlier. My starting pace for the Pete Plan was significantly slower than that as I wanted to ensure success. At 12 weeks I was able to do a 2K @ 2:04.8 and I am still seeing improvement though, it is getting harder.

I really like the Pete Plan as it is easy to see if you are progressing or not because it repeats every 3 weeks (24 week plan; 8 cycles of 3 weeks). I am spending about 1-1.5 hrs per day on it though.



Good luck!

I am 20, and have really not been doing much other exercise other than rowing a few times a week. I usually try to do some pull-ups (2 sets of 6 but trying to increase) and then I walk on the treadmill to cool down but other than that and a handful of runs in the past few months, the only cardio I have done seriously/pushed myself on is rowing.

Thanks so much everyone for the responses! I will look into starting the Pete Plan, sounds like it could be motivating. I will look around some more on this website too. Really looking forward to getting faster!!

Also this: https://thepeteplan.wordpress.com/beginner-training/

Everyone refers to this as Pete (Marston) Beginner Plan. I prefer to call it a Begin Here Plan. Plenty hard with emphasis on building aerobic endurance.

Other popular training plans at: https://indoorsportservices.co.uk/training/interactive

How are you doing rowmania? You and I are pretty much the same height and weight and I also want to know what's realistic for a light and on the shorter side woman. I'm just starting the interactive plan (3 weeks in) and would be really happy to achieve under 8'50 2k like you by end April. I think I'm currently doing 9'10 but haven't done an all out 2k for ages (and skipped that first bit of the plan!). It would be great to hear how you're doing and whether you stuck with the Pete plan.