Any Advice Appreciated

[theory249]

Good Morning, Evening, or Afternoon,

I am fairly new to rowing. I am trying to get more consistent and make a plan for myself. Problem is, I am a total newby to the sport of rowing in general. I am looking for some folks to assist me with some of the questions I have.

1. How do you find a rowing club? So far, I have not seen anywhere that google leads me that shows clubs in my area or in general.
2. Looking for someone that wouldn't mind sharing information as far as rowing goes. Not looking for a coach per say just someone who has been in the sport and can tell me if my times are off, what a generally good 500/m average would be. I guess someone who knows that they are talking about can read me in on what I need to be a decent rower.
3. How are teams made? ( I feel like i'm in grade school asking people to come outside and play )
4. Looking at doing a half marathon or full and looking for people with advice on training for this. You can find tons on the web about running a marathon, but not the rowers. Or at least i haven't found it yet.
5. Looking for people to talk rowing in general. Make a few friend or peeps along the way and around the world.

I have an older rower. Has a PM 2+ on it. Still working, don't get all the phone hook ups in general, but it does what it should I guess. Eventually want to get into doing it for HR, etc with the hook ups but the budget wont allow that right now.

Any help, thoughts, ideas, you can provide, I'd appreciate it.

Thanks
Jayson

[jvincent]

Well, you got the first step right by joining the forum. Welcome.

1. If google can't find an actual rowing club near you, then nobody can. Check for local cross-fit centers or other gyms that have rowing machines. They may have something.

2. Lots of information on the forum here, on the Concept 2 site, and the Concept 2 UK site as far as technique goes. Start with those first. As far as ranking your performance, use the online logbook to track and rank your workouts. You will see where you fit WRT people the same age as you. If you aren't already fit from some other activity, be prepared to be disappointed with your standing at first.

3. Anyone can start a team. Most of them are either regional or made up of people with something in common. It's been a while since I joined one but I think you just go to the teams page.

4. There are tips on the forum. Good luck and be prepared to work for it.

5. This site or the UK forum site are good places. The UK one tends to get more traffic.

Do you know which model? The good thing about the C2 rowers is they are built solid and last a long time.

[Bob S.]

What area are you in? There are a lot of rowing clubs around, even in Arizona where they have to row on the limited waters of the Salt River.

Bob S.

[gregsmith01748]

1. How do you find a rowing club? So far, I have not seen anywhere that google leads me that shows clubs in my area or in general.

Where are you? Do you live near rowable water? If you do, then there is likely to be clubs. I found my club by googling and then following up with emails.

2. Looking for someone that wouldn't mind sharing information as far as rowing goes. Not looking for a coach per say just someone who has been in the sport and can tell me if my times are off, what a generally good 500/m average would be. I guess someone who knows that they are talking about can read me in on what I need to be a decent rower.

The forums are most helpful for me, both for erg and on the water. Uploading videos has given me lots of useful feedback to improve technique. And there are plenty of folks who can tell you just how much faster you could be.

3. How are teams made? ( I feel like i'm in grade school asking people to come outside and play )

After I had rowed for about a year, I got curious about people talking about the "cross team challenge" and asked about it on the forum. I was steered to join Free Spirits, which has worked out great for me. There are a number of good teams, large and small that provide support and enable you to compete in a bunch of different ways.

4. Looking at doing a half marathon or full and looking for people with advice on training for this. You can find tons on the web about running a marathon, but not the rowers. Or at least i haven't found it yet.

try this: http://therowingcompany.com/training/gu ... thon_intro
Many folks have used this plan to post good marathon times. Training for a marathon on the erg is actually a bit simpler than training for a running marathon since erg training is non-impact and allows you to really pile up meters in endurance training.

5. Looking for people to talk rowing in general. Make a few friend or peeps along the way and around the world.
[\quote]
finding a local club is good. Going to indoor races is also a great way to meet people.