New to Rowing, how can I get a good 2k time?

[jordansymington]

Hi there guys,

Me and a buddy from work decided that on December 1st we will have a 2k race, his time about 10 years ago was 6.40, which from what i understand is a pretty good time. So ive come to this forum to get some advice from you guys. Ill start with a bit of background on me.

Im 22 years old, 190cm, 94kg, 200cm Arm span (if this counts for anything). I use to do a lot of sport from the age of 14 through to 19 years old, i was training for about 24 hours a week and competing to a national level(UK) in triathlon. My best discipline was swimming, i swam for about 4 years (10-14 hours a week)But since i stopped that around 3 years ago, my cardio has basically been none existent until about 5 months ago when I started hitting the gym hard and biking/skipping in the evenings (ive been doing 5 gym sessions a week and about 4 cardio sessions a week for the previous 3/4 months now and am loving it.

Ive only been rowing for about 4 weeks, my sessions will typically be something like 8x500m with 1 min rest ( i can hold around 1.45 consistently for all 8 reps) and my first 2k ever was a 7.05, which i was pleasantly surprised at. That 2k rep was the furthest I have rowed in one go, so im fairly certain if I want my 2k time to come down then i definitely need to be doing more mileage.

I feel i have very little structure to my rowing training and want to get my 7.05 down to 6.40 - 6.50 by December (so that's nearly 5 months) Iv'e had a look at the Pete plan and I was thinking about giving it a go, but your thoughts would be really helpful.

Some recommendations and suggestions would be greatly appreciated from you guys, ive had a browse on this forum and there seems to be a tonne of knowledgeable people, hence my first post on any forum, ever.

And also, how realistic do you think my goal of 6.40 from 7.05 in 5 months is? Should i readjust? Or is it achievable?

Hopefully i provided enough information, thank you for your time!

Jordan

[Allan Olesen]

And also, how realistic do you think my goal of 6.40 from 7.05 in 5 months is?

I can't tell you that. But I can tell you that 6.40 requires 20% higher power than 7.05.

If you are new to rowing, you will probably get some of those 20% "for free", just by improving your technique during training.

[jamesg]

Suggest you contact British Rowing, if in UK, possibly yesterday.

https://www.britishrowing.org/go-rowing/learn-to-row/

https://www.britishrowing.org/knowledge ... technique/

[johnlvs2run]

how realistic do you think my goal of 6.40 from 7.05 in 5 months is? Should i readjust? Or is it achievable?

Your goal is completely realistic. If you keep doing what you're doing, then I think that you will achieve it.

[Ombrax]

Your goal is completely realistic. If you keep doing what you're doing, then I think that you will achieve it.

I think we should encourage him to do some longer distance workouts.

I'm no expert and not a racer, but from what I've read here one way to improve, even for "short" stuff like a 2k is to do both long and short stuff.

To the OP: There are a number of different "plans" out there, and Google will be able to help you find them. Unlike you, I've never had a specific goal in mind, so have bothered to follow a formal training plan, but if you really want to improve that's what you need.

Here's one example of a plan that's commonly discussed here:

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

Good Luck

(and welcome to the forum)

[jordansymington]

Yeah from previous training with Swimming/running etc im aware that you should train over the distance and under the distance so this is definitely something i need to start doing! And this plan was actually the one that I was most attracted to after a bit of googling. Thank you for your feedback!

[Dangerscouse]

You sound like you have got all of the attributes to get a very good 2k time. Height, weight and age are all good and a background of high level sports will give you some enviable base fitness that just needs refining.

The drop from 7:05 to 6:40 is well within your reach, how long that takes is difficult to say but five months of structured training should be enough, especially as you're
no doubt very familiar with the pain cave from your triathlon days. A big part of the 2k is belief and willingness to endure when you want to quit.

Best of luck and welcome to the forum.

[jordansymington]

Thank you for your reply mate, this is a great bit of encouragement so i appreciate that! With regards to structured training, im sticking with 5 weight session in the gym per week, and then 3x rows a week - (1 being endurance, 1 4x1k rep session and then a 6x500m session with active recovery (managing to hold around 1.41/1.42 on each of these reps) and then 2 session of 30 mins on the bike followed by 10 mins of skipping. Would you say i need to do more rowing? Or do you think this is enough?

Thanks a tonne mate!

[Dangerscouse]

Thank you for your reply mate, this is a great bit of encouragement so i appreciate that! With regards to structured training, im sticking with 5 weight session in the gym per week, and then 3x rows a week - (1 being endurance, 1 4x1k rep session and then a 6x500m session with active recovery (managing to hold around 1.41/1.42 on each of these reps) and then 2 session of 30 mins on the bike followed by 10 mins of skipping. Would you say i need to do more rowing? Or do you think this is enough?

Thanks a tonne mate!

It really is personal to you for how many sessions you do. I only ever row 3, or sometimes 4, times a week as I need the recovery, so if you feel willing and able doing another middle distance fast session, and a long distance steady session will not hurt but it's not essential.

I personally really like doing a variety of 5k & 30 mins at circa r28/30. They give you a taste of holding a tough pace for a longer distance so a 2k feels quite short and it helps your breathing sequence for the higher rates: something that quite a lot of people struggle with.

Weights are helpful but not essential. Your base fitness is more important so I'd prioritise rowing over weights if you have to occasionally choose.

[marcmartineau]

Those videos on Youtube will give you a plan for the 2k race. he is VERY good !

https://youtu.be/j5_4upqhYeQ

https://youtu.be/0-PLIxZ9eGM

Have fun !