First 2K race at 60

tjf0 · Post by **tjf0** » February 9th, 2009, 10:23 pm

Hi Everyone, I just completed my first 2K race at the Villanova Main Line Slide on February 7th and put together a web page describing the experience from a novice point of view. This may be useful to someone just starting to row since it describes my experiences getting to my first race. See http://sites.google.com/site/rowing60/

pmacaula · Post by **pmacaula** » February 10th, 2009, 1:08 am

tjf0 - Nice write-up. You captured very well the best part of erg regattas - how friendly & open everyone is, regardless of where they sit on the results table.

Thanks for mentioning the 'erg cough'. I went through my first erg regatta on Feb 2nd & coughed relentlessly for a few hours after racing. My wife & kids thought I was going to give them some dread disease.

Best wishes for qualifying for CRASH-B next year.

Cheers. Patrick.

Bob S. · Post by **Bob S.** » February 10th, 2009, 2:09 am

pmacaula wrote: My wife & kids thought I was going to give them some dread disease.
Cheers. Patrick.

Yes. It is called erg addiction and is deadly. No one that has caught it has ever survived beyond 120 years.

Bob S.

romad63 · Post by **romad63** » February 10th, 2009, 10:23 am

well done!!- I too am familiar with that cough and when you have it you know you did your best

konarzewski · Post by **konarzewski** » March 10th, 2009, 12:28 pm

Great piece of writing, tfj0. Just a thought, but why set off at 1:45 pace when you're aiming at 7:20 which is 1:50 pace average? My guess is that you'd get a much better time if you set out at 1:51 pace and held that for 1500 metres and then gave the last 500 everything you've got. Even pace rowing is more energy efficient than having wildly differing splits, and I suspect you've got a considerably faster time inside you. Best wishes, William

tjf0 · Post by **tjf0** » March 10th, 2009, 8:53 pm

konarzewski wrote:My guess is that you'd get a much better time if you set out at 1:51 pace and held that for 1500 metres and then gave the last 500 everything you've got. Even pace rowing is more energy efficient than having wildly differing splits, and I suspect you've got a considerably faster time inside you. Best wishes, William

Hi William, I am glad you enjoyed the writeup also thanks for the advice. I agree with you. I have since rowed 2 other erg races and have gotten my time down to 7:17.2 but even in the last 7:17 I went out at 1:43 for the first 500m. I know insane but when you am pulling against other people you sometime loss track of logic. I am planning on a more controlled time trial in my basement with me going out at 1:48 and seeing if I can hold onto that. I have also been playing around with my drag factor to try and see what is best for me.
Regards Tim

tjf0 · Post by **tjf0** » April 13th, 2009, 9:41 pm

konarzewski wrote:My guess is that you'd get a much better time if you set out at 1:51 pace and held that for 1500 metres and then gave the last 500 everything you've got. Even pace rowing is more energy efficient than having wildly differing splits, and I suspect you've got a considerably faster time inside you. Best wishes, William

Hi William, I took your advice today and pulled a 7:10.5 PB at 33 spm. This was my first 2k attempt since the beginning of March. I think the WRC has helped a bit since I have been doing 10K a day for the challenge.
My spilts were:
500m 1:46.8 34 spm
1000m 1:48.0 33 spm
1500m 1:47.9 33 spm
2000m 1:47.8 34 spm

DF 118