What's a 2k erg test comparable to?

[Bob S.]

The pain is the same from 10 years to 85 (right Bob?).

Actually, it isn't the same. The muscle burn is much less since the older body is just not as capable of putting out enough energy to get to that point. Instead, there is more pain in the skeletal structure as a result of degenerative arthritis.

Frankly, I had a little session a couple of weeks ago when I felt that, relatively, I was pushing my body as hard or harder than at any other time that I can remember. I was just walking, but it was directly into a strong wind that was stinging us with cold rain. I was pushing back hard with my canes just to make progress against that wind. I was with a couple of young fellows, a thirty-something from München and a twenty-something from Vienna and they were having a struggle with it as well. I don't know how long it was before we reached the turning point - certainly much less time than I have taken for erg marathons, but it seemed interminable. A 2k on an erg takes me a bit over 8' nowadays, but I can see the meters counting down and know that there is going to be an end soon. That walk seemed endless until we finally reached a point where we saw some trees ahead that promised a bit of shelter. I felt at the time that it was a good thing that I had the moral support of my hiking companions or I might have turned around and let the wind blow me back to the village of Gallargues-le-Montueux to see if there was any kind of bus service to get me to a city.

Bob S.

[Cyclist2]

I've done cycling time trials, hill climbs, road races, and criteriums. There were times when I was at the limit on those, and it definitely hurts, especially near the top of a steep climb in a race. However, it has never hurt as much as the times I've "raced" 2K pieces (or 2500 meters in the early erg races). I think it has to do with knowing it will hurt and the monitor there keeping you honest and actually pushing you harder than you'd normally go (which have already been pointed out in this thread). I try to describe it to my cycling friends, lots of whom are stronger cyclists than I, and they just don't get it!

My daughter went with me to Ergomania one year as a spectator. She, on a whim, got in the race. She wasn't able to finish without stopping and was totally intimidated. The next year she went - with more training - and did very well. She was 17 at that time, and later joined the UW crew and rowed for one year, lowering her erg times well below that Ergomania effort but she still tells me that that second Ergomania was the most painful, bizarre thing she has ever felt, and still can't believe or understand the feeling of cold muscles, dizziness, etc. after that piece. Pushed to the absolute limit!

You just can't explain it to someone, in any sport, how it feels. But once they have done one, they know!!

[lidocaine]

The thing with cycling, like other people have mentioned, is that when you get to a certain point of horrible horrible pain, you pretty much stop and can't give anything (you bonk). Up until then you feel progressively worse, but it doesn't feel to be that same all-encompassing body fatigue you get doing a 2k. I feel like in a 2k (at least when you're trying) you're riding that fine line just below your breaking point; you want to be dead after you hit 0 on the display. Cycling is a lot less linear - you are ok, then it's hard, gets harder, then suddenly bam, you're on the ground. At least that's been my experience (I'm only a cat4, so maybe it's different when you get to the higher levels).

[rufierowing]

A couple of things to add:

You have to be mentally tough to erg well—much more so than cycling in my opinion. It is all YOU on the erg—especially so in training. For example, just yesterday I did a 4x2000 meter L2 session. The 3rd interval was hard enough to where I knew finishing the 4th would be WAY painful. I made it through 1500 meters and quit. I just didn’t have the mental toughness to see it through. I know I could have done it but just didn’t want to deal with the pain. And frankly I don’t know as finishing would have been all that good of an idea. This session comes around every 3 weeks and as long as I’m progressing I’m OK with it. Anything over 1500 meters on the last interval next time will be progression. Progression is what keeps me excited.

Racing is actually easier I think because you’re so caught up in the race the pain is not quite as severe as in training. I remember my last race not feeling that bad during it but I know it was because I could hardly walk afterward, and it took a couple days to recover. That never seems to happen after a training session no matter how hard I think it was.

Although it’s been a while since I’ve cycled, I can’t ever remember the kind of pain you deal with when rowing. I think part of it is was I never really trained much by myself. Seems the pain was shared some.

So all in all I guess the training part of erging is the most difficult. The racing part is the same for me no matter if cycling or erging. I get caught up in the race so as to not notice the pain that much. I can’t ever remember looking at the bike before a training session like I do the erg and wonder why in the hell I’m about to put myself through this pain!

If you’re going to make it to your potential in the sport of erging, I’m pretty confident you’re going to be tested both mentally and physically much more than you would any other way

Dan

[Cyclist2]

Well said, Dan!

[pmacaula]

How about repeat stadium steps ? My memory is that if set up appropriately they have a '2K erg test' feel.
For those not familiar with this form of training/cruelty, in stadiums with bench seating, you sprint up the seats, jog down the steps, repeat. Particularly fun when the slope increases as you go up.
Back in the stone age when I was in HS, our coach (who went on to win Oly gold in the 8+ two years later) once had us do a 'last man standing' stadium step session. He was in jeans & set up the workout as him versus our entire team of 40 guys, all of whom were in good shape from winter training & some of whom were quite good runners. We would go until someone beat him, or 20 reps, whichever came first. By around rep #10, no-one had beat him & there were a few lads spewing. In the end, no one beat the coach and less than half of us finished all 20. The rest littered the field in various states of disrepair.
Just like after a good erg test, there was that nasty lung burn/cough and even nastier leg burn. Most of the team needed a good lie-down to recover and more than a few had trouble walking for a while.
The coach just put his jean jacket on & told us he would see us in a few hours for the afternoon row. One tough SOB.

Cheers. Patrick.

[ArmandoChavezUNC]

Stadiums are indeed tough, but there is so much recovery between 'sets' that I don't think you can get the same exertion as on the erg. You run up and then jog down, but no matter how fast you go down it's still pretty much a period of rest. You try to go too fast and you might fall, so the speed at which you go down is never too fast and thus doesn't really require much effort. We did a lot of stadiums my frosh year and after 40+ minutes it was pretty tough to keep going but it was more so because our thighs were shot than because physically/mentally we were drained.

That being said I hate stadiums a lot

[bloomp]

Stadiums are indeed tough, but there is so much recovery between 'sets' that I don't think you can get the same exertion as on the erg. You run up and then jog down, but no matter how fast you go down it's still pretty much a period of rest. You try to go too fast and you might fall, so the speed at which you go down is never too fast and thus doesn't really require much effort. We did a lot of stadiums my frosh year and after 40+ minutes it was pretty tough to keep going but it was more so because our thighs were shot than because physically/mentally we were drained.

That being said I hate stadiums a lot

And you're a pretty big fella so that just makes them worse Not that I like them any more, but they are possibly the best non-rowing workout around...