Ultra Rowing

[Soldier5082]

Hi,

My name is Robert Harris and I've rowed on the Concept II since the early 90's; I was introduced to the model A on board a Naval ship and quickly fell in love with the workout. However, over time I ended up a runner and eventually an ultra runner and have now competed in over 100 such with more than a dozen at or greater than 100 miles.

Earlier this year, however, I moved from the ultra running capital (Southern CA) to central New York where year-round running isn't quite as enjoyable so...I dusted off my C2 and reengaged. Since doing so, I have found my old race distances of 2.5K and even 5K just to short for my tastes and talent. I am an endurance athlete and want to compete at the longer races (1/2 marathon, marathon, 50K and beyond). Plus, I'm now 42 - in ultra running, age isn't quite the enemy it is in shorter races and you will find that the 40 to 50 year olds are the dominant runners (it takes some aging for most people to have enough patience and mental fortitude to run 100 miles); I'll bet it is the same in rowing. The problem is, I just can't find ANY races that aren't 2K!

So my question is; is there anyone out there that has plans to do an ultra race event on the C2? I would love to find such and, for a long enough race, I'll jump on a plane and travel. Surely, given all the people that have completed events of as long as 24 hours, someone out there recognizes the potential for a truly epic race... I would attempt myself but without a club affiliation, I don't have the resources to put such together.

Any thoughts anyone?

[Bob S.]

The problem is, I just can't find ANY races that aren't 2K!

So my question is; is there anyone out there that has plans to do an ultra race event on the C2? I would love to find such and, for a long enough race, I'll jump on a plane and travel. Surely, given all the people that have completed events of as long as 24 hours, someone out there recognizes the potential for a truly epic race... I would attempt myself but without a club affiliation, I don't have the resources to put such together.

Any thoughts anyone?

You can compete online in various ways, but as far as competitions all under one roof are concerned, you are right. There is very little of that - in the U.S. There are a few non-2k comps, but they are more likely to be even shorter, like 1k and 500m. There are a couple of get together marathons in Boston at the time of the big Boston street marathon, but these have only a few participants.

Bob S.

[Carl Watts]

Plenty of longer events and others to row with if you get online with RowPro.

If you like pure distance there are also about 3 challenges a year based on just total meters rowed, the Fall Challenge finished only a couple of weeks ago.

RowPro is good for distance work and hardly anyone bothers with the 2K, lots of 5K or 6K. More like 10K or an hour for training rows all the way to a few HM and FM. Plenty of people to train or race with and then upload your results to the C2 Log and rank your best.

You will however find that not too many people people are keen on the 100K, its just too long have a look at the C2 Rankings for the proportion of people that do it.

[jliddil]

You might try posting over at the Free Spirits Virtual Club Board. There are a number of folks who do "long" rows

http://www.freespiritsrowing.com/forum/index.php

[Soldier5082]

I'm actually a big fan of ROWPRO and that is how I do my long rows - I pick one of my old rows and go to town (so to speak). But you just can't compare rowing in your garage or basement, RowPro or not, to the beauty of racing with a room full of other people. The same with the challenges; I have done a couple but there just isn't the satisfaction that there is in completing a race...

And yes, I agree that the number of people who do such rows is probably low proportionally speaking but that is the case in running as well. A normal Ultra has less than two hundred people with many of the races having less than 100; they are still epic events to the ones doing the running and make the events quite manageable.

[Bob S.]

I'm actually a big fan of ROWPRO and that is how I do my long rows - I pick one of my old rows and go to town (so to speak). But you just can't compare rowing in your garage or basement, RowPro or not, to the beauty of racing with a room full of other people. The same with the challenges; I have done a couple but there just isn't the satisfaction that there is in completing a race...

And yes, I agree that the number of people who do such rows is probably low proportionally speaking but that is the case in running as well. A normal Ultra has less than two hundred people with many of the races having less than 100; they are still epic events to the ones doing the running and make the events quite manageable.

If you are really serious, you might check out what is going on in the UK and perhaps on the continent. In the US it just ain't gonna happen.

Bob S.

[joe80]

Hi Robert,

I've rowed in the Dutch Marathon Championship these past two years. It's a well-organised, friendly event held near Eindhoven in February. This is the website for the 2010 event:

http://www.ergomarathon.nl/

There are advantages in rowing the ultra distances at home. You can control temperature, ventilation and, most importantly, entertainment

Regards,

Joe

[bloomp]

Robert,

I can attest to Joe80's experience in the subject of ultra distance rowing. He's done things that make my skin crawl, he also helped me plan for my 24-hour row attempt.

I did attempt a 24-hour row, and had to stop 8 hours in. I literally could not move anymore. Somewhere between 6:45 and 7:30 things just went downhill. It's going to get done though, just need to pace myself a little better and I'm currently in better physical shape than when I tried in March.

There are efforts throughout the US to break distance records and I see no reason why you couldn't apply your background from other sports to going after a rowing record. I believe a rower at Oregon State broke the record for 100k last year, did something like 1:56 on a 50x2k. Ridiculous.

[sander]

Hi Robert,

I've rowed in the Dutch Marathon Championship these past two years. It's a well-organised, friendly event held near Eindhoven in February. This is the website for the 2010 event:

http://www.ergomarathon.nl/

There are advantages in rowing the ultra distances at home. You can control temperature, ventilation and, most importantly, entertainment

Regards,

Joe

I see lots of people from my old rowing club Beatrix on the pictures. Nice people. You'll like it!

[Soldier5082]

Thanks for the information - the Dutch Marathon is very close to what I am looking for...well, with the exception that it is in the Netherlands; I'm willing to travel but haven't made up my mind just yet if I can go quite that far! On the other hand, it would be a great excuse to visit a new place. My half marathon time (currently 1:19:39.2) seems competitive but I'll have to work on my marathon time for a while. Unfortunately, the website still shows Feb 2010 information - I hope there will be a 2011 version.

[Soldier5082]

I can attest to Joe80's experience in the subject of ultra distance rowing. He's done things that make my skin crawl, he also helped me plan for my 24-hour row attempt.

I did attempt a 24-hour row, and had to stop 8 hours in. I literally could not move anymore. Somewhere between 6:45 and 7:30 things just went downhill. It's going to get done though, just need to pace myself a little better and I'm currently in better physical shape than when I tried in March.

I've been thinking about attempting the 24-hour row. I'd love to hear more about your preparation Bloomp as well as any advice of Joe80 plus what problems you learned about in your first attempt. So far, I've only worked up to a 50K and plan to do the 100K during this next holiday challenge. However, I plan to complete it at around a 2:10 pace and I've been imagining that I could hold an overall 2:20 or so for the 24-hour event (including breaks) but only doing it will tell me if I can actually pull for that long; hips and buttocks started cramping in the 50K so we'll see how the 100K goes and plan from there... There is a thought in Ultrarunning though that I would guess applies here as well and that is that the people who make it to the finish line are often not the ones in the best shape but rather those who were able to best manage the problems that will surely arise during such an event.

[jliddil]

Plus, I'm now 42 - in ultra running, age isn't quite the enemy it is in shorter races and you will find that the 40 to 50 year olds are the dominant runners (it takes some aging for most people to have enough patience and mental fortitude to run 100 miles); I'll bet it is the same in rowing. The problem is, I just can't find ANY races that aren't 2K!

So my question is; is there anyone out there that has plans to do an ultra race event on the C2? I would love to find such and, for a long enough race, I'll jump on a plane and travel. Surely, given all the people that have completed events of as long as 24 hours, someone out there recognizes the potential for a truly epic race... I would attempt myself but without a club affiliation, I don't have the resources to put such together.

Any thoughts anyone?

Having moved form Arizona a number of years ago I can relate to the no longer being in the running/outdoor sport centric world. The age/maturity thing seems to come up in climbing as well for Everest/K2 etc. Patience and a level head.

So if you find any ultra stuff let us know. Or maybe we can get a regular rowpro event of some sort. Though anything beyond 50K is a bit much for me right now unless I quit my 20K a day habit

[Nosmo]

If you want long races, just organize them your self.
It doesn't have to be a big production at first. Over a year or two it could build into something much bigger. THere are a few informal races (such as the Boston Marathon row, and another 2K done in some store--where MVB did his 6:48 last year (don't have time to look it up now but there are threads about it on this forum)
There was an OTW marathon that was canceled on year, but one rower wanted to race so he just put it on himself. Kept it alive and it seems to be still going.

[Izzzmeister]

Hey, I'd be interested in doing some longer distances. Right now, I kind of top out at 25K, partially because I'm diabetic, and nervous about overdoing the training and lowering my blood sugar too much. (Though I've never had a low blood sugar episode, never tested below 72, I still would build up slowly. Have had my eye on a full marathon for over a year, but i would need someone in the apartment, some small food portions available, and a full month of build-up.) Did 2 HMs last week, and a personal best HM of 1:19:49 today, so I'm not scared of distance.
...And in order to raise my nonathlon.com score (I'm now #34) I'd need that 100-point bonus for having done all 10 distances, so I need a FM...

[luckylindy]

For the big 100km and 24 hour rows, how do folks pass the time? I can barely imagine sitting on the erg for 3 hours, but anything longer seems mind numbing.

Now, a 100k row OTW would be pretty neat ... I heard that a few people would row the 120km out and back on Cayuga Lake (Ithaca, NY) back in school, always thought that would be a great time.