Women's Rowing Forum: What Motivates You To Erg???

[[old] Deb]

Welcome!<br><br>There are a lot of inspirational stories out there just waiting to be shared. Let's hear yours!!<br><br>What motivates you to sit down and erg? What's worked (or not worked) to help keep you motivated??<br><br>My own kick-in-the-butt is that I'm planning a solo, self-contained bike tour of a bit of England and Wales in May. I keep visualizing all those dang hills I have to get up! I can't bike every day...especially on the days I work...so erging helps keep the cardiovascular conditioning at some respectable level. <br><br>Being a part of a team (we're #3 ) has definitely helped motivate me...don't want to let them down...<br><br>OK...your turn...<br><br>Deb Ford

[[old] grams]

Having all these nice long muscles and great shoulders. Makes my legs look great in jeans. <br>Being able to do most anything I want to physically. <br>Having the endurance to carry on with extended physical effort. <br>Being nicknamed 'Iron Woman' by the biking group on our last Elderhostel trip for my ability to do the hills. <br>Knowing how to pace myself. <br>Looking 10 years younger than before. (It helps that my hair isn't grey yet...) <br>The endorphins put me in a good mood all day.<br><br>grams

[[old] CAROLE MAC]

I started erging August 2003 after venturing down to the depths of the cellar in our police station where I found a c lurking in a corner . 0n the board at the side was a list of best times . I sat on the thing did a 2k in 8.50 and saw I was the fastest woman... this inspired me to do a bit more training and after two weeks I was down to 8.36. <br> <br> I then found the British Forum and started taking some of the tips on board and in a moment of madness I entered Birc ....ahggg and that's it I was hooked.<br><br>I met some of the peeps off the board and the camaraderie was fantastic and the most inspiring time was meeting Tracey Brown and seeing her compete as an adaptive rower . Tracey you are a star.<br><br> I kept on training doing a 8.14 at Birc followed by my first sub 8 at Manchester in Feb 2004. <br><br> Then some peeps set up Team Oarsome and invited Auntie Carole the pink lady to join and I was so pleased.<br><br>After good start to the season I had a bit of a set back at Birc 2004 but 2 weeks later I went to Cardiff and went sub 7.40 my inspiration then was Megan BROWN ...mmmm must be summat in the surname lol. <br><br> Then I went to eirc where I persuaded the ladies to row in lingerie and raise<br>money for charity which we did nearly one thousand pounds . yehaaa..<br><br>My motivation now is to go sub 7.30 and to enjoy the company of my fellow ergers.<br><br>So thanks everyone xxxxx

[[old] Hoofbeat]

Well when I went to the Fresher's Fair at Uni I got convinced to sign up for rowing and then was convinced to have a river outing. I went along thinking, well I'm going to Oxford I need to at least have a go at rowing. Afterwards the cox approached me and said that I seemed very strong (admittdly he thought I must do weight lifting as at the time I had poor technique and was pulling with my arms, but my stroke was powerful) so he convinced me to go along to the Novice Erg trials. I'd only ever sat on an erg at the gym before and just "done my own thing" and we were asked to do a 500m sprint and I got 1:58 which was apparantely pretty good for a novice (2nd fastest time out of about 25-30ppl) and I got offered a place on the Women's Novice A Boat. <br><br>A term later, and several good races in a regatta (shame we lost in Quarter Finals to the eventual winners!) I'm still going and loving the social side of things as well as finally being good at a sport! The crew aspect of rowing, whether its on the river, going for runs, at the gym or like tomorrow night just all going out for a meal is amazing and I would have gone insane at Uni with my workload had it not been for those river outings where I forget about everything else other than keeping it slow on the slide! I thought the early mornings would be hell, but when you're walking along the river bank and you see the sunrise it's all worth it and I'm wide awake by the time I get to my lectures!<br><br>Oh and the fact that my hamstrings have now stretched and I've grown well over 2inches and am now taller than my mum, is also an important deciding factor (I always wanted to be tall!).<br><br>I honestly can't imagine life without rowing. Thank god my home town has a team I can join over the summer holidays - I'd go mad if I couldn't row for 4months!

[[old] Deb]

Friends...<br><br>Thanks for helping get this off the ground! These stories are super...<br><br>Encourage your erging friends to contribute, and don't be bashful about starting a new thread. Just put "Women's Rowing Forum:" in the subject header so we know it's by/for us.<br><br>I'm going to go out and see if I can drum up some more participants...<br><br>Erg on,<br>Debs

[[old] J.D.]

I started erging just because it was the new piece of equipment in the gym. It helped me recover from an old back injury. Then I realized that I was actually doing pretty good on it. Since then I've had quite a lot of #1 rankings which is fun.<br><br>I'll probably erg for the rest of my life because it's effective and efficient.

[[old] Janice]

I had wanted to learn how to row since I was about 13 after failing to achieve success at any other sport despite my height, build, and the genetics of a family full of champion athletes. I never got into in college because I was so overwhelmed academically that I didn't have time for anything else, and it wasn't until I joined a gym last January that I started indoor rowing and became hooked. I turned to the UK forum (despite being American) for advice and met lots of nice people there, including my fiancé Pete. It was there that I found out that people actually compete indoors and booked myself a ticket to go to a race in Scotland. I won, and fell in love with Pete, and came home and kept rowing. Since then I've done another race and got to watch at EIRC as I've been sidelined with mono. <br><br>What motivates me is knowing that I am faster than 7:40.3 and some day will be much faster than that. I like the feeling I get when I complete a hard workout, set a PB, and win a race. Erging has also transformed how my body looks and how I view myself. In my eyes (when I'm not surrounded by light weights faster and smaller than me) I'm not an out of shape fatty any more, but turning slowly into someone who is an amateur athlete with a growing trophy shelf. Lately it has been hard to want to erg since I've been so tired and in the fog that is moving to another country, but I soon hope to be focused once more and winning more medals.

[LindaM]

My motivations:<br><br>Staying fit enough to keep up with all my active friends - mountain climbing, cycling, skiing, etc.<br>Keeping my weight in check (113 now).<br>Keeping my HDL high (over 90).<br>It's cheaper than a psych therapist and does a more consistent job.<br>As a break between my work day and the rest of my life, it helps me leave work stuff behind.<br>And grams is right on - endorphins are the best drug ever, and free! <br><br>

[[old] Bufflehead]

Hmmmmm.. what motivates me?<br>I guess it all started when my trainer told me to go sit down on "that" and give it a try. That was January 2004. What keeps me going is a couple of things. First and foremost, it has kept me from having a total knee replacement. This time last year, I was contemplating having the replacement done during Dec. 04. Now that I have dropped 65 pounds and finished my second half marathon on Saturday, I can put that surgery off for a long, long time. <br><br>The second motivator came when I discovered this website in August 2004. I have enjoyed trying to better my own times while keeping an eye on where I rank online. Right now my eye is on the big prize. For me, that is rowing a marathon. Right now I don't see anyone in my age and weight category having completed one this season. <span style='color:red'>That</span> is my motivator!!<br><br>And, last but not least, it is the friendly competition that I have found online. <br>I never will be first in the rankings, but I'm satisfied that I'm not last! Of course, it really helps that I have my own C2 sitting in my living room now.

[[old] Avid Napper]

During my annual physical last November, my doctor told me to lose weight--something she (or her predecessors) have been telling me since I was a teenager. Though not athletic by any stretch of the imagination, I usually tried to do something in response--I've tried running, bicycling, swimming, the gym, and beyond in my 45 years--but never found an exercise I could do for long (or my body could take for long--hurt my knee bicycling and can no longer run, my asthma has made swimming extra challenging, and so forth). <br><br>My doctor added an extra incentive this time, however--my blood pressure is elevated, and since heart disease runs in my family, I know it behooves me to find an exercise I can do for the rest of my life. If, indeed, I want to have the "rest of" my life add up to more than a couple of decades, that is. <br><br>After seeing an ad for the Concept 2 in <i>The New Yorker </i>magazine, I decided to investigate the Web site. The users seemed to be of all ages, and their enthusiasm for the sport was undeniable. I also recalled that the erg was the only machine I didn't approach with fear and loathing at the local gym, so I decided to give myself a very large Christmas present in the form of a Concept2 and a TV/VCR/DVD player to keep me from getting bored to tears while I row.<br><br>I've only been at it for three weeks, but have noticed results already. I feel taller, have more energy first thing in the morning, and have not had a mid-afternoon slump (where my energy flags to the point of a nap emergency) since I began. Have only seen about four pounds in weight loss, but I haven't cut my food intake dramatically--yet. And, I feel stronger, so perhaps my weight is not dropping because I'm gaining muscle. <br><br>My only complaint has been an occasionally sore bum (my derriere is the one place I don't have extra padding, wouldn't you know), but have just ordered the seat pad in the hopes that will make a difference. <br><br>Will I be able to stick with my erg? I certainly hope so--it's enjoyable, offers prompt results, and I really enjoy logging my meters and participating in the forums. We shall see....

[[old] pamcnm]

Thanks for this thread!<br><br>I initially got interested in erging because I am a kayaker and was looking for an aerobic activity for cross-training that I could do at the gym. I also have a several friends who love on the water rowing.<br><br>There are numerous things that help to motivate me...music during my actual workouts, and I really do feel better when erging regularly. In terms of training, I love the online community of this sport. The challenges and online rankiing keeping me working to improve my fitness and times. I completed the 200,000 meter holiday challenge and am waiting for my t-shirt. I am also completing the last 100,000 meters or so of the Lake Champlain rowing game.<br><br>I am looking forward to using my new RowPro software as soon as I get my nine pin serial port adaptor from concept2!

[[old] c2bill]

nice thread - great stories.<br><br>1. we have a collection of women and rowing stories on the c2 website - <br><a href='http://www.concept2.com/rowing/women/womenmain.asp' target='_blank'>http://www.concept2.com/rowing/women/womenmain.asp</a> - some of these posts would look good there...<br><br>2. any interest in having a separate topic (similar to training...) specifically about 'women and rowing' or similar on this forum? we could have a moderator etc.<br><br>thougths?<br><br>-bill

[[old] Rocket Roy]

There is a great thread on the UK site for women only, but the guy's keep posting on there!

[[old] Janice]

I think that's a great idea Bill and I'd be happy to volunteer to moderate.

[[old] Deb]

Bill,<br><br>It would be fantastic to have a separate area in the forum where women could discuss their own issues. The initial responses to this first thread have brought out some inspirational stories...I expect there are hundreds (thousands?) of others out there just waiting to be shared.<br><br>What is the role of a moderator? Count me in as interested...<br><br>Deb Ford