Question About A Beginner's Time

[[old] aligilli]

I'm an absolute beginner looking to get into competitive rowing. I went on the erg today and did 5k at 24:24. Is this a good sign or show potential?<br /><br />thanks

[[old] jamesg]

Try at a boat club. They can better judge your potential by looking at your age, weight, height, sex, past athletic experience, fitness and so on. They'll also teach you how to row, rather than just worry about numbers.<br /><br />Rowing is highly technical and depends a lot on the above data, so your cited 5k time means little. How long does it take you to swim a mile or run five?

[[old] Ray79]

Have to agree with james, if you are looking to get into rowing competitively then you need to find yourself a boat club and get yourself on the water. As james said it is a highly technical sport and at novice level your technical ability on the water will stand to you more than just speed on an ergo. As you get more proficient in the boat and your technique improves your ergo times will drop dramatically. Once this improvement plateaus then it is time to start more training on the ergo. Running is excellent CV preparation for rowing. Circuit training at your local gym will help with general fitness and strength.<br /><br />Hope you find a club soon and if you are anything like me, once you start you will be hooked.<br /><br />Best of luck

[[old] John &#39;SugarBoy&#39; Foy]

You DO NOT have to be a member of a boat club to be competitive on the erg!!!<br /><br />Learn correct technique by asking, reading and watching video clips.<br /><br />Learn about drag, spm and training programmes off this forum.<br /><br /><br />Graham Benton, A sub 6 minute world champion was not a water rower when he became the first non rower to win The British Championships.<br /><br /><br />Dont be put off by thinking you have to join a boat club.<br /><br />As the guys said though, without us knowing things like height, weight, age it is very hard to comment on your 5k performance.<br /><br />If you are 80 years old it is brilliant, if you are 25 its not very good.<br /><br />Good luck<br /><br /><br />John.

[[old] John Rupp]

I agree.<br /><br />You don't need to be in a boat club to row competitively on an erg, though it might be helpful if you're going to compete in a boat.<br /><br />In addition to age, your performance depends on your gender and weight class.<br /><br />Check out the PATT link in my signature file to compare your distances and times with others of the same age, gender and weight class.<br />

[[old] aligilli]

Today was my second time ever on the erg and I did another 5k. I lowered my per 500 by about 8 seconds. Is this considered a steady rate improvement? Right now my time is at 2 mins and 18 seconds which I know is still very pathetic.<br /><br />What should I do for the next month inorder to train longer and go faster on the erg? I was pretty much dead by 3k and really struggled to pull the 5k. I want to go at least 10k and do it in 2 minutes.<br /><br />Should I erg every other day and row 500m more each session or should I alternate between running and erging?<br /><br />My goal is to be able to row at least 10k at 2 mins/500m by next month. Possible?<br /><br />thanks!

[[old] michaelb]

<!--QuoteBegin-aligilli+Nov 2 2005, 09:52 PM--><table border='0' align='center' width='95%' cellpadding='3' cellspacing='1'><tr><td><div class='genmed'><b>QUOTE(aligilli @ Nov 2 2005, 09:52 PM)</b></div></td></tr><tr><td class='quote'><!--QuoteEBegin-->My goal is to be able to row at least 10k at 2 mins/500m by next month. Possible? <br /> </td></tr></table><br /><br />Honestly, I will say no. A sub 40 10k usually involves a fairly serious commitment for a new rower, and you are rowing 5k's 5 minutes slower than that pace. If you check the rankings, you will see many rowers below that benchmark. It took me some time (more than a year) to get there, and I was pretty psyched to reach it. Obviously a sub 20 5k is more realistic target, but I don't think you will get there in a month either.<br /><br />Read some of the endless threads here about rowing technique, work on your stroke, keep working to row longer distances until you can work up to a 10k. As you go through that process, you will find your paces improving too. Keep your SR reasonably low (22-25) and try rowing strapless to start.<br /><br />Good luck.<br />

[[old] Ray79]

<!--QuoteBegin-John 'SugarBoy' Foy+Oct 30 2005, 04:39 PM--><table border='0' align='center' width='95%' cellpadding='3' cellspacing='1'><tr><td><div class='genmed'><b>QUOTE(John 'SugarBoy' Foy @ Oct 30 2005, 04:39 PM)</b></div></td></tr><tr><td class='quote'><!--QuoteEBegin-->You DO NOT have to be a member of a boat club to be competitive on the erg!!!<br /> <br /> </td></tr></table><br /><br />Sorry John, I didnt quite mean it to sound like it did. <br />But when he said competitive rowing (not erging) I simply assumed he meant in a boat and so I suggested finding a club. But you are right it is more than possible to be competitive on an ergo by learning good technique and having a good training schedule to help improve times.<br /><br />Apologies for any misunderstanding.<br />

[[old] mpukita]

<!--QuoteBegin-aligilli+Nov 2 2005, 10:52 PM--><table border='0' align='center' width='95%' cellpadding='3' cellspacing='1'><tr><td><div class='genmed'><b>QUOTE(aligilli @ Nov 2 2005, 10:52 PM)</b></div></td></tr><tr><td class='quote'><!--QuoteEBegin-->Today was my second time ever on the erg and I did another 5k. I lowered my per 500 by about 8 seconds. Is this considered a steady rate improvement? Right now my time is at 2 mins and 18 seconds which I know is still very pathetic.<br /><br />What should I do for the next month inorder to train longer and go faster on the erg? I was pretty much dead by 3k and really struggled to pull the 5k. I want to go at least 10k and do it in 2 minutes.<br /><br />Should I erg every other day and row 500m more each session or should I alternate between running and erging?<br /><br />My goal is to be able to row at least 10k at 2 mins/500m by next month. Possible?<br /><br />thanks! <br /> </td></tr></table><br /><br />It would help for us to know age, weight, height and prior fitness / sports experience.<br /><br />I've been erging for about 6 months, and I'm just to the point where I feel a sub-2:00 pace 5K is doable. A sub 40 (sub-2:00 pace) 10K is thus probably AT LEAST another 6 months away, as michaelb suggested (a year to achieve). <br /><br />I've logged 1M meters in the first 6 months, just to put this into context. I had no rowing experience (on or off water) before I started in May 2005.