Late-blooming newbie rower reflection, vents and rants. Happy 2025!

[PleaseLockIn]

I came into this sport after a tumultuous past of missed opportunity after missed opportunity. While there wasn't necessarily a "lost year", I can look back at all the years of my life and see many missed opportunities. I can also see in many years I coasted, procrastinated, had crap organisation, you name it.

Starting was tough. The BPP felt intimidating at first, and I rowed without any real plan. Apparently, the lessons of not planning your academics had not stuck with me.

But I thought, What if I jumped to it? And I did. I managed it and improved my fitness. I even managed to jump to the PP 5k although my progress has stalled for various reasons.

At least for 2024, starting only in Sep and only seriously from Nov, I got my 2k from 8:39 to 7:58, and somehow managed 6900m 30r20 and a 1:59 500m r20. These times are not great by all means, but at least I am not too bad at rowing anymore.

In hindsight there are many lessons I have learnt.

1. Weight matters significantly in rowing
I wish I had taken more time as a teen to bulk up to 72kg and cut down - that way I might have a walking weight of ~70kg which is just below lightweight standards.

Yes, Asian BMI standards are such that being 72kg at 5'9 is considered "overweight". I should have learnt to ignore it earlier and simply bulk (care about BF %).

2. Stick to the plan almost no matter what
Otherwise things will start falling apart. This is especially important if you have weak executive functioning or even ADHD.

Of course if you have a bad injury then it is OK to take time off. I have learnt it the hard way.

3. Do SS days very, very slowly. And interval days as hard as possible
Polarized training, shown to significantly improve results. This way I have enough recovery for interval days, and also enough stamina for other things

4. If your executive functions, staying power is weak, considering going to a doctor
Both physical and mental.

Sometimes you may even have executive functiong and time management issues. They may be so bad that you often find yourself unable to keep up with your peers.

5. Don't often compare yourself, but compare yourself occasionally just to keep yourself in check, and compare today to yesterday

People may say, "Don't compare yourself to others."

But in ADHD diagnosis, you doneed to compare your symptoms and issues with your peers. The disorder is diagnosed when your executive function/self-regulation is significantly worse than others of your developmental level (stage of life, age, IQ), in multiple settings, causes interference/reduction in functioning (not necessarily significant impairment)

Thus there is a need to in at least some cases.

6. Know why you want to row

Personally, this is for the enjoyment and sometimes I enjoy masochistically suffering through the pain of TTs so I can get PBs. I know I can get them. It's also (to me) the most efficient full-body workout, even incorporating cardio. One day I may row in some regettas...

7. Have a plan and keep yourself organised
To give yourself a goal towards.

I can't break 1:59 30r20 in 1 month. But this September... maybe? I don't know... but I will fight on.

That's what I was lacking all those years ago. A clear, structured plan. Even though I can't save my prior dreams, I can at least fight on from the present. I will enroll in harder courses... maybe even postgrad stuff in my 3rd year. It's personal - I had fought for years for a grade skip but... (too much personal info)

Now... the results have been surprising. Occasionally I even delude myself that I enjoy rigidity for rigidity's sake (I do not).

[iain]

Happy New Year.

Great that you can share your experiences as people need to know about difficulties and set backs more than about the achievements that can dominate posts. In short we need to know ourselves and adjust for what we need. Not all suggestions that have worked for others will work for me. Also any suggestions from others will be based on limited information as it is not possible to share all relevant information on a Forum as what is relevant will also vary by person. In addition how people will respond will vary. For some any suggestion is a challenge and they will try and exceed what is proposed while others may see suggestions as a ceiling to aim for. In addition RPE is not an exact science and so even hard statistics will not tell us what someone's limits are. Similarly not everything that applies to you will apply to a person reading your thoughts. Some thrive on a strict plan while others are worn out by the need to perpetually measure up to the requirements of a strict plan. Athletic performance is substantially affected by everything else in our lives. This is not only the illnesses, sleep and nutrition we would think, but also any mental or physical stresses or releases in our lives, so progress (after newbie gains) is rarely linear and we have to be prepared for periods of low improvement or even regression in the knowledge that at other times there will be some unexpected boosts in performance.

You have made a great start. If you can continue to build your fitness base and strength there is no reason you can't attain your goal. But this still requires you to progress 0.3S/500M every week which is a huge amount and would not normally be possible for someone outside of newbie gains in middle age, but are likely to be possible for someone who is dedicated and in their late teens. I hope that your attempt to achieve the unachievable haven't put you off.