First 2k Row Kicked My Butt

[Christianrunsonfaith]

Wow! Did my first 2k row tonight for 9:28.0. And while I didn't feel completely gassed at the end of the workout, I'm not going to claim that I could have done much better either. The whole experience was definitely eye opening to say the least. As to next steps, I'm going to rest tomorrow then get back at it by rowing every other day for the rest of the month until I feel my form is more locked in. As part of tonight's workout, I did Dark Horse's LEARN to ROW: A 10 Minute Technique Warmup on the Rowing Machine https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GYQEP66O9bk, took a few minutes to stretch, and then hit the 2k. I might replicate this scenario as part of my workouts for the near future just to ensure my form is sound and all.

Any other tips for a super noob? Thanks!

[iain]

Congratulations for notr only making a start, but completing a hard 2k. The good news is that this is one of the hardest distances when done all out! It is long enough to make sticking with the building pain difficult challenges the breathing and needs to be done at a pace that is unsustainable (ie increasing oxygen debt). Add in the horrible transition between the anaerobic start and full aerobic middle and you have the essence of the distance we love to hate!

As a result I would suggest only doing a 2k a maximum of every few weeks. To do a good 2k requires primarily good aerobic stamina so you need to row longer distances than the 2k. As such, to optimise your 2k you should try and extend your rows. Most find that getting the technique right is best done at relatively low ratings, but that means that you can still drive hard, you just come back up the slide much slower. Technique is the second most important thing in the early days as it is the easiest time to get it right. As someone with terrible technique who has done over 24mM making improvements now is tough. So why only the second? Well, it only matters if you keep going so the most important part is to do what you enjoy so that you keep coming back!

Looking forward to hearing how you progress, best of luck.

[Dangerscouse]

I echo Iain's comments. Well done, the 2k is a horrible distance when it's done at max effort, so that's applicable for a result of over 10 mins or a sub 6 min effort.

As long as you don't feel the need to test yourself too often, just staying consistent and building discipline on the rower is the only other thing I'd mention.

It seems counterintuitive, but going easy(ish) is a better way to progress in the early days. Not too easy so that you're not testing yourself, but also not so hard that you can't recover properly.

[KeithT]

Dark Horse is a good source for technique - so yes, keep trying to match the instruction. From there get lots of meters in and as Ian said don't test too often. Eventually will want to work in different types of sessions steady/intervals if not doing already.

[Christianrunsonfaith]

Congratulations for notr only making a start, but completing a hard 2k. The good news is that this is one of the hardest distances when done all out! It is long enough to make sticking with the building pain difficult challenges the breathing and needs to be done at a pace that is unsustainable (ie increasing oxygen debt). Add in the horrible transition between the anaerobic start and full aerobic middle and you have the essence of the distance we love to hate!

As a result I would suggest only doing a 2k a maximum of every few weeks. To do a good 2k requires primarily good aerobic stamina so you need to row longer distances than the 2k. As such, to optimise your 2k you should try and extend your rows. Most find that getting the technique right is best done at relatively low ratings, but that means that you can still drive hard, you just come back up the slide much slower. Technique is the second most important thing in the early days as it is the easiest time to get it right. As someone with terrible technique who has done over 24mM making improvements now is tough. So why only the second? Well, it only matters if you keep going so the most important part is to do what you enjoy so that you keep coming back!

Looking forward to hearing how you progress, best of luck.

Thank you so much for the thoughtful post! And to your last point, I'm loving rowing so far!

[putridp]

First 2k Row Kicked My Butt

I disagree, you kicked its butt! Good work.

A suggestion I have is about pacing. For most people it's usually most efficient (and therefore ultimately fastest) to pace the 2000m as consistently as you can - which is difficult because you don't actually know what your fastest time can be until you've done it. Doing the first 500m too fast makes the last 1000m slow and feel terrible, whilst starting out too slow is, well, too slow! Fresh legs lie - telling you that you can go too fast, then as the legs tire they also lie, telling you that you must slow or stop. Do not trust the legs.

So with each attempt you gradually increase the pace. On your next one (perhaps in a couple of weeks) use the average pace from your previous attempt as the target pace for the first 1600m. This will feel impossibly slow at the start, and when the adrenaline is flowing it is difficult to pull less hard - so slow the rate to hit your target pace. Then as the fatigue bites after 800m to about 1600m try to stick doggedly to the pace, increasing the rate as necessary. It can feel impossible - 1000-800m to go can feel like a very long way and the legs will scream at you that the pace is too fast. But you know you can do it because it's the same average pace as your previous attempt - you've literally done it before. Then with 400m to go gradually increase the pace and increase the stroke rate - it will hurt, but at from about 200m to go every stroke should be like it's the last one - only 25 strokes left so make the pain count. Result: a new PB, and a new target pace for your next attempt.

8x500m/2:00rest is good training for a 2K, but tough - I can only face it once every 8-10 days at most.

[ahooton]

Love this! I will add the importance of a solid warm up. Just a few stretches is no where near sufficient. I spend 25 minutes warming up prior to a max effort 2k.

The first five minutes very gentle paddling (2k+30). Then every 5 minutes a 30’ second blast at race pace between the paddling pace. Every one has a different warm up routine and you will find your own through trial and error. But a few stretches won’t cut it.

Apologies, just re read your original post. Looks like you did get a good warm up in.