sub 7 in two months?

[lalaland437]

I am 16 years old and planing on attending crash-B's.
currently i pull a 7:10-7:20 2k.
i am rowing with an erg group 3 days a week, and weight training/ erging the other 3 days. in about a month i will be attending a local erg rodeo, and about a month after that i'll be in Boston at crash B's

I am a light weight male at 141 pounds, 5'9-5'10, and in good physicle condition.

i am much more of an effective rower on the water than on an erg, but i want my erg scores to reflect my race capabilities.
is it possible for me to drop these 10-20 seconds in the next two months? if so any suggestions how?

Thanks,
Felix

[sir-les]

go for it lalaland! I remember many a long year ago - about 18years to be precise - i was rowing river boats at school and at only 66kg trying to get into my school's 1st VIII. At the time i didn't realise it but i was fitter than i'd ever been in my whole life (and fitter than i've ever been since) I used to dread the ergo tests cos a lot of the guys competing for spots in the crew were much heavier than me. All you need to do is set out a plan to get the score you want - ie a 7 min 2km is merely 4x 500's at 1.45 pace. If you like to go out hard and bring it home strong make that a first 500m of 1.42, middle 1000m settle down to no more than a 1.47, then bring it home at 1.43. Do interval training (fartleks 1 min on, 1 min off) to bring your sprint pace down to the level you need. It may take a while but if you do 5km and 10 km fartlek sessions and concentrate on efficient rowing you will see improvements. Your rating is very important in a 2km test - first 500m should be around 28-34 spm, middle 1000m around 22-26spm, then bring it home with whatever you've got left.
One more thing - i'm a firm believer that your race capablities reflect what you can do on the erg. The erg can't float - but those little numbers don't lie!

[PaulS]

I like Sir-les' attitude a lot, but if it were that simple everyone would be do'in it, aye?

There are a couple things you can try to see how you would hold up on a 7:00 pace. The first would be to do a 500m time trial, but cap the rate at 38 to prevent really flying off at the handle, so to speak. If that comes in at 1:35 or so, you are in a good position to give the next set of intervals a try.

8 x 500m x 2 minutes rest @ 1:45. Rate should be similar to what you plan to hold for your 2k. If you nail those, your 7min 2k is looking very promising. I'd suggest a slightly different plan, something along the line of 500m quarters at 1:47, 1:46, 1:45, 1:44 and sprint the final 200m. You will never make a big move on your PB in the first 500m, but you can blow it completely.

How long did it take you to get to the 7:10-20 range for your 2k in the first place?

[lalaland437]

last year was my first year ever rowing. i only rowed for one season (fall) took the summer off, when i came back to school i ran cross country then began wrestling. i relized that i enjoyed rowing more than any other sport so dropped wrestling and decided to row. i logged my lower times (7:10-20's) earlier this winter season.
i am a junior now in high school with hopes of rowing/ getting recruited to do so in college.

[PaulS]

Well, the good news is that you are still on the steep part of the learning curve so improvement will come quite fast. No need to rush things, you can test yourself along the way by time trialing to a solid and specific plan. Consider a 1 second in avg pace a "step" in progress, and take a step at a time, even if it seems too easy. i.e. next trail should be a 7:16, if you beat that with a good sprint, then try 7:12, then 7:08, etc... (not on the same day of course!) Two weeks between trials would be a good pace to be on, and with 6 weeks to CRASH-B's you may have just enough time to be going in with good experience and confidence.

So give the 500m TT and 8 x 500m a go in the next few days, and perhaps the 7:16 2k trial by the w/e and you will be off and running. Report back how it went and you will get all sorts of help.