Game day player or long-term planner?
Whichever camp you fall into, one thing is for certain, the on-water season for rowing is ending, and the indoor rowing season is about to kick off.
That means it’s time to dig into the strategies you can use to get the most from your erg season and be a true Dark Horse if/when the time comes.
Go for what excites you.
As the indoor erg season ramps up, it’s good to have time to reality-check what all that training has been for.
For me, the events that are most appealing are well-thought-out multi-event competitions.
Yes, a lot of these are online, and this brings with it a multitude of challenges, but one thing you can’t go wrong with is an event that brings together clever event planning and a robust scoring system that doesn’t just award the “elite” athletes that will always show up when there are prizes on the line.
Look for events that give you that buzz when you sign up, and if you can do it with a group of friends or people from the gym/community, you are on to a winner.
Signing up for a race that inspires you adds to the training motivation, and you’ll enjoy the event instead of slogging through it.
Do plenty of Googling.
To discover new competition, consult with others, and dive into communities.
The Dark Horse community The Crew a wealth of experience in all events, and there are always people willing to impart advice and guidance if you are new to this world.One of the other considerations is what else can do around the race venue.
A race in a local gym is cool, but when you get bored of the industrial estate it sits on, is there anywhere you can head to refuel and refresh your eyes?
Maybe make a weekend of it and get out to parts of the country you haven’t visited and have that to look forward to post-race.
Plan your race season early.
Depending on the length of the race you’re interested in, start thinking about mapping out your calendar as much as a year in advance.
Consider having multiyear goals, like picking a pinnacle race you want to do well at, but may need a season or two to build up your fitness and endurance to be successful appropriately.
I think all too often, people sign up for a competition on a whim. Sure, you can gut it out. But to have the best experience, start planning and training a minimum of six months ahead, if not longer than that.
Balance your races so that they aren’t all the main events.
When I did more racing, I would structure my calendar so that not all of the events I signed up for would be my main focus.
Instead, I would do certain races as part of my training to prepare for bigger “goal” races.
With team challenges, inter-team challenges, online, in-person, Olympic distance, and multi-discipline competitions all out there, there has to be an element of balance for what is right for you.
No disrespect to those events or coaches that put them on, but your primary objective is exactly that; YOURS. Look at your calendar and ensure what you are committing to is all in prep for the main event, and if it doesn’t fit the goal, then have a chat with your coach and see what they can recommend as a strategy for success.
Don’t overdo it.
Using races as training can be beneficial, but it must be applied cautiously.
Most indoor training plans rely on you self-moderating your training and not blindly following what is written and entering the above-listed events because everyone else is.
If not, you risk going too hard in the stepping-stone events and getting overtrained.
It’s really helpful to look at what the best athletes in the world do: they race two main events in a year. What makes us as mear mortals think we can race a team challenge a month plus in-person events 3-4 times over a 6-month season and have top-level performances? It’s a reality check.
Have fun along the way.
Rowers often fixate on race goals, but healthy training can have some fun events baked into it.
Yes, we can’t be out on the water but get that erg outdoors as much as possible and enjoy being out there as part of the training process for big objectives, a bit of cold exposure never hurts anyone.
Training shouldn’t be a grind. People often think of races as the only times they get together with the community and have a lot of fun, but you can have just as much fun getting together with a group of friends and doing a long row on an online call in the evenings.
That can easily fit into a well-structured training plan.
If you’re looking to test where you are, check out this playlist of 2km and 5km distances you can pick a time to aim for, and Shane will pace you along the way BEAT 8 Minutes for a 2K Row! Follow along training. Good luck!! You know he will make you work for it!
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