Breaking Ice

The first practice back on the water after winter training tends to have extremely mixed reviews. For some crews the first day back is lackluster and everybody tells himself that “it is fine, we haven’t been on the water in months.” Though that is often true, I think that is where the first hints of doubt creep in where you wonder if it is ever really going to get better.

This was not the case on a cold Sunday morning this past week; but let me set the stage.


The water looked flat, partially because of the excellent conditions, and partially because the thin layer of ice was making it look so. It was the first time I have been forced to wear longs since I was in college (only Alex wasn’t wearing long because he is a monster), and none of us had taken a stroke in an actual boat since early November.

Before anything else, we found ourselves having to crunch through the ice, our oars punching through the thin layer of ice with every stroke. After the initial shock, I realized that even in the first strokes of our warm up we were matching up well. When we went to all 4 the boat was set.

Josh is sitting 4, I’m 3, Alex is 2, and Rob is bow. Alex says behind me how the boat feels more fit and I think, well we’ve put in nearly four million meters between the four of us. After our initial loop our coaches confirm what all of us are feeling; we could probably keep rowing at 20 strokes a minute at that same speed for another 10k without any problems.

For as long as I’ve been rowing I have always enjoyed the, what others might consider, poor conditions. I would laugh and joke about going through white caps, torrential rain, even snow one time in college. I mentioned for some crews the first row of the season can color their entire outlook. As we cut through the ice I felt the elation of rowing in “poor” conditions and firm conviction that this is going to be a fast boat. 

Reaching 850,000m

This has been a great winter. I wouldn't call it my most successful but it has been a great learning experience.

Unlike years past, I did NOT follow a strict training plan. When I was training for Henley with Potomac, I was following a coaches plan. My afternoon workouts were primarily with O'Connell - a team I was coaching. I would either do a short run/warm up with the high school athletes or I would try to erg. My total meters that year were about 750,000.

This year, I am not even at February 15th (water time) and I reached 850,000.

My goal before we reach the water is to break a 1,000,000m. Meters have been added up either on the erg or on a run. For every mile run, I estimate it to be 1500m. My typical run has been 5 miles.

So where am I at right now? I posted a 6:26 2k without any warm up. My latest 6x3 minute workout was an average of 1:38.9. I believe, on a good day, I will be 6:22 for my 2k. My SS work has been in the low 1:53 range and my 20 minute test was sub 1:45. I think if I were to test this weekend, I would post a 1:42 6K.

My fitness level is at an all time high as an adult.

I'm sleeping better and feeling better each day. I've had some "bad" days where I didn't want to touch the erg but I have had GREAT days where I am completing the workout 2 splits faster than I expected.

I plan to complete at least one more 20 minute test and one more 2k before I get on the water.

Something I plan to do is keep the erg training going through March, April, May and June. My expectations are to add at least 150,000m per month in addition to my water training.

We are only a few weeks away from getting on the water and I am incredibly excited about where I am with my fitness. Something I learned from the last time I raced Henley was that I need to be more FIT - less focused on my strength and more focused on my endurance. At Henley, you are racing at 85% pressure throughout the entire event over 5 days. It's a much different race than a typical American regatta.

More to come soon.

MidAtlantic Erg Sprints

The four oarsmen, Alex Del Sordo, Robert Hawthorne, John Kauffman, and Josh Ruck competed at the MidAtlantic Erg Sprints at T.C. Williams, on January 30th, 2016.

Alex was the first to enter the arena, racing in the Master's Men (30-39) 2000m event. Alex earned hardware, finishing in a time of 6:26.7.

Rob, John, and Josh all competed in the same event, the Open Men 2000m. The three were separated by less than a split, with Rob finishing in 6:29, John just behind at 6:29.3, and finally Josh rounding out the crew in 6:32.4

Full results posted here: http://ergsprints.com/2016-results/