Tips for Newb Hitting First Million Miles

[Christianrunsonfaith]

Like the title says, basically a newb hear considering going after the million miles! Rowed a tad last year, then focused on running and triathlon. Wanting to dive back into rowing, skiing and bikeerg again (also looking forward to the DogDays of summer!). I rowed yesterday for the first time in a month, did 2,328 total at an easy pace and am a little sore. Should I just try and row every other day for a bit, slowly increase distance, and really focus on form? Thanks!

[Sakly]

Should I just try and row every other day for a bit, slowly increase distance, and really focus on form?

That's it!
And have fun on this journey of course

[PleaseLockIn]

The most important thing right now is to focus on form. Legs, back, arms, arms, back, legs—in this order, smoothly transitioning. You can send a video of your form for us to analyse.

Then for steady state, keep the rate of perceived exertion low (2-4), HR low (I go under 70% HRR). People are different - don't take the thresholds I say as gospel. What does your lactate testing tell you? Start at 15'-30' and slowly begin extending, perhaps to 60-90' (my coach recommends UT2 for >1h). When I was a beginner I started at 23-25' and that was with going way too hard for true steady.

For intervals, go hard, but leave a small amount in the tank (very small). At most 2x a week, I usually do 1x.

Strength training can help with power and strength - I tend to do 2x a week to start gaining slightly.

The base is steady state — for now, focus more on this. You will get there.

[Dangerscouse]

Should I just try and row every other day for a bit, slowly increase distance, and really focus on form?

That's it!
And have fun on this journey of course

+1

[JaapvanE]

And have fun on this journey of course

Most important bit for me.

[Me, Myself and I]

A million MILES eh!! That's 40 times around the earth. I wish you good rowing my friend.

[RolandG]

A million MILES eh!! That's 40 times around the earth. I wish you good rowing my friend.

Yeah, they probably mean a million meters.

If one rowed 5 miles a day for 5 days a week (to make it somewhat sustainable), it would take 40,000 weeks to get to 1 million miles.

[iain]

Like the title says, basically a newb hear considering going after the million miles! Rowed a tad last year, then focused on running and triathlon. Wanting to dive back into rowing, skiing and bikeerg again (also looking forward to the DogDays of summer!). I rowed yesterday for the first time in a month, did 2,328 total at an easy pace and am a little sore. Should I just try and row every other day for a bit, slowly increase distance, and really focus on form? Thanks!

Rowing uses some muscles that you may not be used to using, so give your muscles time to adapt. While the elements quoted by PLI should be developed, I would say that ensuring arms stay straight through the leg drive and chain is in a straightline to your arms at the catch, while ensuring that you have a strong catch position and do not rock forward during the leg drive are the 2 most important points to focus on.

Best of luck whatever you are actually focussing on as few manage 100,000 miles in a lifetime of rowing!

[p_b82]

another on the "just stick at it" and have fun doing it group.

If you set yourself a target it can sometimes feel a little daunting, but regular use will build up that distance with time, once you've hit that first Million meters, you can challenge yourself to do the next one faster etc!

But listen to the body - if it's sore vs a little bit of muscle fatigue then prob give it a rest day; don't ramp up the distance or pace too rapidly - but with your fitness background you'll prob be able to make some larger distance jumps when the body's got more used to the rowing action.

[Dangerscouse]

I would say that ensuring arms stay straight through the leg drive and chain is in a straightline to your arms at the catch, while ensuring that you have a strong catch position and do not rock forward during the leg drive are the 2 most important points to focus on.

FWIW, I have always broke my arms a bit early, and I have noticed that Ollie Ziedler also does, so I'm inclined to say that there are slight discrepancies / idiosyncrasies that we all have that shouldn't be thought of as absolutely needing to be avoided.

[iain]

I would say that ensuring arms stay straight through the leg drive and chain is in a straightline to your arms at the catch, while ensuring that you have a strong catch position and do not rock forward during the leg drive are the 2 most important points to focus on.

FWIW, I have always broke my arms a bit early, and I have noticed that Ollie Ziedler also does, so I'm inclined to say that there are slight discrepancies / idiosyncrasies that we all have that shouldn't be thought of as absolutely needing to be avoided.

Sorry, not talking about perfection here, just avoiding the larger errors. My point on arms was pulling with the arms and driving legs at the same time. Proper technique requires the arms to only break towards the end of the use of the back, I would expect "slightly early" to mean earlier in the back swing rather than when the legs were still bent. That said there are always exceptions and those with exceptionally strong arms might be able to pull against the leg drive, but I would doubt that doing so was optimal efficiency (as the muscles working against each other would not add recorded power).