10 things I learned in 12 months of rowing
1. Never forget the fundamentals: Put the blade in. Pull. Get the blade out. That’s all it takes and it’s easy to over complicate things, so make sure you’re doing the basics better than anyone else before you think about the extras.
2. Have confidence in your ability: Success requires belief, if you don’t think you can win then you never will. If you’re in a boat then your coach knows you’re good enough, if you’re not in a boat find out what it takes to get there.
3. Take no shortcuts: Rowing is a sport unlike most in that 99% of the result is down to the work you put in on a daily basis. During those sessions when you’re tired and cold and lacking motivation ask yourself if your competitors would be up this early, training this hard. If the answer is no then you’re doing something right.
4. It will be unpleasant: Suck it up. Get comfortable with being uncomfortable. I don’t need a speed coach to tell me I’m going Pretty Fucking Hard right now, and it’s not important whether I’m pulling 300 or 310 watts, it hurts all the same.
5. Never lose sight of the bigger picture: It’s easy to get caught up in the day to day monotony of training when summer seems so far away and you’re not seeing any improvements. Just think back 6 months and see how far you’ve come, and look forward 6 months to remind yourself of the goal and why you do this. However…
6. Focus on the small things: Anyone can get up at 5am and do 15k before lectures. Anyone can stay up and do another 15k while everyone else has gone to the bar. But it’s the little things- nutrition, stretching, recovery- which will make the difference between everyone else and you. You have 240 strokes in a race- if you can make each one half a percent better, you’ll come out on top.
7. Control the controllables: You don’t know how fast your teammates will be in a seat race. You don’t know other crews’ race plan on the start line. The only thing you can control is how fast you go and how deep you’re willing to push yourself, so don’t stress about what others are doing.
8. Appreciate how fortunate you are: Take the time to take in your surroundings occasionally, the fact you get to see a stunning sunrise every morning, the fact you’re able to spend your time doing something so worthwhile with your best friends. Be thankful for the people around you; your family, your friends, say thank you to your coach after every session, they don’t have to be there.
9. Don’t half ass it: If you don’t really love it, the competition is too fierce and the standard is too high and the demands too tough to continue on that path. Once it becomes a chore, it’s over. Have fun, do it with passion, but if it feels like a chore at 17 you’ll never make it.
10. Never stop learning: Soak up every drop of knowledge you can, filter the crap and keep the gold. Ask questions, ask your coach why you’re doing a drill, ask your friends what they had for breakfast, ask senior rowers what they did to get in the top boat. Google is your friend: read blogs, listen to podcasts, watch what the best in the world are doing and compare them to your own performance.
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