What Was Your Work Out Today?
Replies
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A little over 15km rowing on the water including two 15 minute pieces. It's head race season! Or rather, we're getting ready for head race season. Lots of focus on blade work on my end which I think was successful but I forgot to talk to my coach about it afterwards.1
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Ran 10K race2
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Another 7.1k rowing the double in beautiful weather. Had an excellent time!
Six weeks after her hip replacement surgery, my 73-year-old (female) rowing buddy J is now able to squat/bend down and pick up her roughly 1/2 share of the roughly 30-foot long, 60ish pound double rowing shell from water level, i.e. from below her feet, hoist it to shoulder, and carry it up to the boathouse. A decade from now, I wanna be like J!1 -
8/10/2019 - noon hour at park -
alternating pull-ups and chin-ups EMOM for 30 rounds - 20 x 3 plus 10 x 4 = 100 reps in 29:14 - rounds 29 and 30 were broken both 3 + 1.
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We have about 10 people who fit that description, 4 of whom go out in their "old man quad" (at least two of them co-own the boat and store it at our boathouse) at least once a week. I totally want to be them when I grow up.Another 7.1k rowing the double in beautiful weather. Had an excellent time!
Six weeks after her hip replacement surgery, my 73-year-old (female) rowing buddy J is now able to squat/bend down and pick up her roughly 1/2 share of the roughly 30-foot long, 60ish pound double rowing shell from water level, i.e. from below her feet, hoist it to shoulder, and carry it up to the boathouse. A decade from now, I wanna be like J!
That said, racing against people that much older than me is not my favorite thing in the world. The handicap that they get...*
*Non-rowers: at the masters level we typically race in races within age categories. When two categories are combined (or sometimes within a given category) there is time subtracted on the basis of the average age of the crew. I've been in races where another crew has had a handicap of more than 30 seconds. I think my first race ever we would have had to beat another boat by well over 20 seconds on the water to have beaten them with age adjusted time.1 -
I did a 9 mile walk today. Then in the evening, I did a 10k indoor row in 2.24 pace. This is still quite slow. It is my second attempt at this distance, and I was 1 minute faster than the first attempt, so hopefully there will be further improvements.1
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We have about 10 people who fit that description, 4 of whom go out in their "old man quad" (at least two of them co-own the boat and store it at our boathouse) at least once a week. I totally want to be them when I grow up.Another 7.1k rowing the double in beautiful weather. Had an excellent time!
Six weeks after her hip replacement surgery, my 73-year-old (female) rowing buddy J is now able to squat/bend down and pick up her roughly 1/2 share of the roughly 30-foot long, 60ish pound double rowing shell from water level, i.e. from below her feet, hoist it to shoulder, and carry it up to the boathouse. A decade from now, I wanna be like J!
That said, racing against people that much older than me is not my favorite thing in the world. The handicap that they get...*
*Non-rowers: at the masters level we typically race in races within age categories. When two categories are combined (or sometimes within a given category) there is time subtracted on the basis of the average age of the crew. I've been in races where another crew has had a handicap of more than 30 seconds. I think my first race ever we would have had to beat another boat by well over 20 seconds on the water to have beaten them with age adjusted time.
That's why when I went to Indy last year, they tried to recruit me. I'm also very light for a heavyweight in addition to being an older dude. Where my weight handicaps me for Indoor Rowing, I wouldn't weigh down a boat and most of the guys I keep up with are 30 to 50 lbs heavier than I am. At least at that time, I was closing in on a 7:00 2K. Not many 185 lb old men can row that speed, so all the OTW rowers were wanting me to join their club for racing purposes. I can't wait to learn OTW in a few years. Hope I can stay in shape enough to race.0 -
MikePfirrman wrote: »
We have about 10 people who fit that description, 4 of whom go out in their "old man quad" (at least two of them co-own the boat and store it at our boathouse) at least once a week. I totally want to be them when I grow up.Another 7.1k rowing the double in beautiful weather. Had an excellent time!
Six weeks after her hip replacement surgery, my 73-year-old (female) rowing buddy J is now able to squat/bend down and pick up her roughly 1/2 share of the roughly 30-foot long, 60ish pound double rowing shell from water level, i.e. from below her feet, hoist it to shoulder, and carry it up to the boathouse. A decade from now, I wanna be like J!
That said, racing against people that much older than me is not my favorite thing in the world. The handicap that they get...*
*Non-rowers: at the masters level we typically race in races within age categories. When two categories are combined (or sometimes within a given category) there is time subtracted on the basis of the average age of the crew. I've been in races where another crew has had a handicap of more than 30 seconds. I think my first race ever we would have had to beat another boat by well over 20 seconds on the water to have beaten them with age adjusted time.
That's why when I went to Indy last year, they tried to recruit me. I'm also very light for a heavyweight in addition to being an older dude. Where my weight handicaps me for Indoor Rowing, I wouldn't weigh down a boat and most of the guys I keep up with are 30 to 50 lbs heavier than I am. At least at that time, I was closing in on a 7:00 2K. Not many 185 lb old men can row that speed, so all the OTW rowers were wanting me to join their club for racing purposes. I can't wait to learn OTW in a few years. Hope I can stay in shape enough to race.
You'll be a novice for the first two years (though you might not be racing against novices) anyways so I wouldn't really worry about not being fit enough. I mean obviously don't rest on your laurels (I know you won't), but so much of getting a boat through the water quickly is technique. That's one of the reasons why some of the 70+ year olds (the ones who have been rowing for decades) in my club are a. awesome and b. so useful in terms of competition. They may not be really strong anymore, but their blade work is amazing (plus they bring the average age of a boat up).
On Thursday we took out a 4 and an 8. Had both boats had people of equal skill level, the 8 should have gone faster. Especially given that probably half of the people in the 4, that I was coxing, likely hover just above lightweight (we were in a mid-weight shell - rowing shells have rate ratings). Needless to say, what actually happened was that the 4 people in my boat where much more skilled than most of the people in the other boat and on the way back to the dock we were well over 1k ahead of them, despite starting at the same time (on sweep days when there are mixed ability practices boats tend to spread out a lot and my coach is ok with that).
All of that is a long way of saying, you will be great fitness wise, but don't get discouraged if you aren't as fast as you think you should be or want to be. There's a ton of technique involved that just doesn't translate. I also know and know of a lot of people who have "bad" erg scores but are very fast on the water - hence the phrase "ergs don't float".
This is also part of why masters novice single sculling races are just all over the place in terms of time.2 -
Rest day, depending on how congested I feel later today. Normally I'd be rowing but there's a bike event that will make getting to practice a joke/impossible. I did end up coming to my senses and decided to not proceed with a running plan. Working out more than 7 times a week (5x rowing, 2x cycling) is really not in the cards right now.1
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Sunday- active rest
6mile family hike, with stop offs for den building, blackberrying and ice cream
1 mile run0 -
Today, I:
Walked 7 miles.
Went bouldering. I got one new route, which required a heel hook. I've not done many of these, so it was a pleasant surprise to make it up the wall.
Indoor rowed. I did 3k of a planned 6k, and felt shattered so decided to end it early. I'm not sure I'm still capable of 3 large-ish bits of distinct exercises in a day. I got 2.11 pace, so I was reasonably fast.
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8/11/2019
Rest day.0 -
That should be "weight" ratings, not rate ratingsOn Thursday we took out a 4 and an 8. Had both boats had people of equal skill level, the 8 should have gone faster. Especially given that probably half of the people in the 4, that I was coxing, likely hover just above lightweight (we were in a mid-weight shell - rowing shells have rate ratings).
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Morning 3 mile run with my 🐶0
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MikePfirrman wrote: »
We have about 10 people who fit that description, 4 of whom go out in their "old man quad" (at least two of them co-own the boat and store it at our boathouse) at least once a week. I totally want to be them when I grow up.Another 7.1k rowing the double in beautiful weather. Had an excellent time!
Six weeks after her hip replacement surgery, my 73-year-old (female) rowing buddy J is now able to squat/bend down and pick up her roughly 1/2 share of the roughly 30-foot long, 60ish pound double rowing shell from water level, i.e. from below her feet, hoist it to shoulder, and carry it up to the boathouse. A decade from now, I wanna be like J!
That said, racing against people that much older than me is not my favorite thing in the world. The handicap that they get...*
*Non-rowers: at the masters level we typically race in races within age categories. When two categories are combined (or sometimes within a given category) there is time subtracted on the basis of the average age of the crew. I've been in races where another crew has had a handicap of more than 30 seconds. I think my first race ever we would have had to beat another boat by well over 20 seconds on the water to have beaten them with age adjusted time.
That's why when I went to Indy last year, they tried to recruit me. I'm also very light for a heavyweight in addition to being an older dude. Where my weight handicaps me for Indoor Rowing, I wouldn't weigh down a boat and most of the guys I keep up with are 30 to 50 lbs heavier than I am. At least at that time, I was closing in on a 7:00 2K. Not many 185 lb old men can row that speed, so all the OTW rowers were wanting me to join their club for racing purposes. I can't wait to learn OTW in a few years. Hope I can stay in shape enough to race.
You'll be a novice for the first two years (though you might not be racing against novices) anyways so I wouldn't really worry about not being fit enough. I mean obviously don't rest on your laurels (I know you won't), but so much of getting a boat through the water quickly is technique. That's one of the reasons why some of the 70+ year olds (the ones who have been rowing for decades) in my club are a. awesome and b. so useful in terms of competition. They may not be really strong anymore, but their blade work is amazing (plus they bring the average age of a boat up).
On Thursday we took out a 4 and an 8. Had both boats had people of equal skill level, the 8 should have gone faster. Especially given that probably half of the people in the 4, that I was coxing, likely hover just above lightweight (we were in a mid-weight shell - rowing shells have rate ratings). Needless to say, what actually happened was that the 4 people in my boat where much more skilled than most of the people in the other boat and on the way back to the dock we were well over 1k ahead of them, despite starting at the same time (on sweep days when there are mixed ability practices boats tend to spread out a lot and my coach is ok with that).
All of that is a long way of saying, you will be great fitness wise, but don't get discouraged if you aren't as fast as you think you should be or want to be. There's a ton of technique involved that just doesn't translate. I also know and know of a lot of people who have "bad" erg scores but are very fast on the water - hence the phrase "ergs don't float".
This is also part of why masters novice single sculling races are just all over the place in terms of time.
I know it will take a while. But I also have friends that took it up one year and the next year were very competitive in the Masters division at the Head of The Charles. Same with many of my UK friends. While they said much of what you're saying, detail is something that many indoor rowers also spend a great deal of time with as well. Just different details. Doing something four or five days a week, you can catch on fairly quick.0 -
MikePfirrman wrote: »MikePfirrman wrote: »
We have about 10 people who fit that description, 4 of whom go out in their "old man quad" (at least two of them co-own the boat and store it at our boathouse) at least once a week. I totally want to be them when I grow up.Another 7.1k rowing the double in beautiful weather. Had an excellent time!
Six weeks after her hip replacement surgery, my 73-year-old (female) rowing buddy J is now able to squat/bend down and pick up her roughly 1/2 share of the roughly 30-foot long, 60ish pound double rowing shell from water level, i.e. from below her feet, hoist it to shoulder, and carry it up to the boathouse. A decade from now, I wanna be like J!
That said, racing against people that much older than me is not my favorite thing in the world. The handicap that they get...*
*Non-rowers: at the masters level we typically race in races within age categories. When two categories are combined (or sometimes within a given category) there is time subtracted on the basis of the average age of the crew. I've been in races where another crew has had a handicap of more than 30 seconds. I think my first race ever we would have had to beat another boat by well over 20 seconds on the water to have beaten them with age adjusted time.
That's why when I went to Indy last year, they tried to recruit me. I'm also very light for a heavyweight in addition to being an older dude. Where my weight handicaps me for Indoor Rowing, I wouldn't weigh down a boat and most of the guys I keep up with are 30 to 50 lbs heavier than I am. At least at that time, I was closing in on a 7:00 2K. Not many 185 lb old men can row that speed, so all the OTW rowers were wanting me to join their club for racing purposes. I can't wait to learn OTW in a few years. Hope I can stay in shape enough to race.
You'll be a novice for the first two years (though you might not be racing against novices) anyways so I wouldn't really worry about not being fit enough. I mean obviously don't rest on your laurels (I know you won't), but so much of getting a boat through the water quickly is technique. That's one of the reasons why some of the 70+ year olds (the ones who have been rowing for decades) in my club are a. awesome and b. so useful in terms of competition. They may not be really strong anymore, but their blade work is amazing (plus they bring the average age of a boat up).
On Thursday we took out a 4 and an 8. Had both boats had people of equal skill level, the 8 should have gone faster. Especially given that probably half of the people in the 4, that I was coxing, likely hover just above lightweight (we were in a mid-weight shell - rowing shells have rate ratings). Needless to say, what actually happened was that the 4 people in my boat where much more skilled than most of the people in the other boat and on the way back to the dock we were well over 1k ahead of them, despite starting at the same time (on sweep days when there are mixed ability practices boats tend to spread out a lot and my coach is ok with that).
All of that is a long way of saying, you will be great fitness wise, but don't get discouraged if you aren't as fast as you think you should be or want to be. There's a ton of technique involved that just doesn't translate. I also know and know of a lot of people who have "bad" erg scores but are very fast on the water - hence the phrase "ergs don't float".
This is also part of why masters novice single sculling races are just all over the place in terms of time.
I know it will take a while. But I also have friends that took it up one year and the next year were very competitive in the Masters division at the Head of The Charles. Same with many of my UK friends. While they said much of what you're saying, detail is something that many indoor rowers also spend a great deal of time with as well. Just different details. Doing something four or five days a week, you can catch on fairly quick.
I think you'll likely do well, it's just that you can't work on various things that are very specific to being on the water on an erg. Also I suspect that most novice master rowers don't row 4-5 times a week. Most of the clubs I've looked at across the US involve people practicing 3 days a week. From what I can tell, and from what others who have been in the sport for over 30 years have told me, that I practice 5 days a week as a novice is pretty abnormal.
Also, while I realize that indoor rowers who are competitive focus on details, there are some very key things to getting a boat through the water that you just can't practice on an erg. Blade work being the most obvious one.
Like I said, I think you'll probably end up being a good rower on the water, but there is a steep learning curve that spares no one.1 -
Nearly 8k in a mixed novice 8 this morning. Beautiful water - hopefully that will stick around tomorrow. It was hard to work on backing the blade in given how unset the boat was at times, so I really focused on matching the person in 8 (I was sitting 6 seat).
For the non-rowers, the person in 8 is in the seat closest to the stern and sets the stroke rate for everyone. The goal is for everyone to match stern pair (so seats 8 and 7) and to match their side. So the people on port match port (but especially 8) and the people on starboard match their side (but especially 7). The person in 7's job is to match 8 very very well and bow pair (1 and 2) are also very important because they have a lot of influence on the set and the direction of the bow. They also can fall prey to the domino effect of people not matching down the boat1 -
Another 7.5k row in the double, weather getting sunnier and steamier again . . . !MikePfirrman wrote: »MikePfirrman wrote: »
We have about 10 people who fit that description, 4 of whom go out in their "old man quad" (at least two of them co-own the boat and store it at our boathouse) at least once a week. I totally want to be them when I grow up.Another 7.1k rowing the double in beautiful weather. Had an excellent time!
Six weeks after her hip replacement surgery, my 73-year-old (female) rowing buddy J is now able to squat/bend down and pick up her roughly 1/2 share of the roughly 30-foot long, 60ish pound double rowing shell from water level, i.e. from below her feet, hoist it to shoulder, and carry it up to the boathouse. A decade from now, I wanna be like J!
That said, racing against people that much older than me is not my favorite thing in the world. The handicap that they get...*
*Non-rowers: at the masters level we typically race in races within age categories. When two categories are combined (or sometimes within a given category) there is time subtracted on the basis of the average age of the crew. I've been in races where another crew has had a handicap of more than 30 seconds. I think my first race ever we would have had to beat another boat by well over 20 seconds on the water to have beaten them with age adjusted time.
That's why when I went to Indy last year, they tried to recruit me. I'm also very light for a heavyweight in addition to being an older dude. Where my weight handicaps me for Indoor Rowing, I wouldn't weigh down a boat and most of the guys I keep up with are 30 to 50 lbs heavier than I am. At least at that time, I was closing in on a 7:00 2K. Not many 185 lb old men can row that speed, so all the OTW rowers were wanting me to join their club for racing purposes. I can't wait to learn OTW in a few years. Hope I can stay in shape enough to race.
You'll be a novice for the first two years (though you might not be racing against novices) anyways so I wouldn't really worry about not being fit enough. I mean obviously don't rest on your laurels (I know you won't), but so much of getting a boat through the water quickly is technique. That's one of the reasons why some of the 70+ year olds (the ones who have been rowing for decades) in my club are a. awesome and b. so useful in terms of competition. They may not be really strong anymore, but their blade work is amazing (plus they bring the average age of a boat up).
On Thursday we took out a 4 and an 8. Had both boats had people of equal skill level, the 8 should have gone faster. Especially given that probably half of the people in the 4, that I was coxing, likely hover just above lightweight (we were in a mid-weight shell - rowing shells have rate ratings). Needless to say, what actually happened was that the 4 people in my boat where much more skilled than most of the people in the other boat and on the way back to the dock we were well over 1k ahead of them, despite starting at the same time (on sweep days when there are mixed ability practices boats tend to spread out a lot and my coach is ok with that).
All of that is a long way of saying, you will be great fitness wise, but don't get discouraged if you aren't as fast as you think you should be or want to be. There's a ton of technique involved that just doesn't translate. I also know and know of a lot of people who have "bad" erg scores but are very fast on the water - hence the phrase "ergs don't float".
This is also part of why masters novice single sculling races are just all over the place in terms of time.
I know it will take a while. But I also have friends that took it up one year and the next year were very competitive in the Masters division at the Head of The Charles. Same with many of my UK friends. While they said much of what you're saying, detail is something that many indoor rowers also spend a great deal of time with as well. Just different details. Doing something four or five days a week, you can catch on fairly quick.
I think you'll likely do well, it's just that you can't work on various things that are very specific to being on the water on an erg. Also I suspect that most novice master rowers don't row 4-5 times a week. Most of the clubs I've looked at across the US involve people practicing 3 days a week. From what I can tell, and from what others who have been in the sport for over 30 years have told me, that I practice 5 days a week as a novice is pretty abnormal.
Also, while I realize that indoor rowers who are competitive focus on details, there are some very key things to getting a boat through the water that you just can't practice on an erg. Blade work being the most obvious one.
Like I said, I think you'll probably end up being a good rower on the water, but there is a steep learning curve that spares no one.
I agree with nearly all that.
However, I feel like you (@Aokoye) may be a little sweep-centric, in this post. If @MikePfirrman is considering sculling, and is attracted to the single, that's a thing that masters can practice pretty obsessively once they get into one. Individual coaching can be purchased by the hour in a lot of places, plus there are camps, of course. I'm not obsessive, just out to have fun, yet I (among others in our tiny club) still row 4 times a week routinely. In season, weather permitting, I could row 7 days, and at length, if I wanted to. Some people do.
Of course, there are limitations if one practices in a single but wants to compete in a double/quad (non-rowers, these are sculling boats, 2 oars per person, like the single), let alone a four/eight (these are sweep boats, one oar per person). I can and will sweep (bisweptually, in fact), but my sweep technique degrades for lack of practice and sweep coaching.
But for sure, bladework and set/balance, etc., are a whole extra layer beyond rowing machine, and a complicated one. It looks way easier than it is! Obviously learnable, though: it helps to have good kinethetic sense, and to be very coachable (good listener, willing to make effort and seek feedback). I started, sadly, without the kinesthetic sense (little athletic history to speak of), and that was a big handicap. Though I'm not at all fast on the erg (around 75%-ile at C2 for my division, if I work hard at training race pieces), I'm still slower yet on the water despite working hard at it (I still work technique and efficiency routinely, because it's more fun, even though I'm not training per se).
There are many parts to coordinate, and you can really only work on one refinement at a time. In some ways, someone switching from machine to shell might have a bit of extra challenge: There are things that make a person faster on a machine, but that check the boat (interrupt its forward run), and if any of those are in deep muscle-memory, that's a challenge. But a coachable person who's determined, strong and athletic, like Mike, will succeed.
Mike, part of the good news is that there's not just "Masters" at the Head of the Charles . . . it's fully age graded. Personally, I wouldn't wanna row HOCR as a novice in a single: 6 bridges, some single-file, a queue to start in the downtown Charles River basin that kicks up pretty nicely if there's wind (sometimes there's snow, too ) and endless crazy boat traffic. It's hair raising enough in a coxed boat even with a dab of racing experience. 
National team boats with skilled coxes have crashed, more than once. 1 -
Another 7.5k row in the double, weather getting sunnier and steamier again . . . !MikePfirrman wrote: »MikePfirrman wrote: »
We have about 10 people who fit that description, 4 of whom go out in their "old man quad" (at least two of them co-own the boat and store it at our boathouse) at least once a week. I totally want to be them when I grow up.Another 7.1k rowing the double in beautiful weather. Had an excellent time!
Six weeks after her hip replacement surgery, my 73-year-old (female) rowing buddy J is now able to squat/bend down and pick up her roughly 1/2 share of the roughly 30-foot long, 60ish pound double rowing shell from water level, i.e. from below her feet, hoist it to shoulder, and carry it up to the boathouse. A decade from now, I wanna be like J!
That said, racing against people that much older than me is not my favorite thing in the world. The handicap that they get...*
*Non-rowers: at the masters level we typically race in races within age categories. When two categories are combined (or sometimes within a given category) there is time subtracted on the basis of the average age of the crew. I've been in races where another crew has had a handicap of more than 30 seconds. I think my first race ever we would have had to beat another boat by well over 20 seconds on the water to have beaten them with age adjusted time.
That's why when I went to Indy last year, they tried to recruit me. I'm also very light for a heavyweight in addition to being an older dude. Where my weight handicaps me for Indoor Rowing, I wouldn't weigh down a boat and most of the guys I keep up with are 30 to 50 lbs heavier than I am. At least at that time, I was closing in on a 7:00 2K. Not many 185 lb old men can row that speed, so all the OTW rowers were wanting me to join their club for racing purposes. I can't wait to learn OTW in a few years. Hope I can stay in shape enough to race.
You'll be a novice for the first two years (though you might not be racing against novices) anyways so I wouldn't really worry about not being fit enough. I mean obviously don't rest on your laurels (I know you won't), but so much of getting a boat through the water quickly is technique. That's one of the reasons why some of the 70+ year olds (the ones who have been rowing for decades) in my club are a. awesome and b. so useful in terms of competition. They may not be really strong anymore, but their blade work is amazing (plus they bring the average age of a boat up).
On Thursday we took out a 4 and an 8. Had both boats had people of equal skill level, the 8 should have gone faster. Especially given that probably half of the people in the 4, that I was coxing, likely hover just above lightweight (we were in a mid-weight shell - rowing shells have rate ratings). Needless to say, what actually happened was that the 4 people in my boat where much more skilled than most of the people in the other boat and on the way back to the dock we were well over 1k ahead of them, despite starting at the same time (on sweep days when there are mixed ability practices boats tend to spread out a lot and my coach is ok with that).
All of that is a long way of saying, you will be great fitness wise, but don't get discouraged if you aren't as fast as you think you should be or want to be. There's a ton of technique involved that just doesn't translate. I also know and know of a lot of people who have "bad" erg scores but are very fast on the water - hence the phrase "ergs don't float".
This is also part of why masters novice single sculling races are just all over the place in terms of time.
I know it will take a while. But I also have friends that took it up one year and the next year were very competitive in the Masters division at the Head of The Charles. Same with many of my UK friends. While they said much of what you're saying, detail is something that many indoor rowers also spend a great deal of time with as well. Just different details. Doing something four or five days a week, you can catch on fairly quick.
I think you'll likely do well, it's just that you can't work on various things that are very specific to being on the water on an erg. Also I suspect that most novice master rowers don't row 4-5 times a week. Most of the clubs I've looked at across the US involve people practicing 3 days a week. From what I can tell, and from what others who have been in the sport for over 30 years have told me, that I practice 5 days a week as a novice is pretty abnormal.
Also, while I realize that indoor rowers who are competitive focus on details, there are some very key things to getting a boat through the water that you just can't practice on an erg. Blade work being the most obvious one.
Like I said, I think you'll probably end up being a good rower on the water, but there is a steep learning curve that spares no one.
I agree with nearly all that.
However, I feel like you (@Aokoye) may be a little sweep-centric, in this post. If @MikePfirrman is considering sculling, and is attracted to the single, that's a thing that masters can practice pretty obsessively once they get into one. Individual coaching can be purchased by the hour in a lot of places, plus there are camps, of course. I'm not obsessive, just out to have fun, yet I (among others in our tiny club) still row 4 times a week routinely. In season, weather permitting, I could row 7 days, and at length, if I wanted to. Some people do.
Of course, there are limitations if one practices in a single but wants to compete in a double/quad (non-rowers, these are sculling boats, 2 oars per person, like the single), let alone a four/eight (these are sweep boats, one oar per person). I can and will sweep (bisweptually, in fact), but my sweep technique degrades for lack of practice and sweep coaching.
But for sure, bladework and set/balance, etc., are a whole extra layer beyond rowing machine, and a complicated one. It looks way easier than it is! Obviously learnable, though: it helps to have good kinethetic sense, and to be very coachable (good listener, willing to make effort and seek feedback). I started, sadly, without the kinesthetic sense (little athletic history to speak of), and that was a big handicap. Though I'm not at all fast on the erg (around 75%-ile at C2 for my division, if I work hard at training race pieces), I'm still slower yet on the water despite working hard at it (I still work technique and efficiency routinely, because it's more fun, even though I'm not training per se).
There are many parts to coordinate, and you can really only work on one refinement at a time. In some ways, someone switching from machine to shell might have a bit of extra challenge: There are things that make a person faster on a machine, but that check the boat (interrupt its forward run), and if any of those are in deep muscle-memory, that's a challenge. But a coachable person who's determined, strong and athletic, like Mike, will succeed.
Mike, part of the good news is that there's not just "Masters" at the Head of the Charles . . . it's fully age graded. Personally, I wouldn't wanna row HOCR as a novice in a single: 6 bridges, some single-file, a queue to start in the downtown Charles River basin that kicks up pretty nicely if there's wind (sometimes there's snow, too ) and endless crazy boat traffic. It's hair raising enough in a coxed boat even with a dab of racing experience. National team boats with skilled coxes have crashed, more than once.
*cough* I finally set up my first 90 minute private sculling lesson this morning. *cough*
One of our better scullers who got first at regionals in I don't remember which men's lightweight single age group rowing against people 10ish years younger than him (he was first on the water and then had the handicap in his favor...but was first on the water by multiple seconds - there weren't enough people in his age group to do a lightweight C race) is amazing on the water and has less than amazing erg scores.
Like I said, I think Mike will be a good on the water rower. I also know that there will be a steep slope to climb. If he's strategic, like I have been, then he'll be fine, but depending on his expectations I suspect he won't be as good as he wishes he was right out of the gate. This is an issue that appears to be very common among most of the novice men in my club and why the men's team is significantly smaller than the women's.
I also envy anyone who can get more than 5 coached rows a week...Mind you all of mine are necessarily coached - I haven't taken the captain's test to take a double out without a coach, let alone a single...on a river, having sculled in a single fewer times that I can count on one hand (and we only have the one rec single which I might get out in on Sunday fingers crossed). And yeah, a novice single at HOCR...mayyyyybe a junior who has been rowing 5-6 days a week year round mostly in a single. Maybe. But I can't imagine a coach giving that bid to a novice unless they were brilliant or it was an excruciatingly small team.1
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