Erg Tests and Miracles

So today we had a twenty minute erg test. How far can you go in twenty minutes, how low a split can you maintain. We all dread these days.

I went into this erg test in a new way. For the first time ever, I had a plan. In the past, my plan has been "just pull" and my natural tendency is to go out too hard too fast, and then crash and burn. What rowers call "Fly and die." That's me.

But today I had a plan and a goal. Try to maintain my split two seconds under my last test's average. Divide the twenty minutes up into five four minute pieces. If I get discouraged mentally and let the split fly up, recover by the next four minute piece. And most of all, get to practice early and warm up sufficiently.

And it worked! My result was a split time two seconds less than last month. Our coach Liz Miles used to say "miracles don't happen on race day." It's the preparation, the build up, the gradual strengthening, the preparation, the plan. Execute the plan. It wasn't pretty, it didn't feel good, but the result was there!