When you are training on an ergo, it is very useful to have an idea about what you should be expecting your pace to be.
The first thing you need to do is actually do a 2,000m test on an ergo. This is where you set 2,000m into the monitor and row it as fast as you can. If you have not done one of these before, it is one of the hardest things you will ever do on an ergo. As one coach I have a lot of respect for said “Anyone can row 1,000m but 2,000m is a completely different beast”. By this he meant that when you do the test, you can row hard and generally anyone can keep this up for the first 1k, however, it is the final 1k that is the real killer.
When you do the test, attempt to keep your middle 1k at the same pace. When you start, you will naturally do a slightly fast first 500m anyway. The final 500m is about digging really deep. At 500m to go, you should start to try and bring your average time down. With 250m left, you should empty your tanks of anything you have left. At the end of the 2k test, if you can talk, you did not try hard enough !
For our Celtic row, we need to be training to row for 1 hour sessions at a good solid pace so that we know we have rowed hard, but can recover to do it again within an hour or so. When looking at the 2000m chart (and once you know your 2k time), you should be aiming your ergo training at between the UT2 and UT1 columns and row for 1 hour on the clock. The distance is almost irrelevant as each of you will have a different distance you will produce. What is important is that you get your bodies used to rowing at this UT2/UT1 pace for over 45 minutes as many times as possible.