I woke up to the familiar “BRRZZZZ” of my vibrating cellphone alarm. I took a deep breath, and shook my head; today was going to hurt. There are few things in the rowing world that incite as much anxiousness and trepidation as the “erg test.” For the uninitiated, an “erg test” is a race over a specific distance on a rowing machine. It generally involves pushing yourself as hard as you can, and is resultantly very painful.
I ate my favourite carbohydrate-intensive breakfast; toast with butter and honey. I chewed every bite very well. With my erg test only a few hours away, I wanted to make sure this food didn’t come back up. I packed up my things and headed down to our practice facility for our pre-test prep. To ensure optimum performance, our coaches usually schedule our tests later in the day. We also recognize the importance of making sure our bodies are woken up and primed, so we do an easy practice the morning of the test.
After a few hours of trying to relax at home, I start getting myself in the zone by watching this scene from the movie Gladiator. Ninety minutes before the test, I drink a few cups of the world’s best performance-enhancing drug; coffee. Buzzing with caffeine and repeating cheesy lines from movies, I head back to the facility for the erg test. Everyone has their own routines. The important thing is to figure out what works for you.
READY, SET, GO! My heart raced as I flew through the first few strokes. I quickly settled into a sustainable rhythm. As the kilometers went down, I watched my heart rate tick up. My legs started to burn as the lactate began to accumulate in my muscles. With a few minutes left, I was desperately gulping for air, and the coaches and support staff were yelling encouragement behind me. With a minute to go I started squeezing a bit more pressure and started my final sprint. 250 m to go. Gasp. 100 m to go. Almost there. 5 STROKES!! Done. My body collapsed as I sat there waiting to feel capable of moving. Eventually I looked up at the monitor. Pretty close to a PB, and it’s only November. As physiologically painful as erg test can be, I love them. They are great confidence builders and are an objective measurement of how fit you are. For me, the erg is powerful reminder that sometimes the most difficult things in life give you the greatest sense of accomplishment. Our first erg test of the season was good. I’m looking forward to working hard over the next few weeks to make the next one even better. Bring it on.
I ate my favourite carbohydrate-intensive breakfast; toast with butter and honey. I chewed every bite very well. With my erg test only a few hours away, I wanted to make sure this food didn’t come back up. I packed up my things and headed down to our practice facility for our pre-test prep. To ensure optimum performance, our coaches usually schedule our tests later in the day. We also recognize the importance of making sure our bodies are woken up and primed, so we do an easy practice the morning of the test.
After a few hours of trying to relax at home, I start getting myself in the zone by watching this scene from the movie Gladiator. Ninety minutes before the test, I drink a few cups of the world’s best performance-enhancing drug; coffee. Buzzing with caffeine and repeating cheesy lines from movies, I head back to the facility for the erg test. Everyone has their own routines. The important thing is to figure out what works for you.
READY, SET, GO! My heart raced as I flew through the first few strokes. I quickly settled into a sustainable rhythm. As the kilometers went down, I watched my heart rate tick up. My legs started to burn as the lactate began to accumulate in my muscles. With a few minutes left, I was desperately gulping for air, and the coaches and support staff were yelling encouragement behind me. With a minute to go I started squeezing a bit more pressure and started my final sprint. 250 m to go. Gasp. 100 m to go. Almost there. 5 STROKES!! Done. My body collapsed as I sat there waiting to feel capable of moving. Eventually I looked up at the monitor. Pretty close to a PB, and it’s only November. As physiologically painful as erg test can be, I love them. They are great confidence builders and are an objective measurement of how fit you are. For me, the erg is powerful reminder that sometimes the most difficult things in life give you the greatest sense of accomplishment. Our first erg test of the season was good. I’m looking forward to working hard over the next few weeks to make the next one even better. Bring it on.
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