Acheiving my Goal

Question
Hi, I'm 16 years old and am currently a sophomore in high school. I've done a season of crew as a freshmen and looking forward to the upcoming spring season. I love rowing and its my aspiration to row for a top university.
I am about 5'9 and weight about 140-145 lbs. My current 2k time is 7:12.0 and my 6k time is 23:16. I have good GPA (4.0 unweighted) and I attend a high school that consistently preforms well during the crew season.
If I want to row for a top school, what kind of score will I need? I've heard a 6:40 is a good baseline for lightweight.My current training regime is 2-4 times of moderately difficult 10k's, 2 moderate intensity 10k's with 2-3 days of interval training and every few weeks, I pull a 10k to test myself.
Do you think my workout are sufficient to reach my goal? If not, what kind of training do you recommend? I'm wondering if my goal is realistic with my current training regime. Thanks!

Answer
Dear Aki,

Your 2k for being a sophomore is pretty good. A 7:12 definitely puts you in the top 25% of people your age. Your enthusiasm about the sport is also a really great, so often people are only focused on the goal ahead that they forget to enjoy the moment. As you describe yourself here, you sound like a great candidate to get into a ivy league school even without adding crew to your resume. However, to set yourself apart, you have chosen the right sport (and have done well at it too!)

Concerning being a good college recruit, you are correct that 6:40 is a very good baseline. Of course, the faster you are, the better a candidate you become. However it is important to realize, that along with pulling a fast 2k, ergs don't float. If you have bad form on the water you will most likely not be as well qualified as much as they guy who is a great rower but has a higher split time (this is where seat racing comes into play). However, returning to your current erg score, if you were to set a realistic goal, I would recommend trying to break 6:40 by the end of your junior year. This would put you in the top 10% of rowers, a definitely get college coaches interested in you.

As far as your training goes it seems you have a good system worked out. My only criticism may be that you don't have enough variety in your workouts. Doing up to 6 10k's a week is a good excessive, however it may be to much. Who is making your workout schedule, you or your coach? 10k's are designed around testing and improving an athletes endurance, and I am a strong subscriber to "repetition is the mother of all masters". Basically I am saying that while 10k's are good, you may want to consider switching it up a bit. Try some 3 x 20:00 on, 5:00 off. Or 3 x 10:00 on, 3:00 on with a 7:00 all out piece at the end. Heck, even throw some Hour pieces in there every once in a while. Of course this should not interfere with your interval training (short explosive pieces with a high stroke and repetition rate) doing some 10 x 3 x 0:20 on, 0:20 off is a great short and sweet exercise that really focuses on your starts. One more suggestion I have is instead of a 10k test ever few weekends, alternate it between a 10k, 2k, and 6k. This would allow more time between the pieces so you see more of a difference in each (though you are doing the same amount of work).

Another major part of training that you forgot to put in is some weight training. It is crucial that while you are building your endurance, you build as much muscle mass as you can. A quick fact, but for ever 2 pounds of pure muscle you put on, you lose 10 seconds on a 2k. While gaining 2lbs. of muscle is no easy feet, it is acomplishable every couple of months for a dedicated athlete. Doing push ups, situps, Squats, and using weight machines will help you increase the amount of raw power you have, and while this may not win the race, it will help. If your high school does not have a weight room, check out getting a membership to a gym (you could probably find yourself a good deal, $10 a month or so?). In the long run this extra time spent training will definitely help you out.  

If you follow through with your training plan you should undoubtedly reach your goal by the time next year comes rolling around. I would aim for around 8-9 practices a week (yes, that means some will be 2 a days) even if you have to do some weight training by yourself. I actually would not be surprised if you exceed your goal by quite a bit.

Wishing you the best,
Richard Izzo