Callie at the Catch: Winter is Coming
November 17, 2017 | Women's Rowing
Meet our new best friend -- Erg
Whitewater, Wisconsin, native Callie Herbert is back and giving regular updates again this year from Porter Boathouse and wherever else rowing takes her and her teammates. A four-time swimming state qualifier in high school, the senior stroked the varsity eight to 11th-place at the 2017 NCAA Championships.
MADISON, Wis. -- Winter is coming and this can only mean one thing: our new best friend is the erg, also known as the ergometer, rowing machine or the hardest thing ever. This can be a good thing or a bad thing, depending on how you take it. Our team tends to think positively about the erg because if we don't, it can bring on a long winter. So instead, we think of it as an awesome opportunity to get faster and stronger every day, and accept every challenge that comes from it.
You may be wondering what our coxswains do while we are inside and not in boats. Believe me, they play a vital role in our team's success.
Senior coxswain Rosie Brezynski talked about what winter is like for her and the coxswain core, "winter is usually hard on us because we aren't in boats, but we watch a lot of video of both rowing and erging to see how we can best help and tweak each rower in their technique."
Us rowers also would not be able to get through hard pieces without them. We need their coxswain voices to keep us on track and push us to our limits.
Brezynski continued "I love aggressive erg pieces, because it gets my adrenaline up, and pushing every rower through their pieces by getting in their faces is always fun. When someone PRs I feel that I have helped in some way and feel accomplished."
Also they run, a lot.
Now that we are in erging season, we are also now in eight-hour weeks from our usual 20-hour weeks. This means that during the week, we can only be with the coaches for eight hours total. They can only coach us eight hours, and nothing more. We now have three practices in the morning with them and three lifting sessions in the afternoon. We definitely do not take any days off.
Even though the coaches are not there, we will get at least 90 minutes of work or steady state in on our own time, which we like to call OYO (on your own). Steady state is like going for a long run, you go at a steady pace, but for a longer time. It is an aerobic activity. This is convenient because we can complete it any time of the day and any way we would like. It is especially nice around this time of the year when class work is multiplying and exams are creeping up sooner than we think.
However, this is all knowing that we are in the part of the season that we are going to maintain our fitness from the fall and staying motivated is key. Making sure to keep on top of these workouts and our recovery is huge because once we get back with the coaches, we are doing hard, fast pieces. The difference between our team and most is that during these hard practices, we have fun and love to get each other pumped. I have not met a person who has watched a practice who has not felt inspired.
This week is our big week: Bucky Days is happening. If you are not excited yet, just wait until next week and you will get the full insight and recap of the event!
MADISON, Wis. -- Winter is coming and this can only mean one thing: our new best friend is the erg, also known as the ergometer, rowing machine or the hardest thing ever. This can be a good thing or a bad thing, depending on how you take it. Our team tends to think positively about the erg because if we don't, it can bring on a long winter. So instead, we think of it as an awesome opportunity to get faster and stronger every day, and accept every challenge that comes from it.
You may be wondering what our coxswains do while we are inside and not in boats. Believe me, they play a vital role in our team's success.
Senior coxswain Rosie Brezynski talked about what winter is like for her and the coxswain core, "winter is usually hard on us because we aren't in boats, but we watch a lot of video of both rowing and erging to see how we can best help and tweak each rower in their technique."
Us rowers also would not be able to get through hard pieces without them. We need their coxswain voices to keep us on track and push us to our limits.
Brezynski continued "I love aggressive erg pieces, because it gets my adrenaline up, and pushing every rower through their pieces by getting in their faces is always fun. When someone PRs I feel that I have helped in some way and feel accomplished."
Also they run, a lot.
Now that we are in erging season, we are also now in eight-hour weeks from our usual 20-hour weeks. This means that during the week, we can only be with the coaches for eight hours total. They can only coach us eight hours, and nothing more. We now have three practices in the morning with them and three lifting sessions in the afternoon. We definitely do not take any days off.
Even though the coaches are not there, we will get at least 90 minutes of work or steady state in on our own time, which we like to call OYO (on your own). Steady state is like going for a long run, you go at a steady pace, but for a longer time. It is an aerobic activity. This is convenient because we can complete it any time of the day and any way we would like. It is especially nice around this time of the year when class work is multiplying and exams are creeping up sooner than we think.
However, this is all knowing that we are in the part of the season that we are going to maintain our fitness from the fall and staying motivated is key. Making sure to keep on top of these workouts and our recovery is huge because once we get back with the coaches, we are doing hard, fast pieces. The difference between our team and most is that during these hard practices, we have fun and love to get each other pumped. I have not met a person who has watched a practice who has not felt inspired.
This week is our big week: Bucky Days is happening. If you are not excited yet, just wait until next week and you will get the full insight and recap of the event!
Players Mentioned
/ Women's Rowing
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