Darrell,

There are a lot of former rowers out there that are now racing in triathlon (myself included). Your rowing background will make you a strong cyclist. Of course nothing will help your rowing better than rowing and erging but cycling will probably help the most (esp TT).

Dave from VA

I'm a rower turned triathlete and I think my crew background helped a lot. I also had a swimming background before crew, which has been very helpful in triathlons.

With all of that said, I was much heavier as a rower than a triathlete. A strong rower has a lot of extra muscle mass to lug around (unless you're a lightweight) during a triathlon. If you don't want to lose the muscle, spend a lot of time on the bike going up and down big hills or riding in the big chain ring.

If you really want to improve your triathlons, spend some time in the pool! That shouldn't hurt your rowing at all, and it might give you some added upper body and core strength.

Good luck with both!

Adam

thanks much for the responses -
i think i'm going to have to hit the pool. but maybe, since crew has slightly altered my pain tolerance, i should be able to. the solid 20 is definitely taking into account my own extra time...as i am no recruit and am trying to catch my erg scores down...(edit:note to self: don't inflate numbers....and i keep forgetting that time in shower doesn't count for actual rowing instruction...)

i'm also gonna be trying to keep it light, but we'll see how that goes. rowing definitely seems harder than running or cycling for me...of course, part is my lack of upper body strength. kinda like skate skiing, only more power based, much more power based......i guess kinda like climbing. i'm definitely having trouble adjusting between sprint and really easy, but that'll come i'm sure...and i'm definitely looking forward to the tri-season next year. i think i will try to work on the swimming side.

and now, i must do homework.

thanks again,
darrell

I think a lot of the main things have been covered--I wanted to add a few:

If you are a lightweight, then you probably dont need this advice, since you will naturally be doing a diff. program. But if your training includes an emphasis on lot of weights, stairs etc, that would lead to a lot of muscle gain- you want to avoid that. Youll find that upper body strenght has nothing to do with erg speed. Its legs and efficiency. Look at Pettinari and the other ltws. The strenght needed should be developed by rowing. The more you row, the more your upper body strenght (if that is your limiter) will increase to optimum rowing levels. If you gain muscle in your back and shoulders from weights, this will be non-aerobic muscle, and non-rowing specific muscle. It will not particularly help your rowing speed, but it will definitely decrease your Tri speed, and you will have a hell of a time trying to lose that muscle once you are done with rowing.

Id say get in a boat as much as possible, but outside of that, see if you can talk to the coach and try to barter switching weight sessions with steady state boat or erg sessions. That is definitely the way to improve the most the first few years. Just focusing on technique and aerobic efficiency. Just get on the erg and row 10k or so at a stretch, at a 18-22SR. THat should continue building your base aerobic machine (which transfers between row-tri) improve your erg times for boat selection much more than any other thing you could do, and prevent the buildup of unnecessary muscle (which will suck in tri).

Do however, start a good core program now, so you dont get injured later. Supermans and that sort of thing work well. Take care of your back.

See if you can run to the boathouse in the morning. A little free run training.

Swim.