Keeping race practice from becoming another test

I don't want to push off for a rhythm session and turn it into a race because I don't feel ready. With Henley qualification or masters racing coming up, that's an easy change to make. Everyone else seems to be going well. Another hard piece might give me some reassurance.

It might just make me tired.

Before getting in the boat, I'd decide what the outing is actually for. Same on the rowing machine. If I'm working on race rhythm, I want to pay attention to how the strokes link together, rather than keep pushing harder until the effort feels suitably convincing.

I'd also look at where it sits in the week. Which sessions need my best energy? Those are the ones I'd protect, even if that means doing less around them than I'd like. For masters athletes, work and family don't disappear because there's a regatta coming up. Squeezing a junior programme into an adult week probably isn't going to fit very well.

Then, into the practice itself, I'd want a clear idea of the opening strokes and how I'm going to settle. There's useful work in making that transition feel controlled. It doesn't all have to become a test of how fast I can go today.

The harder bit comes when the effort starts to bite. If the response is to rush the next stroke, that's something specific to practise. Hold the rhythm. Let the next stroke happen in the rhythm I intended, rather than hurry it because the previous one was uncomfortable.

That can still be hard work. I'm not suggesting race practice should feel easy. But I'd want the effort to serve the session, rather than change the session halfway through because I'm nervous about racing.

And if it goes poorly, I'd try to leave it as one poor outing while I work out why. Qualification and selection make that difficult. You want to go fast, but you want proof you belong there as well, and suddenly you're looking at someone else's training and questioning your whole programme.

Not ideal.

There may be a good reason to change the work. I'd want to be able to say what it is. Feeling impatient isn't much to build a programme around. Most of the preparation has to happen before the final weeks; there's room to sharpen up, but not to squeeze in the months of consistency you wish you'd done. And none of it can promise qualification.

Once the outing is finished, I'd rather make room to sleep and eat enough for the work than add another piece for reassurance. Neither gives you an immediate answer about how ready you are. Still worth doing. When racing fills the calendar, a training session may have to go to leave enough recovery.

If the next row is meant to be easy, decide that before pushing off. Keep it easy enough to do its job. Otherwise the race practice and the recovery row both become fairly hard, and you've lost the reason for doing them differently.

I might still be thinking about the poor outing when I get back to the landing stage. I don't have to fix it during that row.