5 Essentials for Rowing a Marathon (or Longer!)

Tackling an indoor rowing marathon is no easy feat. In this post, I’ve outlined my five essentials that you need for when you row your marathon. I’ve rowed two marathons myself, so this list is coming from experience. I hope that these five things help you complete this long distance a little easier. I’m sure there’s more out there that people have come to love and need, but these are my core five. Let’s get into it!

Hydration

The first thing you’re going to want is some sort of hydration. It could be just water. It could be with some electrolytes, some watered-down Gatorade, or some hydration packs. You’re going to be on the machine for multiple hours, so you want something to be able to replace the fluids that you’re going to lose.

I recommend having multiple bottles by you, ready to go. You don’t want to have to get off and go get it. You’ll also want it to be close by and in something that’s easy to drink out of. Those twist caps can be tough to get off when you’re sitting there, and your hands are tired. Make it easy on yourself! Find something that’s easy to pick up, get a sip, put it down and get going again.

Snacks

Second thing is to have snacks nearby. I love cliff bars, and those worked well for me. Bananas can also work, or some people like the gels. Whatever it is, try it with a longer piece before you do your marathon. This is so that you can make sure it sits well in your stomach before you attempt to eat those snacks during the actual marathon.

Entertainment

You’re going to want some sort of music or entertainment while sitting on the machine for hours. The entertainment could be a buddy next to you or something to help occupy your mind. Whether that’s a good playlist or a movie.

If you’re not going for fast time and you’re going for a completion, you can use your phone to watch Netflix using a phone holder. Whatever works best for you, but some sort of entertainment will help you get through your rowing marathon.

Old T-Shirt

A trick that you can do, especially if you don’t have a seat pad, is to use an old t-shirt. What you can do is put the folded t-shirt on the seat for some extra cushion. You’re going to be sitting on this seat for a while, so I like to use an old t-shirt to help my butt.

Towel

Last thing, which is optional, is a towel. You’re going to get sweaty. It’s going to happen no matter where you’re at in the piece. Having something like this close by to wipe off your face to feel slightly fresher can be helpful and help you get through the rest of it.

Those are my five main things that you should have next to you for your next indoor rowing marathon. Well, the shirts under your butt, but you know what I mean! Anyways, if you’ve made it this far through the post, you’re in luck. I’m going to give you three more tips to get through the marathon.

Don’t stand up!

The first, and number one, thing that I always say is do not stand up. Just don’t do it. Trust me. You’re going to be sitting for so long (multiple hours) that if you stand up, it can be hard to sit back down. It makes sitting back down a lot more painful.

I learned this from watching others make this mistake. The two marathons that I did were in college and when people stood up, some of them didn’t finish because it was really painful when they sat back down.

If you must get up to go to the bathroom that’s understandable. Try your absolute best to stay sitting down in the seat the entire time if you can help it.

Keep your feet in

If you’re going for a good time, you’re still going to want to take breaks for food and drink. What you can do is keep your feet in. When you’re taking your break, you can row mini strokes with one arm to keep that flywheel going. It would be ideal to keep some semblance of good form if you can, but at least you’re moving that flywheel and keeping it moving instead of having it sit still.

Break Sooner

The last thing that I’ll share is that I recommend you take breaks sooner than you think. If you’re used to going an hour or even an hour and a half before needing a break during normal rowing workouts, I suggest that you take your first break earlier than that.

The first time I did a marathon, I didn’t stop until an hour and a half in. That was a bad decision on my part. I sort of fell off the end of the cliff after that (energy wise).

What you want to do instead is take breaks before you need them. For example, maybe you take one break 45 minutes in, or even sooner if you need it. When taking breaks you can slow down, get a drink of water, take a bite, and do whatever you need to do.

Take a break sooner rather than later and try to space them out. It’s going to help you be able to continue for longer and have more energy when you need it. Especially when it comes to around three quarters of the way through, like that last 10k.

Those are my three big tips for while you’re doing your indoor rowing marathon. Thanks again for reading this post about the five essentials for a rowing marathon, plus a couple tips! If you liked the content in this post, feel free to subscribe to my newsletter to hear when the next one comes out.