In the doldrums of winter, what are you doing to get faster for the spring? Are you lucky enough to be on water year-round, or are you iced off your river for far too long? Over the next few weeks, we will be speaking with members from all kinds of boat clubs learning how they spend their winters, whether it is training for an erg race, or throwing down 2k's on the water.

To start the series, we go to Alexandria Community Rowing in Alexandria, Virginia, right outside Washington D.C. ACR is a club of about 175 adult athletes who row at the Dee Campbell Rowing Center, the home of TC Williams High School crew. While ACR does not have a juniors program, the students often cross paths with the adult rowers, and some go on to row at ACR.

Beyond the competitive nature of the club lies the social aspect that creates camaraderie among the rowers--especially between the usually separate sweep and sculling groups.

"The winter group of people are a special, select group of people that become friendly with each other," said Betsy Jones, a competitive rower at ACR. "We go out for coffee together, particularly on Saturdays, and I have been training with some of these people every winter for 10 years. Sometimes it's hard for sweep rowers to become good friends with scullers because we are in a different mindset during the season; in the winter we get to spend time with one another. Sometimes we even host winter training happy hours."

The winter training program is a concrete, coached program that consists of either Monday-Wednesday-Friday, or Tuesday-Thursday-Saturday mornings, or an afternoon program for the athletes whose schedules allow them to train in the afternoons. The athletes do a group circuit on Saturday mornings and have access to weight equipment and kettlebells during the rest of the week if they want to add in extra weights.

Even though Alexandria is often blessed with mild winters (although occasionally cursed with polar temperatures), the ACR teams train indoors regardless of the winter temps. Though some scullers may venture out, the sweep teams put their boats away in early November, and keep them hibernated until early April when the cherry blossoms are ready to burst open and welcome springtime.

Much of the winter training is motivated by the local MidAtlantic Erg Sprints—the world's third largest indoor erg competition (behind British Indoor Rowing Championships and C.R.A.S.H.-B. Sprints). The indoor regatta consists of nearly every distance imaginable—the standard 2k, 500 meter relay races, a 3-hour marathon, 30 minute races, and parent-child sprint relays… just to name a few. The club participates heavily in the event that is hosted by TC Williams Crew, and fundraises at the event by hosting the Erg Sprints Café.

Last year, Jones, the mother of three oarsmen who began her rowing career 12 years ago, finished second in both the parent-child race (with her son Max Jones, a junior at George Mason University) and the 30-minute race.

"I realized what I have left is the 2k," Jones said, "and I don't really want to do that."

Have a question about training for one of our upcoming clubs? Want to share what your team does in the winter? Write into row2k!