Of all the questions rowers ask me, “What about sugar?” is at the top of the list.

March and early April in New England are the equivalent to the third 500 of any 2k—that section of the race we rowers lovingly deem “no-man’s land.” Why? For one, it’s often brutal outside. And in many spots, it becomes a waiting game for the ice to melt so you can finally take some strokes in a boat after a long season hammering it out on the rowing machine.