3 x 30' 4R tonight.
Anita - 2:21.5, 2:16.3 and 2:22.1 splits for the machine tonight, the 2:16.3 was very impressive as it was her 2nd longest distance covered in 30' ever. Her conditioning is pretty amazing now. Discussing it in the car on the way home a year ago she would have had to have had the car windows open on the way home and would have been flushed from what would have been an unthinkable 90' on the rowing machine. Tonight her recovery (As it has been for a while now) was exceptionally quick.
Me - 1:57.5, 1:58.5 and 1:59.5 splits. Very controlled, I did the odd < 1:40 minute or two to spice things up a bit, and I was recovering from these in under 20 seconds so I think a lot of my sprint PB's will undergo major amendments in April after the 100k!!!
We have now done 2 weeks with smaller portions for meals to try an shift some weight. Anita has lost 7lb, me 9, and we are both more fit (Cardiovascularly) than we ever have been before. The future is pretty damn bright :)
Anita - 19295m
Andy - 22792m
Cumulative - 2620908m (1628.9 miles)
The Journey
Start - Topnotch Gym, Colchester CO4 9ES
Finish - Galovany, Slovakia http://www.picturesofcities.info/map-city/Galovany/1835964/
Monday, 30 January 2012
Saturday, 28 January 2012
Day 74 - Put your hands up for Dirk Kuyt....
4 Planned Intervals today to end the week - 30', 1hr, 1hr, 30' with approx 5R.
We got to the gym at about 1ish, and as such Liverpool - Man Utd was on in the gym. I lost myself in the game, so much so the first two intervals were gone before I knew it, both at 1:59/500m. This was except for the Agger and Kuyt goals, where I went into the 1:40's without knowing it. I think everybody in the gym (And there weren't many today) knew I was a Liverpool fan after the match :)!!!
I then decided to go for a PB for the hour. It was one of my PB's that had a bit of fat in it now (15330m @ 1:57.4) and I was feeling good so set out at 1:57 pace, with the intention of dragging it down a bit. This one hurt!! Feeling fresh after 90 minutes rowing doesn't mean anything when it hurts with 40' left :) I tried to lose myself in my music, which happened upon Metal track after Metal, and I was at 1:56.8 average with 30' left. I continued to drag it down until 20' left, where I started to hang on a bit. With 5' left I was still around 1:56.6ish, then with my last vestiges of strength pulled sub 1:50's, with sub 1:40' for the last minute to finish at 15506m (1:56.1), a PB by 176m :) I then tried about a minute of the last 30' interval but had nothing left, so did a 25' piece on the X-Trainer to warm-down properly, and apart from a dicky tummy (Think the Gels we take during the session don't really agree with me) I feel pretty good now, 5 hours on.
Anita yet again was a beast, 2:20, 2 x 2:23 and 2:21.3/500m to finish. She is however starting to suffer from PITA after the row now, which although its better than during is still a bit worrying. I wonder if she is going through a physiological change I went through about 2 months ago - the redistribution of muscle (and loss of fat) around the sitting bones. This is something to watch.
104k for Anita this week, 115k for me :)
Anita - 37941m - 1195430m cumulative since 3rd October
Andy - 38201m - 1383391m cumulative since 3rd October
Cumulative total - 2578821m (1602.75 miles)
The Journey:
Start - Topnotch Gym Colchester CO4 9ES
Finish - Kraľovany, Slovakia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kra%C4%BEovany
P.S we may have to be rowing at home next week if the current weather forecasts come to fruition!!!! http://www.netweather.tv/index.cgi?action=news;storyid=971;sess=
We got to the gym at about 1ish, and as such Liverpool - Man Utd was on in the gym. I lost myself in the game, so much so the first two intervals were gone before I knew it, both at 1:59/500m. This was except for the Agger and Kuyt goals, where I went into the 1:40's without knowing it. I think everybody in the gym (And there weren't many today) knew I was a Liverpool fan after the match :)!!!
I then decided to go for a PB for the hour. It was one of my PB's that had a bit of fat in it now (15330m @ 1:57.4) and I was feeling good so set out at 1:57 pace, with the intention of dragging it down a bit. This one hurt!! Feeling fresh after 90 minutes rowing doesn't mean anything when it hurts with 40' left :) I tried to lose myself in my music, which happened upon Metal track after Metal, and I was at 1:56.8 average with 30' left. I continued to drag it down until 20' left, where I started to hang on a bit. With 5' left I was still around 1:56.6ish, then with my last vestiges of strength pulled sub 1:50's, with sub 1:40' for the last minute to finish at 15506m (1:56.1), a PB by 176m :) I then tried about a minute of the last 30' interval but had nothing left, so did a 25' piece on the X-Trainer to warm-down properly, and apart from a dicky tummy (Think the Gels we take during the session don't really agree with me) I feel pretty good now, 5 hours on.
Anita yet again was a beast, 2:20, 2 x 2:23 and 2:21.3/500m to finish. She is however starting to suffer from PITA after the row now, which although its better than during is still a bit worrying. I wonder if she is going through a physiological change I went through about 2 months ago - the redistribution of muscle (and loss of fat) around the sitting bones. This is something to watch.
104k for Anita this week, 115k for me :)
Anita - 37941m - 1195430m cumulative since 3rd October
Andy - 38201m - 1383391m cumulative since 3rd October
Cumulative total - 2578821m (1602.75 miles)
The Journey:
Start - Topnotch Gym Colchester CO4 9ES
Finish - Kraľovany, Slovakia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kra%C4%BEovany
P.S we may have to be rowing at home next week if the current weather forecasts come to fruition!!!! http://www.netweather.tv/index.cgi?action=news;storyid=971;sess=
Friday, 27 January 2012
Day 73 - Funny the difference a day off makes :)
3 x 25' 4R tonight.
We both enjoyed tonight a lot more than the Monday-Wednesday, where exhaustion was getting the better of us.
Anita did her intervals is 2:21, 2:15.9 and 2:23, me 1:56.5, 1:53.5 and a nice 1:59.5 cool down :)
Both of us are upping our stroke rates at the moment, and I'm feeling quite comfortable at 25 spm and above for long periods now. Possibly my technique is changing/evolving as I work my way towards 2MM, and I've had a lot less issues with numb-bum this week; hopefully the two are related.
3 hours tomorrow :)
Anita: 16084m
Andy: 19324m
Cumulative: 2502679m (1555.4 miles)
The Journey:
Start - Topnotch Gym Colchester CO4 9ES
Finish - Považská Bystrica, Slovakia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pova%C5%BEsk%C3%A1_Bystrica
We both enjoyed tonight a lot more than the Monday-Wednesday, where exhaustion was getting the better of us.
Anita did her intervals is 2:21, 2:15.9 and 2:23, me 1:56.5, 1:53.5 and a nice 1:59.5 cool down :)
Both of us are upping our stroke rates at the moment, and I'm feeling quite comfortable at 25 spm and above for long periods now. Possibly my technique is changing/evolving as I work my way towards 2MM, and I've had a lot less issues with numb-bum this week; hopefully the two are related.
3 hours tomorrow :)
Anita: 16084m
Andy: 19324m
Cumulative: 2502679m (1555.4 miles)
The Journey:
Start - Topnotch Gym Colchester CO4 9ES
Finish - Považská Bystrica, Slovakia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pova%C5%BEsk%C3%A1_Bystrica
Wednesday, 25 January 2012
Day 72 - Toughing it out
3 x 30' 4R tonight.
We are both really feeling the low calorie regime, and we were under no impression that tonight was going to be difficult.
Anita did all 3 intervals in 2:24/500m. It was a case of get on it, get through it and get home tonight for her, but I'm very proud of her for doing yet another 90 minutes worth of rowing.
I did a 1:59.5, 1:59 and 2:02. I'm finding a real lack of base power at the moment in my arms, so the spm goes up to compensate. The final interval started off very slow, down near 2:06 for the first 10 minutes, so from 20 to 15 left I did the 5 hard strokes, 10 light strokes repeated, with the hard strokes down at 1:35 which got the pace down to 2:03.5, then for the last 10 minutes I did 30" hard (1:45) 1' slow repeated, and ended up at 2:02. I'm having to change things up to get through the pieces with my pride intact at the moment :)
Anita: 18756m
Andy: 22476m
Cumulative: 2467271m (1533.4 miles)
The Journey:
Start - Topnotch Gym, Colchester CO4 9ES,
Finish - Zamarovce, Slovakia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zamarovce
We are both really feeling the low calorie regime, and we were under no impression that tonight was going to be difficult.
Anita did all 3 intervals in 2:24/500m. It was a case of get on it, get through it and get home tonight for her, but I'm very proud of her for doing yet another 90 minutes worth of rowing.
I did a 1:59.5, 1:59 and 2:02. I'm finding a real lack of base power at the moment in my arms, so the spm goes up to compensate. The final interval started off very slow, down near 2:06 for the first 10 minutes, so from 20 to 15 left I did the 5 hard strokes, 10 light strokes repeated, with the hard strokes down at 1:35 which got the pace down to 2:03.5, then for the last 10 minutes I did 30" hard (1:45) 1' slow repeated, and ended up at 2:02. I'm having to change things up to get through the pieces with my pride intact at the moment :)
Anita: 18756m
Andy: 22476m
Cumulative: 2467271m (1533.4 miles)
The Journey:
Start - Topnotch Gym, Colchester CO4 9ES,
Finish - Zamarovce, Slovakia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zamarovce
Tuesday, 24 January 2012
Day 71 - A very weird session...
A planned 4 x 15' 4R tonight, which quickly went by the wayside due to Rowing Machine occupancy at the gym :(
Anita got on the free machine and started the first interval, I did about 20' relatively hard exertion on the Elliptical (Noticing how much fitter I am now than the last time I did it in September, also noticing my starting heart rate was a LOT lower, 80 beats rather than 100, and exertion levels that would have gotten me up to 150 bpm was only getting me to 120 :))
When a rowing machine became free I planned on doing a flat 1hr piece, finishing at nearly the same time as Anita with her rest breaks, and went well for the first 15 minutes (1:51 pace) then all of the sudden hit the wall, dropping below 2:00 pace.
I noticed Anita had decided to do a 45 minute piece, so decided to call it a day at 9000m (Just over 35 minutes, 1:57 pace), have about 1' rest, then do a 15 minute interval to finish at the same time as Anita.
Anita's 15 minute interval was at a very strong 2:14 pace, and her 45 minute was a struggle from 25 left, finishing in a 2:22 pace, my 15 minute interval was just under 1:55, and a big struggle, where I really thrashed it out for the last 8 minutes to get the av. pace up.
Both of us struggled after about 30 minutes activity tonight. We are in the second week of a lower calorie regime (Both of us lost 4lb last week), which is seemingly effecting our endurance energy a bit. We are aware this will mean previous targets may be quite a lot more difficult, but the 'wall' we both hit tonight feels like the switch from carb-burning to fat-burning, which is good for the weight-loss.
We plan to up the calories for the week before the 100k so this is less of an issue, but we will be really pushing the weight loss for the next 6 weeks.
Anita - 12868m
Andy - 12914m
Cumulative - 2426039m (1507.8 miles)
The Journey:
Start - Topnotch Gym, Colchester, CO4 9ES
Finish - Horná Streda, Slovakia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Horn%C3%A1_Streda
Anita got on the free machine and started the first interval, I did about 20' relatively hard exertion on the Elliptical (Noticing how much fitter I am now than the last time I did it in September, also noticing my starting heart rate was a LOT lower, 80 beats rather than 100, and exertion levels that would have gotten me up to 150 bpm was only getting me to 120 :))
When a rowing machine became free I planned on doing a flat 1hr piece, finishing at nearly the same time as Anita with her rest breaks, and went well for the first 15 minutes (1:51 pace) then all of the sudden hit the wall, dropping below 2:00 pace.
I noticed Anita had decided to do a 45 minute piece, so decided to call it a day at 9000m (Just over 35 minutes, 1:57 pace), have about 1' rest, then do a 15 minute interval to finish at the same time as Anita.
Anita's 15 minute interval was at a very strong 2:14 pace, and her 45 minute was a struggle from 25 left, finishing in a 2:22 pace, my 15 minute interval was just under 1:55, and a big struggle, where I really thrashed it out for the last 8 minutes to get the av. pace up.
Both of us struggled after about 30 minutes activity tonight. We are in the second week of a lower calorie regime (Both of us lost 4lb last week), which is seemingly effecting our endurance energy a bit. We are aware this will mean previous targets may be quite a lot more difficult, but the 'wall' we both hit tonight feels like the switch from carb-burning to fat-burning, which is good for the weight-loss.
We plan to up the calories for the week before the 100k so this is less of an issue, but we will be really pushing the weight loss for the next 6 weeks.
Anita - 12868m
Andy - 12914m
Cumulative - 2426039m (1507.8 miles)
The Journey:
Start - Topnotch Gym, Colchester, CO4 9ES
Finish - Horná Streda, Slovakia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Horn%C3%A1_Streda
Monday, 23 January 2012
Day 70 - Back to the Grind
2 x 45' tonight - we are now at the point where we decide what we want to push rather than following a rigid plan. Anita is a long way past where she should be on the Eddie Fletcher, with her Marathon on Saturday 5 seconds/500m ahead of plan.
My marathon was 1s below plan, but that was all due to numb-bum, which feels like it will be my nemesis :( All I can do is experiment with seating and push through it on the long rows, because I'm sure as sh*t not going to let it beat me :)
Anita - 2:23 and 2:23.8 tonight. She felt it in her arms after the marathon tonight (Considering the rows were at 19 and 20spm it couldn't have been that bad :)) - One of our friends at work accidentally touched her arm today and was astounded by how toned and muscular her biceps are now :)
Me - 1:59.5 and 1:59.1. The first one was a real struggle, the second started off really difficult, but I decided at about half way to start changing things up, hitting it hard (sub 1:50) during choruses and going back to 2:06ish during slower verses. A really hard fast chorus (Spineshank - Synthetic) 'persuaded' me to hit sub 1:30 for 30 seconds a couple of times in 2 minutes as well, and I ended dragging the pace from 2:03 to 1:59.1. In a way it is the best way to distract me for the PITA, and it worked quite well tonight.
Anita: 18833m
Andy: 22634m
Cumulative: 2400257m (1491.8 miles)
The Journey:
Start: Topnotch Gym, Colchester CO4 9ES
Finish: Leopoldov, Slovakia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leopoldov
My marathon was 1s below plan, but that was all due to numb-bum, which feels like it will be my nemesis :( All I can do is experiment with seating and push through it on the long rows, because I'm sure as sh*t not going to let it beat me :)
Anita - 2:23 and 2:23.8 tonight. She felt it in her arms after the marathon tonight (Considering the rows were at 19 and 20spm it couldn't have been that bad :)) - One of our friends at work accidentally touched her arm today and was astounded by how toned and muscular her biceps are now :)
Me - 1:59.5 and 1:59.1. The first one was a real struggle, the second started off really difficult, but I decided at about half way to start changing things up, hitting it hard (sub 1:50) during choruses and going back to 2:06ish during slower verses. A really hard fast chorus (Spineshank - Synthetic) 'persuaded' me to hit sub 1:30 for 30 seconds a couple of times in 2 minutes as well, and I ended dragging the pace from 2:03 to 1:59.1. In a way it is the best way to distract me for the PITA, and it worked quite well tonight.
Anita: 18833m
Andy: 22634m
Cumulative: 2400257m (1491.8 miles)
The Journey:
Start: Topnotch Gym, Colchester CO4 9ES
Finish: Leopoldov, Slovakia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leopoldov
Saturday, 21 January 2012
Day 69 - The Full Marathon
The FM for both of us today, the culmination of the first part of our training, where we have followed the Eddie Fletcher Marathon plan (slightly amended) since 3rd October, ultimately providing the start of our conditioning training for our 100km challenge for Sport Relief on March 17th.
We've both done over a FM in one session, but these sessions were broken down into intervals no longer than 1hr; having to do 42195m in as short a time as possible was a daunting prospect.
Anita first - She was absolutely amazing today, settling into 2:21/500m pace for pretty much the whole time, with only 2 short breaks (at 1hr in and then 15k left), finishing in a 2:22.3 av (3:20:06.6), currently 5 in her age/weight category in the world, discounting the 2 unverified times on there. I am immensely proud of what Anita has achieved so far; she is fulfilling her potential with regards to fitness, conditioning, willpower and competitiveness and our future is very very bright :)
Now, to the PM2 Monitor. I didn't realise it would have issues with times over 100 minutes :)
42195m in 6.6s :) Trust me, that's 200:06.6 at 2:22.3
I started off OK, going through the first 10k at 1:55.2, but the problems started at 14k with the old numb-bum problem. I had to stop too often, cramping twice in my calves and having to take a contact lens out when I got something in my eye, but finished in 2:54:23.3. I need to take the numb-bum situation into account on anything over an hour; I will need to stop, as everything I've tried (Ibuprofen to reduce the inflammation and two different seat pads) haven't worked during the really long rows. Overall I am pleased with the time, and I know I can do better when we do it again (When that will be I don't know, but it will be at least once a season)
174:23.3 for me :)
I also had to get a staff member at the gym to get a mop and bucket - There was literally a puddle of sweat and rail grease under my machine :)
Cumulative distance: 2358790m (1466 miles)
The Journey:
Start - Topnotch Gym Colchester CO4 9ES
Finish - Boldog, Slovakia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boldog,_Slovakia
We've both done over a FM in one session, but these sessions were broken down into intervals no longer than 1hr; having to do 42195m in as short a time as possible was a daunting prospect.
Anita first - She was absolutely amazing today, settling into 2:21/500m pace for pretty much the whole time, with only 2 short breaks (at 1hr in and then 15k left), finishing in a 2:22.3 av (3:20:06.6), currently 5 in her age/weight category in the world, discounting the 2 unverified times on there. I am immensely proud of what Anita has achieved so far; she is fulfilling her potential with regards to fitness, conditioning, willpower and competitiveness and our future is very very bright :)
Now, to the PM2 Monitor. I didn't realise it would have issues with times over 100 minutes :)
42195m in 6.6s :) Trust me, that's 200:06.6 at 2:22.3
I started off OK, going through the first 10k at 1:55.2, but the problems started at 14k with the old numb-bum problem. I had to stop too often, cramping twice in my calves and having to take a contact lens out when I got something in my eye, but finished in 2:54:23.3. I need to take the numb-bum situation into account on anything over an hour; I will need to stop, as everything I've tried (Ibuprofen to reduce the inflammation and two different seat pads) haven't worked during the really long rows. Overall I am pleased with the time, and I know I can do better when we do it again (When that will be I don't know, but it will be at least once a season)
174:23.3 for me :)
I also had to get a staff member at the gym to get a mop and bucket - There was literally a puddle of sweat and rail grease under my machine :)
Cumulative distance: 2358790m (1466 miles)
The Journey:
Start - Topnotch Gym Colchester CO4 9ES
Finish - Boldog, Slovakia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boldog,_Slovakia
Friday, 20 January 2012
Day 68 - Controlled PB's
Just a short one tonight, a 30' controlled PB attempt before the Full Marathon timed attempt tomorrow AM.
This was controlled as we were just interested in breaking our what-are-now pretty soft PB times as a warm-up, we didn't want to do too much before the FM.
Anita stayed nicely on her 2:16/500m average for the majority, sometimes pulling the pace down towards 2:15, then letting it bleed back towards 2:16, in a controlled fashion :) She finished with 6620m, previous best was 6572.
I did much the same, starting down near 1:51, then letting the pace hover at 1:51.5, where it stayed for the last 15 minutes. I felt like <1.48 is a definite possibility now at 30' for me. I finished at 8074m, previous best was 7883.
Full Marathon tomorrow, full report tomorrow afternoon :)
This was controlled as we were just interested in breaking our what-are-now pretty soft PB times as a warm-up, we didn't want to do too much before the FM.
Anita stayed nicely on her 2:16/500m average for the majority, sometimes pulling the pace down towards 2:15, then letting it bleed back towards 2:16, in a controlled fashion :) She finished with 6620m, previous best was 6572.
I did much the same, starting down near 1:51, then letting the pace hover at 1:51.5, where it stayed for the last 15 minutes. I felt like <1.48 is a definite possibility now at 30' for me. I finished at 8074m, previous best was 7883.
Full Marathon tomorrow, full report tomorrow afternoon :)
Thursday, 19 January 2012
Day 67 - Feeling Really Good :)
4 x 20' tonight, with a quasi-plan which Anita, in her infinite wisdom, chose to ignore, and go faster than :)
Anita:
2:23, 2:15, 2:18, 2:21
17245m total
Me:
1:59, 1:53, 1:56, 1:59
20576m total
If we had considered the splits we did tonight (with relative ease) we would have baulked at it. Anita felt 20 minutes at these splits are easy, and she was surprised at the strength and power she had in her arms. I would never have thought I could hold 1:52 for 15 minutes (I let it bleed down to 1:53 in the last 5) as easily as I did at 25spm. We are reaping the fitness rewards of all the training we have done to this point :)
A controlled PB 30' tomorrow (2:16.0 for Anita, 1:52.5 for the 8k for me) before the FM on Saturday :)
Total Cumulative Metres - 2259706m (1404.4 miles)
The Journey:
Start - Topnotch Gym, Colchester CO4 9ES
Finish - Schwechat, Austria http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vienna_International_Airport
Anita:
2:23, 2:15, 2:18, 2:21
17245m total
Me:
1:59, 1:53, 1:56, 1:59
20576m total
If we had considered the splits we did tonight (with relative ease) we would have baulked at it. Anita felt 20 minutes at these splits are easy, and she was surprised at the strength and power she had in her arms. I would never have thought I could hold 1:52 for 15 minutes (I let it bleed down to 1:53 in the last 5) as easily as I did at 25spm. We are reaping the fitness rewards of all the training we have done to this point :)
A controlled PB 30' tomorrow (2:16.0 for Anita, 1:52.5 for the 8k for me) before the FM on Saturday :)
Total Cumulative Metres - 2259706m (1404.4 miles)
The Journey:
Start - Topnotch Gym, Colchester CO4 9ES
Finish - Schwechat, Austria http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vienna_International_Airport
Tuesday, 17 January 2012
Day 66 - 15 minutes - Sprints!!!!!
4 x 15' 4R tonight, freestyle with regards to times.
15 minutes seems like a really short time on the rower now :) Surprising what constant endurance does to the mind :)
Anita went with a quick start interval, then dropping by 2s/500m each interval, so 2:13.9, 2:15.9, 2:17.9 and 2:19.9. She said it was a struggle to get motivated to do this tonight, but as always the pay-off is afterwards, when the endorphins kick in and your mood is raised up.
I had a strange 1st interval, going out wanting to do 4000m (1:52.5), but at about 11 mins left felt really good, and pulled it down to a 1:48.6, emptying the tanks somewhat as I must have averaged 1:46ish for those 11 minutes. This was a 15 minute PB; 15 minute intervals are quite important as that was the time we all rowed for during the Capita Challenge week in 2008, with about 20 of my work colleagues rowing 550km in 40 hours. It was that week which ultimately set me onto The Concept2 rowing machine. Anita also did a few sessions that week :) She was doing 2900m then, she can do 3400m now. I maxed at about 3800m then, and PB'd today at 4143m :)
Anita: 13149m
Andy: 15471m
Cumulative Total: 2221885m (1380.9 miles)
The Journey:
Start - Topnotch Gym, Colchester CO4 9ES
Finish - Hinterbruhl, Modling, Austria http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hinterbr%C3%BChl
15 minutes seems like a really short time on the rower now :) Surprising what constant endurance does to the mind :)
Anita went with a quick start interval, then dropping by 2s/500m each interval, so 2:13.9, 2:15.9, 2:17.9 and 2:19.9. She said it was a struggle to get motivated to do this tonight, but as always the pay-off is afterwards, when the endorphins kick in and your mood is raised up.
I had a strange 1st interval, going out wanting to do 4000m (1:52.5), but at about 11 mins left felt really good, and pulled it down to a 1:48.6, emptying the tanks somewhat as I must have averaged 1:46ish for those 11 minutes. This was a 15 minute PB; 15 minute intervals are quite important as that was the time we all rowed for during the Capita Challenge week in 2008, with about 20 of my work colleagues rowing 550km in 40 hours. It was that week which ultimately set me onto The Concept2 rowing machine. Anita also did a few sessions that week :) She was doing 2900m then, she can do 3400m now. I maxed at about 3800m then, and PB'd today at 4143m :)
Anita: 13149m
Andy: 15471m
Cumulative Total: 2221885m (1380.9 miles)
The Journey:
Start - Topnotch Gym, Colchester CO4 9ES
Finish - Hinterbruhl, Modling, Austria http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hinterbr%C3%BChl
Monday, 16 January 2012
Day 65 - 8 hours work, 2 hours rowing :)
3 x 40' 4R tonight :) The most we've ever done on a work day by 30 minutes, and all towards doing another 100km week for the VTC
Anita
1. 8514m @ 2:20.9 20spm
2. 8634 @ 2:19.0 22
3. 8056 @ 2:28.9 20
25204m total
This may be getting boring but Anita was immensely strong again tonight. Her true athletic prowess is coming to the fore now. She openly admits she would have shied away from Endurance in the past, but she's always been inspired by sport, so now she is involved herself it is having a very positive effect on her! She now says she finds it theraputic, and I fully agree - The rowing machine never lies to you, it tells you straight exactly how much work you've put in and it can give you time to order your thoughts after a hard day at work.
Me
1. 10525m @ 1:54.0 25
2. 10214m @ 1:57.5 24
3. 9749m @ 2:03.1 24
30488m total
HM+ metres are now getting much easier. I pushed it pretty hard for the first 2 intervals, removed the seat pads for intervals 2 and 3 and didn't have anywhere near the issues with numb-bum as I did with the pads!! Good news as we're doing a timed FM on Saturday, and I don't want to be stopping much :)
Cumulative Total: 2193265m (1363.1 miles)
The Journey:
Start - Topnotch Gym Colchester CO4 9ES
Finish - Gschaid, Austria http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gschaid
Anita
1. 8514m @ 2:20.9 20spm
2. 8634 @ 2:19.0 22
3. 8056 @ 2:28.9 20
25204m total
This may be getting boring but Anita was immensely strong again tonight. Her true athletic prowess is coming to the fore now. She openly admits she would have shied away from Endurance in the past, but she's always been inspired by sport, so now she is involved herself it is having a very positive effect on her! She now says she finds it theraputic, and I fully agree - The rowing machine never lies to you, it tells you straight exactly how much work you've put in and it can give you time to order your thoughts after a hard day at work.
Me
1. 10525m @ 1:54.0 25
2. 10214m @ 1:57.5 24
3. 9749m @ 2:03.1 24
30488m total
HM+ metres are now getting much easier. I pushed it pretty hard for the first 2 intervals, removed the seat pads for intervals 2 and 3 and didn't have anywhere near the issues with numb-bum as I did with the pads!! Good news as we're doing a timed FM on Saturday, and I don't want to be stopping much :)
Cumulative Total: 2193265m (1363.1 miles)
The Journey:
Start - Topnotch Gym Colchester CO4 9ES
Finish - Gschaid, Austria http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gschaid
Saturday, 14 January 2012
Day 63 & 64 - Fail & Win
Firstly last night (Friday) - 4 x 15 mins planned, but both of us were feeling queasy in the stomach department, and after a trip to the bathroom in the 1st interval, and 9 minutes in the 2nd I decided to let discretion be the better part of valour, especially as it was (literally) an accident waiting to happen :) We've put it down to a new snack bar we had on Friday, that we won't be having again :)
Now to the important one - Day 64.
We started a bit later than expected due to an overrunning meeting at my bank (New computer system, and all that entails - The bank shall not be named but the system is in severe need of some proper UAT, and the training department needs to pull its socks up as well)
Plan - 5 Intervals - 30', 1hr, 30', 1hr, 30', 5R - 3hr 30 min total rowing, 3hr 50 total time, the most we've ever rowed in 1 session.
Anita - Absolutely magnificent.
1. 30' - 6165m @ 2:26 20spm
2. 1hr - 12331 @ 2:26 20
3. 30' - 6209 @ 2:25 20
4. 1hr - 12809 @ 2:20.5 23 (PB by 302m, 3.4s/500m!!!!!!!!!!!!!)
5. 30' - 6042 @ 2:29.0 22
TOTAL - 43556m @ 2:24.6 rowing time, 2:38.4 inc rest
This girl is crazy!!! Not only does she churn out 2 hours at 20spm, but between 2 and 3hrs she does a massive PB for the 1hr by 302m!!! This is Anita's first Marathon distance, and she would have gone through the FM in 3:43 total time. She says the 100km doesn't scare her anymore - It's going to hurt, but it's doable, and its all about conditioning.
Me - First time over 50km in one session, so got to be happy with that :)
1. 30' - 7594m @ 1:58.5 23spm
2. 1hr - 15026 @ 1:59.8 24
3. 30' - 7535 @ 1:59.4 25
4. 1hr - 14586 @ 2:03.4 24
5. 30' - 7462 @ 2:00.6 26
TOTAL - 52203m @ 2:00.6 rowing time, 2:12.1 inc rest
I'm now happy with my conditioning - For the last 5 minutes of the last interval (From 3:25 to 3:30) I was easily pulling low 1:50's/high 1:40's. My issue is my left sitting bone. I will need to factor in short breaks every 10k for the 100k to make this doable - Indeed to get under 7hrs I need to pull 2:00, and can have 2+ mins rest every 10k, though I doubt I'll need any more than a minute rest per break.
Anita is planning a 12843m (Just over the hour) row tomorrow to get to 100k for the week, and we will stay at 100k per week now until the 100k event in March :)
Cumulative distance since 3rd Oct: 2124730m (1320.5 miles)
Anita - 973692m
Andy - 1151038m
The Journey:
Start - Topnotch Gym Colchester CO4 9ES
Finish - Kolm, Austria http://www.webcams.travel/webcam/1317392367-Weather-Kolm-Saigurn-Apriach
Now to the important one - Day 64.
We started a bit later than expected due to an overrunning meeting at my bank (New computer system, and all that entails - The bank shall not be named but the system is in severe need of some proper UAT, and the training department needs to pull its socks up as well)
Plan - 5 Intervals - 30', 1hr, 30', 1hr, 30', 5R - 3hr 30 min total rowing, 3hr 50 total time, the most we've ever rowed in 1 session.
Anita - Absolutely magnificent.
1. 30' - 6165m @ 2:26 20spm
2. 1hr - 12331 @ 2:26 20
3. 30' - 6209 @ 2:25 20
4. 1hr - 12809 @ 2:20.5 23 (PB by 302m, 3.4s/500m!!!!!!!!!!!!!)
5. 30' - 6042 @ 2:29.0 22
TOTAL - 43556m @ 2:24.6 rowing time, 2:38.4 inc rest
This girl is crazy!!! Not only does she churn out 2 hours at 20spm, but between 2 and 3hrs she does a massive PB for the 1hr by 302m!!! This is Anita's first Marathon distance, and she would have gone through the FM in 3:43 total time. She says the 100km doesn't scare her anymore - It's going to hurt, but it's doable, and its all about conditioning.
Me - First time over 50km in one session, so got to be happy with that :)
1. 30' - 7594m @ 1:58.5 23spm
2. 1hr - 15026 @ 1:59.8 24
3. 30' - 7535 @ 1:59.4 25
4. 1hr - 14586 @ 2:03.4 24
5. 30' - 7462 @ 2:00.6 26
TOTAL - 52203m @ 2:00.6 rowing time, 2:12.1 inc rest
I'm now happy with my conditioning - For the last 5 minutes of the last interval (From 3:25 to 3:30) I was easily pulling low 1:50's/high 1:40's. My issue is my left sitting bone. I will need to factor in short breaks every 10k for the 100k to make this doable - Indeed to get under 7hrs I need to pull 2:00, and can have 2+ mins rest every 10k, though I doubt I'll need any more than a minute rest per break.
Anita is planning a 12843m (Just over the hour) row tomorrow to get to 100k for the week, and we will stay at 100k per week now until the 100k event in March :)
Cumulative distance since 3rd Oct: 2124730m (1320.5 miles)
Anita - 973692m
Andy - 1151038m
The Journey:
Start - Topnotch Gym Colchester CO4 9ES
Finish - Kolm, Austria http://www.webcams.travel/webcam/1317392367-Weather-Kolm-Saigurn-Apriach
Wednesday, 11 January 2012
Day 62 - 2MM, and Blind Faith :)
First up the 'Blind Faith' bit - Anita suggested this as the title as she believes anything I tell her with regards to the training we are doing but, I made a bit of a boo-boo this evening.
I must having been looking at next week, as we did 4 x 20' tonight, and there was only 3 intervals in the plan. Hey ho!!!! Onwards and Upwards :)
Anita - She went out at 2:19 pace, held that for 3 intervals, then went to a 2:24 last interval cool down. The maintenance of the 2:19 splits got harder and harder, and required some clawing back in the last few minutes of the 2nd and 3rd intervals, which she was able to do which says a lot about her fighting spirit!!
Me - I went quite freestyle, and ended up doing 1:59, 1:55, 1:59 and 1:55. This felt really good; last nights 10K PB has really hit home about what I can do now - If I'd been told I'd be doing sub 1:50 splits for a 10K back when we started this in October, just over 3 months ago, I wouldn't have believed it!!! The last interval 1:55 started at 1:59 until 15' left, when I decided to drop the average by 1s/500m every 5 mins, doing 1:48 to get down to 1:58 for only about 40s, then at 10 minutes 1:42 for about a minute, then at 5 left I decided to get it down to 1:55, so went at 1:45 for 3 minutes to get it to 1:55, where I finished. I upped the stroke rate on the last 2 intervals to 26/27 and it felt easy!! I honestly think I could have hit a PB 2K in the last interval if I had wanted to, after over 1 hour's worth of moderately intense rowing!
Lastly we passed 2MM together since 3rd October :)
Anita - 17117m
Andy - 20521m
Cumulative: 2019997m (1255.4 miles)
The Journey:
Start - Topnotch Gym Colchester CO4 9ES
Finish - Marchtrenk, Wels-Land, Austria http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marchtrenk
I must having been looking at next week, as we did 4 x 20' tonight, and there was only 3 intervals in the plan. Hey ho!!!! Onwards and Upwards :)
Anita - She went out at 2:19 pace, held that for 3 intervals, then went to a 2:24 last interval cool down. The maintenance of the 2:19 splits got harder and harder, and required some clawing back in the last few minutes of the 2nd and 3rd intervals, which she was able to do which says a lot about her fighting spirit!!
Me - I went quite freestyle, and ended up doing 1:59, 1:55, 1:59 and 1:55. This felt really good; last nights 10K PB has really hit home about what I can do now - If I'd been told I'd be doing sub 1:50 splits for a 10K back when we started this in October, just over 3 months ago, I wouldn't have believed it!!! The last interval 1:55 started at 1:59 until 15' left, when I decided to drop the average by 1s/500m every 5 mins, doing 1:48 to get down to 1:58 for only about 40s, then at 10 minutes 1:42 for about a minute, then at 5 left I decided to get it down to 1:55, so went at 1:45 for 3 minutes to get it to 1:55, where I finished. I upped the stroke rate on the last 2 intervals to 26/27 and it felt easy!! I honestly think I could have hit a PB 2K in the last interval if I had wanted to, after over 1 hour's worth of moderately intense rowing!
Lastly we passed 2MM together since 3rd October :)
Anita - 17117m
Andy - 20521m
Cumulative: 2019997m (1255.4 miles)
The Journey:
Start - Topnotch Gym Colchester CO4 9ES
Finish - Marchtrenk, Wels-Land, Austria http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marchtrenk
Tuesday, 10 January 2012
Day 61 - Challenge Series 10K
The 10K TT tonight for us both.
Anita was up first (As is increasing becoming her modus operandi), did a nice 2K warm up then began.
From the 2nd 1K it became clear she wasn't as comfortable as she could be, with the av. pace jumping up and down. She was also up at 25spm, which was high for her, later she said she just didn't have it in the arms. Her pace on the monitor every 2K was as follows:
8K left - 2:13.7 25spm
6K - Same
4K - Same
2K - 2:14.2 25spm
She dropped to 2:14.5 before she upped the ante to drag it back to a really superb 2:13.9, or 44:38.3 overall.
This is a 1:51.3 improvement on her previous PB, or 5.6s/500m!!!!!!! Astonishing how quick Anita has got in a short space of time.
I then followed, and after a 5 minute warm up I started on the 10k road of pain :)
8K left - 1:48.8 26spm
6K - 1:49.3 25spm
4K - 1:49.7 27spm.
2K - 1:49.9 27spm
I felt strong with 1.5k left, so racked it up, finishing the last 3 500m sectors in 1:48.3, 1:47.7 and 1:42.6 to finish in 36:27 dead, 1:49.4 @ 27spm, 1:56.3 better than my previous PB, or 5.8s/500m. I'm reallly really chuffed that I maintained no lower than 1:50.9/500m for 10k, aand it's a really big landmark for me, going sub 36:30 at 126kg/6' 0.5"!!!!!!!!!
4 x 20' tomorrow, when I'll update the overall distance done (will be over 2MM between us since 3rd Oct 2011!!!!!)
Anita was up first (As is increasing becoming her modus operandi), did a nice 2K warm up then began.
From the 2nd 1K it became clear she wasn't as comfortable as she could be, with the av. pace jumping up and down. She was also up at 25spm, which was high for her, later she said she just didn't have it in the arms. Her pace on the monitor every 2K was as follows:
8K left - 2:13.7 25spm
6K - Same
4K - Same
2K - 2:14.2 25spm
She dropped to 2:14.5 before she upped the ante to drag it back to a really superb 2:13.9, or 44:38.3 overall.
This is a 1:51.3 improvement on her previous PB, or 5.6s/500m!!!!!!! Astonishing how quick Anita has got in a short space of time.
I then followed, and after a 5 minute warm up I started on the 10k road of pain :)
8K left - 1:48.8 26spm
6K - 1:49.3 25spm
4K - 1:49.7 27spm.
2K - 1:49.9 27spm
I felt strong with 1.5k left, so racked it up, finishing the last 3 500m sectors in 1:48.3, 1:47.7 and 1:42.6 to finish in 36:27 dead, 1:49.4 @ 27spm, 1:56.3 better than my previous PB, or 5.8s/500m. I'm reallly really chuffed that I maintained no lower than 1:50.9/500m for 10k, aand it's a really big landmark for me, going sub 36:30 at 126kg/6' 0.5"!!!!!!!!!
4 x 20' tomorrow, when I'll update the overall distance done (will be over 2MM between us since 3rd Oct 2011!!!!!)
Monday, 9 January 2012
Day 60 - Recovery Row
Just 2 x 30' 4R tonight at 'a comfortable pace' :)
As a test I put the Living Language French series on both our MP3 players tonight, as we are in Valais (French-Speaking Switzerland) for our honeymoon, and we could both brush up a little bit on our conversational French. I've now re-affirmed how important Music is during a row, as it was really difficult to concentrate on the language course and not feel the aches and pains of what was a recovery row. I'll be listening to just Music from now on :)
Anita rowed out 2 2:26-pace 30 minute pieces, and felt the same about the French Course as I did. She found it quite a difficult one tonight, as if her body was still getting over the 37.5km on Saturday.
I did a 2:01.7, and was really suffereing on the 2nd when I decided to start putting in some really quick minutes every other minute, starting at 1:50 a few times, then 1:48's, a 1:45, a 1:40 then for the last 45 seconds sub 1:30, giving me a 1:59.0 average. I felt I had to do this to tell my body that I don't care how it feels, I'm in charge and I will do what I want :)
Anita: 12330m
Andy: 14959m
Cumulative: 1962359m (1219.6 miles)
The Journey:
Start - Topnotch Gym Colchester CO4 9ES
Finish - Seewalchen am Attersee, Austria http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seewalchen_am_Attersee
As a test I put the Living Language French series on both our MP3 players tonight, as we are in Valais (French-Speaking Switzerland) for our honeymoon, and we could both brush up a little bit on our conversational French. I've now re-affirmed how important Music is during a row, as it was really difficult to concentrate on the language course and not feel the aches and pains of what was a recovery row. I'll be listening to just Music from now on :)
Anita rowed out 2 2:26-pace 30 minute pieces, and felt the same about the French Course as I did. She found it quite a difficult one tonight, as if her body was still getting over the 37.5km on Saturday.
I did a 2:01.7, and was really suffereing on the 2nd when I decided to start putting in some really quick minutes every other minute, starting at 1:50 a few times, then 1:48's, a 1:45, a 1:40 then for the last 45 seconds sub 1:30, giving me a 1:59.0 average. I felt I had to do this to tell my body that I don't care how it feels, I'm in charge and I will do what I want :)
Anita: 12330m
Andy: 14959m
Cumulative: 1962359m (1219.6 miles)
The Journey:
Start - Topnotch Gym Colchester CO4 9ES
Finish - Seewalchen am Attersee, Austria http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seewalchen_am_Attersee
Saturday, 7 January 2012
Day 59 - Endurance, Endurance, Endurance
The 2nd 3-hour session this week, 4 x 45', 5R (First two Intervals), 8R (Last Interval).
Due to the Virtual Team Challenge on the Concept2 website (http://log.concept2.com/team/teamStandings.asp?re_index=48&group=team) Anita announced she wanted to do over 100km this week. She got her wish :)
1. 9256m @ 2:25.8
2. 9287m @ 2:25.4
3. 9513m @ 2:21.9!
4. 9476m @ 2:22.5 (Apparently this was a Cool Down :))
Total - 37532m @ 2:23.9
Due to the Virtual Team Challenge on the Concept2 website (http://log.concept2.com/team/teamStandings.asp?re_index=48&group=team) Anita announced she wanted to do over 100km this week. She got her wish :)
1. 9256m @ 2:25.8
2. 9287m @ 2:25.4
3. 9513m @ 2:21.9!
4. 9476m @ 2:22.5 (Apparently this was a Cool Down :))
Total - 37532m @ 2:23.9
Anita munched this one up, with enough energy over to go quite a bit faster in the 2nd half than the first. The 100km is becoming less and less daunting for her. It will hurt, but it will be manageable.
My intervals were as follows:
1. 11119m @ 2:01.4
2. 11137m @ 2:01.2
3. 11113m @ 2:01.5
4. 10332m @ 2:10.7 (A proper Cool Down! To be honest I couldn't have done much more)
2. 11137m @ 2:01.2
3. 11113m @ 2:01.5
4. 10332m @ 2:10.7 (A proper Cool Down! To be honest I couldn't have done much more)
Total - 43701m @ 2:03.6
The first 3 intervals weren't too bad, but the last (Admittedly a Cool-Down) hurt a lot, my bum and high up my thighs the worse of all, prompting me with 20 mins left to get rid of my seat pads. This helped somewhat.
Nutrition wise we do this on a banana, gel pack and glucose tablet each. We'll need something more substantial on the 100km, but not too much more. Estimates of the Calorie expenditure today are 3500 for me and 2250 for Anita!!!
Cumulative total today - 81233m
Cumulative Total since 3rd Oct - 1935070m (1202.65 miles)
The Journey:
Start - Topnotch Gym Colchester CO4 9ES
Finish - Warte am See, Austria http://www.restauranttester.at/landzeit-autobahn-restaurant-mondsee-panoramahotel-mondsee.html
Friday, 6 January 2012
Day 58 - Self-Harm Friday
Our first attempt at the C2CTC January Challenge - 7 x 777m with 70s Rest per Interval.
Anita was up first after a 5 minute warm-up. Her times were as follows:
1. 3:14.4 @ 2:05.1 23spm
2. 3:15.0 @ 2:05.5 23
3. 3:14.0 @ 2:04.8 23
4. 3:14.4 @ 2:05.1 23
5. 3:17.1 @ 2:06.9 24
6. 3:17.1 @ 2:06.8(!) 24
7. 3:12.2 @ 2:03.7 25
Overall - 22:44.2 @ 2:05.4
She did amazingly well with this challenge, her first 4 intervals were very strong. She suffered a bit in 5 and 6, then brought it home brilliantly in an split that was 0.8s better than last month.
My times were as follows:
1. 2:38.2 @ 1:41.8
2. 2:37.3 @ 1:41.1
3. 2:36.7 @ 1:40.8
4. 2:39.4 @ 1:42.6
5. 2:41.0 @ 1:43.6
6. 2:40.9 @ 1:43.5
7. 2:38.1 @ 1:41.8
Overall - 18:31.5 @ 1:42.2
Its quite a strange challenge. It starts to really hurt in Interval 5, where it's a case of hanging on. Interval 7 is very much a case of 'emptying the tank'. My final split was 1.5s/500m better than last month.
Tomorrow - 4 x 45' - 3hrs and 44k for me, 37k for Anita, for the 2nd time this week :)
Anita was up first after a 5 minute warm-up. Her times were as follows:
1. 3:14.4 @ 2:05.1 23spm
2. 3:15.0 @ 2:05.5 23
3. 3:14.0 @ 2:04.8 23
4. 3:14.4 @ 2:05.1 23
5. 3:17.1 @ 2:06.9 24
6. 3:17.1 @ 2:06.8(!) 24
7. 3:12.2 @ 2:03.7 25
Overall - 22:44.2 @ 2:05.4
She did amazingly well with this challenge, her first 4 intervals were very strong. She suffered a bit in 5 and 6, then brought it home brilliantly in an split that was 0.8s better than last month.
My times were as follows:
1. 2:38.2 @ 1:41.8
2. 2:37.3 @ 1:41.1
3. 2:36.7 @ 1:40.8
4. 2:39.4 @ 1:42.6
5. 2:41.0 @ 1:43.6
6. 2:40.9 @ 1:43.5
7. 2:38.1 @ 1:41.8
Overall - 18:31.5 @ 1:42.2
Its quite a strange challenge. It starts to really hurt in Interval 5, where it's a case of hanging on. Interval 7 is very much a case of 'emptying the tank'. My final split was 1.5s/500m better than last month.
Tomorrow - 4 x 45' - 3hrs and 44k for me, 37k for Anita, for the 2nd time this week :)
Wednesday, 4 January 2012
Day 57 - Tough for me, a breeze for Anita :)
2 lots of 30' tonight, 5R - 2:24 for Anita, 2:00 for me.
Tonight was tough....Really Tough. The first interval wiped me out, I felt a complete lack of energy, leaden arms and light-headedness. I lowered the drag from 140 to 110 for the 2nd interval, started off very weakly (2:08), and a light came on in my head - I covered the monitor with my towel.
From then on I just rowed. My heart rate came back down, and I started to push it on a bit, and felt the stroke rise a tad. I finished and unveiled the monitor - 1:59.6 for 7524m, 21m further than the 1st interval. It really shows rowing is mind over matter.
Anita felt comfortable with her 2:24 pace for the 2 intervals, which bodes well for the rest of the month :)
Anita - 12504m
Andy - 15027m
Cumulative - 1842959m (1145.4 miles)
The Journey:
Start - Topnotch Gym Colchester CO4 9ES
Finish - Bernau-am-Chiemsee, Germany http://www.bernau-am-chiemsee.de/de/index
Tonight was tough....Really Tough. The first interval wiped me out, I felt a complete lack of energy, leaden arms and light-headedness. I lowered the drag from 140 to 110 for the 2nd interval, started off very weakly (2:08), and a light came on in my head - I covered the monitor with my towel.
From then on I just rowed. My heart rate came back down, and I started to push it on a bit, and felt the stroke rise a tad. I finished and unveiled the monitor - 1:59.6 for 7524m, 21m further than the 1st interval. It really shows rowing is mind over matter.
Anita felt comfortable with her 2:24 pace for the 2 intervals, which bodes well for the rest of the month :)
Anita - 12504m
Andy - 15027m
Cumulative - 1842959m (1145.4 miles)
The Journey:
Start - Topnotch Gym Colchester CO4 9ES
Finish - Bernau-am-Chiemsee, Germany http://www.bernau-am-chiemsee.de/de/index
Tuesday, 3 January 2012
Day 56 - Back to work, Back to reality
2 lots of 30' tonight - a 10'/20' split for the first 30 and a flat pace for the second, 2:14/2:24 on the 1st 30' for Anita, 1:51/2:00 for me, with a free rein on the last 30.
We both found this very hard tonight. The gym was busy with New Year Resolutionists (Maybe a new religion???) and as such felt very warm. With 37k/44k in our muscles from yesterday the 10 minutes at the hard pace felt very difficult (But we both completed it) followed by the 20 slower minutes, which still felt harder than it should have done.
Anita went further in total in the 2nd 30 minutes than the 1st!! a 2:18 av v 2:19, Where we row there are 3 Model C C2's, and because of this we occasionally get people rowing beside us. It's pretty obvious most of them have never had instruction on technique (The amount of women rowing in the 3:00 range on 10 damper is quite scary). I think it will be beneficial to all if we approach the trainers at our gym and offer our services :)
I attempted to go out quite hard on the 2nd 30' but just didn't have it, and as such used it as a cool down (1:58 v 1:56 on the 1st 30) - I've got a nice achy feeling going on :)
Anita: 12973m
Andy: 15330m
Cumulative Total: 1815428m (1128.3 miles)
The Journey:
Start - Topnotch Gym, Colchester CO4 9ES
Finish - Raubling, Bavaria, Germany http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Raubling
We both found this very hard tonight. The gym was busy with New Year Resolutionists (Maybe a new religion???) and as such felt very warm. With 37k/44k in our muscles from yesterday the 10 minutes at the hard pace felt very difficult (But we both completed it) followed by the 20 slower minutes, which still felt harder than it should have done.
Anita went further in total in the 2nd 30 minutes than the 1st!! a 2:18 av v 2:19, Where we row there are 3 Model C C2's, and because of this we occasionally get people rowing beside us. It's pretty obvious most of them have never had instruction on technique (The amount of women rowing in the 3:00 range on 10 damper is quite scary). I think it will be beneficial to all if we approach the trainers at our gym and offer our services :)
I attempted to go out quite hard on the 2nd 30' but just didn't have it, and as such used it as a cool down (1:58 v 1:56 on the 1st 30) - I've got a nice achy feeling going on :)
Anita: 12973m
Andy: 15330m
Cumulative Total: 1815428m (1128.3 miles)
The Journey:
Start - Topnotch Gym, Colchester CO4 9ES
Finish - Raubling, Bavaria, Germany http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Raubling
Monday, 2 January 2012
Day 55 - New Year, Same Style - Endurance
As we had some time today we decided to go for 4 x 45' 5R, 2:27, 2:25, 2:23 and a warm down for Anita, 2:03, 2:01, 1:59 and a warm down for me.
Anita did amazingly well, showing how strong she is over long distances, even finishing on her 'warm down' at a 1s/500m quicker than her first interval (2:26 v 2:27). She ended up at 37.1k rowed in 3hrs (3hrs 17 mins with rest breaks) meaning a sub-3:40 Full Marathon is very much on the cards in a couple of weeks :)
I had the usual numb-bum issues in the last 15 minutes of each interval, but after the energy gel we both had during the 2nd rest break I felt pretty good, until 20 minutes left where I lost a lot of energy, and had to fight to get the interval finished in the 1:59 av. split. I finished with 43.6k, so would have gone through the Marathon in about 3:10 with breaks.
It all bodes well for the half marathon we are doing on Saturday, and the Full Marathon in 2 weeks, all good metres towards our ultimate goal of 100k in one session :)
There is also a Virtual Team Challenge on the Concept2 website for teams for the whole of January, so we added 81k to our teams total, C2TweetCrew.
Anita - 37160m
Andy - 43636m
Cumulative - 1787125m (1110.7 miles)
Journey:
Start - Topnotch Gym Colchester CO4 9ES
Finish - Langkampfen, Austria http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Langkampfen
Anita did amazingly well, showing how strong she is over long distances, even finishing on her 'warm down' at a 1s/500m quicker than her first interval (2:26 v 2:27). She ended up at 37.1k rowed in 3hrs (3hrs 17 mins with rest breaks) meaning a sub-3:40 Full Marathon is very much on the cards in a couple of weeks :)
I had the usual numb-bum issues in the last 15 minutes of each interval, but after the energy gel we both had during the 2nd rest break I felt pretty good, until 20 minutes left where I lost a lot of energy, and had to fight to get the interval finished in the 1:59 av. split. I finished with 43.6k, so would have gone through the Marathon in about 3:10 with breaks.
It all bodes well for the half marathon we are doing on Saturday, and the Full Marathon in 2 weeks, all good metres towards our ultimate goal of 100k in one session :)
There is also a Virtual Team Challenge on the Concept2 website for teams for the whole of January, so we added 81k to our teams total, C2TweetCrew.
Anita - 37160m
Andy - 43636m
Cumulative - 1787125m (1110.7 miles)
Journey:
Start - Topnotch Gym Colchester CO4 9ES
Finish - Langkampfen, Austria http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Langkampfen
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