Day 51 - Leaving it all in the gym!

3 20' Intervals tonight, 2:24,2:17 and 2:20 for Anita, 2:00, 1:54 and 1:57 for me, 2R.

A difficult one tonight - Both of us sweated more than we ever have done before and the heart rates were definitely high on the 2nd and 3rd intervals.

I went down the route of going 1s/500m quicker for 18 minutes, and allowing myself a 'rest' in the last 2 minutes with a pace 9s below the average for the piece.

On the 2nd interval I kept it sub 1:52.5 for the first 15 minutes (>4000m, which is one of my favourite targets going back to when I started on the indoor rower) - It hurt a lot more than it should have!!!

For Anita tonight was described as 'Mind Over Matter' - She suffered from the Handle-Down demons after the end of the 2nd interval, but toughed it out yet again to complete all the intervals - I've said it before but I'm very proud of how she is managing with all the metres.

We're now coming to the end of the C2 holiday challenge - Just Friday's hour and a HM on Saturday to go - but both of us will finish over the 200km target - The C2TweetCrew (Our Affiliation on the C2 website) currently have 18 members over the 100km threshold!!!!!!

Lastly we passed 1000 miles together tonight since the start of our training on 3rd October :)

Anita: 12836m
Andy: 15395m
Cumulative: 1615775m (1004.2 miles)

The Journey

Start - Topnotch Gym, Colchester,
Finish - Sankt Christoph am Arlberg, Vorarlberg, Austria http://www.stantonamarlberg.com/en/home/index.html

Day 50 - Tough, but worth it!

4 lots of 15' 4R tonight, 6'/9' split, 2:14/2:24 Anita, 1:51/2:00 for me.

The 1st interval went smoothly, the power was there and the heart rate stayed nice and controlled. After that however it got very tough - the spm for my pieces were 23, 24, 25 and 26, but on the last I tried to maintain a decent spm purely as a test, and hit the last minute at 1:40 splits. It really feels I've fallen off my peak with only 4 sessions in the last 2 weeks (After 5 sessions per week for the 9 weeks beforehand) but I'm set on getting back to that peak ASAP, with a cheeky little HM on Christmas Eve.

Anita completed all the intervals but has said the same thing - It was really tough. A decent percentage of Erging is definitely in the head, and we both are prepared to tough it out to get to where we need to be - 100km in a single session :)

Anita - 13044m
Andy - 15673m
Cumulative - 1587544m (986.7 miles)

The Journey:
Start - Topnotch Gym Colchester - CO4 9ES
Finish - Braz, Vorarlberg, Austria http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hq_a28r8loA

Day 49 - Back on it :)

A fresh start of sorts today, 2 lots of 30', 3R - 2:27 for Anita, 2:03 for me.

Anita found this all very easy, completing the distance at 18 spm and 15(!)spm respectively, the strong slow stroke rate a way to get her heart rate up a little bit :)

I also found this OK apart from the numb bum again (I'm using a big towel on the longer rows), and on the second interval did the first 12 minutes sub 1:52 @ 22spm; a small test after the fail last Wednesday.

We both felt remarkably excited about getting back into the rowing routine today, which can only bode well for the future, and Anita said she got quite animated discussing erging with a work colleague earlier, and was worried about becoming a rowing bore :) As if that's possible :)

Anita: 12249m
Andy: 14637m

Cumulative: 1558827m (968.8 miles)

The Journey:
Start - Topnotch Gym Colchester, CO4 9ES
Finish - Feldkirch, Vorarlberg, Austria http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Feldkirch,_Vorarlberg

Day 47 - Ending a strange week with some endurance

After a very busy week for us both (2 Dentist Appointments, 1 Hospital Appointment, 2 Christmas Meals) we didn't get the chance to row on Tuesday, Wednesday or Friday, so i decided today was a good day to really test ourselves over a nice long row:

4 x 40', 4R, planned 3 x 2:27 for Anita, 3 x 2:03 for me and a low-as-you-can last interval, between 2hrs and 2hrs 40 of rowing to really test where we are.

After some really good advice from Stu Thorp and Trevor de Koekkoek of the C2Tweetcrew regarding nutrition and hydration for the row we had as much Porridge we could eat (Not that much in the end, Porridge always does that to me), with a Banana, Energy Gel and Glucose Tablet during the row.

I found the first 3 intervals (up to 2 hours) fairly uneventful, apart from a slight numb bum (had the C2 seat pad and a Towel on the seat today), then stepped it up for a 1:57 average, passing 10k at 39:05 in the last interval, giving me a grand total of 39529m for the session.

Now to Ms Wells - Again the first 3 intervals were unremarkable, with just slight aches and pains but nothing special. Onto the last 40 minutes, where Anita rowed a 2:17.0!!! Putting this into perspective, rowing between 2 hours and 2 hours 40 minutes her av/500m against a few of her current PB's:

5k PB 2:16.6 (+0.4s/500m v today's last interval)
6k PB 2:16.1 (+0.9s)
30' PB 2:17.4 (-0.4s!!!)
10k PB 2:19.5 (-2.5s, if she'd rowed for another c. 6 minutes!!!!!!!)

Absolutely amazing! She is a complete rowing monster with amazing mental toughness. 33261m for her for the session

Plus she also passed 1MM lifetime in her 3rd interval today!! And we together passed 1.5MM since we started this plan on 3rd Oct.

Next week - Back to normal with the hard week of the last Eddie Fletcher cycle, plus 4 x 45' on Saturday for our first 3hr row :)

Anita: 33261m
Andy: 39529m

Cumulative: 1504614m (935.12 miles)

The Journey:
Start: Topnotch Gym, Colchester CO4 9ES
Finish: Rietli, Muhlehorn, Switzerland http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/M%C3%BChlehorn

Day 45 - Week 9 Done, and Stewart Lee :)

2 Lots of 30' yesterday, 2:24 for Anita, 2:03 for me, 3R

Nice easy, slow fat-burner yesterday morning, all at 22 spm for both of us, now not quite restful but near-too, all at an easy conversational pace if you're in a chatty mood :) We both got a good night sleep on Friday which helps :)

We both are very conscious about how much hydration will be important on the long rows, because even on these easy rows we are sweating buckets!!! For Anita this is a bit of a novelty, because as she has become fitter she has started to sweat more - a bona fide physiological change.

We then went down to London to see Stewart Lee in Carpet Remnant World (http://leicestersquaretheatre.ticketsolve.com/shows/126516643/events) which was absolutely hilarious, and also got a signed copy of the transcript of one of his earlier shows, "If You Prefer A Milder Comedian", thanks to Anita :)

Yesterday:
Anita: 12249m
Andy: 14639m

Cumulative - Since 3rd Oct
Anita: 636412m (395.5 miles)
Andy: 759562m (472 miles)
Both: 1395974m (867.6 miles)

The Journey:
Start: Topnotch Gym Colchester CO4 9ES
Finish: Pfaffensprung, Wassen, Switzerland http://www.maplandia.com/switzerland/zentralschweiz/uri/pfaffensprung/

Day 36 - A Cheeky little Hour....

2 lots of 30 mins tonight - 2:28 for Anita, 2:04 for me, 3R.

A nice easy fat burner tonight - After a very full-on day at work it was nice to get on the Concept2 and just row.

We're both finding weeks 1 and 4 of the plan (Lower Intensity) quite easy now, as our strength and endurance keep on increasing.

Anita kept to a nice low SR (About 20), whereas in the 2nd 30' I changed it up a bit, with slow and fast intervals, 1:45 for 3 minutes, back to 2:07, then 1 minute at 1:35, back to 2:08 and so on

Really looking forward to Sunday and having a good go at the 6344m Concept2.co.uk Challenge Series piece for November, As secretly Anita is as well :)

Anita: 12166m
Andy: 14521m

Cumulative: 1130224m (702.4 miles)

The Journey:

Start - Topnotch Gym Colchester
Finish - Echandens, Morges, Vaud, Switzerland http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Echandens

Day 30 - Walkies then a slow-row

2 lots of 40 minutes today, 2:28' for Anita, 2:04 for me, 4R

We went to our good friend Tracey's early this morning to go for a nice long walk with her and her two beautiful woofers, Stan and Ruby through the beautiful countryside around Wivenhoe Woods and the Colne, which started the day of brilliantly.

Then we got to the gym to do the 2 40 minute pieces, and frankly they were very easy.

Anita did both 2:28' pieces at 18 strokes/min, whilst I had a bit of a mess around.

On the first piece I got to 10 minutes left at an average of 2:02, so went down to 2:10's for the last 10 minutes to get to 2:04 at the end.

On the second piece I did the first 10 minutes at 1:52.9, was at an average of 1:58 at 20 minutes (Meaning a 2:10 for the 2nd half would get me in at 2:04 average), was at 2:00 with 10 minutes left (Meaning a 2:16 for the last 10 would get me in at 2:04), decided at 5 minutes to do a minute at sub 1:40, then really had to mess about at 2:50 and lower to get it down to 2:04 with 11 seconds remaining.

I believe I could now Marathon at sub 2:00m pace, and HM at 1:55 (Best 1:59.5) - Anita could Marathon at 2:25, and HM at 2:22 in my opinion, and we will try the HM a week before the full marathon in early January.

Week 6 done :)

Anita: 16222m (417644m Cumulative, 259.6 miles)
Andy: 19360m (499692m Cumulative (So Close :)), 310.6 miles)

Total Cumulative: 917366m (570.1 miles)

The Journey:

Start: Topnotch Gym, Colchester CO4 9ES
Via: Calais, Reims, Troyes, Dijon
Finish: Saint-Albain, Saone-et-Loire, France http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saint-Albain

Day 27 - Real Progress.....

4 lots of 15' tonight, 4R - 7' 2:15, 8' 2:25 for Anita, 7' 1:52, 8' 2:01 for me.

Very good showing tonight - The 1st interval is rapidly feeling the hardest as we've not really warmed up too much before-hand, but Anita said she is really feeling the difference with regards to her recovery time, with steady breathing even though her heart rate is elevated during the fast 7 minutes. She now has the strength in her arms to the fast 7' at low stroke rates  (22) as well, so she is quickly becoming a rowing monster.

I feel able to do 4 lots of 4k in 15 minutes now - 4k always used to be the benchmark and I've only been over 4k about 4 times before - It all bodes well for the 6344m challenge series piece for November, where I'll be looking for sub-23 minutes, Anita sub-28.

Anita: 13012m
Andy: 15599m

Cumulative: 800624m (497.6 miles)

The Journey:
Start - Topnotch Gym, Colchester CO4 9ES
Finish - Saint-Apollinaire, Cote-d'Or, France http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saint-Apollinaire,_C%C3%B4te-d%27Or

Day 26 - Fat Burn Monday

2 lots of 40' today 4R, 2:28 for Anita, 2:04 for me.

The Monday and Saturday distance pieces in the Eddie Fletcher Marathon plan are now long slow fat burning pieces, with nice easy breathing and quite a low heart rate.

It is also a bit boring if the wrong music comes on! It's also a bit of a pain in the arse, especially for me in my left glute :) definitely getting a seat cover/cushion for the marathon in January.

Anita's words about today's training - 'A walk in the park' - 22 strokes/min and only some minor aches in her knees to show for 80 minutes rowing.

Lastly before the distances Anita lost 1.6kg last week, me 1.3kg :)

Anita: 16223m
Andy: 19361m

Cumulative: 787612m (489.5 miles)

The Journey:
Start - Topnotch Gym, Colchester CO4 9ES
Finish - Bèze, Cote-d'Or, France http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/B%C3%A8ze

Day 23 - Confidence Booster :)

3 Lots of 20 today, 2:25, 2:18 and 2:21 for Anita, 2:01, 1:55 and 1:58 for me.

I failed to finish last Wednesday (See the blog for Day 18) so today held a little bit more than a usual training day for me.

The first 20 minutes felt like a warm up, the 2nd 20 minutes felt like the main event and the last 20 minutes felt like a warm down - A very satisfactory feeling that I can now quite easily pop a sub 1:55 20 minute piece out in the middle of a session, where my best 30 minutes ever is only at 1:54.3 (7876) - Indeed in 6 weeks time the middle 30 minutes of the 3 on that day should be at 1:54, which will be my best 30 minutes ever :)

Anita again monstered it at a very low strokes/minute (21/22) and I'm getting more and more confident in her ability to go the Marathon distance and longer, and hopefully she is too :)

Anita: 12744m
Andy: 15302m

Cumulative: 696945m (433.1 miles) - Since 3rd October

The Journey:

Start - Topnotch Gym, Colchester CO4 9ES
Finish - Pont-la-Ville, Haute-Marne, France http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pont-la-Ville,_Haute-Marne

Day 20 - 1 Rotation done!!!!

2 lots of 30 minutes today to finish the first 4 week rotation, 2:29 for Anita, 2:05 for me.

The sense of improvement is very strong after today - It was really very easy, and both Anita and I are happy that 2:26/2:02 will be possible for the full Marathon in January.

We've both got the mile tomorrow (1609m) for the challenge series, so being able to blast a time out will be very interesting. Anita is going to try and stick at 2:00 for as long as possible, me at 1:40

Anita: 12084m
Andy: 14405m

Cumulative:
Anita: 277893m (172.7 miles)
Andy: 332738m (206.8 miles)
Overall: 610631m (379.5 miles)

The Journey:
Start: Topnotch Gym, Colchester, CO4 9ES
Finish: Luyères, Aube, France http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Luy%C3%A8res

Day 19 - Back on Track :)

4 lots of 15 minutes today, 2:16/2:26 for Anita, 1:53/2:02 for Me

I had a bit of a point to prove to myself tonight, but the first 15 minutes was really hard.

I've been working at a drag factor of 170 (High, but strengthening my arms), so for the 2nd 15 I went down to 150, which felt much easier, but meant a faster stroke rate for the 1:53. It felt good, so I went up slightly to 155 for the last 2 15's and will be staying there.

In the last 3 minutes of the last interval I went up to a steady 1:48, which also felt good; as such the last interval was about 80 metres more than it should have been, but I needed to stretch it out a bit.

Anita again did brilliantly, stretching out a bit on the last interval again to about 40 metres more than planned. We're back on track!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Anita: 12837m
Andy: 15358m

Cumulative: 584142m (363 miles)

The Journey:
Start: Topnotch Gym Colchester CO4 9ES
Finish: Trouans, Aube, France http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trouans

Day 18 - Blame Dave Gorman for the Non-Finish :)

A planned 3 20 mins, 2:26, 2:19 and 2:22 for Anita, 2:02, 1:56 and 1:59 for me.

Anita and I, with our friends James and John were off to Cambridge to see a certain Mr. Dave Gorman, the amazingly Jewish Non-Jewish comedian give his Powerpoint Presentation on Wednesday evening, and as such we were at the gym at 6:15am to get the 3 20 minute pieces done.

Bear in mind we finished at the gym on Tuesday at 7:30pm, so we were back there less than 11 hours after we left :)

Anita did brilliant, but I spectacularly imploded after 8 minutes of the 2nd 20 minutes (1:56). Over the course of about a minute all the energy left me, and I was struggling to get the pace below 2:05/500m for the last 11 or so minutes of the piece. I can't say I've ever felt like that before.

I felt so bad (Wobbly on my feet) that I decided to not try the 3rd 20 minute piece, considering I had a full day of work ahead of me then an evening of comedy.

Anita also decided to not do the last 20 minute piece, as in her words "we do it together or not at all" - Love is not a strong enough word :)

Happily though Dave Gorman was brilliant, and his support act Jay Foreman had an interesting musical turn of phrase, including Moon Chavs :) If Dave ever reads this in some weird kind of alternate reality you're my 5th/6th favourite comedian, and you're in Anita's top 10 :)

http://www.davegorman.com/livedates.html

Anita: 8428m
Andy: 9843m

Cumulative: 555957m (345.5 miles)

As a Journey:

Start: Topnotch Gym Colchester CO4 9ES
Finish: Saint-Quentin-sur-Coole, Marne, France http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saint-Quentin-sur-Coole

Day 16 - 500km up!!!!!!!

Back to week 1 this week - 2 lots of 30 minutes, 2:29 for Anita, 2:05 for me.

No music tonight as we couldn't find Anita's headphones (Somehow they got into the bottom of my bag) so a nice boring row :)

Anita now says it feels like a bit of a cheat only doing an hour :) and that she wants to go faster than she is - Good signs.

I hit a nice rhythm at 24 strokes/min whilst watching Anglia Tonight - Doubt that is a sentence that has ever been written before :)

Anita - 12083m
Andy - 14404m

Cumulative - 509951m (316.7 miles)

Journey:

Start - Topnotch Gym Colchester CO4 9ES
Finish - Taissy, Marne, France http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Taissy

Day 15 - 3 Weeks done, but a bit of a struggle

2 lots of 45 mins today to finish week 3, 2:29 for Anita, 2:05 for me.

It was a bit of a struggle all told, the av. pace bounced up and down like a yo-yo, even though I thought I was pulling a consistent pace. As such some fast paced minutes were called for to keep the av. pace right over the 45 minutes.

Anita  found it to be a bit of a slog - we didn't start until 3pm and had only had breakfast before so a bit of calorie deficit came in. Also there was a bit of sleep deprivation due to work and the gym time spent after work this week, so we're both glad the hard week of the 4-week cycle is done. The next week 3 (Week 7 for us now) starts November 14th.

Next week is a repeat of week 1, so we will see how we've progressed.

Anita - 18126m
Andy - 21607m

Cumulative - 483104m (300.25 miles)

The Journey:
Start - Topnotch Gym Colchester CO4 9ES
Finish - Cormicy, Marne, France http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cormicy

Day 14 - Pain..............

3 Lots of 25 minutes tonight, 8 mins at 2:16 Anita/1:53 Andy and 17 mins at 2:26 Anita/2:02 Andy

All the targets were hit tonight but something made it one of the hardest sessions we've done - It hurt!!!

For me it seemed warm in the gym tonight, and I don't function well if I can't keep cool. For Anita she says it was her mental state - she really didn't want to do it - that made it difficult.

Anyway the worst part of the worst week of the 4 week pattern is done, and again I'm a very proud fiance :)

Anita - 15816m
Andy - 19019m

Cumulative - 427555m (265.7 miles)

The Journey:
Start - Topnotch Gym Colchester CO4 9ES
Finish - Nouvion-le-Comte, Aisne, France http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nouvion-le-Comte

Day 13 - Most Metres in a Day again!!!!!!

3 Lots of 30 mins tonight, 2:26, 2:19 and 2:26 for Anita, 2:02, 1:56 and 2:02 for Me, with 3 minutes rest between them.

This day (The Wednesday in Week 3 of 4) is the hardest day of the Quasi 4 week pattern, and both Anita and I aced it :)

Anita's middle 30 minutes (6473m) was only 75m less than her best ever in 30 minutes, in the middle of 2 other 30 minute intervals!!!!!

For me the 7763m tonight is only 113m behind my best ever. Fully Head-Colded up as well!!!

Both were the best 30 minutes we have done this season!!! Progress and a chance to update Nonathlon (www.nonathlon.com)  :)

Anita - 18805m
Andy - 22521m (Both the most we've ever rowed in 1 day)

Cumulative - 408536m (253.9 miles)

The Journey:
Start: Topnotch Gym Colchester CO4 9ES
Finish:  Gauchy, Aisne, France http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gauchy

Day 12 - Rowing with a Cold :(

4 lots of 15 minutes today, 9 minutes at 2:16 for Anita, 1:53 for me, and 6 minutes at 2:26 for Anita, 2:02 for me.

Both of us did the required distance, Anita struggled on the last one but made up the time to get back on track in the last 6 minutes.

I've got a cold that has come out today, but completed all the distances, indeed rowing the furthest on the last 15 minutes.

Anita - 12861m
Andy - 15509m

Cumulative - 367210m (228.2 miles)

The Journey -

Start - Topnotch Gym Colchester CO4 9ES
Finish - Inchy-en-Artois, Pas-de-Calais, France http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Inchy-en-Artois

Day 11 - Most Metres in a day ever, for both of us!!!!!!

2 lots of 45 minutes today, 2:29 for Anita and 2:05 for me

Anita again did really well, completing both 45 minute stints well, and the only issue I had was my posterior falling asleep in the last 15 minutes :)

I lost 2kg last week, and over an inch on my Chest, Waist and Hips (Over the last 2 weeks), whereas Anita actually gained 200g, and gained slightly on her Chest measurement, but lost on her hips.

I believe I am now losing fat having toned a bit in week 1, whereas Anita is still putting muscle on, and will start losing over the next few weeks.

Anita - 18127m
Andy - 21607m

Cumulative Total - 338840m (210.6 miles)

The Journey:
Start: Topnotch Gym Colchester CO4 9ES
Finish: Arras, Pas-de-Calais, France http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arras

Day 10 - 2 Weeks done, and a visit from Jimmy!!!!!

2 lots of 40 minutes at default marathon pace today (2:29 Anita, 2:05 Andy)

Both of us completed the time quite easily, and a few minutes into our 2nd stint the legend that is Jimmy McCullagh turned up at the gym, after doing a test for his London Marathon training.

We had a 10 minute-ish conversation (Both Anita, Jimmy and I) and we were shocked that it was an easy conversational pace for us. Anita is definitely keeping her heart rate much lower, and her breathing is very controlled, even on an 80 minute piece like we did today.

We also noticed in the Gym today a 50km challenge board, where the challenge is to rack up 50km in the month of October on either the Treadmill, Cross Trainer, Bike or Rower. We have done just shy of 300km together in the first 2 weeks of October!!!!!

Anita - 16112m
Andy - 19207m

Cumulative Total - 299106m (185.9 miles)

As a Journey:

Start: Topnotch Gym Colchester CO4 9ES
Finish: Burbure, Pas-de-Calais, France (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Burbure)