Day 78 - All Hail Anitatron :)

A Big Boys/Girls Pyramid today, 30', 45', 1hr, 45', 30' with approx 4' Rest (Can't program variable intervals on a PM2 :() - 3hr 30min total.

Me first as it is less impressive than Anita - The first 3 intervals (Up to 2:15 rowed) were sub 2:00 pace, even with a seat pad removal on the hour (1:58, 1:58.5, 1:59.5) but I then hit the wall on the 2nd 45' interval, and could only pull myself to a 2:03.5. I then decided to do a 30' warm-down on the X-Trainer (122bpm 'Fat Burn') instead of the final 30' interval on the C2 as I just had nothing left.

I'm starting to think our current calorie regime is OK up to about 2hrs rowing sub 2:00 pace for me , but past that I need to eat more in the day-or-so before to get the endurance for sub 2:00 for longer.

Now to Ms Wells - Absolutely awesome consistency, every interval at 2:21 or 2:20.9, each interval at 23spm. I'm really envious of how she can lose herself in music or the TV at the gym, at her strength of will and strength of mind. Unfortunately these long sessions do take it out of her (I tend to be OK when I get back and get some chores done) and she is now laying on the sofa feeling a bid nauseous whilst watching Biggest Loser USA - I think this is mainly down to her body chemistry, but she's so stubborn in her pursuit of her goal (Get to 11st and break PB's on the C2) that she will push herself too far some times. I'm very very proud of her though - We've been at this now for 18 weeks!!! To stick at the intensity that we've been at for most of this time is very very special!!

Anita - 44696m - 102640 for the week
Andy - 45025m - 107040 for the week
Cumulative - 2788501m (1733 miles)

The Journey:
Start - Topnotch Gym, Colchester CO4 9ES
Finish - Chmeľov, Slovakia http://en.db-city.com/Slovakia/Pre%C5%A1ov/Pre%C5%A1ov/Chme%C4%BEov

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 32 - Sprints after a day of databases.............

4 lots of 15 mins tonight, 9' 2:15 and 6' 2:25 for Anita, 9' 1:52 and 6' 2:01 for me, 4R.

Went over to St. Ives in Cambs today to go through the new database/client system schema, and got back to Colchester mid-afternoon, so it wasn't too bad a day considering.

In the first 15' I suffered again from the pressure-point issues in my left glute that I had last night, sapping strength  in my left leg again. For my second piece onwards I sat on my towel, which was a quick remedy. I hit all the targets and more though, so it wasn't anywhere near as big an issue as it was last night over the 90 minutes.

It's getting a bit boring re. Anita - She yet again stormed it, getting faster with every interval, finishing with 3350m (2:14.3) - I think 2:14 av for her 6344m Challenge Series piece is more than doable, if not a bit conservative :)

The biggy tomorrow - 3 lots of 30', including what will be both our fastest 30' of the season so far (2:18 for Anita, 1:55 for me)

Anita: 13228m
Andy: 15752m

Cumulative: 986346m (613 miles) - 1MM cumulative tomorrow, in 32.5 sessions :)

The Journey:

Start: Topnotch Gym, Colchester CO4 9ES
Finish: Pont D'Ain, Ain,. France http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pont-d'Ain