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
Showing posts with label sport relief. Show all posts
Showing posts with label sport relief. Show all posts
Monday, 9 January 2012
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 :)
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
Friday, 30 December 2011
Days 53 & 54 - A Tale of Two Challenges
After the Half Marathon jolity on Christmas Eve the plan was to do the C2CTC 5k downhill (2k,1.5k,1k,500m each with 1R), the C2UK Challenge Series 5K and a couple of gym sessions this week, but due to general levels of illness (Anita has been fighting off a fever for the past 4 days) on the 2 Challenges have been done - Total 10k each this week.
Firstly the C2CTC (Concept2 Cross Team Challenge) where Anita and I compete for C2TweetCrew.
Anita went first and set some very good times (Though she didn't see it that way):
2K - 8:23.8 PB (Previous PB 8:35) - 2:06.0 Av
1.5K - 6:18.9 - 2:06.3 Av
1K - 4:17.5 SB - 2:08.8 Av
500m - 2:01.9
Total - 21:02.1
She hadn't been feeling particularly well, and suffered a bit from a runaway heart rate during what is a particularly nasty challenge.
Me:
2K - 6:51.0 PB (Previous PB 6:56.5) - 1:42.7 Av
1.5K - 5:15.4 - 1:45.1 Av
1K - 3:32.0 SB - 1:46.0 Av
500m - 1:38.2
Total - 17:16.6
I lost it in the arms (I haven't done enough metres this month) from 500m into the 1.5k and struggled to keep the time respectable.
Currently we are both in the 2nd C2TC boat for December.
Onto earlier today - the 5K for the C2UK Challenge Series.
I went first and set a 17:53.9 PB (1:47.4), previous best 18:29.7. I feel a bit disappointed as my November Challenge Series of 6344m was at 1:47.6, so I wanted at 1:46 av - again not enough metres this month, which I plan to remedy in January for the Virtual Team Challenge (Rack up as many metres as possible in January for your team)
Anita then set an amazing 21:39.2 PB (2:09.9), Previous PB 22:46.4 (2:16.6)!!!!!!!! She is much happier when she can maintain her HR, and indeed she was at 2:11.5 at halfway and Neg-Splited her way to a sub 2:10 average, which is a massive milestone.
We may or may not retry the C2CTC tomorrow AM, but in the PM I'm going for a dip in the River Stour (Top of Essex) with a few mad friends, current water Temp 10C, but the ambient temp tomorrow should be 12C - It could be a lot worse on December 31st at 52N :)
http://maps.google.co.uk/maps?hl=en&q=Wrabness&gs_upl=&bav=on.2,or.r_gc.r_pw.,cf.osb&biw=1366&bih=643&ion=1&um=1&ie=UTF-8&hq=&hnear=0x47d974abf5b46aad:0x167e8ebc38f87fc7,Wrabness,+Essex&gl=uk&ei=wET-Tr6-L5D48QO9hYCyAQ&sa=X&oi=geocode_result&ct=image&resnum=2&ved=0CD4Q8gEwAQ
Cumulative Metres since 3rd October: 1706329m (1060.5 miles)
The Journey:
Start - Topnotch Gym Colchester CO4 9ES
Finish - Völs, Tyrol, Austria http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/V%C3%B6ls,_Tyrol
Firstly the C2CTC (Concept2 Cross Team Challenge) where Anita and I compete for C2TweetCrew.
Anita went first and set some very good times (Though she didn't see it that way):
2K - 8:23.8 PB (Previous PB 8:35) - 2:06.0 Av
1.5K - 6:18.9 - 2:06.3 Av
1K - 4:17.5 SB - 2:08.8 Av
500m - 2:01.9
Total - 21:02.1
She hadn't been feeling particularly well, and suffered a bit from a runaway heart rate during what is a particularly nasty challenge.
Me:
2K - 6:51.0 PB (Previous PB 6:56.5) - 1:42.7 Av
1.5K - 5:15.4 - 1:45.1 Av
1K - 3:32.0 SB - 1:46.0 Av
500m - 1:38.2
Total - 17:16.6
I lost it in the arms (I haven't done enough metres this month) from 500m into the 1.5k and struggled to keep the time respectable.
Currently we are both in the 2nd C2TC boat for December.
Onto earlier today - the 5K for the C2UK Challenge Series.
I went first and set a 17:53.9 PB (1:47.4), previous best 18:29.7. I feel a bit disappointed as my November Challenge Series of 6344m was at 1:47.6, so I wanted at 1:46 av - again not enough metres this month, which I plan to remedy in January for the Virtual Team Challenge (Rack up as many metres as possible in January for your team)
Anita then set an amazing 21:39.2 PB (2:09.9), Previous PB 22:46.4 (2:16.6)!!!!!!!! She is much happier when she can maintain her HR, and indeed she was at 2:11.5 at halfway and Neg-Splited her way to a sub 2:10 average, which is a massive milestone.
We may or may not retry the C2CTC tomorrow AM, but in the PM I'm going for a dip in the River Stour (Top of Essex) with a few mad friends, current water Temp 10C, but the ambient temp tomorrow should be 12C - It could be a lot worse on December 31st at 52N :)
http://maps.google.co.uk/maps?hl=en&q=Wrabness&gs_upl=&bav=on.2,or.r_gc.r_pw.,cf.osb&biw=1366&bih=643&ion=1&um=1&ie=UTF-8&hq=&hnear=0x47d974abf5b46aad:0x167e8ebc38f87fc7,Wrabness,+Essex&gl=uk&ei=wET-Tr6-L5D48QO9hYCyAQ&sa=X&oi=geocode_result&ct=image&resnum=2&ved=0CD4Q8gEwAQ
Cumulative Metres since 3rd October: 1706329m (1060.5 miles)
The Journey:
Start - Topnotch Gym Colchester CO4 9ES
Finish - Völs, Tyrol, Austria http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/V%C3%B6ls,_Tyrol
Wednesday, 21 December 2011
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
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
Monday, 19 December 2011
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
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
Saturday, 17 December 2011
Day 48 - Wednesday Win for Anita, Woe for me.....
A planned 3 30' intervals on Wednesday night, 2:24, 2:16, 2:24 for Anita, 2:00, 1:54 and 2:00 for me - 3R
The first interval went Ok-ish for both of us - we've both been feeling rundown as we've just been so busy on the run-up to Christmas but it was still good to sit down and row for 30 minutes at a reasonable pace.
The second interval however was a very mixed bag. Anita rowed a 2:16.9 for a PB 30', but did say it was very tough (This for someone who rowed a 2:10.9 to 6344m not too long ago) whereas I hit the wall.
Not wanting to make excuses but 'The Perfect Storm' occurred for me:
1. Felt ill anyway
2. Forgot my gloves (Starts to hurt my hand due to me grip, plus I never seem to be able to get the power down at the same stroke rate)
3 My earphones gave up on me.
As such I maintained 1:53 for about 16 minutes, but it was then my arms fell off, plus my spm were too high and my heart rate became unmanageable ( Again I did a 1:476 for 6344m not too long ago) so I handled-down at 5k (19:40), and rowed a slow 2k (9:03) beside Anita as she was rowing towards her PB.
We decided to not do the 3rd interval as we both felt pretty spent :)
That's it for this week - We have Anita's sister over from Michigan for the weekend, and her youngest is overnighting tonight so we'll be having a lovely festive time of it.
However the plan stands for next week - Week 12 and the final normal week of the 14 leading to the first Marathon, with a HM piece (Anita's never done a HM attempt, me only once) on Christmas Eve, setting us in good stead for the 2 taper weeks of the plan.
I will also be doing a short weekly round-up on the Concept2 UK website (www.concept2.co.uk) of our progress, so expect to see this in the coming weeks
The first interval went Ok-ish for both of us - we've both been feeling rundown as we've just been so busy on the run-up to Christmas but it was still good to sit down and row for 30 minutes at a reasonable pace.
The second interval however was a very mixed bag. Anita rowed a 2:16.9 for a PB 30', but did say it was very tough (This for someone who rowed a 2:10.9 to 6344m not too long ago) whereas I hit the wall.
Not wanting to make excuses but 'The Perfect Storm' occurred for me:
1. Felt ill anyway
2. Forgot my gloves (Starts to hurt my hand due to me grip, plus I never seem to be able to get the power down at the same stroke rate)
3 My earphones gave up on me.
As such I maintained 1:53 for about 16 minutes, but it was then my arms fell off, plus my spm were too high and my heart rate became unmanageable ( Again I did a 1:476 for 6344m not too long ago) so I handled-down at 5k (19:40), and rowed a slow 2k (9:03) beside Anita as she was rowing towards her PB.
We decided to not do the 3rd interval as we both felt pretty spent :)
That's it for this week - We have Anita's sister over from Michigan for the weekend, and her youngest is overnighting tonight so we'll be having a lovely festive time of it.
However the plan stands for next week - Week 12 and the final normal week of the 14 leading to the first Marathon, with a HM piece (Anita's never done a HM attempt, me only once) on Christmas Eve, setting us in good stead for the 2 taper weeks of the plan.
I will also be doing a short weekly round-up on the Concept2 UK website (www.concept2.co.uk) of our progress, so expect to see this in the coming weeks
Saturday, 10 December 2011
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
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
Monday, 5 December 2011
Day 46 - Stepping it up again :)
2 lots of 40 minutes today, 2:27 for Anita, 2:03 for me, 4R
Some interesting physiological differences today for me - In the last 20 minutes I actually started to get cold!!! I sweated a bit less than usual tonight, but definitely took on as much liquid during both the day and the workout as I usually do.
Yesterday was a pretty protein-rich day, having been to the famous Company Shed in West Mersea (http://www.guardian.co.uk/lifeandstyle/2007/sep/23/foodanddrink.restaurants) with our close friend-down-from-London Beth, her partner Michelle and their crazy Staffy Chana. The seafood there is simple and amazing, and after a 3 mile walk it really hit the spot :) I just wonder if the visit affected me today (Though performance-wise I felt fine)
Anita has achy arms this evening - She was rowing at 18-20 spm, but it was only afterwards that she started to feel it.
We've a very busy week this week, with both of us at Christmas Parties on Friday, so Saturday is now planned to be 40 min WU 2:27 Anita, 2:03 me, 4 x 15 intervals 7'/8' split 2:14/2:24 Anita, 1:51/2:00 me, 40 min CD 2:27 Anita, 2:03 me - Anita will be around 34km, 40.6km for me :)
Also nice to see this evening 11 c2tweeters are on the Holiday Challenge Honour Board :)
Anita: 16331m
Andy: 19519m
Cumulative: 1431824m (889.9 miles)
The Journey:
Start - Topnotch Gym, Colchester CO4 9ES
Finish - Petersort, Morschach, Switzerland - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Morschach
Some interesting physiological differences today for me - In the last 20 minutes I actually started to get cold!!! I sweated a bit less than usual tonight, but definitely took on as much liquid during both the day and the workout as I usually do.
Yesterday was a pretty protein-rich day, having been to the famous Company Shed in West Mersea (http://www.guardian.co.uk/lifeandstyle/2007/sep/23/foodanddrink.restaurants) with our close friend-down-from-London Beth, her partner Michelle and their crazy Staffy Chana. The seafood there is simple and amazing, and after a 3 mile walk it really hit the spot :) I just wonder if the visit affected me today (Though performance-wise I felt fine)
Anita has achy arms this evening - She was rowing at 18-20 spm, but it was only afterwards that she started to feel it.
We've a very busy week this week, with both of us at Christmas Parties on Friday, so Saturday is now planned to be 40 min WU 2:27 Anita, 2:03 me, 4 x 15 intervals 7'/8' split 2:14/2:24 Anita, 1:51/2:00 me, 40 min CD 2:27 Anita, 2:03 me - Anita will be around 34km, 40.6km for me :)
Also nice to see this evening 11 c2tweeters are on the Holiday Challenge Honour Board :)
Anita: 16331m
Andy: 19519m
Cumulative: 1431824m (889.9 miles)
The Journey:
Start - Topnotch Gym, Colchester CO4 9ES
Finish - Petersort, Morschach, Switzerland - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Morschach
Sunday, 4 December 2011
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/
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/
Friday, 2 December 2011
Day 44 - End of a long week
4 lots of 15 today, 9'/6' split, 2:14/2:24 for Anita, 1:51/2:00 for me, 4R.
Both of us have had a long tiring week this week, with early starts (5am for me) and some late evenings, and as such tonight was quite difficult.
I felt the lack of energy tonight, with the 6' at 1:51 4 times feeling tough at times. I try to lose myself in something at that point, either music or whatever is going on around me at the gym at the time.
We both hit all our targets, but Anita felt it as well tonight.
Anita: 12969m
Andy: 15629m
Cumulative: 1369086m (850.9 miles)
The Journey:
Start: Topnotch Gym, Colchester, Essex, CO4 9ES
Finish: Oberalpenstafel, Oberwald, Switzerland http://www.summitpost.org/ski-route/162566
Both of us have had a long tiring week this week, with early starts (5am for me) and some late evenings, and as such tonight was quite difficult.
I felt the lack of energy tonight, with the 6' at 1:51 4 times feeling tough at times. I try to lose myself in something at that point, either music or whatever is going on around me at the gym at the time.
We both hit all our targets, but Anita felt it as well tonight.
Anita: 12969m
Andy: 15629m
Cumulative: 1369086m (850.9 miles)
The Journey:
Start: Topnotch Gym, Colchester, Essex, CO4 9ES
Finish: Oberalpenstafel, Oberwald, Switzerland http://www.summitpost.org/ski-route/162566
Wednesday, 30 November 2011
Day 43 - A call to arms....
After a call to arms for the C2TweetCrew by Johan today's plan changed slightly - 3 lots of 20 mins, 2:24, 2:17 and 2:20 for Anita, 2:00, 1:54 and 1:57 for me, 2R, at the gym followed by the C2CTC 4x200m 1R challenge for November when we got home.
The 20 minute pieces tend to be quite hard, being the 3rd of 3 training days, and also including quite a quick interval as the 2nd of the 3 20's. Tonight wasn't too bad, but the impending unknown 4x200m challenge piece definitely made me try to reserve some energy. Anita also felt the session was quite hard, and lacked energy, but knocked out the distance as she always does - all the targets were met.
After the short journey home (20 minute drive) we both put our attempts in for the team challenge (Later I was made aware that I had put Anita in as a man at signup - Oh how we laughed :s)
4 x 200m is a bit of an unknown for me - I don't really know how to properly sprint on the rower so I gave it a fly and die - Started out way to fast and suffered in the final 2 intervals but was happy with it nonetheless, especially as it was after 15.4km of rowing already this evening (Video at x4 speed so you don't get too bored!)
2:15.4 at 1:24.6 average - Not too bad but sub 2:10 would be a possibility if I was fresh
Then Anita's turn :) She openly admits to not liking sprinting, but I think she did superbly.
2:49.6 at 1:46.0 average!!!!! Not bad again after 12.8km
Anita: 12836m + 800m C2CTC = 13636m
Andy: 15395m + 800m C2CTC = 16195m
Cumulative: 1340488m (833 miles)
The Journey:
Start: Topnotch Gym, Colchester, Essex
Finish: Niederwald, Goms, Valais http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Niederwald,_Switzerland
The 20 minute pieces tend to be quite hard, being the 3rd of 3 training days, and also including quite a quick interval as the 2nd of the 3 20's. Tonight wasn't too bad, but the impending unknown 4x200m challenge piece definitely made me try to reserve some energy. Anita also felt the session was quite hard, and lacked energy, but knocked out the distance as she always does - all the targets were met.
After the short journey home (20 minute drive) we both put our attempts in for the team challenge (Later I was made aware that I had put Anita in as a man at signup - Oh how we laughed :s)
4 x 200m is a bit of an unknown for me - I don't really know how to properly sprint on the rower so I gave it a fly and die - Started out way to fast and suffered in the final 2 intervals but was happy with it nonetheless, especially as it was after 15.4km of rowing already this evening (Video at x4 speed so you don't get too bored!)
2:15.4 at 1:24.6 average - Not too bad but sub 2:10 would be a possibility if I was fresh
Then Anita's turn :) She openly admits to not liking sprinting, but I think she did superbly.
Anita: 12836m + 800m C2CTC = 13636m
Andy: 15395m + 800m C2CTC = 16195m
Cumulative: 1340488m (833 miles)
The Journey:
Start: Topnotch Gym, Colchester, Essex
Finish: Niederwald, Goms, Valais http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Niederwald,_Switzerland
Tuesday, 29 November 2011
Day 42 - Anita strays to a PB.....
4 lots of 15 mins tonight, split into 6'/9' portions, 2:14/2:24 for Anita, 1:51/2:00 for me, 4R
Not particularly enjoyable for me tonight as I felt a lack of energy, but it was still nice after work to be able to get on the erg and row. I hit all the targets, but again the 3rd interval felt the most difficult (Psychological more than anything else now - still got an interval left to do at that point).
Anita however is going from strength to strength, and now lets herself have a blow out on the last interval of the 4-interval days. Tonight she broke her 15 minute PB (was a single piece 3375m (2:13.4), now 3402 (2:12.3)) ON THE 4TH OF 4 INTERVALS!!!!!
Obviously I had to tell her off for straying from the plan afterwards :)
Anita: 13184m
Andy: 15639m
Cumulative: 1310657m (814.6 miles)
The Journey:
Start: Topnotch Gym, Colchester, Essex, England CO4 9ES
Finish: Brigerbad, Brig-Glis, Valais, Switzerland http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brig,_Switzerland
Not particularly enjoyable for me tonight as I felt a lack of energy, but it was still nice after work to be able to get on the erg and row. I hit all the targets, but again the 3rd interval felt the most difficult (Psychological more than anything else now - still got an interval left to do at that point).
Anita however is going from strength to strength, and now lets herself have a blow out on the last interval of the 4-interval days. Tonight she broke her 15 minute PB (was a single piece 3375m (2:13.4), now 3402 (2:12.3)) ON THE 4TH OF 4 INTERVALS!!!!!
Obviously I had to tell her off for straying from the plan afterwards :)
Anita: 13184m
Andy: 15639m
Cumulative: 1310657m (814.6 miles)
The Journey:
Start: Topnotch Gym, Colchester, Essex, England CO4 9ES
Finish: Brigerbad, Brig-Glis, Valais, Switzerland http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brig,_Switzerland
Monday, 28 November 2011
Day 41 - The Calm after the storm :)
2 lots of 30 mins tonight, 2:27 for Anita, 2:03 for me, 3R (1s/500m quicker than the last 4 weeks).
After yesterday's 6344m blast today was a nice sedate hour of UT1/2 intensity rowing. Possibly because yesterday was such a landmark it felt a lot easier than ever before, for the both of us, and that an hour is a bit of a cheat :) Anita says she feels like she should be doing more, but I'm of the ilk that Eddie Fletcher knows what he's doing, and though I've modified the plan slightly (Up the pace by 1s/500m on all pieces every 4 weeks) I don't want to diverge from it - It's produced some pretty phenomenal results so far at relatively short distances :)
Anita: 12249m
Andy: 14639m
Cumulative (Since 3rd Oct): 1281834m (796.7 miles)
The Journey:
Start - Topnotch Gym, Colchester CO11 2TR
Finish - L'Ermitage, Loèche, Switzerland
After yesterday's 6344m blast today was a nice sedate hour of UT1/2 intensity rowing. Possibly because yesterday was such a landmark it felt a lot easier than ever before, for the both of us, and that an hour is a bit of a cheat :) Anita says she feels like she should be doing more, but I'm of the ilk that Eddie Fletcher knows what he's doing, and though I've modified the plan slightly (Up the pace by 1s/500m on all pieces every 4 weeks) I don't want to diverge from it - It's produced some pretty phenomenal results so far at relatively short distances :)
Anita: 12249m
Andy: 14639m
Cumulative (Since 3rd Oct): 1281834m (796.7 miles)
The Journey:
Start - Topnotch Gym, Colchester CO11 2TR
Finish - L'Ermitage, Loèche, Switzerland
Saturday, 26 November 2011
Day 40 - 8 weeks done and a birthday
2 lots of 30 minutes to end week 8 and the 2nd of the 4 week rotations in the Eddie Fletcher Marathon Plan - 2:28 for Anita, 2:04 for me, 3R
I woke up 1 year older this morning (now 32) and to celebrate Anita and I went to lunch with my prospective father-in-law, Paul, at a lovely Thai restaurant in Witham.
Before this we did the 2 30 minute pieces, Anita describing it as a warm up, then warm down, whilst watching Saturday Kitchen on the monitor in the Gym.
We are now both rowing fit, after 1.2MM together in 8 weeks, so these saturday pieces feel very easy, which is good considering we'll row about 14 (me) and 18(Anita) back to back in March,
I'm a Management Information Analyst by day, so below is a graph of what the Eddie Fletcher Plan looks like, plotted by Metres Rowed/Day:
Smooth this out and it would almost resemble a heart beat trace :)
Challenge Series 6344m tomorrow - Looking forward to it :)
Anita: 12167m - 565781m cumulative (351.6 miles)
Andy: 14519m - 676477m cumulative (420.4 miles)
Total - 1242258m (772 miles)
The Journey:
Start: Topnotch Gym, Colchester CO4 9ES
Via: La Tzoumaz (Our Honeymoon Destination :))
Finish: Riddes, Martigny, Valais, Switzerland http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Riddes
I woke up 1 year older this morning (now 32) and to celebrate Anita and I went to lunch with my prospective father-in-law, Paul, at a lovely Thai restaurant in Witham.
Before this we did the 2 30 minute pieces, Anita describing it as a warm up, then warm down, whilst watching Saturday Kitchen on the monitor in the Gym.
We are now both rowing fit, after 1.2MM together in 8 weeks, so these saturday pieces feel very easy, which is good considering we'll row about 14 (me) and 18(Anita) back to back in March,
I'm a Management Information Analyst by day, so below is a graph of what the Eddie Fletcher Plan looks like, plotted by Metres Rowed/Day:
Smooth this out and it would almost resemble a heart beat trace :)
Challenge Series 6344m tomorrow - Looking forward to it :)
Anita: 12167m - 565781m cumulative (351.6 miles)
Andy: 14519m - 676477m cumulative (420.4 miles)
Total - 1242258m (772 miles)
The Journey:
Start: Topnotch Gym, Colchester CO4 9ES
Via: La Tzoumaz (Our Honeymoon Destination :))
Finish: Riddes, Martigny, Valais, Switzerland http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Riddes
Wednesday, 23 November 2011
Day 38 - Keeping us honest :)
3 lots of 20 mins today, 2:25, 2:18, 2:21 for Anita, 2:01, 1:55, 1:58 for me, 2R.
Nice and easy again today to start with, with an nice slow(ish) 20 mins, followed by the fast piece, then a warm-down.
Anita - "I felt like I'd done a work-out, even though it was only an hour".
Wednesdays to me are the most difficult pieces we do on this plan, with the middle 20/30 minute piece a real good blow-out. It's nice to now be able to comfortably sustain 1:52 for 15 minutes, before letting the pace drop off towards 1:55 over the last 5 minutes. I now consider 1:55 a HM pace for me (1:20), and will be trying to go below that on Christmas Eve :) For Anita I think 2:22 is achievable now for a sub 1:40, which would be amazing :)
Anita: 12745m
Andy: 15266m
Cumulative: 1186809m (737.6 miles)
The Journey:
Start: Topnotch Gym Colchester CO4 9ES
Finish: Aigle, Vaud, Switzerland http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aigle
Nice and easy again today to start with, with an nice slow(ish) 20 mins, followed by the fast piece, then a warm-down.
Anita - "I felt like I'd done a work-out, even though it was only an hour".
Wednesdays to me are the most difficult pieces we do on this plan, with the middle 20/30 minute piece a real good blow-out. It's nice to now be able to comfortably sustain 1:52 for 15 minutes, before letting the pace drop off towards 1:55 over the last 5 minutes. I now consider 1:55 a HM pace for me (1:20), and will be trying to go below that on Christmas Eve :) For Anita I think 2:22 is achievable now for a sub 1:40, which would be amazing :)
Anita: 12745m
Andy: 15266m
Cumulative: 1186809m (737.6 miles)
The Journey:
Start: Topnotch Gym Colchester CO4 9ES
Finish: Aigle, Vaud, Switzerland http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aigle
Tuesday, 22 November 2011
Day 37 - Cheat Week :)
4 Lots of 15 mins tonight, 6'/9' split, 2:15/2:25 for Anita, 1:52/2:01 for me, 4R.
Anita now regards an hour of rowing as "Cheating" - It doesn't seem enough :) We are both well ahead of the training plan with regards to how easy it feels, which can only mean Mr Fletcher's plan is a resounding success, and the minor amendment I made to it before the start (Increase pace by 1' on each piece every 4 week-cycle) seems to be pushing our fitness levels up even quicker.
I can honestly say I've not felt this fit since Uni (Where I was playing Football (Soccer) 7 days a week) some 12 years ago, Anita says she is fitter than at any time in her adult life, and compared to 2 years ago (When both Anita & I set most of our current PB's) both Anita and I are streets ahead - Last week I PB'd on the 30 mins on the 2nd of my 3 30 min pieces on the day, and Anita's last 25 minute piece last Friday (Out of 3) was at a lower pace than her best ever 5k, even though she rowed for 2 minutes more.
We both now end the 4 piece Tuesday/Most Fridays with a sharp interval - My 1:52 6' ended up nearer 1:47, Anita's 2:15 6' nearer 2:11 - I'm very proud of what Anita is achieving, and looking forward very much to a lifetime with her, staying fit on the Concept2 :)
Anita: 13074m
Andy: 15500m
Cumulative: 1158798m (720 miles)
The Journey:
Start - Topnotch Gym, Colchester, CO4 9ES
Via:
Calais
Reims
Troyes
Dijon
Geneva
Finish - Chardonne, Riviera-Pays-D'Enhaut, Vaud, Switzerland
Anita now regards an hour of rowing as "Cheating" - It doesn't seem enough :) We are both well ahead of the training plan with regards to how easy it feels, which can only mean Mr Fletcher's plan is a resounding success, and the minor amendment I made to it before the start (Increase pace by 1' on each piece every 4 week-cycle) seems to be pushing our fitness levels up even quicker.
I can honestly say I've not felt this fit since Uni (Where I was playing Football (Soccer) 7 days a week) some 12 years ago, Anita says she is fitter than at any time in her adult life, and compared to 2 years ago (When both Anita & I set most of our current PB's) both Anita and I are streets ahead - Last week I PB'd on the 30 mins on the 2nd of my 3 30 min pieces on the day, and Anita's last 25 minute piece last Friday (Out of 3) was at a lower pace than her best ever 5k, even though she rowed for 2 minutes more.
We both now end the 4 piece Tuesday/Most Fridays with a sharp interval - My 1:52 6' ended up nearer 1:47, Anita's 2:15 6' nearer 2:11 - I'm very proud of what Anita is achieving, and looking forward very much to a lifetime with her, staying fit on the Concept2 :)
Anita: 13074m
Andy: 15500m
Cumulative: 1158798m (720 miles)
The Journey:
Start - Topnotch Gym, Colchester, CO4 9ES
Via:
Calais
Reims
Troyes
Dijon
Geneva
Finish - Chardonne, Riviera-Pays-D'Enhaut, Vaud, Switzerland
Monday, 21 November 2011
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
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
Saturday, 19 November 2011
Day 35 - Another week done, another week closer to the 100km
2 lots of 45 mins to end week 7, the second intense week of the 14 week cycle; 2:28 for Anita, 2:04 for me, 4.5R
The Saturday row is a nice long, relatively low-intensity row, but its still 90 minutes worth of rowing, so it's more a psychological test than physical now.
Anita is finding her physiology is changing - she always used to suffer from overheating during exercise. Now she perspires (no, sweats :)) more, but is regulating her body temperature much more efficiently than before, a sign of improving fitness. She also used to lose her breath during exercise, this doesn't happen anywhere near as much as before, only during intense (Sub 2:00) rowing. Psychologically she deals with the time aspect better than I do, and his happy with her music.
After every session now (1 hour being the shortest) I'm absolutely drenched in sweat, but within an hour (After we've got home and showered) I get the endorphin rush, which usually tides me over for about 2 hours before food energy kicks in. One thing I'm starting to realise through experience is the food choice prior to exercise is massively important - I need lots of Carbs/Natural Sugars. Today I had Scrambled Egg./Toast for breakfast, and suffered in the last 15 minutes (75 to 90 minutes) because of it. High carb breakfasts or lunches always allow me to exert myself to the fullest in rowing sessions, but low carb meals afterwards (high protein) are seeming to be the way forward for weight loss.
Lastly, I passed 1MM lifetime today (601018m since October 3rd this year), and expect to go past 2MM in February 2012. Anita has another couple of weeks to her first MM :)
Anita: 18249m
Andy: 21780m
Cumulative:
Anita: 502019m (312.3 miles)
Andy: 601018m (373.5 miles)
Total: 1103537m (685.8 miles)
Journey:
Start: Topnotch Gym, Colchester CO4 9ES
Finish: Chavannes-de-Bogis, Vaud, Switzerland http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chavannes-de-Bogis
The Saturday row is a nice long, relatively low-intensity row, but its still 90 minutes worth of rowing, so it's more a psychological test than physical now.
Anita is finding her physiology is changing - she always used to suffer from overheating during exercise. Now she perspires (no, sweats :)) more, but is regulating her body temperature much more efficiently than before, a sign of improving fitness. She also used to lose her breath during exercise, this doesn't happen anywhere near as much as before, only during intense (Sub 2:00) rowing. Psychologically she deals with the time aspect better than I do, and his happy with her music.
After every session now (1 hour being the shortest) I'm absolutely drenched in sweat, but within an hour (After we've got home and showered) I get the endorphin rush, which usually tides me over for about 2 hours before food energy kicks in. One thing I'm starting to realise through experience is the food choice prior to exercise is massively important - I need lots of Carbs/Natural Sugars. Today I had Scrambled Egg./Toast for breakfast, and suffered in the last 15 minutes (75 to 90 minutes) because of it. High carb breakfasts or lunches always allow me to exert myself to the fullest in rowing sessions, but low carb meals afterwards (high protein) are seeming to be the way forward for weight loss.
Lastly, I passed 1MM lifetime today (601018m since October 3rd this year), and expect to go past 2MM in February 2012. Anita has another couple of weeks to her first MM :)
Anita: 18249m
Andy: 21780m
Cumulative:
Anita: 502019m (312.3 miles)
Andy: 601018m (373.5 miles)
Total: 1103537m (685.8 miles)
Journey:
Start: Topnotch Gym, Colchester CO4 9ES
Finish: Chavannes-de-Bogis, Vaud, Switzerland http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chavannes-de-Bogis
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