Monday morning rowing, 2K (10:13.6) warm up, Concept 2 WoD was a 2K Time Trial, so even though I didn’t expect a new PB, I decided to give it a go anyway.
After the first 2K (8:13.0 – 2:03.2/500m) I knew this was never going to be a PB, the second 2K (8:39.4 – 2:09.8/500m) confirmed this suspicion, the third 2K (9:07.5 – 2:16.8/500m) continued the downward trend with the forth 2K (9:24.8 – 2:21.2/500m) being the slowest, I managed to pick it up for the last 2K (8:39.9 – 2:09.0/500m), but had left it a bit too late to stay below 44 minutes and finished with a time of 44:04.5 (2:12.2/500m).
Well at least I can still put in a decent effort even if I am still tired from the weekend, just proves that rest days really are needed. I finished off with a 2,247m (11:46.8) cool down and some stretching. More episodes of Battlestar Galactica were watched.
Tuesday, was a well earned rest day, and the evening archery session was cancelled as well so we just had a social meeting at the Cricket Club.
Wednesday morning rowing, Rowvember Day 1 ‘Catch the Coach’: 6 x 500m, 1:00r, 2:20, 2:10, 2:00, 1:50, 1:40, 1:30. 2,000m (10:00.1) warm up, this is 2:30 pace, so getting ready tor the 0:10 pace drops already.
Nailed the pace for the first 5. Number 5 was starting to push the heart rate up (173), only dropped back to 153 before the start of number 6 and with a PB of 1:35 when fresh, 1:30 was always going to be a stretch.
On the last one, I managed 1:38 for about 30 seconds, dropped to 1:40, then by 1:00 was at 1:44 and finished at 1:48 pace with nothing left. I was hoping for at least a final negative split, but that wasn’t happening either.
2,244m (11:01.3) cool down and stretching to finish off.
Thursday morning rowing, 2,000m (10:00.8) warm up, then Rowvember Day 2 ‘Tough Times’: 4 x 10:00, 2:00r, as 5:00 @ 20spm, 5:00 @ 24spm, except that I only programmed 2 rounds instead of 4, I obviously can’t read!
1,167m for the first 5 minutes at 20spm, then 1,201m for the 5 minutes at 24spm, 2 minutes rest, then 1,171m for the 20spm and 1,237m for the 24spm.
Tesco delivery arrived just as I finished the cool down.
If I had done the 4 rounds, as the workout intended, then I would have been interrupted by the Tesco delivery at about round 4 and messed it up anyway.
On the plus side, I have some numbers to beat when I repeat this one, although I may yet modify the stroke rates and do it on the SkiErg.
Friday morning skiing, 1,026m (5:53.7) warm up, then onto Rowvember Day 4 ‘Pulling Teeth’: 32 x 0:20 @ 22spm, 0:40r.
77,77,77,78,82,82,80,80,81.81,81,81,82,82,82,80,82,81,80,83,83,81,83,81,82,82,78,82,82,83,83,85m
22spm on a RowErg equates to about 38spm on a SkiErg, although trying to hit that value exactly over a 20 second piece with a ‘ramp up’ is practically impossible.
The first few, I was still getting a feel for what I thought I could maintain for the 32 intervals before aiming for over 80m from then on.
By the time I had done 20 intervals, the 40 second recovery started to seem very short and my heart rate was barely dropping during the rest periods, at least it was not climbing too much either.
The last one I just went for it and thought to hell with the rate cap, but my arms were also quite tired by this point, these types of interval on a SkiErg are absolutely brutal.
1,135m (6:18.1) cool down. This is all good conditioning for the SkiErg World Sprints next weekend.
Saturday morning masters rowing, 8+ #6 seat, steady state and pressure pieces working on the connection with the boat at different stroke rates and pressures (13,426m).
Quite a wet session, the rivers Colne and Wraysbury empty out into the Thames just before the Staines bridge, today the stream from them was particularly strong, visibly pushing water almost the entire width of the Thames, this then pushed our 8 about 10 feet sideways as we rowed through it.
After the outing, a cup of tea and some dry clothes, I walked into Staines for lunch – Thai chicken with cashew nuts.
Saturday afternoon leisure rowing, out in my single again, I was a bit nervous about the strong stream, but was advised to treat it as a crossing and pass to the other side of the river to avoid the worst of it – this worked well as I barely noticed it.
I decided to try and do the Rowvember Day 2 ‘Tough Times’ workout on the water, so was alternating between 22 and 24spm for much of the session (4,065m).
On our return to the boat house we found a ‘message in a bottle’ floating in the river just by the landing stage, it was a elegy for Ted Palmer 1925-1947, who had lived and died, drowned whilst trying to save someone else, in Staines.
The bottle had apparently only been put out that day, so we decided to put it back in the river so that others might also read the story.
Sunday morning masters rowing, was supposed to be in a 4- with me in the stroke seat, but was cancelled due to lightening.
I decided to to the Rowvember Day 6 ‘The Return Journey’ workout. This consists of 2 rounds of 8,848m (ascent and descent of Mt Everest) with whatever rest period you feel you need before the descent.
Initially I may have been a little carried away as I was alongside a number of other rowers from the club, also unable to go out on the river, so was running at close to 8:00/2K or 2:00/500m pace at around 28spm, but ultimately decided to stick with it as I knew I could maintain this for a 10K, having done it a few months back.
I completed the ascent in 36:00.2, I was hoping for under 36 minutes, so a little disappointed that I could not save it at the finish. I had only programmed 3 minutes of rest, so dashed off to locate my water bottle, towel and go to the bathroom before starting the descent.
I maintained the same pace for the descent and was even more determined to finish in under 36 minutes, eventually completing with a time of 35:59.9, so just inside and a negative split compared to the ascent.
I finished off the session with a 2,259 (11:18.3) cool down and some stretching before showering, putting on some dry clothes and heading into Staines for a nice cooked breakfast at Weatherspoons
Sunday afternoon leisure rowing, 8+ stroke seat, most of the crew are not used to sweep rowing, so balance was the main issue, even when only 4 or 6 were rowing and the others were holding it level (2,420m, although an additional 1,000 or so did not record near the start).
During the month of October I managed a total of 124 hours of exercise, walked 234km, climbed 307 flights of stairs, skied 46km, rowed 193km on the Erg and 132km on the water.
By the end of the month my weight was 14 Stone (196lb/89kg), no loss, therefore maintaining my goal weight.