Final week of the Concept 2 Fall Team Challenge, meters are definitely down on the first half of the challenge.
Monday morning rowing was another 2K warm up (10:33.5), a slower 10K steady state than usual (49:54.9) and then 2243m of cool down (12:05.2) whilst continuing to watch episodes of Battlestar Galactica.
I think I was probably still feeling the after effects of the pressure washing as my shoulders and pectorals were aching quite badly in the night from holding the water lance still.
I received an unexpected email this morning from JL Racing saying that my application to become one of their ambassadors had been approved!
I was somewhat surprised that I had been accepted, as I am not exactly Mr Popular on Facebook, Instagram or YouTube, only really posting about my exploits here on this blog that is but obviously there was something in what I wrote on my application that they thought fit with their advertising strategy.
The position comes with a voucher for the pre-order purchase of items from their JL Racing 2023 items that are not available to the general public, although the voucher only really covers a UniSuit and postage, so I am already paying in more than they are giving me with my initial clothing order! Maybe this was their plan all along.
Tuesday I decided to have another rest day as this is currently the only day I am scheduling for rest, however this also means that I don’t do any calisthenics!
Tuesday evening archery, I didn’t do any of this either and left all of my bows at home. I did however help several of our newer archers with any form issues that they were having.
Wednesday morning rowing was another 2K warm up (10:13.2), a slightly faster steady state 10K (47:07.1) and then 2243m of cool down (11:55.9) whilst continuing to watch episodes of Battlestar Galactica.
Thursday morning rowing was a half marathon (1:39:59.4) and then 2243m of cool down (11:53.1) whilst continuing to watch episodes of Battlestar Galactica.
I wanted to finish the Concept 2 Fall Team Challenge with over 300,000m and I only had 2 days left, and 35,000m+ to go, so this seemed like the best way to bridge the gap so I can pass the line with Friday’s skiing.
Friday morning skiing, 1K(5:59.5) warm up, then Dark Horse ‘Non Challenge’ JH Endurance #1 workout: 3 x 15:00 @ 36, 38, 40spm, no rest.
I programmed it in ErgZone this time so I could see how I was doing with my average stroke rate, hence how I managed perfect numbers despite having to stop during the 40spm set and blow my nose as it was running and annoying me too much, which then meant I had some work to do to catch the average back up again (it had dropped to around 34 as a result of the stoppage).
The first two 15 minute pieces were good warm ups for the final one that brought on a good sweat, as mentioned above, probably more so than I actually needed to, what with bringing up that average spm.
1,137m (7:05.8) cool down and that is it for my contributions for the Concept 2 Fall Team Challenge, I am unlikely to do any more on Saturday as I have two, possibly three OTW sessions planned (masters group 08:00, leisure group 12:30 and possibly out in my single as well around 10:30).
I am 185,000m short of last year’s distance (484,666m), even allowing for OTW rowing on the weekends (currently 80,000, probably nearer 100,000 by the end of tomorrow), I am still down by a fair sized chunk.
This is mainly due to only using the Ergs (Row and Ski) for 4 days a week as opposed to 6 or 7 last year. Even with the Great Wall Challenge, I have probably done about the same number of 1/2 marathons, but way fewer 14Km sessions due to OTW rowing.
I finished 8/116 in Dark Horse Rowing and 530/7392 worldwide, Team Dark Horse finished 10/747.
Saturday morning, Masters rowing, fine 4x, #3 seat, mainly steady state, everyone came back a bit wet due to blades splashing against the water (12,059m).
After a cup of tea and a quick trip into town for some brunch, I then took my single out for a couple of laps to gain a bit more confidence, first solo launch and landing and a slightly hairy moment when I thought a quad was going to hit me at full speed despite having called out to them and nearly washed out by a pleasure yacht that was going a touch fast, headed in when it started to get a bit too windy and also started raining (3,169m).
Leisure rowing in a leisure 2x, Fortunately the rain cleared up and it turned into a reasonable afternoon, I was steering. fun outing, helping one of the less experienced rowers with their first time in a double.
Returned home to pressure wash the drive, only I didn’t feel like doing it, so groomed the dog instead as he needed shaving down for winter as he gets a bit matted around this time of year.
Sunday morning, Masters rowing 8+, #4 seat, some interesting chopping drills at the catch and a decent amount of steady state (5,154m).
Another more leisurely trip into Staines for brunch and returned for the leisure rowing.
This time I was out in my single once again, much flatter water than Saturday and also less wobbly, still not getting beyond 3/4 slide yet and still having the occasional scary moment when I dig in too deep with one of the oars, but still coming home dry.
Headed home and this time I did finish off pressure washing the front drive.