Sub 7 Indoor Rowing Club (UK)

[MPx]

Latest from me:

3/10 Dumbbells and 8k @ 20 spm in 32:52.2 (and kept to 140 HR limit!)
4/10 5x2k 2r @20 spm. Decided to try a power pyramid for a change with pace 2:02; 2:00; 1:56; 2:00; 2:02. Hit most of them for 39:59.7 overall.
5/10 1 mile (1609m) for the IRL and Sub7 ITC. Should have managed 1:44 pace comfortably I thought. In practice really struggled and slowed after 1k to come in on 1:44.5 pace for a 5:36.4. A bit disappointing, but not a million miles off - although clearly I am a million miles off a sub 7 2k.
6/10 AWL Pyramid @ 20 spm. Target sub 2:00 pace but that was too soft really and managed most of it a little quicker and 1:55.6 pace overall. Solid session but probably in the grey zone!
8/10`30min TT for FMMC. Target 1:54 pace. Managed OK to 5k but then slumped a bit for a while before gradually recovering but not back to 1:54. Overall 1:54.6 for 7850 - nearly 60m less than last year which is a shame given all the extra aerobic stuff I've been doing this year!

[MPx]

...and again:

9/10 Dumbbells and 8k @ 20 spm in 32:42.1 - too fast really with HR well into the 140s
11/10 5x2k 2r @ 20 spm target 2:00 pace. Only one spot on but the rest near enough for a 39:59.7 overall.
12/10 4x1k 3:30r. Last time 1:47.1 avg pace. This time 1:46.8/8/7 and 1:45.4 for 1:46.4 avg. Very pleased with that.
13/10 Dumbbells and 8k @ 20 spm in 32:52.4 - still too fast and HR too high!
14/10 AWL Pyramid @ 20 spm. Target slightly under 2:00 pace to complete in sub 32 min. Managed 31:44.7 @ 1:57.5 ... so too fast again!
15/10 Sprint night. 10x1min 1r. Target steady 303m. Last time only got through 5 before backing off. This time managed 304,3,4,3,4,4,4,3,1,8 for a 3037 total @ 1:38.7 pace. Shame about the 9th, just didn't have the fight to hang on....but made up for it in the 10th so happy enough. Will try 304s next time.

[Two Pudding Kid]

I know it has been a long time and and I dont think I will have time to catch up on what has a been going on here in my absence.

Trying to get into gear for the upcoming race season - Sunday will be the first 2k race since the end of last year so hopefully set a good marker of around 8:25, (if I can repeat last weekend in the gym I will be fine). A very small event that is in Nuneaton - probably a 1 of 1 result, particularly if I make LWT.

Happy with last nights 30 mins - 6811m and a post op best by 27m.

Not so happy that I botched up a 2k attempt, (chickened at 800m done) and flopped the 666m C2CTC in the last 10 days but hopefully on a roll now, (I think that sports massage and muscle strength testing weaken me for at least 24-48 hours after, or so it seems),

I will try and be on here more often again.

[RR]

Two Pudding Kid, one of the old brigade from back in the day of Big Bird, Rocket Roy, Roadrunner, Anna Baillie et al.
Nuneaton used to be my home base.
Worked at th3 Leisure Centre there many moons ago and dipped under 6:40 there for the first time in 2001!
Bon courage RR

[MPx]

Spooky...I bought my first flat in a small place called Galley Common just outside Nuneaton a mere 40 years ago or so....

Hope the race went well Susan - good to hear the post-op PBs are still coming.

Latest mixed bag from me:

16/10 Dumbbells and 8k @ 20 spm in 32:52.2
18/10 1 Mile (1609m) for the Sub7 ITC. Thought I'd have a second crack at this but bailed at the halfway point and targetted 6:00 instead - (spot on) but horrible. Followed up with 3x2k 2r two of them at 2:00 pace the last as a cool down.
19/10 30 min TT for the IRL. Another second attempt, another bail out but this time after just 10 mins. 7727m oh dear!
20/10 Dumbbells and 8k @ 20 spm in 32:52.1
21/10 8k Steady. New idea for me - this year I've been doing all my steady state stuff at 20 spm and I'm now finding it hard to do continuous free rate at my traditional 27/28 rate so have decided to slip in one 8k per week at free rate but variable pace and looking for around 32:00 min overall. Spot on 32:00.0 this time.
22/10 8x500 r3:30. Last time out 1:42.1 so tried to keep them all <1:42. Just about made it but no fast last so a 1:41.5 avg. On my limit but good!
24/10 Dumbbells and 8k @ 20 spm in 32:52.1
25/10 4x1500 r5. Another failed session. Didn't even make one rep on target - did 1&3 @ 30 1:51.9 pace and 2&4 @ 20 1:59.9 pace. Shame.
27/10 Dumbbells and 8k @ 20 spm in 32:52.0
28/10 16x250 r90". Last time out managed a 1:37.2 avg. Kept steady in the 1:37s for 12 then a bit quicker for a 1:36.8 avg so very pleased with that.

[MPx]

Just another week...but slightly unusual. My aborted blood doning from Sept has been rearranged for this Thursday (7th). Given the performance hit that usually gives, I wanted to get as many of the November challenges in as possible before then which has resulted in cramming in a lot of hard rows over just a few days - never a great strategy but actually worked out better than I'd expected/hoped. A good week:

29/10 8k Steady 31:51.0
30/10 Dumbbells and 8k @ 20 spm in 32:52.4
31/10 No time so just a 1min Test. 353m second best ever and only 1m off PB - pleased with that.
1/11 AWL Pyramid @ 20 spm target pace 1:58.5 for a 32 min workout. Slightly fast at 1:58.2 and 31:55.8 but near enough!
2/11 500 TT for the Sub7 ITC. Target sub 1:30. 1:28.8 was better than expected - good!
3/11 Dumbbells and 8k @ 20 spm in 32:52.1
4/11 CTC intervals. Target pace was 1:44; 1:43; 1:40; and 1:35. Actually did 1:44.0; 1:43.0; 1:41.6; 1:34.2 so a slightly slow 3rd but otherwise on target and just as painful as I feared! 8:31.2 total time - would have liked sub 8:30 but again....near enough.
5/11 6344m TT for the IRL. Legs felt tired right from the start, but somehow stuck to my most optimistic target of 1:54 pace for a surprisingly long time and with a slight kick at the end got home in 24:09.8 @ 1:54.2 pace. Given how tired I was at the start that's very pleasing and only about 12s slower than last year.

I don't think I can face a 1k tomorrow so I'll just have to leave the FMMC 'til later in the month and hope I've recovered a bit. I'll also have to get used to slower for the next few weeks.....

[Two Pudding Kid]

Two Pudding Kid, one of the old brigade from back in the day of Big Bird, Rocket Roy, Roadrunner, Anna Baillie et al.
Nuneaton used to be my home base.
Worked at th3 Leisure Centre there many moons ago and dipped under 6:40 there for the first time in 2001!
Bon courage RR

I am one of the oldies on her 19th season now. Anna was at my first race and hammered out a world record at the time - I remember that well and my 9:22 time looked so poor in comparison even though I had done a significant PB. Got me hooked on this madness, and still at it.

Nuneaton IRC - 27 competitors in 2k and 20 in 500m impromptu thrash at the end. Old school 2k where you start on a count of three but 10 new(ish) ergos so had done what they could with being a small event. Weighin wasnt the standard 2 hours before so my 0.3kg over was a bit of a rush to get rid of. My 2k had a slight wobble at the start, (think I was probably wondered if the Lucozade gulped 30 mins earlier would be rattling around), but soon got down to business and getting the 2:06s and 2:07s coming for a 8:28.2 result and 2nd best of season. About an hour later was the 500m - just a thrash from me for a SB of 2:00.8. First place in 50-59 LWT 2k, (not much challenged), and overall LWT of the day - cup, foam roller and medal. Date already set as 25 Oct 2020 - cannot commit yet as probably going to be out of action post 2nd hip replacement by then.

[Two Pudding Kid]

Mike - Looks like your free rate pace of 27-28 is much like mine over distance of say 5k to 10k and good start on your 8k free rate sessions. Brilliant 8 x 500m r3:30 on the 22nd October and 16x250 r90" on the 28th. Congratulations on coming so close to a PB on a manic minute to complete October. Great work in November to rattle out the C2CTC at better than target and maybe more to come. Fireworks for the 6344m – good way to go into a difficult period post blood donation, (I used to have the same problem but post cancer I am not allowed to donate anymore).

Me – seem to swing between the superb and the s**t.

23 Oct – 30 min SB of 6811m adding 27m onto my previous one 2 months before. Makes my 6k look out of line so need to put that right soon.
27 Oct – Nuneaton IRC mentioned earlier
30 Oct – finally got the 10k SB under 44:44.4 with a last gasp 44:44.2. Now have achieved my set of 1k – sub 4:10, 2k – sub 8:30, 5k sub 22 mins and 10 sub 44:44.4. So close to going sub 2:00 on a 500m so will work on that this month.
3 Nov – 1 hour of power was abandoned at 20 minutes . Had no go in me and having tweaked my QL, (something on back of ribs doing a class beforehand ), I chickened to preserve my chances of recovery fast.
4 Nov – wasn’t sure about the sensibility of doing the C2CTC but gave it a shakedown. 10:35.5 was the result which is just outside my 2k pace, (happy with that in the circumstances but may come back for more later).

Still have a slightly sore patch although the tightness has gone.

Think I can claim a PB, and maybe there should be a certificate of madness for 200 continuous floors on the stairclimber, (40 mins approx.). Think that is far as I want to go on this, but the idea of doing sprints every few minutes to up the pace appeals, (and should shift some calories).

See how I feel about an hour of power tonight - mentally its a doddle but physically is a bit of an unknown.

[RR]

Two Pudding Kid, one of the old brigade from back in the day of Big Bird, Rocket Roy, Roadrunner, Anna Baillie et al.
Nuneaton used to be my home base.
Worked at th3 Leisure Centre there many moons ago and dipped under 6:40 there for the first time in 2001!
Bon courage RR

I am one of the oldies on her 19th season now. Anna was at my first race and hammered out a world record at the time - I remember that well and my 9:22 time looked so poor in comparison even though I had done a significant PB. Got me hooked on this madness, and still at it.

Nuneaton IRC - 27 competitors in 2k and 20 in 500m impromptu thrash at the end. Old school 2k where you start on a count of three but 10 new(ish) ergos so had done what they could with being a small event. Weighin wasnt the standard 2 hours before so my 0.3kg over was a bit of a rush to get rid of. My 2k had a slight wobble at the start, (think I was probably wondered if the Lucozade gulped 30 mins earlier would be rattling around), but soon got down to business and getting the 2:06s and 2:07s coming for a 8:28.2 result and 2nd best of season. About an hour later was the 500m - just a thrash from me for a SB of 2:00.8. First place in 50-59 LWT 2k, (not much challenged), and overall LWT of the day - cup, foam roller and medal. Date already set as 25 Oct 2020 - cannot commit yet as probably going to be out of action post 2nd hip replacement by then.

Thanks for the update.
I’m still at the rower and recently bought a BikeErg too so getting some d3cent quality work in although nowhere near what. I was 20 years ago
Bashed out an easy 7:43 last week on the Erg and 7:22 for 4km on the bike

[Two Pudding Kid]

Thanks for the update.
I’m still at the rower and recently bought a BikeErg too so getting some d3cent quality work in although nowhere near what. I was 20 years ago
Bashed out an easy 7:43 last week on the Erg and 7:22 for 4km on the bike

RR - great to see you are still knocking out some quality metres.

[Two Pudding Kid]

Me;
6 Nov - did that 60 minutes I promised. First 35 minutes done at 2:16 pace and then slowed down a tad to finish on average 2:16.5 pace and 13186m. Spm 26, 44m improvement on seasons best.

7 Nov- kept this short and sweet as a mainly upper body strength session

9 Nov - 8848m at 2:13.5 pace for 39:23.9 and first place in the Manisha Everest Challenge.I was the only female to do the full distance on my own rather than a team and only 18 seconds slower than when I did this 2 years ago. Happy days and lovely cake too.

10 Nov - started as a stretch and strength session and then did 1k ergo, 7k wattbike, 1k ergo. Keen to see how I might stack up in a competition going on in Germany early spring. 4:14.6 for 1k, 12:02 for the 7k bike at 34kph, 4:19 for 1k ergo to finish. Great stuff and maybe I could do better if I had a rest. Would probably be middle of the pack in the race if I enter 2020.

[RR]

Me;
6 Nov - did that 60 minutes I promised. First 35 minutes done at 2:16 pace and then slowed down a tad to finish on average 2:16.5 pace and 13186m. Spm 26, 44m improvement on seasons best.

7 Nov- kept this short and sweet as a mainly upper body strength session

9 Nov - 8848m at 2:13.5 pace for 39:23.9 and first place in the Manisha Everest Challenge.I was the only female to do the full distance on my own rather than a team and only 18 seconds slower than when I did this 2 years ago. Happy days and lovely cake too.

10 Nov - started as a stretch and strength session and then did 1k ergo, 7k wattbike, 1k ergo. Keen to see how I might stack up in a competition going on in Germany early spring. 4:14.6 for 1k, 12:02 for the 7k bike at 34kph, 4:19 for 1k ergo to finish. Great stuff and maybe I could do better if I had a rest. Would probably be middle of the pack in the race if I enter 2020.

Been knocking out the metres more on BikeErg last couple of weeks hitting good OBs over 40k, 60min and 30min, but now need to get back into some qualityish stuff on the Erg.
Did couple of 150m off 5rec this morning Ave 1:54.5 so reckon I could get close to 7:30 just now.
Bon courage

[MPx]

Crikey Susan, a busy month of erging (and posting) for you! Well done on the Nuneaton and Manisha competitions. Interesting looking at your pacing numbers: 1k @ 2:05? ; 2k @2:07; 30min @ 2:12; 10k @2:14; 60min @ 2:16.5. That's all very close and impressive. Looks like you can saw away all day without worries but maybe lack a bit of power at the sprinty end - particularly post op? Complete opposite to my profile of course - significant drop in performance from me as the distances increase! Good luck with the continuing prep for BRIC.

Interesting seeing your progress on your comeback RR. I had 3.5 years off 2013 to Nov 2016 and I reckon it took me 18 months to 2 years to recapture some of the form I expected to be able to do. Still some way off many of my 2011/12 PBs but probably as good as I'm going to get given the limits on my appetite for training. How long have you been on the comeback trail since you stopped in 2011?

Bit of a nothing week for me. Having rushed out most of the challenges my Blood appointment was cancelled (after I got there!) for the second time on the trot. B****r! Doesn't really matter at all of course, but plans had been made and events scheduled to take account of it so its much more annoying than just wasting an hour turning up. Next try will be Jan 9th - third time lucky! Anyway:

6/11 1k TT - having said I was going to leave this...didn't, but should have! Set off at SB pace but caved after just 400m and targetted 3:30 instead. Very poor.
7/11 Dumbbells and 8k @ 20 spm in 32:52.0 Unusual lunchtime slot for me before my aborted appointment.
10/11 Dumbbells and 8k @ 20 spm in 32:52.3 (Spot on for once!)
11/11 2kTT As usual set off for a sub 7 but only lasted 500m before the resolve wilted. Backed off to 1:48s for a sub 7:10 and eventually sped up a little to get 7:07.3. Still not managed a sub 7 since I've been 62 or even this season. I'll keep trying...
12/11 8k steady in 32:00.1. Did 7k @1:59 and last 1k as a cool down in 2:07 but just flipped .1 over target!

[MPx]

As if to prove the psychosomatics of (not) giving blood, my performance appears to have dropped off despite no donation!

13/11 Dumbbells and 8k @ 20 spm in 32:52.2
14/11 2x2k r2. No confidence so target was 1:52.5 pace - although I have done much better. First one OK but almost gave up in the second and paddled in at 2:00 pace then third back on target. Very poor. 1:55.0 avg.
16/11 1k TT for FMMC. 2nd attempt. Target was 3:16. Set off slightly fast but OK to halfway, then gave up at 600 and paddled in for a 3:29.5. Wont be posting that!
17/11 Dumbbells and 8k @ 20 spm in 32:52.2
18/11 6x500m r2. Still no confidence so just tried a more moderate pace (<1:45) to avoid a failure. It worked ... and with a fast last managed a 1:43.6 avg. So about 2 secs off what I should have done but at least a neg split and fast last not a burn out and paddle in.
19/11 8k Moderate variable pace in 31:41.3 @ 1:58.8
22/11 1k TT for FMMC. 3rd attempt. Target sub 3:20. Set off at 1:37 thinking if I made it to half way I could slow to 1:43 and still get home in time. In practice the decline was more gentle so posted a 3:17.3 (1:38.6) which I'm happy enough with despite the distance from 3:15.8 that I managed in September.

[lindsayh]

22/11 1k TT for FMMC. 3rd attempt. Target sub 3:20. Set off at 1:37 thinking if I made it to half way I could slow to 1:43 and still get home in time. In practice the decline was more gentle so posted a 3:17.3 (1:38.6) which I'm happy enough with despite the distance from 3:15.8 that I managed in September.

Still nice one Mike - I managed a 3:24.5 yesterday in NZ which is adjusted 0.1 behind you!
(TBFair I had a 2k before it but the sub 3:20 is gone forever!)