LUNA-TICS TEAM ROOM: Year-round "Looney" fun.

[BAZzy]

Just out of interest, an Australian who had been selected for the eight's at the Tokyo Olympics, Georgie Rowe (good name for a rower) has just rowed the half-marathon in a new world record time for women in a yet to be ratified time of 1:19:28, shaving about 2 minutes off the record.

Georgie rowed it in the current indoor-interstate regatta currently underway in Australia...

Mind you, it goes to Kona's earlier comments - some of the people doing what are extra-ordinary times are professional athletes and potentially olympians at the peak of their training.

None-the-less, well done Georgie...! Cheers, Baz

According to https://www.abc.net.au/news/2020-04-14/ ... d/12146388, Georgie was just trying to put in some meters for the Indoor regatta above, and the time is yet to be ratified because she is new to the ranking system, she thought half-marathon was 21097.5m and rounded up rather than down, so cannot rank the time.

I've been there (not the world record, but putting in the wrong distance for a half)....

Thank you, Baz and Andrew. It was fun reading about Georgie Rowe. I remember when Esther Lofgren, the current record holder, set that record at the Mid-Atlantic Erg Sprints in Virginia, and the same thing happened to her - she rowed 21,098 because that's what the Mid-Atlantic Erg Sprints thought it was. And I think she also wasn't going for a World Record - she was just there doing some PR for satellite erg races - the Mid-Atlantic Erg Sprints are a satellite race for the Indoor Rowing Championships, and a really big one for junior rowers, which she was promoting (and also happens to be the closest one to me, so every now and then, I think maybe this year...). I think it also took some time to ratify the result when Esther Lofgren did it too - for the same reason - because it was 1 meter more.

Congratulations, Jodi, and Brett, and other 500m entrants. I hope to give that a go today... or was it tomorrow...

Crikey, talk about unlucky...a great effort none-the-less. Cheers, Baz

[BAZzy]

Whoop, whoop and why not another million?! Congratulations to ANOTHER orbiter, David A, on achieving a FOUR million meter erging season! This brings David's total to 82.5 MM lifetime meters...a double orbiter! This is what happens with a couple of decades of doing all the Concept2 challenges and rowing as a steady exercise! We wish you many, MANY more milestones and celebrations!!

Amazing and well done David A, total distance is about 2 1/2 trips around the equator...! And well done Ron with a couple of trips around the equator as well...Cheers, Baz

[Shabana]

I’m starting to think about this 500m. My lifetime best is 1:30.2 in 2012. I have no idea what I’m capable of now. Trying to psych myself up. This sprinting is so different than I’ve the distance I’ve been working on. I did a half marathon on skierg this morning with a 2:13.2 pace with out pushing myself. That was easy. I’m scared of 500 meters on rowerg. Anyone else in this boat?

I'm anxious, too. There's no real strategy except fly and die. I'm hoping for 1:35 for my 500m. I'm just not strong enough to put out more watts. Thankfully, the test is over in the blink of an eye!

The 500m was my introduction to the erg, over twenty years ago now. There was a comp at my work gym to see who could do the fastest 500m (and 1000 and 2K, but practically no one would try those LONG distances ). Less than two minutes to do, generally with 3 or 4 bystanders encouraging the one on the rower (because it was such fun to watch them lying on the carpet recovering for ten minutes afterwards!). I was attracted by it because although I was not fast, coordinated or flexible, and at the tail end in all other competitions, my bodyshape actually gave me an advantage for a change, and I could beat Iron men, bodybuilders, just about anyone who did not have a background in rowing.

It is easily the event that scares me the most, and I rarely do it now. It is fly and die; although a little pacing is required, every stroke has to be maximum effort to get a PB. Back in the day, I expected to get under 1:30 if I really tried. Today I did 1:37.7, with a very big slow down for the last 200. Did not manage to get a single stroke below 1:30 pace.

Oh well, plenty more days to have another go!

I did have another go yesterday, decided to warm up for just 500m instead of 5000m, and to really emphasise the power of the stroke over the stroke rate. Felt good as I set off, but could not sustain it and coasted to the finsh again. I finished .3 of a second ahead of my previous time

Next time I will try with the damper set to 10, and try to remember to remove my cushion first (I was sliding around a bit, may have slowed me down). I'm not sure if I can even manage one attempt a day, it really does take it out of me.

[Jodi]

Great job, Jodi! I had a similar time seven years ago. Unfortunately, I haven't gotten faster with age.

Neither have I I was 2 seconds slower and thought I was having an aneurysm while I lay on the floor beside my machine to catch my breath and slow my heart rate. I would say that I won’t try to improve my time after that, but it’s like giving birth, you forget how bad it was and then do it again.

lol Jodi! I haven't given birth, but I've watched my wife do it 3 times. Each time it got a little easier for me.

Brett, I seriously laughed out loud reading that! Thanks for the laugh. I love this Team! You guys are the best teammates EVER!

[Kona2]

I can see that we have enough for one boat for the men, and we have six gals. For some reason, their program won't let me move crew members around right now. Something to solve tomorrow.

[TallErgs]

Oof, one 500m time down. Going to try again in a few days - these short rows are murder on the body. This type of stuff is why I like long distance challenges!

I'm really glad I'm part of this team - everybody here makes this an immense amount of fun.

[andreacs]

Neither have I I was 2 seconds slower and thought I was having an aneurysm while I lay on the floor beside my machine to catch my breath and slow my heart rate. I would say that I won’t try to improve my time after that, but it’s like giving birth, you forget how bad it was and then do it again.

lol Jodi! I haven't given birth, but I've watched my wife do it 3 times. Each time it got a little easier for me.

Brett, I seriously laughed out loud reading that! Thanks for the laugh. I love this Team! You guys are the best teammates EVER!

Ditto!
Then I figured I had to try my first 500... In these 10+ years I did just a few timed rows and never a 500.
Maybe I thought it was easy compared to 1000+ rows... It's not!!! There were 2:06.6 very looooooooooong minutes. Worse than my 1000 pace 2 years ago... Started way too fast and almost blew a gasket (will not write down here my HR... ).
Will try again though, hoping to improve my time with a more realistic plan. Even if I do not improve I hope to improve my experience...

[Jodi]

lol Jodi! I haven't given birth, but I've watched my wife do it 3 times. Each time it got a little easier for me.

Brett, I seriously laughed out loud reading that! Thanks for the laugh. I love this Team! You guys are the best teammates EVER!

Ditto!
Then I figured I had to try my first 500... In these 10+ years I did just a few timed rows and never a 500.
Maybe I thought it was easy compared to 1000+ rows... It's not!!! There were 2:06.6 very looooooooooong minutes. Worse than my 1000 pace 2 years ago... Started way too fast and almost blew a gasket (will not write down here my HR... ).
Will try again though, hoping to improve my time with a more realistic plan. Even if I do not improve I hope to improve my experience...

Again, a response that has me laughing out loud!
I don’t think we’ve given this little distance the respect it deserves.
I’ll try it again with a slower start and humbler heart and see if I can improve on my time. But not today, I need to recover and build up my courage first. This distance is like the school bully waiting to pounce when a victim enters its domain.

[warnie]

I'll be doing the 500m challenge this week but it probably won't be quick - around 2:17 ish - is that ok? Do we just do a ranked ride?

Where do we see the times others in the group have done please?

[Kona2]

I'll be doing the 500m challenge this week but it probably won't be quick - around 2:17 ish - is that ok? Do we just do a ranked ride?

Where do we see the times others in the group have done please?

The stories that you all are relating about the 500 m distance, and what a personal "test" this distance is, are truly worthy of collecting and re-reading. While overall speed surely matters in a competition, there are so MANY factors in this competition that impact where we place that I think the main tone should be "have fun with it." Please don't pop a gasket. Really. Find a speed you can survive! Ranking is not necessary unless you need to do that as part of a verification step.

As to where to see the times, this has been a bit obscure. I can see them on the team captain page, but so far can't move them around. I did find that even though the round says 1, and the rankings for the first round are presented...you can click on the team name and see current times for the 500 m. Norma is quite good at finding these things out so she may have figured out something different. Please advise, Norma!

[normadelaney]

https://log.concept2.com/challenges/lea ... ns/overall

https://log.concept2.com/challenges/lea ... ns/overall

You do need to verify your result, but there is no requirement to rank it.

You can see the individual times in any of the LUNA-TICS boats, but I haven't been able to see individual times for any other team.

[dag1]

Whew! the 500 is a killer, not as bad as the 2k though. I don't do too many sprint races ,I much prefer a slower challenging distance piece. I tried a reverse split for this 500, which is the first time I've ever finished at a stronger pace than what I started at for a 500 meter for time. I always go with the fly and die for the 500, and the last 100 meters is always a little discouraging when you can't hold the pace you would like, I did manage to tie my personal best for this piece, so I was happy with that. I did do the fly and die method a few months ago with the same exact time, so not much difference in the overall result, but this did feel a bit more gratifying with the stronger finish./color]

[Kona2]

Whoop, whoop, and five million is a good number! Congratulations, Brett, on achieving a FIVE million meter erging season. This was not on your erg radar early in the 2020 season, but certainly came to be! We wish you many, MANY more milestones and celebrations!

[Kona2]

Whoop, whoop and so pleased to see this milestone happen!! Congratulations, Heather, on achieving a ONE million meter season...and your FIRST lifetime million all in one grand 2020 season! You have kept at this goal with a steady pace, and have completed lots of Challenges. Well done!

[Jollywandering]

Whoop, whoop and so pleased to see this milestone happen!! Congratulations, Heather, on achieving a ONE million meter season...and your FIRST lifetime million all in one grand 2020 season! You have kept at this goal with a steady pace, and have completed lots of Challenges. Well done!

Thank you! I'm pretty proud of myself. I've never been a big fan of exercise, but I seem to have found my thing. Huge credit to this team and the challenges for keeping me motivated! Y'all are amazing!