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

[Kona2]

And now...another episode of As The Shamrock Sphere Spins....



51 Lunies on the Shamrock Boards!!! If there's a 1 on the end of your name row....gotta row at least 5K today (or catch up on your entries) to stay on the boards! What an amazing amount of participation! Moon gravity must appeal ....well done, everyone!

peter verdirame 56 port washington ny USA LUNA-TICS 6
A J Tudury 63 Fair Oaks CA USA LUNA-TICS 3
Chris Tudury 61 Fair Oaks CA USA LUNA-TICS 5
David Tangerini 63 Sherborn MA USA LUNA-TICS 8
Tim Strasburger 16 Spirit Lake ID USA LUNA-TICS 1
Kristine Strasburger 47 Spirit Lake ID USA LUNA-TICS 5
Jan Stevenson 58 Broomfield CO USA LUNA-TICS 6
Sorin Spanoche 44 Santa Clara CA USA LUNA-TICS 1
Will Salach 54 Glens Falls NY USA LUNA-TICS 5
Tim Porter 52 Blackhawk CO USA LUNA-TICS 3
Jackson P 10 AR USA LUNA-TICS 1
Barry O'Malley 51 Epping, Sydney AUS LUNA-TICS 8
Ronnie Mills 43 JAM LUNA-TICS 7
Gloria Miller 51 New Berlin WI USA LUNA-TICS 5
Richard Miller 61 New Berlin WI USA LUNA-TICS 7
Tom McGuire 58 Sacramento CA USA LUNA-TICS 4
Ron MacBruce 56 Brookfield VT USA LUNA-TICS 7
Jim (Jay) Kielma Jr. 38 Hot Springs AR USA LUNA-TICS 7
Jim Kielma 57 Malvern AR USA LUNA-TICS 7
Bobbie Kielma 58 Malvern AR USA LUNA-TICS 7
Mitch Johnson 55 Goodyear AZ USA LUNA-TICS 6
Cathie Johnson 29 Bethel AK USA LUNA-TICS 7
Samuel Johnson 75 Bethel AK USA LUNA-TICS 7
Harold Janusek 60 Thunder Bay CAN LUNA-TICS 7
Peter Huurman 37 Rotterdam NLD LUNA-TICS 6
Greg Halac 51 Fort Collins CO USA LUNA-TICS 1
Tammy Gwinn 31 Mt. Ida AR USA LUNA-TICS 7
barbara grandberg 60 somerville ma USA LUNA-TICS 1
Mike Gilger 50 Wadsworth OH USA LUNA-TICS 7
James Garcia 35 Victoria TX USA LUNA-TICS 7
Rodrigo Garcia 34 Mexico City MEX LUNA-TICS 4
Karyn Gallagher 41 New Haven CT USA LUNA-TICS 7
Mitch Terra Sanitatis Friedland 51 Brooklyn NY USA LUNA-TICS 2
Chuck Eckerson 54 Little Rock AR USA LUNA-TICS 2
Collin Dykstra 36 Chandler AZ USA LUNA-TICS 5
Charles Dykstra 43 Rice Lake WI USA LUNA-TICS 6
Ross Drown 63 Asheville NC USA LUNA-TICS 7
Steven Drews 41 Calgary Alberta CAN LUNA-TICS 7
Rosita Delacruz 36 Mazatlan MEX LUNA-TICS 7
Benny Delacruz 18 MEX LUNA-TICS 7
Mike Crossley 54 Richland WA USA LUNA-TICS 7
Daniel Cox 66 Ormond Beach FL USA LUNA-TICS 6
Ted Cowley-Gilbert 49 Crawfordville FL USA LUNA-TICS 1
Andrea Cosmin 53 Santa Clara CA USA LUNA-TICS 1
Tracy Clark 45 Puyallup WA USA LUNA-TICS 5
Greg Childs 56 Fort Wayne IN USA LUNA-TICS 1
Kiba Chan 23 Ottawa ON CAN LUNA-TICS 7
Rick Carveth 58 Monroe MI USA LUNA-TICS 4
Jim Brink 39 Chandler AZ USA LUNA-TICS 4
David A. Alden 50 Amberley Village OH USA LUNA-TICS 5
Rocket Man 38 Calais FRA LUNA-TICS 2




A sonic boom was heard over Europe today as Rocket Man blazed through the skies of our rowing universe on his way to the great meter bank in Morrisville, VT. Almost simulataneously, personal bests occurred in Australia where Baz sank much of his competition by moving from 243 to 170 in the 10K rankings, and in Vermont where Ron out-mooned many as he moved from 154 to 95 in the half moon rankings. Coincidence? Never. We are rockin and rowin here on the moon! Competitive spirits can only lie dormant for so long before they emerge triumphant! We are on the brink, on the very threshold of being able to bust a move...fourth place is still very do-able....but it won't be easy!

Season meters as of 311/365 = 108,067,870 m

Total meters on the day = 974,208 m

Oars in space (participation) = 30 percent

MILESTONES...Bragging Rights...Celebrations:

5.2 MM Chris
2.8 MM David A
2.6 MM Rocket Man
2.2 MM Rosita
1.8 MM Ross
900 K Mike G


TWO Million Meter Watch:

David T with (128,000 m) to go!

Sam J with (145,558 m) to go!

ONE Million Meter Watch:

Mike G with (91,654 m) to go!

Greg H with (137,943 m) to go!

COOL Half Million Meter Watch:

James G with (35,650 m) to go!

Gina with (35,681 m) to go!

Thanks to all today's rowers!

Ashlee 1,025 m
Dalton 1,500 m
Kaylee 1,511 m
Mario Jackson 1,800 m
Jim M 2,000 m
Jeff 3,117 m
Tony m
Rich 5,046 m
Peter G 5,500 m
Harold 5,501 m
Benny 5,541 m
G-l-o-r-i-a m
Bobbie 6,002 m
Tammy 6,200 m
Rick 6,483 m
Sam 6,500 m
Karyn 7,756 m
David T 8,000 m
Kiba 10,000 m
Mike C 10,000 m
Mike G 10,000 m
Peter H 10,000 m
Steven 10,000 m
James G 10,109 m
Ross 10,179 m
Ronnie 10,599 m
David A 10,908 m
K2 m
Jim K 12,121 m
Cathie 12,510 m
Rosita 13,200 m
Jay 15,410 m
Mitch J 16,110 m ...he'll pass me today...
Danno 19,578 m
Baz 20,000 m ....vegemite....could be space food for really desperate moon colonists....I was okay until the "I Love Vegemite" poem referenced vegemite on bikkis (We not only put it on bread, you know, It's great on Vita Weet biscuits, so when you squeeze two together, the black goo will flow through the holes in the bikkies, like worms in a row. ) At that point, goosebumps....aaaack. You're having some fun with us....but I digress...
Minnie 21,097 m and a half moon
Collin 30,000 m and a half moon
Ron 34,776 m and a half moon that's just a lot faster than it was...
Rocket Man 594,130 m

World Erg Challenge starts ONE week from today. Please go to your team section in your online logbook, scroll down to the link that says "YES...I wanna row as a Luna-Tic" and sign up. This will be a great challenge! 44 team mates on the team thus far!

[bg]

great photo melissa...and great rowing luna-tics...sorry that i'm not adding more meters but between my training and doctor's appointments i haven't had a lot of erg time.....

[BAZzy]

Great to see Melissa up there in lights!

And a final word on vegemite.....It's great on Vita Weet biscuits, so when you squeeze two together, the black goo will flow through the holes in the bikkies, like worms in a row. ) At that point, goosebumps....aaaack. You're having some fun with us....but I digress...

I saw TomO do that very thing with a vita-wheat just the other day, I guess it is an Aussie thing though!

Cheers, BBB

[just27]

And a final word on vegemite.....It's great on Vita Weet biscuits, so when you squeeze two together, the black goo will flow through the holes in the bikkies, like worms in a row. ) At that point, goosebumps....aaaack. You're having some fun with us....but I digress...

Cheers, BBB

Marmite Rules! Not like that weak Aussie knock-off stuff ...

[Dave_H]

Hi All... can't believe it's been over a month since I last checked in!
Not much erging has been happening here - today's posting is a conglomerate of various smaller efforts over the month. Have been mixing it up a lot lately in an effort to strengthen my shoulder. Between going to a gym for some weight training and work getting it's (more-than) fair share of my time, it has been too easy justifying my absence from these boards! The good news is a definite improvement in shoulder condition...
Not promising, however best intentions to put a more consistent effort for the "World Erg Challenge"!
Best regards to all, and congrats to all the mighty achievements in the last month! (I am still catching up on many of these!).
Dave

[BAZzy]

Well Baz, I did'nt have any vegamite, but I did use your advice on breathing. It seemed to work I'm not up there with the big boys, but I was able to knock almost a full minute off my best 10k time and move up in the rankings about 150 places. Thanks for the good advice
Ron

That’s great news Ron....and a minute in ERG time is a long-time!

Breathing, seems so simple, I mean we do it from the outset until your number comes up, but by focussing on it I realised I wasn’t doing it efficiently when rowing. Not sure why I didn’t look earlier, but your post prompted me to take a look around the Concept site to see if they had anything on the subject, and they do. And the link follows...an interesting read.

The very first paragraph in the introduction has a key statement, the cardinal sign of impending exhaustion is a break-down of breathing discipline.

And remember if all else fails, we’ve still got Vegemite! (and be careful to avoid imitations..like marmite )

http://concept2.co.uk/training/breathing

http://concept2.co.uk/training/powerbreathe

Cheers, BBB

[Kiba]

Not enough cupcakes, not enough! Oh no!

Congrats to Bazzy and Ron both for moving so far up in the standings,

And YAY! to Melissa for being selected as rower of the day!



to all of you

[just27]

... And remember if all else fails, we’ve still got Vegemite! (and be careful to avoid imitations..like marmite )

Cheers, BBB

Ready and waiting ... the rebuttal's all ready to go:
Marmite was introduced to the UK in 1902. Vegemite appeared in Oz in 1923. Marmite forever!
They both smell like anti-hairball snacks for cats ... and are handy mosquito repellents.

[kgallagher]

Boo-hoo! It seems like I may be erging a little longer than usual this year. The flood conditions led to a disastrous occurance. My dock floated away>

[rsdavr]

Boo-hoo! It seems like I may be erging a little longer than usual this year. The flood conditions led to a disastrous occurance. My dock floated away>

Wow Sorry to hear about your dock. The weather has been crazy this year. We just got 2 ft of snow after a day of heavy rain. The southern part of the state received mostly rain and had some significant flooding. As the say in VT: "If you don't like the weather, wait a minute". The calendar says spring is less than 2 weeks away. Right
Ron
On an unrelated topic-Has anyone out there had problem with pain in the knuckles of their fingers after rowing? In the past month or so, after rowing my knuckles hurt. The next morning it takes several minutes of movement before I can make a fist without significant pain. I hope it's not a sign of ageing

Hey Ron,
I'm 63 and my knuckle pain comes and goes - but I've had it for years, even before rowing. And the rowing has made it neither worse nor better. I find that relaxing my grip on the erg handle helps alot. I don't clamp down - I use just enough finger force to hold the pull. The ends of my fingers are no where near the palm of my hand (in fact, my palms are always off the handle) and my thumbs are not involved at all. You, being a veteran rower, probably know all this and much more. It has taken me a long time (since starting to row in June of 2010) to learn carry the majority of the force of the drive on my legs and let everything else simply be transfer of power to the handle.

This is still an ongoing process for me, but I have found that the more I push with the thighs, the less stress I get on my back, shoulders, elbows, and fingers. I have degenerative disc disease between L4 and L5. The disc has all but disappeared. Doctors have tried to talk me into back surgery many times and I have refused. But when I use the proper form on the erg, I have no back pain. In fact, proper rowing makes it feel better.

Your knuckle pain, if like mine, is probably a sign of age. But I'll bet you can learn to manage it. You will soon find what makes it better and what makes it worse. As they told me at heart-path rehab, "Growing old ain't for wimps". And you, Ron, are about as far from being a wimp as anyone. You are a master rower and a model for the rest of us. Thanks for your great example.
Ross

[Kona2]

Meanwhile, here on the moon, we continue our trekking as we tour the lunar features! Today was a great day - we've covered nearly one million meters as a team! Must have been all that vegemite and marmite (and here I thought those were little alpine animals) floating around...and great discussions on breathing (snorted in some of that vegemite I'm sure) and form.

Welcome to Pat S of North Carolina! We wish you many, many good rowing sessions as a team member!


49 team members are still gathering shamrocks in the March Madness Challenge....keep rowing, keep rowing...it's a great start to next week's World Erg Challenge ! The Galactic Gauntlet will be thrown before we know it! 61 team members have signed on - yet there is room for many more in our virtual boat....sign on...sign on....sign on....

Season meters as of 312/365 = 108,434,334 m

Total meters on the day = 983,920 m

Oars in space (participation) = 39 percent ....that's what I'm talkin' about!

MILESTONES...Bragging Rights...Celebrations:

2.2 MM Jay
400 K Tammy
90 K Ethan

TWO Million Meter Watch: this category is getting busier and busier! Woot!

Jim B with (59,639 m) to go!

David T with (122,000 m) to go!

Sam with (134,113 m) to go!

ONE Million Meter Watch: Madame Zoltana sees a celebration in the near future...

Mike G with (81,654 m) to go!

Greg H with (137,943 m) to go!

Mike C with (149,000 m) to go!

And today's pot of gold goes to:

Brayden m
Allie 795 m
Ethan 1,025 m
Ashlee 1,211 m
Kaylee 1,525 m
Dalton 1,850 m
Mario Jackson 1,850 m
Tony m
Tracy 5,025 m
Rich 5,075 m
Benny 5,210 m
Peter G 5,500 m
G-l-o-r-i-a m .... look at you go!
Tim S 5,915 m
David T 6,000 m
Mitch TSF 6,000 m
Bobbie 6,005 m
Karyn 6,163 m ...on the water meters delayed !
Rick 6,488 m
Jeff 7,028 m
Tammy 7,500 m
Rosita m
Chip 10,000 m
Collin 10,000 m
Kiba 10,000 m
Kristine 10,000 m
Mike C 10,000 m
Mike G 10,000 m
Peter H 10,000 m
Ron 10,000 m
Steven 10,000 m
Jim K 10,001 m
Sorin 10,007 m
Andrea 10,023 m
Harold 10,100 m
Ronnie 10,121 m
David A 10,864 m
Chris 12,356 m
Danno 12,530 m
Sam 12,555 m
Mitch J 13,008 m
Cathie 14,500 m
Tom M 16,500 m
Jay 18,500 m
Baz 20,000 m
Ross 21,224 m and a half moon!
James G 21,330 m and a half moon!
Dave H 28,999 m....good to hear from you! Half moon for you!
Andre 53,247 m ....great update!
Pat 490,470 m


Great rowing by all !

[bg]

Welcome Pat
Ron

welcome from me too...

[Kona2]

Kiba - that's a great internet high five....and the new profile picture is very Charley Harper-ish. Which is good.

K2

[BAZzy]

Hi Ross,
It's nice to have some to commiserate with I have'nt even been at rowing for a year yet so I'm far from a seasoned veteran and even if I was I will galdly take advice from anyone. It's strange about the back thing. I've been plauged with sciatica, which finally ended my running days. But, like you, I have found that rowing does'nt seem to bother my back. Maybe it's the lack of "impact" that helps. What ever it is, I'm thrilled to find an aerobic activity that I enjoy and not have to call home to have my wife help me out of my truck because the back spasms were so severe.

I guess I can say to all my fellow rowers of a certain age: "Come grow old with me, the best is yet to be"

Thanks Ross
Ron

Yes, I tend to get it in the left-hand, middle finger and put it down to mild arthritis, but I don’t get it all the time. A relaxed grip on the handle will most likely assist, but the greater benefit of a relaxed grip on the handle will avoid tightening in your forearm muscles, very similar to weight lifting. There is a tendency to want to grip the handle or bar tightly, but no real need to do so.

If you use a ‘tight’ grip whilst placing your arms under a load, like you do in rowing or weight lifting, you will find that the forearm will tighten very quickly, and with it the potential for tendonitis problems in the elbow area.

But back to the fingers, I use something like the rounded end of a pen to ‘rake’ across the top of the hand to relieve some of the tight spots and find this helps...

And still on the subject of vegemite (I did say I would move on!) I see that it was discussed at the highest level in the Oval Office yesterday, but no mention made of marmite – it seems!

http://www.smh.com.au/national/vegemite ... 1bmnw.html

Cheers, BBB

[just27]

And still on the subject of vegemite (I did say I would move on!) I see that it was discussed at the highest level in the Oval Office yesterday, but no mention made of marmite – it seems!

http://www.smh.com.au/national/vegemite ... 1bmnw.html

Finally, I've found something that President Obama and I agree upon:
"It's horrible," Obama said.